'Revolution' is strictly defined as 'a forcible overthrow of government or social order, in favor of a new system or set of conditions.'1 This meaning of revolution is not the same for everyone, however. Nor are the interpretations or effects of a revolution the same for everyone.
The French revolution had many different meanings for different people, and one such group was the French nobility. But whilst the revolution treated all nobles in generally the same way, this is not to say that all French nobility saw the revolution in the same light.2 Differences in the degree of wealth, status and power obviously existed from noble to noble, but many privileges still remained.3 Prior to the revolution of 1789-1799 the nobility occupied a position of high stature and authority, generally based on landed wealth. The nobles distributed portions of their estates to the landless peasants in exchange for their services or the payment of taxes [often in the form of a large payment of their produce]. Cowie points out, however, that- "As decades passed, many lords demanded a cash payment instead of, or as well as, the payments in produce."4 The nobility also enjoyed considerable legal privileges,5 and could impose restrictive tariffs and tolls on trade that generally operated to the detriment of France's internal economy.6 Thus with so many powerful privileges open to the nobility, it is no surprise that " … the nobility exasperated not only the middle class but also the peasantry."7
Therefore it may appear as no surprise that the Third Estate was pushed into revolution in 1789 because of the domineering nature of the nobility. However such an observation may be too simplistic, and for a number of reasons. Attempts by Louis XIV's ministers [Calonne and Necker], to reform the existing system [1787-8], and to provide a source of revenue to aid the acute financial problems of the empire resulted in placing a heavy tax burden upon the nobility,8 and in leaving the nobility with "little effective power."9 As a result many nobles became highly dissatisfied with the existing system, and hoped for a restoration of their privileges [thus the summoning of the Estate's General]. Alison Patrick expands on this point and asserts that the revolution had different meanings for different nobles. To the growing number of dissatisfied nobles a revolution may have meant a revival of the old order and a restoration of privileges. Others may have supported the existing monarchy, and others still, as Patrick points out, may have been "liberal nobles".10
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