Causes of the French Revolution
On June 20, 1789, 600 people gathered in a tennis court who were furious with the King’s government because he was planning to march on Paris. They decided they will work as a national assembly to build a new government than what the king had built. They met up again with 900 people this time on July 14, 1789 to get back at the king. Since the king was planning to march on Paris they decided to march on Bastille to get back at him. They went to Bastille and freed the 7 prisoners the King captured which meant the King couldn't march on Paris anymore. These events resulted from many factors. The causes of the French Revolution were the money problems, unfair taxes, and unfair voting
One of the causes of the French Revolution were money differences between the King and the people. Think of living a life where you had a twin who got everything in the world and then you got absolutely nothing. That’s how the people in France felt when the King and Queen got everything they desired and they had to live in poverty. Most of the time the citizens struggled to survive because of all the money that was being wasted on unnecessary things for the King and Queen. A wise historian once said, “King Louis XVI & and his wife Marie Antoinette lived in luxury in their palace of Versailles, while the people of France lived in extreme poverty.” (Paragraph 1). This quote shows how bad the conditions were for the people, and how rude the King and Queen were being
Before the revolution France was ruled under the Ancien Regime system, meaning the country and all its people were under the reign of an absolute monarch. This was a tradition that had been upheld through the years and the Royal family had enjoyed a life funded by the people of France, the royal family’s lifestyle unaffected by the situation outside their palace. The Palace, Versailles, was built by king Louis XIV and the expenses for building this “village” was very high, and in later years the cost for its upkeep would play a significant role in Frances financial difficulties. In order for these difficulties to be overcome France needed a tax reform. The government had a very high tax rate on the poorest of their people, the Third Estate, and they were still not getting enough money to get out of their
One of the economic issues that caused the French Revolution is financial difficulties because in document A it states, ¨ The First Estate were the Clergy which meant that 1% of the people owned 10% of the land and paid no taxes.” It also states, “The Second Estate were the Nobles which meant 2% of the people owned 35% of the land and paid 2% of income in taxes.¨ Finally, it states, ¨The Third Estate were the middle class, peasants, and the city workers which meant 97% of the people owned 55% of the land and paid 50% of their income in taxes.¨ This shows that they were doing unfair taxes and soon they realized they were unable to meet their needs and becoming more poor.
The first reason the French Revolution occurred, was because the king and queen were spending too much money on unnecessary items that the country could not afford. The king was gambling with money that the country did not have. Also, he was staging plays while the country was 40 billion dollars in debt. This made the people despise not only the king, but the queen too because they both were spending money on clothes and
French Revolution was a horrifying event that was from 1789 to 1799. The revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic and created political chaos. The french revolution started because most people were denied basic rights because the King and Queen cared only for themselves, the economic crisis in France, and social injustices.
One of the multiple causes of the French Revolution is the financial crisis occurring in many of the cities of France. A lot of factors contributed to the rise of the monetary calamity namely corruption of the monarchy, war, and poor harvests. Even though the people of France were starving, the monarchy continued to spend greatly turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the people. Perhaps the most famous case of how truly oblivious the monarchy was towards the people's suffering is the case of Marie Antoinette with her famous saying of “let them eat cake.” Additionally, the monarchy always dismissed the financial ministers who try to right the wrong by informing the government of the problem at hand, which added more fuel to the fire.
The political discontent of France was one of the causes of the Revolution because the king had all the political powers. Those who criticized the government were likely to be arrested and put in prison without trial. King Louis XVI was more interested in hunting than caring about France. He and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, spent a lot of money and lived an extravagant life at the Palace of Versailles.
The last main cause of the French Revolution was the social condition. The social classes were divided into three groups- the Clergy, Nobles, and Common People (Rana). The big Clergy category had two different groups; the higher clergy, and the lower clergy (Rana). The higher clergy managed the top buildings, and never had to pay taxes. They had it a lot better than the lower clergy, the higher clergy only lived in mansions and anywhere luxurious. The lower clergy didn’t get any of that, which means their life wasn’t so great. The nobility was a lot like the higher clergy, because they also
During the 1700s France's economy attained great wealth, however, the wealth was unevenly distributed among the classes. Nobles and Clergy used their elevated status to manipulate the political system in order to detain them from paying taxes. As a result, the lower class was forced to pay an obscene amount of taxes, which caused great suffering for the people who were part of that class. In addition to those absurdly high taxes, France had major debt due to all the wars they took part in, along with the lavish spending of Louis XIV.Furthermore, the countryside was experiencing a drought which led to bad harvests, therefore, bread shortages, causing the lower class to starve.French Revolution was primarily caused by the strong hatred the common people had against the upper class, the unlimited power of the
Enlightenment ideas heavily influenced philosophers in spreading their ideas across the world. The French Revolution started in 1779 and ended in 1799 and the revolution is known as one of the major significant events in history. The storm of the Bastille is what kicked off the start of the revolution in 1789. King XVI was the king at this time period until problems started increasing and unfair opportunities were approaching. The French Revolution included many acts such as Estates General, Tennis court of Oath, the Terror, and etc. Those acts were the effects of the numerous problems France had because of the monarchy and the way the king ruled in France. The main causes that led to the French Revolution were unfair taxes and financial problems,
One of the many causes of the French Revolution included the excessive spending of the Royals, including Louis XVI. During his reign, France was already in debt, and many of the people were extremely poor, struggling to feed themselves and their families. The government was bankrupt and struggling with a huge financial crisis, and overall France was in very hard times. Despite the poor state of his country, Louis XVI spent vast amounts of money on unnecessary wars, as well as expanding the palace of Versailles. This excessive spending created mistrust between the commoners and people in power, and also caused a general dislike for him and the royal family. The tension created between the royals and government, and the people of France, caused uprisings and ultimately
The French Revolution in 1789 was a chain of economic and social acts started by reformers within the French Government seeking to eliminate the absolute power of the King and rich landowners. The reformers strived to develop a Government elected solely by the citizens of the country. The Revolution was fueled by the citizens desires for liberty and equality to generate fair living standards and treatment for all social classes. The Revolution questioned the elitist power and authority of kings, priests, and nobles and provided new principles and significant social ideas for citizens. Numerous factors led to the cause of the French Revolution, which inevitably changed the appearance of France’s economy and social status. Although many historians
The French revolution essentially began on July 14, 1789. An event occurred on this day, that entailed the people of Paris attacking a prison (the Bastille) from which they stole weapons from, in order to rebel against the monarchy of Louis XVI, and his wife, Marie-Antoinette. This event was the result of many causes; as times were changing. A long term political and historical cause of revolution includes the old concept of absolutism. To elaborate, kings told people that they were given their power by God, and that people should be loyal to monarchy, not a nation. Essentially, Louis had power over everything, including the government. This led to mass conflict, as people finally began to question the king, and where his power was coming from. People began to question the social hierarchy,
The French Revolution was a dark time for France as a whole. There were many deaths and horrific actions that left France in shambles. There were many causes of this revolution, all falling under three categories: social, political and economic. The political factors were mostly having to do with the rule of King Louis XVI and his ways and actions. There were also factors having to do with the Three Estates and France’s struggling financial issues. The next category was economic. The economic causes of the revolution had to do with the way France spent their money and how the royals used it. Finally, the social factors had the most impact on the people. It had to with the shortages of food and effected a large percent of the population. However, there seems to be a recurring issue throughout each of these categories, which may be the reason why the revolution finally broke out in France. The French Revolution finally broke out because of the people, their actions and the conditions they were faced with in France at the time.
Before we analyze what factor most influenced the start of the French Revolution, it must be acknowledged that although many factors had a role in the outbreak of the Revolution, not all factors were equally responsible. I believe that the political and social discrepancies within the country of France were the most significant element in leading up to the French Revolution. As explained before, many historians believe that the French Revolution was a result of the tensions felt within the Third Estate. This emphasis on a singular group in France’s political system limits one’s ability to fully analyze the tensions of the time. Instead, by taking place during a period of Enlightenment, the time of the French Revolution was a dynamic point in European History. Many accredit this enlightening as being what allowed the French commoners to evolve from being obedient laborers of the state to leaders of a countrywide revolt. However, regardless of what infused a sense of revolution in France’s societally-recognized lesser class, without general stratification of the country and the conditions that bred inequality, the newfound furor to revolt would not have sparked any interest. Others magnify the situation even moreso than looking at just the First or Second or Third Estate and look directly at the rule of Louis XVI as being the determining factor in the Revolution. Although the king ruled over France and held the most power, and even though
The French Revolution began with a corrupt monarch, and ended with the death of thousands. In 1789 the bourgeoisie (middle class) and peasants revolted against King Louis XVI and nobility, citing various reasons as cause: including corruption and a poor economy. These people, making up 97% of the population, were known as the third estate. The original purpose of the revolution was to create a constitutional monarchy, but this idea quickly became lost in the radical ideas of the revolution. However, the revolution, despite best efforts, failed. France once again had a complete monarchy. Many factors contributed in causing the unrest, and ultimately full blown revolution among the people of France. But, arguably, the three main causes of