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The French Revolution and the rule of Napoleon 1774–1815 - OCR AS / A Level History A Full Revision Notes £4.99
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The French Revolution and the rule of Napoleon 1774–1815 - OCR AS / A Level History A Full Revision Notes

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A full extensive set of AS / A Level OCR History A revision notes on the topic of The French Revolution and the rule of Napoleon including everything on the specification. These revision notes are thorough and a perfect set of notes to help you achieve an A* in the exam.

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  • September 6, 2018
  • 42
  • 2017/2018
  • Study guide

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The causes of the French Revolution from 1774 and the events of 1789

The Structure of the Ancien Regime

Social divisions
The First Estate - the clergy
• The clergy formed less than 0.5% of the population but owned about 1/10 of French land
• It controlled almost all eduction, most hospitals and poor relief
• It had powers of censorship and published the governments messages
• Members varied and there was a huge difference in wealth and power for example be-
tween parish priests, monks, nuns and the bishops and archbishops
• In many towns the clergy dominated while in the countryside the parish priest was influ-
ential
The Second Estate - the nobility
• There were roughly 120,00 nobles, less than 1% of the population, but they owned
around 1/3 of French land
• There were 3 levels within the nobility:
• The noblesse d’epee - lived with the King in the palace at Versailles and
were very wealthy, provided the King’s advisers, ambassadors, intendants and
ministers and had access to royal support
• The noblesse de robe - nobles created by the monarchy selling legal and ad-
ministrative offices in return for a hereditary title - in 1789 there were over
70,000 venal offices
• Most other nobles lived on their country estates and many were not wealthy -
they were jealous of court nobles, protective of their own stars and privileges
and dependent on their feudal rights (held land in return for their labour -
landowners had exclusive hunting and fishing rights etc.)
The Third Estate
• They made up the rest of society and consisted of nearly 28 million people
• At the top were the bourgeoisie (middle class) who lives mostly in towns - by 1789 they
were growing in wealth and numbers
• Owned most industrial and commercial capital, about 1/5 of all private French wealth and
roughly 1/4 of French land - often their ambition was to become part of the nobility
• In the countryside were the peasants, over 80% of the population - the majority farmed
at subsistence level and worked as labourers on the land, in industries or as migrant
workers in towns
• In the towns were the small property owners, skilled workers and unskilled labourers

Privileges and burdens
• The First and Second Estates had considerable privileges
• The clergy paid no taxes - instead the Church made a voluntary annual grant of about 16
million livres, just 5% of total Church income
• The nobility were exempt from from the heaviest tax, the taille (land tax) and the
corvées royals (labour service on the roads) - they paid some newer taxes linked to
income but were often able to avoid paying the full amount
• They were exempt from military conscription although many volunteered to fight buying
commissions (military / naval officer positions)
• Bourgeoisie, often richer than nobles, frustrated because the nobles dominated higher
posts in the army and the Church, and had tax privileges denied to commoners. So, this
well-educated and prosperous part of French society was increasingly resentful
• The peasantry, including some of the poorest in society, carried the heaviest burden

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