12.1.1

The Ancien Regime

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The Ancien Regime

Although France was very powerful throughout most of the 1700s, towards the end of the century it faced financial and political problems. These problems caused tensions within society, which led to demands for change.

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France in the 1700s

  • In the early and mid 1700s, France was an extremely powerful country in Europe.
  • But many aspects of French society and politics had not progressed much for hundreds of years.
  • This was known as the ‘Ancien Regime’, meaning the ‘old regime’.
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Absolutist monarchy

  • For example, France was still ruled by an absolutist monarch (the king).
  • This meant that the king had absolute power, and did not have to rule with the help of a parliament.
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Inequality

  • Also, the spread of power and wealth across the country was still very unbalanced.
  • The nobility were incredibly wealthy.
  • They made up less than 2% of the overall French population, but owned 25% of all the land in the country!
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The peasantry

  • On the other hand, 75% of the French population were peasants, who mostly lived a life of hardship and poverty.
  • Although the peasants already struggled to survive, they had to pay disproportionate amounts of tax to the government, their noble landlords, and the church.

Jump to other topics

1The Medieval World: 450-1450 AD

1.1Anglo-Saxon England

1.2The Contest for the English Throne

1.3Conquering the Holy Land, 10-96-1396 AD

1.4King John

1.5The Magna Carta & Parliament

1.6The Black Death

2Worldviews

3The Empire of Mali

4The Renaissance & Reformations, 1500-1598 AD

5The British Empire, 1583-1960 AD

6The Peasants' Revolt

7Religion in the Middle Ages

8Slavery, 1619-1833 AD

9The English Civil War, 1642-1660

10The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1840

11US Independence, 1775-1783

12The French Revolution, 1789-1815

13The British Empire, 1857–1930

14Suffrage

15World War 1, 1914-1918

16The Inter-War Years, 1919-1939

17World War 2, 1939-1945

18The Cold War, 1947-1962

19Civil Rights in the USA, 1954-1975

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