HISTORY
ABSOLUTISM AND REVOLUTION
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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First Estate
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Second Estate
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Third Estate
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Estates General
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Detailed explanation-1: -The Third Estate was made up of everyone else, from peasant farmers to the bourgeoisie – the wealthy business class.
Detailed explanation-2: -This assembly was composed of three estates – the clergy, nobility and commoners – who had the power to decide on the levying of new taxes and to undertake reforms in the country. The opening of the Estates General, on 5 May 1789 in Versailles, also marked the start of the French Revolution.
Detailed explanation-3: -The first estate was the clergy; the second estate, the nobility, and the third estate the commoners. The year was 1789, the French King Louis XVI had been on the throne for 15 years.
Detailed explanation-4: -Third Estate (cont.) About 8% of the population, or 2.3 million people, constituted the bourgeoisie, or middle class, who owned about 20 to 25% of the land.
Detailed explanation-5: -The Third Estate, which had the most representatives, declared itself the National Assembly and took an oath to force a new constitution on the king.