1.) What happened (involving the Third Estate) during the meeting of the Estates General that set the French Revolution in motion?
The Estates General was a a legislative assembly of the different classes of French society, in which there were three representative bodies. The first estate represented the Clergy, the second estate represented the nobility, and the third estate represented the majority of the people. Each estate could cast one, and only one vote each in legislation; meaning that the first and second estate, if they so chose, could always rule out the third estate regardless of how many people were against the first and seconds estate. This was viewed by the third estate as unjust. Hence, when King Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General in 1789, the third estate had some demands. They demanded that voting take place by head and not by estate.
2.) What was the situation of the Church in France after Napoleon came to power?
The churches were reopening thanks to the promises of Napoleon. However, the church was still under the authority of the government and some people complained. The pope at the time ( Pope Pius XVII) assured the crowd that this is the best they got for it was already good enough to them that the churches were reopening. The pope said that we should be thankful for what we got so far.
Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius XVII signed an agreement called the Concordat, which was an agreement between the French state and the Catholic Church that reconciled the Church with the anti- religious policies established during the French Revolution.
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