Prussia and Spain for example were 'entirely exempted from direct
taxation, on the grounds that those who served their king in person
should not have to serve him with their purse"2.
The revolt of the nobles in protection of their privileges also
become a significant motive for Louis XVI calling on the Estates
General which reposed in three Estates. The First Estate was the
clergy, the Second Estate the nobility; and the Third Estate, are
said to contain the commoners, and the bourgeoisie who, to the
distress of the commoners, represented the estate.
The Third Estate broke away in 1789 from the Estates General and
took the title of National Assembly which then provided France with
a new constitution.. The Estates General became a venue for a class
struggle between the nobility and the Third Estate.
The peasantry, who consisted of three quarters of the monarchy
carried the major burden of taxation, more than it could bear. The
price of bread had increased 88% due to acute bread shortages, which
is evident in saying their Sans Culottes, and in proclaiming that
the cost of living for peasants was becoming insufferable.
The Peasantry's complaints were not being heard at the National
Assembly which became the justification for them to spontaneously
revolt against the feudal privileges of the nobility .This uprising
encouraged the constituent Assembly to abolish these feudal
privileges, which became "one of the most distinctive features of
In the meantime there was little efforts to address the privileges
of the Clergy which became an explanation to why a split in the
Church occurred which was largely based on class lines, with the
poorer clergy siding with the revolution to a significant degree.
...