France under Louis XVI and the ancien regime

Chapter 1 of the book covers the context of the French Revolution and gives you a detailed understanding of the economy, political structure and power dynamics inside the ancien regime.

It sets the scene so you can understand why the events of 1789 unfolded as they did. France under Louis had 5 key problems:

Poverty

Feudalism

The idea of an absolute monarch

Inequality

Debt

and it was these that collectively are the long term causes of the revolution.

We look at some of the major factors that were shortly to shape the course of France when the revolution breaks out in 1789:

The flawed economy

The priveledge of the few vs the poverty of the many

The system of administration in France under Louis

The growing tension between the nobility and Louis

What influence did Marie-Antoinette have (hint = quite a bit)

Take a look at the mind map we have created which you are free to download.

Here are links to the 10 minute tutorial series which gives which is a series of videos summarising the key points of each chapter:

Lesson 1: Why do we study the French Revolution:  https://youtu.be/X1MIBXifYlk          

Lesson 2: Louis the man and what life was like in pre-revolutionary France:  https://youtu.be/LRBTmGpcLm8

Lesson 3: What was the structure of power in pre-revolutionary France and who was trying to rein in the King?  https://youtu.be/c8UVlSvgOEQ

Lesson 4: The economic problems of France: https://youtu.be/Fs8JL62XOT0   

Lesson 5: The 3 estates in Louis's France:  https://youtu.be/LSJY6vYaheE    

image credit: By Antoine-François Callet - 9gFrdyY6xDaHgw — Google Arts & Culture, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13361375

Click on the download a mind map summary of the lesson.