Tensions and conflicts within the Old Regime had developed over the many centuries of its use, and originated from many different areas. Perhaps most importantly, tensions arose from the complex set of privileges and rights that were enforced by the monarchy, nobility and clergy.

These privileges were extensive, and were divided very unfairly. The nobility gained the most from the system of privilege under the ancien regime, and by the time of the revolution were the most powerful Estate in France; not just financially, but politically and geographically dominant.

With rare exceptions, nobles were exempt from or managed to evade most taxes. They got special treatment in the courts of law, and if found guilty of a capital offence a noble had the 'right' to be beheaded. In civil suits, nobles were given the benefit of the doubt. They also enjoyed the right of chasse (hunting), which meant they could ride over the peasant's crops at will. Most importantly, nobles received feudal dues from the peasants on their land. Some peasants were exempt, but in general the rule was "No land without a Lord"1.

Recent events had also added to the tension within French society at the time of the revolution. The bad harvests in certain regions in 1770, 74, 78, 82, 84 and 86 led to food shortages and general discontent 3. It was the universally bad harvest of 1788 however that really made it a crisis. This led to severe grain shortages, which increased the price of bread dramatically. This inflation of food prices was not matched by wage increases, and thus many in the Third Estate went hungry. It was this hunger that led to many of the most violent and important 'journee's' in the revolution, including the march of the woman on October 5th, 1789.

When the severity of the problem came to the attention of Turgot (and then Necker and Calonne after him) he attempted to reform the countries finances. This included a new tax that was payable by all Estates and was proportional to income, a more efficient tax-collection system (including salaried officials), a central treasury, and the abolition of internal customs duties and tariffs (as per the laissez faire economics forwarded by the physiocrats during the Enlightenment). However, all these reforms were blocked by the parlements. The parlements, who appeared to be the "defender of the rights of the nation"7, were in fact just blocking the reforms as they were reluctant to pass a new law to tax themselves. They were unwilling to give up their financial dominance, and this led to a high level of tension between the monarchy and the parlements when they continually invoked the right of remonstrance against the king's new laws. In fact, it was the parlement of Paris who told the king that only the Estates-General could agree to any new financial reforms. Thus, it was the financial crisis that eventually led to the revolution.

The tensions within the ancien regime were immense. The privileges of the clergy and nobility were highly resented, and the heavy taxation load on the average peasant m

Some common words found in the essay are:
Estate France, Third Estate, Necker Calonne, Connelly Enlightenment, Estate Estates-General, Assembly Recent, , Voltaire Rousseau, Denis Diderot, War Independence, ancien regime, upper clergy, owen connelly, third estate, tensions conflicts regime, turgot necker, financial crisis, duncan townson, necker calonne, tensions conflicts, turgot necker calonne, led severe,
Approximate Word count = 1312
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)