What caused the French Revolution? In two words, extreme inequality. Dressed in lavish clothing, the royal family relaxed while munching on banquets at their palace in Versailles. Meanwhile, France was almost completely out of money. In the streets, the French people were beginning to starve. In addition to the king's absurd amount of luxury, other social and class . . . issues inspired his overthrow. Before the revolution, France's society was officially broken up into three social classes, which together comprised the Estates-General. The First Estate was made up of members of the clergy, or church leaders. Nobility and royalty comprised the Second Estate. These were the people who were lucky enough to be born into very wealthy French families. The Third Estate included the bourgeoisie, or middle class, and peasants. But here was the problem: The top two estates were just 2% of the population, and the bourgeoisie and peasants made up 98 percent. This meant that for every 100 people in France, two were wealthy and 98 were middle class or poor.
Which of the following was true of French society in the years before the French Revolution?
A) The king deeply understood the hardships of the French people.
B) Most people were part of the First and Second Estate
C) There were more wealthy people than poor people
D) The Third Estate made up the majority of the population