How did the growing middle class …

●The role of middle class on the onset of French revolution: The peasants and workers had participated in revolts against increasing taxes and food scarcity in the past. But they lacked the means and programmes to carry out full-scale measures that would bring about a change in the social and economic order. This was left to those groups within the third estate( middle class) who had become prosperous and had access to education and new ideas.

●The important role played by the political philosophers in French revolution are : Ideas envisaging a society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all, were put forward by philosophers such as John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau. The ideas of these philosophers were discussed intensively in salons and coffee-houses and spread among people through books and newspapers. These were frequently read aloud in groups for the benefit of those who could not read and write.