Before The French Revolution

During the late 1840s, France had suffered commercial decline. France had begun construction on a large scale rail network, but failed to budget their construction properly, leaving the construction unfinished, and it’s backers bankrupt. This cascaded further than the initial investors, as smelters who relied on the railways to buy their metal lost a major purchaser. The resulting economic fallout lead to unemployment across several industries. The lack of work for the majority of the populace led many to poverty. At the time, bread prices began rising prices, further straining the economic situation of the working class.

Based off of documents 3, 4 and 12, one can understand how the taxes impacted a family’s ability to buy basic necessities. Due to such heavy taxes, many people were poor or were forced to become beggars. Documents 10 and 15 describes how the workingman spends most of his money on basic items to survive and taxes but goes over his budget while the king spends a lot of money on personal desires and goes over his budget as well. This contributes to the financial crisis that France was in because the nobility and the commoners were spending more money than they already

← Doyle, William. The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. 2001

Either as a cause or an effect the money and industry is often a matter of high importance especially in political and social issues. The fact that there is a relationship between economic factors and the revolution cannot be underestimated, however the argument as to whether it is the preeminent reason for the revolution can be argued. Although the monetary issues can be seen in the fall of power in the monarchy, war, social inequality or even in the status of religious figures, the situation remains that all the events leading up to the 14th July 1789 were inextricably linked. Furthermore one could argue that whether other factors caused the economic problems, which in turn caused the revolution? This is where ‘The french revolution is thus...related to but not defined by as specific situation’, and actually was as much a result of the economy, as was a result of the politics surrounding the economy and the effect it had on the third

On the twentieth of august 1786 Charles Alexandre de Calonne, comptroller-general of the royal finances, informed King Louis XVI that the state was on the verge of a financial meltdown. Whilst not having exact details to the financial figures to show the full extent of the problem, it is never the less recognized that France was in serious financial difficulty. What then did Calonne propose to sort this financial mess out? How was he to convince the King and the Notables that France was in financial danger and to give backing to his solutions? This essay will

Napoleon tried to address France’s financial problems, even the revolutionary governments saw how the awful system for taxing led to such great economic problems

In June 1789 the French revolution had begun. For the next five years there would be bloodshed throughout France, the country was going through a radical change, the change in sovereignty and the failure of the constitutional monarchy being two examples of this. But to what extent was all this caused by economic distress? Before being able to answer the question, one would have to establish the definition of 'economic distress' it could be defined as the misery people (especially the peasantry) faced due to low income and tax inflation or the misery that the entire country was in due to the enormous debts, which had accumulated due to the wars, which were fought.

In the 1789, France had many problems in the society and it was on the brink of collapsing. The issues eventually led to the need to change the government was run. The first issue was the social hierarchy, it had three estates: the clergy at the top with 1% of the population, the nobles at the second estate making up about 2% of the population, and the middle class, peasants and city workers at the third estate making up 97% of the population. The problem was the taxes, people in the third estate were the only one paying taxes to the government when the first and second estates who owned about 35% of the land and was rich didn’t pay, so how was that fair? The second issue was the economic crisis.

In the 1700’s France was very close to be in bankrupt. There was a climate of social unfairness because taxes and laws were different in each province, and the country was immersed in big debts which were left by Louis XIV and Louis XV when they died. In 1789, France was in the worst economic and social situation. The social structure of France was a key factor that could be considered as an indirect cause of the French Revolution. French society was divided into legal categories known as the three orders or states. The discontent among the lower and middle classes was one the reason the revolution originated.

As Napoleon was attending school in France, dramatic changes were beginning to occur with the absolute monarchy of France. Like many wars, the French Revolution had its immediate origins in the government’s financial difficulties. The new Louis XVI (1774–1792) was young and couldn't make a decision on political reforms and the state of the finances. He is reported to have said, “What I should like most is to be loved.” (McKay 619). The eager-to-please monarch Louis wavered on political reform and what to do about the economy and proved unable to defeat the rising storm of opposition. The Monarch's bad money management led to royal bankruptcy, and the government had no choice but to raise taxes (McKay 629). Because of the money problem, the country went deeper into

The main financial problem in 1792 for France, was the national debt. While many believe that the building and upkeep of the Versailles Palace, it was not the leading factor in France’s debt. The actual main focus point of the debt were the efforts to maintain France’s position in relation to the other European countries, especially France’s rival of Britain. Another reason for the high amount of debt, is the various wars that France participated in. By sending aid to the American colonies during the American Revolution, they lost a lot of revenue. The disastrous results of The Seven Years’ War also did not help the debt and raised fear that the monarchy was not able to handle the challenges they faced. They were further humiliated during Frederick the Great’s reign in Prussia, and lost their colonial possessions in both India and North America to the British (Popkin 4-5).

In “Lasting Economic Structures: Successes, Failures, and Revolutionary Political Economy,” Jeff Horn researches the impact of the economy during the French Revolution. Historians investigated consumption, production, labor, and technology of the political economy during the Revolution. Guy Lemarchand, a historian, intensively approached the political economic history before and after the Revolution. Therefore, Horn researched the economic policies from 1789 to 1799 to conclude that they influenced the outcome of the Revolution.

Due to the rapidly expanding population, the economy of France declined. For instance, war debts, loans, extravagant kings, and too many tax exemptions were all reasons that the economy fell. Crop failures, and food shortages occurred throughout the the 1780’s. Bread production was also scarce, which resulted in extremely high prices. This affected the peasants, because they were heavily taxed and could not afford food.

The French Revolution was a period of time from 1789 to 1799 in France where there was political instability. It officially began on the 14th of July, 1789, when the Bastille, which was a symbol of the King’s harsh policies, was stormed. The King, Louis XVI, the Queen, Marie-Antoinette and about 40,000 people were all brutally murdered. But there was also a positive side, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was formally adopted on August 1789 and feudalism was abolished. This essay will address the issues of the three estates system, food shortages and the fiscal crisis. It will also be argued that the most significant cause of the French Revolution was the social inequality that stemmed from the three estates system.

The French Revolution was a turning point for Europe from which there was no return. It set the mold for revolutions of the Age and showed just how deeply ingrained and powerful the ideals of the Age could be in the Western World. The French Revolution finds its causes in the now cliched concept that when the masses are displeased, the king is in trouble. However it is crucial to understand that the French Revolution established this cliche for the West. The simplest way to chart out the atmosphere of France at the time, a look at the PICSET categories of France offers the clearest depiction.