Estates-General of 1789

The Estates-General of 1789 was the first meeting of the French Estates-General, a general assembly consisting of representatives from all but the poorest segment of the French citizenry, since 1614. The independence which it displayed from the crown paved the way for the French Revolution.

The Estates-General convenes

When the Estates-General convened in Versailles on May 5, 1789 amidst general festivities, many in the Third Estate viewed the double representation as a revolution already peacefully accomplished. However, with the etiquette of 1614 strictly enforced, the clergy and nobility in their full regalia, and the physical locations of the deputies from the three estates dictated by the protocol of an earlier era, an immediate impression emerged that less had, in fact, been achieved.

Related Topics:
Versailles - May 5 - 1789 - 1614

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When Louis XVI and Charles Louis François Paul de Barentin, the Keeper of the Seals, addressed the deputies on May 6, the Third Estate discovered that royal decree granting double representation was something of a sham. Though the Third Estate had more representatives than the other two Estates combined, voting was to occur "by orders": the 578 representatives of the Third Estate, after deliberating, would have their collective vote weighted exactly as heavily as that of each of the other Estates. The apparent intent of the king and of Barentin was for everyone to get directly to the matter of taxes. The larger representation of the Third Estate would remain merely a symbol, while giving them no extra power. Necker had more sympathy for the Third Estate, but on this occasion he spoke only about the fiscal situation, leaving it to Barentin to speak on how the Estates-General was to operate.

Related Topics:
Charles Louis François Paul de Barentin - May 6

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Trying to avoid the issue of representation and focus solely on taxes, the king and his ministers had gravely misjudged the situation. The Third Estate wanted the Estates to meet as one body and vote per deputy ("voting by poll" rather than "by orders"). The other two estates, while having their own grievances against royal absolutism, believed—correctly, as history was to prove—that they stood to lose more power to the Third Estate than they stood to gain from the king. Necker sympathized with the Third Estate in this matter, but the astute financier lacked equal astuteness as a politician. He decided to let the impasse play out to the point of stalemate before he would enter the fray. As a result, by the time the King yielded to the demand of the Third Estate, it seemed to all as a concession wrung from the monarchy, rather than a magnanimous gift that would have convinced the populace of the king's good will.

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