Answer:
Social inequality as a cause of French Revolution.
The French Revolution, one of the most popular events in History, materialized due to many reasons. The most important reason being the social inequality.
There were three main classes: The clergy(1st estate), the Nobles (2nd Estate) and the common people (3rd estate). These were further divided into the higher clergy which managed churches, educational foundations and monasteries while the lower clergy included priests who were hardworking, solicitous and respected unlike the higher clergy but were paid very less by the higher clergy who disregarded them. The Provincial Nobles differed from the Court nobles as they paid attention to the problems of the common people. The bourgeois,by definition of Karl Marx, people who own the means of production, and the proletariat, the working class both, unfairly, formed the 3rd estate. The fact that the bourgeois like the philosophers, lawyers, businessmen etc all belonged to this class played a big role in the French revolution since they were the educated ones and the one who inspired the working class to stand up against the king. Had they been a part of another estate and enjoyed the privileges the 1st and 2nd estate had,philosophers like Voltaire, Rousseau would never have bothered to enlighten the working class.
The Nobility and clergy, 1% of the population had all the power and advantages. They formed the government, held the most prestigious offices in the army and in other firms as they were not chosen on merit but on the basis of their class and families. Neither did they pay taxes while the 3rd estate had to pay several taxes like Gable, Taille, and Tithe. In fact about 80% of their wealth was used by paying taxes. Farmers were treated miserably: they had to pay the landlord taxes in coin and also through labor even if he owned his own land. Those who owned their land couldn’t grow crops of their own choice, could only mill grains at the landlords mills so he would be aware of their produce, had to work 5 days on the land lords land, if land was sold, one-fifth of the price was given to the landlord and if a peasant died and the land had been rented, the successors had to pay double of the rent. Also the farmer had to agree to all the demands of the landlord of else heavy fines were imposed on him or worse his possessions were seized, and he was taken to prison to be tortured. The nobles lived in mansions and castles and had high wages, for example the Cardinal de Rohan received 25 million franc per year as opposed to the 3rd estate members who had small houses and very little pay.
This all led to anger and frustration which was let loose during the revolution.
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