Final answer:
The French Revolution was driven by the social hierarchy and related inequities, with the Third Estate bearing taxes and labor, leading to mounting dissatisfaction and revolutionary action.
Step-by-step explanation:
The French Revolution was significantly influenced by the social hierarchy that existed in the 18th-century France. This hierarchy was divided into three estates: the First Estate (clergy), the Second Estate (nobility), and the Third Estate (commoners). One of the critical contributing factors to the Revolution was the profound social inequities across these estates. The First and Second Estates, making up a minor percentage of the population, controlled the majority of the land and wealth, while the Third Estate bore the brunt of taxes and labor. Exclusion from political power and economic crisis further exacerbated tensions. These social inequities eventually led to the dissatisfaction that fueled the revolutionary fervor among the Third Estate, culminating in the French Revolution, as they sought to overthrow the exploitative old social order.
Figures, like the sans-culottes, played a pivotal role in escalating revolutionary action. This crowd of radical thinkers from the lower and working class exemplified the economic struggles and contributed to the push against wealth inequality and the monarchic system, eventually leading to the rise of a new social and political order.