FRENCH REVOLUTION
FRANCE UNDER NAPOLEON
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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own from 25 to 30 percent of the land.
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hold high positions in government and the military.
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not pay taxes.
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harvest crops for the clergy.
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Detailed explanation-1: -The First Estate was the clergy, who were people, including priests, who ran both the Catholic church and some aspects of the country. In addition to keeping registers of births, deaths and marriages, the clergy also had the power to levy a 10% tax known as the tithe.
Detailed explanation-2: -Most of the church’s higher clergy – cardinals, archbishops and bishops – acquired significant levels of personal wealth from land rents, sinecures or simple graft. A great number of higher clergymen lived opulent and comfortable lives, not dissimilar to affluent nobles in the Second Estate.
Detailed explanation-3: -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-4: -France under the Ancien Régime (before the French Revolution) divided society into three estates: the First Estate (clergy); the Second Estate (nobility); and the Third Estate (commoners).