In which estate were the soldiers prior to the French revolution?
score:1
The enlisted soldiers in European armies before the French revolution were mostly third estate lower class. Most of the officers in most European armies before the French revolution were second estate upper class.
That is the general rule. Every society had its own twist and variation on the basic social classes. And every armed force had some variation in the class composition of the various ranks.
Thus:
"peasants had to serve in the army..."
Was true for those peasants who volunteered or were chosen to serve.
And:
"army was not open as I was not a noble by birth"
was also true for ambitious young men who considered careers as army officers but were barred from officer positions because of their low status.
So it is inaccurate to imply that privates in the army were mostly nobles before 1793. Privates were volunteers of low status or else were peasants conscripted against their will to fill enlistment quotas. Nobles or gentlemen in the enlisted ranks were rare in all pre revolution armies.
Upvote:3
The two quotes relate to two different time periods.
Before the Revolution:
The medieval division of society into "those who fought (nobility), those who prayed (clergy), and those who worked (everyone else)" still held strong and warfare was considered a domain of the nobles.
Remember that, unlike England with its primogeniture, in France the title was inherited by all sons, there there were plenty of petty nobles with no means of self-support besides their sword.
After the Revolution:
On 17 August 1793, the Convention voted for general conscription, the levée en masse, which mobilised all citizens to serve as soldiers or suppliers in the war effort.
More post
- 📝 Was Red Orchestra led by Jews?
- 📝 What was the legal process of raising a legion in late Republican Rome?
- 📝 What was the largest empire in terms of time of communication between its two ends?
- 📝 How large were Victorian British military forces?
- 📝 Why does the US House of Representatives have a ceremonial mace, but the Senate does not?
- 📝 When was the golden era of Christmas?
- 📝 History from pop culture (novels): the UK in the 1910's
- 📝 In WW2, what was the first employment of the VT Proximity Fuze?
- 📝 Why did Western Christian monasticism really take off in Ireland?
- 📝 Were any of the major battle plans in WWII changed last minute by officers on the ground?
- 📝 Why did anti-Chinese riots occur during the Indonesian Reformation of 1998?
- 📝 Why was Operation Felix cancelled?
- 📝 Is there a global foot race among religions on the most beautiful churches and when did this start historically?
- 📝 Which was the last pitched battle fought by Western powers?
- 📝 What were the main causes of successful take over of India by Britain?
- 📝 What are the occurences of total war in the Native Americans?
- 📝 Why did Catholic church wait for 350 years to accept "Galileo's idea"?
- 📝 Was reincarnation part of the early Christian church?
- 📝 How did the Russian-American Company hire serfs?
- 📝 Was any war started by a country (both of its people and leadership) knowing defeat was inevitable?
- 📝 Have fair-skinned peoples ever been the lower/oppressed class?
- 📝 Why does the monarchy of Belgium still exist after Leopold 2?
- 📝 What triggered the acceleration in human advancement?
- 📝 Was Marcus Marcellus faced with Viridomarus or Britomartus?
- 📝 In the late 1800s how did American Indians portray resiliency in the in the midst of oppression?
- 📝 How did marrying off one's daughter help secure an alliance, in early medieval Europe?
- 📝 Is there an example of a civil rights movement supporter with a record of being against it?
- 📝 Was the Flakpanzer IV used against infantry? If not, what was?
- 📝 Why did the U.S. place an arms embargo on all belligerents in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war?
- 📝 Where can I find historical statistics about Catholic monasticism?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 In which estate were the soldiers prior to the French revolution?
- 📝 Which European countries did not have a revolution in the aftermath of the French Revolution and why?
- 📝 How many people were beheaded by the Guillotine in France during the French Revolution (1789-1794)?
- 📝 What were the reasons for the Renaissance / scientific revolution in Europe?
- 📝 Why were British ships not of the same quality as French and Spanish ships until the latter part of the 18th century?
- 📝 Were there any high-ranking female soldiers during the Middle ages?
- 📝 Are there any documented examples of wooden ships which were in active service for 100 years or more? If not, what is the longest?
- 📝 What were the criteria for class ranking at West Point prior to the Civil War?
- 📝 Were there any crops and livestock common to both the Old and New Worlds prior to the Columbian exchange?
- 📝 Were soldiers in the World Wars paid?
- 📝 Were Quintidis holidays in the French Republican calendar?
- 📝 How were the British and French armies invited into Belgium in 1914?
- 📝 Did the French Revolution help produce French military "elan?"
- 📝 What were the thoughts of the Celts, Romans and other ancient European people about the standing stones which survive from prehistoric times?
- 📝 Which were the last castles to be besieged and fall in the United Kingdom?
- 📝 How densely populated were the Americas prior to European colonization?
- 📝 Were there any Roman villas in Britain which were used rather than destroyed after the Romans left?
- 📝 What were the individual soldiers motivated by during World War 1?
- 📝 How were the day-to-day activities of the French Resistance financed?
- 📝 Why wasn't there more resistance to the French revolution by the army?
- 📝 What weapons were manufactured in India by the British forces which were used during world wars?
- 📝 Have there been any nuclear accidents in the US at nuclear facilities which were not "commercial"?
- 📝 Which were the continent-wide common languages in human history?
- 📝 Were there any other systems which resemble the complex election procedure for the doge of Venice
- 📝 Which texts/works were lost due to the Mongol invasions of Baghdad?
- 📝 Why did the French Revolution bring secularism?
- 📝 Which operating system were the hackers at the MIT AI Lab using in 1971?
- 📝 How were the British and French Mandates in the Levantine area involved in WWII?
- 📝 Were mounted soldiers really an advancement during the Middle Ages?
- 📝 How many soldiers were present at the charge down Little Round Top?