French Revolution Causes

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

There are very few members in the first and second estates, yet they owned the most land, while the third estate made up most of the population, yet owned very little land. “First: Clergy - 1% of the people owned 10% of the land. Second Estate: Nobles - 2% of the people owned 35% of the land. Third Estate - Middle class, peasants, city workers 97% of the people owned 55% of the land.” (Document 2) There were high prices, high taxes, and people were listening to enlightenment ideas. Louis XVI decided to tax the Second Estate. They called a meeting of the Estates-General - an assembly of representatives from all three estates. (ROI) In addition, as a political cause, the third estate had no privileges or say in the government,while both the clergy and nobles did. As mentioned before, the inequality of taxes proved another gap in the social classes. “The Revolution had been accomplished in the minds of men long before it was translated into fact.... The middle class...was sensitive to their inferior legal position. The Revolution came from them-the middle class. The working classes were incapable of starting or controlling the Revolution. They were just beginning to learn to read.” (Document 4) Estates- General was the first such meeting in 175 years. Met on May 5th,1789 in Versailles. In the Estate- General each estate had one vote. (ROI)

“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.

After a of strong democratic ideals, equality throughout the country and enlightenment, France fell into a political, social and economic turmoil. The year of 1787 mark the beginning of the French upheaval causing the most significant and important landmark in human history. Through harsh monarchies, poverty spreading through the nation and pushing for Enlightenment ideals, France was in true hardship. What was the main causes of this? Due to unfair treatment within the Estates, with a monarch who ruled with absolute power and an economic downfall due to large amounts of debt, the people of France rebelled, causing the French Revolution.

The French Revolution is said to have a number of causes. It was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799, and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the empire. The main causes of the French Revolution was the political, economic, and social problems happening in the society during this time. One of the causes of the French Revolution of the political tension going on during the time.

In France, the social classes consisted of three estates: First, Second, and Third. The First Estate consisted of the clergy (religious officials), who were considered the highest on the social ladder. They only consisted of .5% of the population yet were the most powerful (Doc. 2). The Second Estate were 1.5% of the population and consisted of nobles who held the top jobs of government, army, and courts (Doc. 2). Finally, The Third Estate were 98% of the population and consisted of the bourgeoisie, or the middle class, and peasants (Doc. 2). When the Estates

Before the French Revolution took place the people were oppressed by their king, Louis XVI. The irresponsible king did not call upon parliament for advice, instead ignoring Parliament for many years. This rule of no regulation by Louis XVI made the people see how unfair the circumstances were and put their laws and government into perspective for the way they were living. Because of the neglectfulness of the king, the people were left without another power to keep the balance over their neglectful King. Without Parliament’s influence on the King, the third estate was accessed unfair

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 major cause of the old regime were the taxes and laws between the three estates. As seen in Document 2, “the 3rd estate paid 50% of income in taxes while the 1st and 2nd paid less than 5%” (Doc 2). This clearly shows that the most populated estate, the third estate, paid half of their income as their taxes. Larger amounts of taxes the third estate paid versus the lower amount of taxes for the first and second estates. Another significant cause was the unequal three estates and the third estate was overpowered. The third estate had more power in laws and taxes and their relationship with the lower estates were not good. As demonstrated in Document 7, the cartoon of the “The political and social system in France” (Doc 7). This cartoon proves the relationship between the third estate and the two lower estates. The lower estates didn’t have anything to do with taxes and laws and the third estates were all in laws and taxes. The final

Taxing systems in Pre-Revolutionary France were disproportionate and unfair to the third estate as they paid a majority of everything, although they were the less wealthy. The third estate was taxed more than any other estate, they paid for all of the kings functions and his queens bad habit. This is supported by a source that shows the income and the spending of the French Crown. It states that only 14.9 million livres were spent on public works, whereas 42 million livres were spent on the royal household. The taxing systems in Pre-Revolutionary France provided a significant reason for the downfall of King Louis XVI and the French Monarchy.

<br>The composition of society was a major contributing factor to the tensions and conflicts generated under the old regime. Society was divided into Three Estates, the first Estate comprised of the clergy (1%), the nobility, and rest of the population was classified as the Third Estate. Not only was the Third Estate heterogeneous, comprising of the bourgeoise (lawyers, doctors, intellectuals, businessman, the traders, merchants, factory owners), peasants, and beggars, but all three Estates. Their were many distinguishing factors that set the three Estates apart. The first two Estates were associated with the monarchy and

Under the absolute monarchy, there was a divide between the three estates with the third estate, which

The Nobility had long been discouraged by their loss of rights. They worked hard at getting themselves in positions of power that surrounded the monarchy. The special concern of the nobles was to see that the King did not introduce tax reform. They wanted more political power to make sure events like this did not happen. While they denounced the monarchy’s absolutism they wanted to set up their own form of it.

At this time in France, however, the monarch is the one in charge of ruling the country and the first estate is the only social class with any real political power. Thus, Louis XVI is in charge of the well-being of France while the majority of France’s population are left without a say in the country’s affairs. In addition to this lack of power, the majority of the people in France see Louis XVI as an incompetent leader. He and the queen had been spending large amounts of money and were running out quickly. To address this issue, Louis XVI decided that he was going to tax the nobility to make up for the rate at which money was being spent. Spurred by the lack of ability in their country’s leader, the people of France forced their king to call for a meeting of the estates-general, an assembly of representatives from all three estates. The focus of the meeting was to discuss the approval of this new tax that was going to be imposed on the nobility of France. According to the rules of the assembly, each estate would gather in separate halls to discuss the topic of the meeting and each estate was entitled to one vote. In the past, the clergy

France's absolute monarchy had many changes toward the end of the eighteenth century. Louis XIV, in his attempts to centralize his authority and also lessen the power of the aristocrats, had planned out an intendant system. The intendants were like governors. They would oversee one region of the country. These intendants did not govern the region in which they lived and were chosen from other than the aristocracy. This insured that