28th of October

Hello everybody!

Today it’s my turn of doing the journal.At the beginning of the lesson the headmaster and the head of studies have come to the class. They have delivered a paper with the names of the candidates who run for the elections to the School Council.

We have voted.

We have started the lesson with the correction of exercise 1. It was about the causes of the French Revolution. They were:

-          Economic crisis.

-          Financial crisis (there wasn’t money to pay expenses).

-          Discontent of the bourgeois because they wanted to have more political power.

-          Ideas of Enlightenment (people met and discussed about political ideas.).

Paqui has explained that a lot of people of the Third Estate didn’t have money to buy basic things. In France there was a favorable atmosphere for changes.

She has said that some ministers advised the king to change the tax system. They advised the king that the privileged must pay taxes but the king didn’t accept this. The king finally listened to Necker . The king had to call the Estates General.

NECKER:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Necker

Paqui has explained the use of such a...

Then we have started the point “B” of the point “1”: THE BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

It started when Louis XVI had to call the estates to discuss how to reduce deficit and a reform of the tax system. In France the representation of the estates was the same and I think that this was unfair because the Third Estate was more than the 90% of the population. The estates met separately and every estate had one vote. This was also unfair.

The Third Estate asked for a reform. They wanted to vote per person and the also wanted to increase the number of components. The king didn’t accept this but he gave the double of representatives to the Third Estate and he ordered that every estate wrote books of grievances.

http://historiacem.blogspot.com.es/2012/03/cuaderno-de-quejas-de-la-nobleza-del.html

The underprivileged were angry and try to convince some members of the clergy and the nobles. Some of these members joined the Third Estate and this changed all. The king closed the Estates General.

http://teachnet.eu/tobrien/about/revolutions/the-french-revolution/background-to-french-revolution/estates-general/

At the end of the class Paqui has said that we have to do exercises 2 and 3 for Friday.

This is the glossary of today:

-          Harvest: cosecha

-          Staples’ prices: precios de los productos básicos

-          Trouble: problema

-          State deficit: deficit del estado

-          Expenses: gastos

-          Favorable atmosphere: ambiente favorable

-          Serious: grave

-          To delay: retrasar

-          Such a big reform: una reforma tan grande

-          To call/ to summon: convocar

-          Estates General: Estados General ( name of Parliament in France)

-          Books of grievances: cuaderno de quejas

Bye, bye and see you on Friday!