... in the eighteenth century when the impetus changed and economic power, personal abilities and confidence became more desirable than land.1Although the Bourgeoisie was growing in vast numbers, the Nobility had one thing over on them, Social Status. This leads on to the main crux of the Marxist argument, that there was a class struggle between the Nobles and the Bourgeois. The Nobility were being left far behind and the Bourgeois were steaming ahead, getting wealthier and more powerful by the day. The Bourgeois were growing richer through Commerce and Industry. Ships left for the Levant, Africa, and the Caribbean in droves. Coal and Iron production was going full steam ahead, along with cloth-making and Western ports such as Nantes and Bordeaux bustled with trade from overseas, which had increased fourfold since the death of Louis XIV.2 Whilst the Nobility clung to the Ancien R(gieme which provided them with tax exemptions ...

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