Making up 98% of the population, this group included wealthy bourgeois merchants, urban workers, and rural peasants. Despite their numbers and economic contribution, they bore the brunt of the nation's taxation and had virtually no political voice. Political Absolute Monarchy
The nobility and clergy consistently blocked attempts at tax reform, leaving the monarchy unable to solve its financial woes without further burdening the already starving Third Estate. Conclusion ancien regime
Massive debt from wars (including support for the American Revolution) and a series of poor harvests led to widespread famine and skyrocketing bread prices. Making up 98% of the population, this group
Politically, the Ancien Régime was defined by the "Divine Right of Kings." The monarch, most notably Louis XIV (the "Sun King"), centralized power to an extreme degree. By housing the nobility at the Palace of Versailles, the crown stripped them of regional power, turning them into courtiers dependent on royal favor. However, this centralization created a bottlenecked bureaucracy that was slow to react to national crises. The Catalyst for Collapse Conclusion Massive debt from wars (including support for
Intellectuals like Voltaire and Rousseau began questioning the legitimacy of absolute power and the inequality of the estate system, advocating for reason, liberty, and meritocracy.