This act of defiance, known as the Tennis Court Oath, marked a pivotal shift in authority away from the monarchy. The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, was not a planned uprising but a spontaneous explosion of popular fury, symbolizing the collapse of royal authority in the provinces.
Financial Meltdown 1789 and the Calling of the Estates General
Attempts at reform were consistently blocked by the privileged classes, leaving the burden of taxation squarely on the Third Estate. This body was divided into three estates—the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate)—with each estate holding a single vote.
The Great Fear and Abolition of Privileges As rumors of an aristocratic counterattack spread through the countryside in the summer of 1789, panic ignited the Great Fear, a wave of peasant uprisings that saw rural communities storm manor houses and destroy feudal records. Thinkers like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu challenged the divine right of kings and advocated for liberty, equality, and popular sovereignty.
The Financial Meltdown and the Calling of the Estates General in 1789
The French Revolution did not erupt without warning; it was the culmination of decades of financial strain, social inequity, and philosophical awakening. This sweeping abolition of special rights was a revolutionary act in itself, dismantling the legal foundations of the Ancien Régime.
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