Causes Of The French Revolution

“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.

As the Enlightenment began in the middle of the 17th century, people began to use reason rather than stick to tradition. New Enlightenment ideas spread throughout Europe such as ideas on government. Enlightenment thinkers such as Rousenan believed that the best government was one formed with the general consent of the people. Other Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire and Montesquieu believed in freedom of speech and a separation of power within the government. All of these ideas led to the French revolution. During the time period France was still an absolute monarchy under King Louis XVI, causing people to want change by implying new Enlightenment ideas. The revolution in France broke out in 1789 do to social, economical, and political issues including the growth of bourgeoisies, taxes were paid unevenly throughout the three Estates of France, and the Third Estate’s desire for a representative government.

Throughout History the Age of Enlightenment refers to the age of where people brought up new ideas, and thinking. In that period of time, they was philosopher, politician and intellectual. So people adapting to the idea lead up to the French revolution. During the Enlightenment they was a reinforcement on the political conflict between the monarchy and the nobility. The nobility are the people who belonged to the noble family, and the monarchy are people in the throne (King and Queen). Therefore the conflict between the head of the monarch and the nobility was about taxation. The French government was in a deep debt after fighting a war with the American, their king Louis the XVI forced the noble and the clergy to pay tax in order for them to pay their dept. As a result the nobility revolted. During the French revolution political, social and economic conflict is the events leading up to overthrow the king Louis the XVI and Marie-Antoinette which mark the reign of terror. First of all I will talk about the French revolution political, social and economic cause, then I will talk about the role of the Enlightenment then finally I will talk about the reign of terror how everything how everything ended.

One of the reasons for the French Revolution was new political ideas that was derived from Enlightenment. Philosophy that gave an effect to the Revolution developed over the half of century by Enlightenment philosophers, for instance Montesquieu, and Rousseau. Between 16th and 18th century, many revolutionary movements took place which tried to break an old custom throughout the Europe. Denied the privileges of the old custom, it allowed people to be a more rational, free, and equal. It was a flow of ideas that made people to be awaken from dogmatic authority and old tradition. The Enlightenment was the ideological base of modern civil revolution. Enlightenment had had an impact on the independence of the American and the French Revolution. This idea was brought a light by "Spirit of the Law" by Montesquieu and the Rousseau 's "Social Contract".

The French Revolution spread over ten years from 1789-1799 and was one of the most important events in the history of the world. The Revolution led to many changes in France. The Revolution led to the development of new political forces such as democracy and nationalism. It questioned the authority of kings, priests, nobles and eventually ridded itself of the monarchy in the nation. The Revolution also gave new meanings and new ideas to the political ideas of the people. The major cause of the French Revolution was the disputes between the different types of ideas, social classes and the changes in the political views.

Looking at the historical timeline, one can see that the French Revolution derived after the Enlightenment, which brought different ways of thinking, and different outlooks on government and society (553),(555),(558). The Enlightenment also changed the world of public debate, and established some ideas central to the French Revolution. The French Revolution of 1789 occurred due to government debt, class conflict, bankruptcy, the Enlightenment, and the rule of absolutism. These social, economic, and political conditions in France would ignite the start of the French Revolution (562). The Third Estate felt the need to eliminate the problems that was altering their growth in society in order to achieve political, economic, and social equality (564-566). The government at the time had serious financial problem that resulted in great taxations. The French spent too much money on wars, and too much money to keep up with their lavish lifestyles. Moreover, the economic depression at the time led to a recession in the areas of agriculture, trade, and manufacturing. As a result to of all these problems, the King became unable to re-establish control (564-565), (567), (569), (572).

A second cause of the French Revolution was the unlimited power of the monarchs.During the eighteenth century, France was the center of absolute monarchs. French Monarchs had unlimited power and declared themselves as having the divine right, where God has basically blessed this individual as being worthy to be king, Louis XIV was the exponent of this view.They engaged themselves in luxury and extravagance at the royal court of Versailles, they enjoyed unlimited power.By the letter de cachet, they arrested any person at any time and imprisoned them.They paid no attention to their starving

The start of the French Revolution was due to a build-up of inequalities, bankruptcy, and the influence of The Enlightenment and the American Revolution.

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,

The most important causes of the French revolution were the rising prices of food and having a bad harvest. Another reason for the French revolution was France being bankrupt and 400 million livres in debt which the royal mainly wasted on luxuries and France also waged some costly wars like the American Revolutionary war against the British. Another issue was taxes the peasant payed the king heavy tax and the feudal lord taxes which were too much for them. The important causes of the French revolution are France being bankrupt having bad harvest and third estate not having much political power because they are 98% of the population and didn’t have much power in the estate general.

By the 1780s, Frances excellent economy was in a major decline. The France was in need of a revolution. The French Revolution had many causes. Bad weather caused crop failure to sweep over the area, resulting in a shortage of grain. Food shortages lead to starvation and higher prices. When the cost of bread would rise, the starving third estate would steal from bread shops. Taxation was a major cause of the French Revolution. Louis nearly doubled the governments debt. To solve the debt problem, Louis decided to impose taxes to get out of debt. They called a meeting of the Estates General to approve this new tax. The heavy taxes made it almost impossible to run a successful business.The cost of living rose. The failure of having a great and

During the 18th century European governments were primarily monarchies. However, people were becoming fed up with the unfair policies monarchies imposed and wanted change. France was one of these countries and in 1789 a revolution broke out. The French Revolution helped bring change to France and all of Europe by ending monarchies and spreading new ideas of democracy.

During 1789, the French Revolution broke out against totalitarian rule and extreme poverty suffered by French civilians. France was under the absolute control of Louis XVI who gathered groups of nobles, clergy, and other royal families in certain cities. The corrupt French royal families in those cities were squandering nearly 75% of France’s wealth and in addition to the expense of royal classes, other wealthy classes such as landlords, local government, and churches were not taxed which made taxes on middle and lower class civilians unprecedentedly high. Under high economic pressure, the harvest was destitute, and the royal families were hoarding spare crops and allowed the lower class to suffer from the hunger that was causing their

The French Revolution was a revolt from the people in France that lasted from 1789-1799. The people of France wanted to be treated fairly and wanted justice for the commoners the only way they could achieve this was through a revolution. The French Revolution caused many reforms throughout France. These reforms have affected the people of France, and the surrounding nations of France. The French Revolution was considered a major turning point in history.

The period between 1685 and 1815 is known as the Age of Enlightenment. This period brought new ideas and beliefs to Europe. The new ideas would help people at the time question what was going on in Europe for over one hundred years. The ideas that came from the enlightenment would still be changing people’s minds well into the 21st century. These ideas and beliefs would cause a revolution in France, causing the French Revolution (1789 to 1799). “The French Revolution actualized the Enlightenment's greatest intellectual breakthrough: detaching the political from the theocratic” (Mishra 3). By the peasants realizing things were unfair with Nobles, Kings, and other high social figures at the time were getting there way, like not having to pay taxes. The Enlightenment is what fueled the French Revolution, by people having new ideas about social justice.