French Revolution Dbq

Like modern day politics, 1790’s France had different groups with conflicting ideas on how their government should be run. In the French society, the rich wanted to stay rich and not have to deal with taxes and other responsibilities. The poor people in the society realized this was happening and declared they wanted change. The difference of opinions created a lot of conflicts because each group both had strong opinions on how the country should be run. During the immediate period prior to and during the French Revolution, the demands and interests of different groups caused social conflict. For example the Third Estate demanded better voting procedures in order to address the inequality between the estates. Deficit spending was used selfishly

The French peasant community relied on bread and wheat for food. This was until “Poor harvests in 1788 and 1789 (which) sent prices of wheat and rye soaring- leaving many desperate” (566 Spielvogel) The peasants who relied so much upon wheat now had to find a new way to survive. France's debt made the government needed to higher the price. This change made the Third Estate unhappy because the Government were changing their system to hurt the Third Estate drastically, but would not change when asking the First and Second Estate to simply do more taxes. This made the French Revolution really kick off. The Third Estate community now understood that they were being taken advantaged of. They began raids such as The Women’s March on Versailles. “After meeting with a delegation of these women, who tearfully described how their children were starving for lack of bread, Louis XVI promised them grain supplies for Paris, thinking that this would end the protest. But the women’s action had forced the Paris National Guard under Lafayette to follow their lead and march to Versailles” (569 Spielvogel) The king’s unwillingness to solve the starvation in the streets of France is what pushes France over the edge. When the women’s protest make him move to Paris, this success shows that the use of violence can influence the government. This then leads to his death and the turn of