WORLD HISTORY

FRENCH REVOLUTION

FRANCE UNDER NAPOLEON

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
This group paid the most taxes during the Old Regime.
A
Clergy
B
Nobles
C
Third Estate
D
First Estate
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -All members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state. These included a direct tax, called taille, and a number of indirect taxes which were levied on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco.

Detailed explanation-2: -The taxation system under the Ancien Régime largely excluded the nobles and the clergy from taxation while the commoners, particularly the peasantry, paid disproportionately high direct taxes.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Third Estate was made up of everyone else, from peasant farmers to the bourgeoisie – the wealthy business class.

Detailed explanation-4: -Finally, the 3rd Estate comprised the rest of the population. They had very little rights and paid nearly half of their income in taxes. Individuals in the 3rd Estate could be peasants, lawyers, laborers, or land workers who were toiling away on the lands of the Nobles.

Detailed explanation-5: -One critical difference between the estates of the realm was the burden of taxation. The nobles and the clergy were largely excluded from taxation while the commoners paid disproportionately high direct taxes.

There is 1 question to complete.