Friday, January 4, 2008

Population Explosion and France

During this time period all of Europe had a great population explosion. This greatly affected France as 90% of its population resided in its third estate. The third estate was the lowest class and were basically peasants. When rough winters hit France during these years, the price of bread, France's main foodstuff during this time, rose dramatically. This made bread unaffordable to the peoples of the third estate. As unrest grew, more and more people became upset with King Louis XVI. Because bread was unavailable to so many people, while so few at so lavishly, change was needed. With the great congregation of people who were in this estate, they had much power. As they started to revolt, the wheels of the French Revolution began to turn.

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