Causes Of The French Revolution

The high costs of maintaining the army and navy exacerbated the situation, along with the lavish lifestyle of King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie-Antoinette. Louis appointed Charles de Calonne as comptroller-general to solve France’s financial crisis. Calonne knew that the only way to get France out of debt was to fairly distribute the tax burden among the three estates. Of course, this did sit well with the nobility and Calonne was dismissed after giving his presentation at the Assembly of Notables. In a desperate act, Louis called the Estates General. The Estates General was an ancient practice that had not been called since 1614. Events there would prove to be the beginning of the revolution proper. France suffered under years of inept and self-serving monarchs. Louis XVI was preceded by his grandfather, Louis XV. It was his loss of public opinion and war spending that put his grandson in such a precarious position in the years after his reign. The rule of Louis XVI would prove to be a doomed one. He was ousted after a comparatively short 17 years. The outdated political system gave way to a constitutional monarchy, and when that failed, the French Republic. This Republic however would not prove to last. Feudalism was the whole of existence for rural commoners in the time before the revolution. Farmers had no right to the land they worked and lived on. Serfs were beholden to their manor lord

There were many causes and events leading up to the French Revolution in 1789. Before the Revolution, France had been involved in many expensive wars, especially the American War of Independence, causing financial difficulties and debts which were increased through the expensive upkeep of the Royal Family and their courts. At this time the Age of Enlightenment was occurring and new ideas, challenging the Ancien Regime and the Absolute right to rule, were emerging. The monarch of the time, King Louis XVI, was a weak monarch who was incapable of making decisions and sticking to them. King Louis XIV was also incapable of using his powers in a way to spark fear and gain control of those under his power. As a

“Let them eat cake” is a very popular quote that you may have heard before. It was supposedly said by the Queen of France, Marie-Antoinette, during the late 18th century in the middle of an outbreak known as the French Revolution. There were many causes that lead to the Revolution, including the third estate´s predicament. They struggled with being denied basic rights, over taxation, and neglect from the monarchy.

France before the French Revolution was incredibly unstable and was facing multiple problems in the society. Louis XVI ruled France with absolutism, this caused political problems to arise. For example, in document one it states “He controlled the expression of thought by strict censorship…” Louis XVI appointed military officials, made the laws, and had power over society. Citizens of France found it unfair that Louis could control the government and the way of life in

To begin with, King Louis XVI did not know how to make informed decisions on his own accord, much less be responsible for an enire country’s well being. This led to the rise in taxes in the third estate, since Louis XVI chose to under tax the nobles and clergy. This sent France coming into great unrest as they requested “that the taille (a tax on land) be borne equally by all classes” (Doc C). Furthermore, the third estate was outraged as they could not even afford one loaf of bread and the king would eat himself into obesity. It was the king’s ignorance that truly brought his downfall in the eyes of the people, and ultimately, the downfall of

The kingdom of France was ruled by an Ancient Régime of the Monarchy, the clergy and the nobility for centuries and centuries. During the XVIII there was a lot of inequality between the moneyed and powerful clergy and the commoners. All the inequality of the time caused the French Revolution, a period in which the people gave an end the absolute monarchy and took control of the Government. There were two main reasons the French Revolution started; the Enlightenment Ideas and the social inequality of the moment. The commoners outraged and fought against Louis XVI and the absolute monarchy of the moment.

In the late eighteenth century France was one of the most powerful countries in Europe. This all changed with the French Revolution which began in 1789 (Lefebvre 1). The French Revolution dramatically changed France politically and culturally. I will apply Lawrence Stone’s model to the French Revolution to examine how France’s debt, the unpopularity of the nobles and monarch, and the formation of the National Assembly led to the outbreak of the French Revolution.

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.

At the head of the beginning the French Revolution was the current king, Louis XVI, to whom had little idea of how to solve problems that were increasing very much so in the years before the Revolution. Some of the major problems that Louis XVI could not seem to face included the vast food shortages, so much debt from helping to support the American Revolution (due to the French’s need to lessen England, who at the time was above them from a political standpoint) and that there were certain religious intolerances, not to mention the tensions that were growing between the three estates.

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.

During the eighteenth century there was one central political cause for the French Revolution. King Louis XVI was a weak ruler who endured a lavish lifestyle. He disregarded the people’s needs, leaving much of the French population in discontent. Prior to the revolution the form of government was Absolute monarchy led by Louis XVI. The problem with absolute monarchy was that people were denied basic rights, and a say in government because the divine right theory was abused. The King ruled by the divine right of theory which

This paper will discuss the main cause and/or causes of the French Revolution. Two of the main causes of the French revolution as well inequality as gender roles. History shows that the American Revolution was quite different form the French. The American Revolution expressed tension of a colonial relationship with a distant imperial power, French was driven sharp conflicts within the French society. Another was the French Revolution different from the American was its influence spread.

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

In the French Revolution, many contributing factors helped give birth to this messy revolution. These Factors included an unfair social system that gave privileges to the first estate, which was the clergy, and the second estate, which was the nobleman. The Rights included special positions, in which only higher classes could obtain, and most importantly an exempt from all taxation. For this reason, citizens in lower, third class France were rightfully upset. Another reason for rebellion was political reasons. Citizens of France had no voice or power in the absolute, French Monarchy. In addition to all of this, the King of France, Louis XVI, made thoughtless decisions that only helped fuel the fire for the revolt. While King Louis XVI’s abundantly senseless choices may be the easiest and most obvious target for the key element of rebellion, it is not the correct choice. The component that was the match, in which lighted all of the fiery concerns of the French Revolution, was The Enlightenment, and without it, none of these problems would have surfaced from the people of France.

Throughout history, there were many revolutions that spurred a new look on Government. One of these was the French Revolution, which included a furious lower class, a weak King, Louis XVI, a crashing economy and eventually Napoleon’s reign. This led to significant changes to surrounding countries and in the political structure of France.