1. Made by: Elzi, Nahir, Clara, Gabri,
Jesús and Cosmin 4th A
2. The Estates-General (or States-General) of 1789 was the first meeting
since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly
representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First
Estate), the nobles (Second Estate), and the common people
(Third Estate).
Summoned by King Louis XVI to propose solutions to his
government's financial problems, the Estates-General sat for
several weeks in May and June 1789.
Their options were: voting by estate, giving the first two estates an
advantage, which was the king's choice, or vote all together,
giving the Third Estate the advantage.
It was brought to an end when the Third Estate formed into a National
Assembly, inviting the other two to join, against the wishes of the king,
signaling the outbreak of the French Revolution.
The Estates-General
3. Everyone met at the Palace of Versailles to debate
some major problems. The first national assembly
of representatives of the three estates met at Notre-
Dame in Paris on April 10, 1302, to discuss the conflict
between Philip IV (the Fair) and Pope.
Louis XVI and his advisors focused on a complete
overhaul of the French tax system. He faced a huge
resistance from his own group who wouldn't
accept any loss of wealth or power. He was heavily
criticized by the Nobility who pictured him as a
stupid, nerdy man with a way of governing the
country that was full of nonsense.
The Estates-General
4.
5. The Third Estate, fed up with the King's decisions
decided to constitute themselves as the National
Assembly. It was aimed at representing the three Estates
but without the supervision of the King.
On June 17, 1789, they voted to establish the National
Assembly.
Afraid of losing it all and to be completely disgraced by his
own supporters, Louis XVI canceled the Estates General
meeting. This was a very important decision that changed
the course of French political system forever.
National Assembly
6. The newly created assembly led by Robespierre,
Mirabeau and Sieyes decided to meet in another part
of the castle. During the Tennis Court Oath (June
20th, 1789), they decided to write France a
constitution. This was the second stage of the
revolution.
The King initially opposed this development, but had
no choice but to acknowledge the authority of the
assembly, which renamed itself the National
Constituent Assembly on July 9th, 1789.
National Assembly