Why was France ready for revolution by 1789?

A detailed, engaging and fully resourced lesson introducing students to the causes of the French Revolution. This lesson explores the Ancien Régime, the Three Estates, inequality, taxation, Enlightenment ideas, financial crisis, food shortages and the weaknesses of Louis XVI’s government.

Students investigate why France was so unstable by the late 1780s through a range of interactive activities, including a life card simulation, human pyramid of French society, cause stations, cause web task, and a final causation judgement activity. The lesson is designed to help students move beyond simply listing causes and instead begin to explain how different factors connected and reinforced one another.

This resource is ideal for able GCSE, IGCSE or History 101 students aged 14–16, especially as an introduction to a wider unit on revolution, protest, power and political change.

Included in this lesson pack:
Detailed 90-minute lesson plan
Student-friendly explanation of the Ancien Régime
Three Estates activity resources
Cause station cards
Sorting and ranking tasks
Judgement writing support
Exit ticket/reflection task

This lesson forms part of a series of 7 lessons in which students each follow a a recurring character from French society, each lesson revisiting how the different event affects them.
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