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Radicals saw the Catholic Church as the enemy and promoted in its place a [[Cult of Reason]].  The Revolution emerged in part from the [[rationalism]] of the[[Enlightenment]] which distrusted all established institutions.  It inspired fear into European monarchs and aristocrats as well as conservative intellectuals like [[Edmund Burke]] in Britain, who mobilized to fight the Revolution, and finally succeeded in 1815.  

Radicals saw the Catholic Church as the enemy and promoted in its place a [[Cult of Reason]].  The Revolution emerged in part from the [[rationalism]] of the[[Enlightenment]] which distrusted all established institutions.  It inspired fear into European monarchs and aristocrats as well as conservative intellectuals like [[Edmund Burke]] in Britain, who mobilized to fight the Revolution, and finally succeeded in 1815.  

==Social structure of Old Regime==

==Social structure of Old Regime==

Before the Revolution, France had three levels in its social system: The First, Second, and Third Estates.  The [[First Estate]] was about 1% of the population, but it controlled 10% of the land.  The First Estate consisted of the clergy, and they did not pay any taxes.  The [[Second Estate]] was about 2% of the population and they controlled 20% of the land.  These were the nobility, and they too paid very little taxes.  The [[Third Estate]] was everyone else, and they were badly overtaxed by the monarch.  This overtaxing was a major cause of the [[French]] Revolution.   

Before the Revolution, France had three levels in its social system: The First, Second, and Third Estates.  The [[First Estate]] was about 1% of the population, but it controlled 10% of the land.  [[Image:3estates.jpg|thumb|320px|left]] The First Estate consisted of the clergy, and they did not pay any taxes.  The [[Second Estate]] was about 2% of the population and they controlled 20% of the land.  These were the nobility, and they too paid very little taxes.  The [[Third Estate]] was everyone else, and they were badly overtaxed by the monarch.  This overtaxing was a major cause of the [[French]] Revolution.   

The leaders of the Third Estate were the upper middle class, especially lawyers; they are called the [[bourgeoisie]].  They were educated in the ideas of the [[Enlightenment]], most importantly [[Jean Jacques Rousseau]].  Rousseau's book, "The Social Contract" supported a [[direct democracy]].  The social contract spoke against titles for nobility and demanded complete equality for all people.

The leaders of the Third Estate were the upper middle class, especially lawyers; they are called the [[bourgeoisie]].  They were educated in the ideas of the [[Enlightenment]], most importantly [[Jean Jacques Rousseau]].  Rousseau's book, "The Social Contract" supported a [[direct democracy]].  The social contract spoke against titles for nobility and demanded complete equality for all people.

French Revolutionary ideals, especially thanks to Napoleon, later inspired liberal and democratic movements of the 19th Century.

French Revolutionary ideals, especially thanks to Napoleon, later inspired liberal and democratic movements of the 19th Century.

==Chronology of the French Revolution==

==Chronology of the French Revolution==