The+Estates+General

=The Estates General =

As the French government was almost bankrupt, [|Louis XVI] and his ministers wanted to make the nobles pay taxes. However, in order to do that, king Louis needed the French Parliament to agree. The French Parliament was called the __**Estates General**__. When Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General in 1789**,** it was the first time in well over a century that the French Parliament had met (since 1614). The king was convinced that his new taxes would be approved because the voting system in the Estates General was unfair and rigged. On the other hand, the nobles were convinced that they could control the vote and use it to reduce the king´s power.

The Estate General was an assembly of people elected by the three estates. So, Louis XVI called elections for the Estates General. The elections took place all over France early in 1789. People drew up lists, called //cahiers//, of problems they wanted the Estates General to deal with and solve. Unfair taxation was top of the lists.
 * The Estates General met in May 1789 at the king´s palace at Versailles**. The first issue they faced was how they were to vote. In 1614, the last time the assembly met, each Estate had voted separately. That meant the First Estate (the clergy) and the Second Estate (the nobles), always outvoted the Third Estate by 2 to 1. The clergy and the nobles wanted to keep the old way of voting. But now, the members of the Third Estate would not agree. They wanted all the three Estates to meet together, with every deputy having just one vote. That way they would usually win because some clergy and nobles sympathised with their aims.

The king sided with the clergy and the nobles, and no agreement was reached. On **20 June 1789**, the representatives of the Third Estate arrived at their meeting place to find the doors locked. Angry, they went to an indoor tennis court and took a solemn oath, not to leave until a new constitution had been drawn up. Some clergy and nobles joined them and they changed their name to the **National** **Assembly**, claiming they represented most of the people of France. This was called the **Tennis Court Oath**.