France Before the Revolution: The Old Regime

This lesson introduces France under the Old Regime, the social and political order that existed before the Revolution of 1789. It focuses on how monarchy, privilege, social hierarchy, taxation, and local diversity shaped everyday life and created long-term tensions.

The goal is not to treat the Revolution as inevitable, but to understand why many French people came to see the existing system as unfair, inefficient, and increasingly difficult to defend. Later lessons will examine the fiscal crisis, Enlightenment ideas, popular unrest, and the events of 1789 in more detail.