nd perhaps more grievances with the Ancien Rgime than the peasants. The middle classes resented being lumped in the third estate with the peasants, and resented being excluded from positions of office, such as in the army, navy and diplomatic services. They were unable to openly criticise the government without risking harsh punishment; they lacked religious freedom; they wanted lower taxes for Free Trade. In addition to this, the monarch exercised complete power in France; France was an autocracy. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the will of the sovereign was law (``The thing is legal because I wish it'' - Louis XVI). Critics of the government could be arrested via a royal writ (a lettre de cachet) without trial. Earlier on, the French provinces (tats) were each represented by their own parlement, but these had declined by the 18th century. The States-General (which bore a closer resemblance to England's parliament) had not been called since 1614. Lastly, the parlement of Paris, which registered the King's edicts, was the only body left that could have opposed the King, but by the 19th century had no real power to reject the edicts. The upshot of this was that there no formal opposition to the government, and the masses had no say in government. The monarchy had the power to grossly misgovern the country; one of the causes of the Revolution. England's monarchy was different to the French monarchy in this respect; it was a constitutional monarchy, and so England's monarch was limited in his powers by a constitution, and by parliament, and was effectively only a figurehead. This was the sort of government the French middle classes were looking towards: they did not want to abolish the monarchy, they merely wanted to limit his powers and have a say in government. More inspirational to the French, though, was the American Revolution. At the time of the French Revolution, the American War of Independence had happened only recently, with the ...
