proposed taxation of the second estate
Chat with our AI personalities
He wanted to find a way to solve the financial crisis issue
France was in a deep financial crisis and the king wanted to find a way to solve this issue. The Estates General meeting was Louis XVI's last chance to meet the representatives of every French citizen (from the richest too the poorest) to debate on the situation. Source: http://bastille-day.com/history/Economic-Cause
Louis XVI called the Estates General because there was concern over the financial state of the government, and food shortages. Within the Estates General, another disagreement arose, over how they should vote. If it were by majority, the Third Estate, which bore the brunt of France's financial obligations would win, but if it went according to estates, the Aristocrats and Clergy, who always voted together, would win. Louis voted for the estates.
The three estates had an equal vote in the Estates General, which gave the first estate (clergy) and the second estate (nobility) both equal presence with the third estate. This was problematic for two reasons. The first issue was that these votes were vastly out of proportion with the amount of people that they represented. The third estate was 97-98% of the French population, but had only 33% of the vote. The second issue was that the equal votes of the first and second estate served as an effective veto to oppose any changes or improvements which the third estate would request, effectively making the third estate unable to use the Estates General as a vehicle to benefit them in any way.
china