ancien regime

The ancien regime "means old regime in French" and is the term applied to practically every facet of European social, economic, and political development before the French Revolution of 1789. A striking feature of the ancien regime was the contrast in the lives and experiences of the peoples of different rank. It was based on tradition and hierarchical. It was divided into classes: aristocrats, urban middle class (bourgeoisie), labor (guilds), and rural peasants. During this time …

…them was a growing middle class or bourgeoisie who were becoming resentful of the aristocratic monopoly on money. The largest and poorest group in the cities were the working poor consisting of shopkeepers, artisans, and wage earners organized in guilds. Even before the Revolution this group of working poor were so discontented that they rioted. The dynamics of this growth later started the revolution as the nobility lost its economic base and power. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**