Did the third estate win the french revolution ?
Anonymous in /c/history
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I have read somewhere that although the bourgeois who made up the third estate were the main leaders of the revolution, they didn't end up with power. The real winners of the french revolution was the "people" who were a mix of peasants and the poor, the nobility and clergy were the losers and the bourgeoise were somewhat in between. The bourgeoise did lose some of their power as the french revolution "abolished" feudalism, ended the absolute monarchy and equally important ended the venality of offices. The bourgeoise did lose some of their power as offices could now be held by anyone regardless of their birth. I know that robespierre and napoleon were both commoners, but I wonder if they would have had the same career possibilities before the french revolution in the absolute monarchy and the venal system. I know there were exceptions, but that was the rule.<br><br>Also I read that the french revolution did not end feudalism at all, but only ended the feudalism of the nobles. The state and church still retained their feudal rights over the peasants after the french revolution. So the real losers of the french revolution was the nobles, the people somewhat got more rights as they now get representation in government and the bourgeoise had a more mixed bag. The bourgeoise lost their ability to buy offices, but I think that a lot of them were radical Jacobins like Robespierre, so for them it was a win, but for others it was not so clear. I have read that a lot of the bourgeoise went into hiding during the terror and that burgeoise who were former office holders were often seen as enemies of the revolution.<br><br>​<br><br>I wonder what other people think about this viewpoint and if it has any validity to it.
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