Essay on causes of french revoultionary war

Pre- revolution France was controlled by monarchy system in which all political affaires were solved by king, clergy men and aristocratic people. During that period, Louis XVI (1753- 1793) was a very ambitious king of France who spent large amount of money on his luxurious lifestyle. After Louis XVI had come into throne, the financial crisis of country has increased rapidly. Eventually, the King decided to have financial advisor named Charles de Calonne who helped him to solve the financial crisis. According to Calonne, “the total revenue for 1786 was amount to 475 million livres, but expenditure would probably total 587 million, which mean deficit of total 112 million, nearly one fourth of the total revenue”. To cover the expenditures, there were higher taxes imposed on commoners. The real weight of 1786 taxation was much higher as compared to 1715 crisis and, it was not the major burden for noble people as compared to non- noble’s people.

As France was in brink of bankruptcy, the King will propose a financial reform package that included an imposed tax on privileged classes. As an Estates-General was summoned that included three estates, the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners.

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.

After the seven years was the French monarchy was deeply in debt and unable to put its finances on a sound basis. French support of the American revolt against great britian deepened the financial difficulties of the government. France was a rich nation in which the inability to collect taxes led to an impoverished government. Peasants who had the least to spare, had the heaviest tax burden. They paid taxes not only to the king but also to the church and their local lords. Without increased taxation on the aristocracy and the church, there was no way the taxation of peasants alone could resolve Frances financial crisis.

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

Therefore, very few tax dollars were being collected as most commoners could not afford it. France began to go bankrupt as a result of the king and queen’s extravagant spending, as well as for these reasons. As a result of cultural/religious beliefs, people believed that a ruler given power by God would not let people starve, and struggle in every day of their life. Therefore, this created a socially unstable society, as people of the third estate were disgusted at the fact that they were dying, and the king was lavishly spending tax dollars. Furthermore, the third estate of France was composed of ninety-seven percent of all people in the country, and they were extremely unhappy. Especially because in government, the third estate (despite being much larger than the first and second) only had one vote as a whole, and were always overtaken by the first and second estates. Ninety-seven percent of the entire population of France did not have a say in decisions that were being

The French Revolution was caused by a number of factors, all of which contributed to substantial shifts in lifestyle, government and power in France from 1789 to 1799 . These factors included, population growth and a declining standard of living, both of which increased pressures on an inefficient economy. As well as writings and criticisms of the Royal government and Church, leading to harsher rule and subsequent rebellion. Also the efforts of the King and his ministers to reduce privileges, reform taxes, cut spending, and introduce free trade within France had all failed. Finally, the consistent power struggle that existed between the King, his nobles and eventually the entire population of France. These factors led to a period of time containing frequent power shifts and even more frequent death in a very unbalanced France. France’s Revolution lasted about a decade and in that time they will have solved many problems, but will have produced many more, leading to the rise of the Revolution’s son, Napoleon, and the subsequent revolutionary end he provided.

During the eighteenth century, France was one of the most richest and prosperous countries in Europe, but many of the peasants were not happy with the way France was being ruled. On July 14, 1789, peasants and soldiers stormed the Bastille and initiated the French Revolution. This essay will analyze the main causes of the French Revolution, specifically, the ineffectiveness of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the dissatisfaction of the Third Estate, and the Enlightenment. It will also be argued that the most significant factor that caused the French Revolution is the ineffective leadership of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

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.

The French Revolution was a violent and a transitional period in French history that shook both the continent of Europe and France itself. The French Revolution stemmed from a vast set of motives. The influences of the French Revolution were both internal due to the government of France, political divides, and an impoverished economy from wars and also externally from Enlightenment philosophy and the outcome of the American Revolution (Schwartz, “The French Revolution: Causes, Outcomes, Conflicting Interpretations.”Causes of the French Revolution). The results of the French Revolution are incalculable and can be influential today; however, there were immediate consequences that changed french culture, politics and government.

The Aristocracy maintained great power in the government when they refused to relinquish their privilege of paying a minimal amount in taxes. The government needed this money to help stabilize the dwindling economic conditions. They called a meeting of Notables to try to persuade the aristocracy to help the French

Another of the biggest problems during the french revolution was economic problems. These problems had to do with the american revolution along with the french revolution. The money in france at this time was in the first and second estates. The third estate had almost no money. The taxes in france were raised every time france was in need of money and this caused havoc with all the people in france. “Unlike the british, who had a system of public-supported poor relief, the French responded to poverty with ad hoc policies when conditions became acute.”(). Also money in france was going to america to support the American revolution and therefore the people in france were paying tax money that was not even benefiting them. “At a time when france was experiencing economic crisis, the government was drastically short of money. Yet french governmental extravagance continued to grow due to costly wars”.() Finally another major problem around economics in france at this time was food. During this time food was very valuable because not many people had money, the problem was that there was a drought meaning crops could not grow leaving

The French Revolution was a period of great change it France. It was marked with approximately 10 years of extreme political, social and economic change, brought on by a great unrest from the French public, more specifically the third estate. The French Revolution is often deemed as one of the most pivotal moment in Modern European and world history. It is commonly referred as a political revolution with social consequences .It was perhaps one of the most volatile moment in history, historians themselves often have trouble pinpointing specifically what caused the revolution, as so many factors played a role in the revolt. The French revolution was an economic revolt but not only itself a fiscal situation as a nation’s economy is a function of their society, and vice versa. As Frances economy switched from feudal to capitalism, all while their fiscal situation was in a rapid state of decay, this greatly changed their social situation. The French were being pulled in all directions, a new direction taken by some and with this changing many, through this we know that the French revolution was a socio-economic revolution.

In France during the 18th century, there was a system named the Ancien régime, which refers to the societal, economic and political structure of France before the French Revolution. At the top of the pyramid was the absolute monarch Louis XVI. He took the throne in 1774 and received it with problems that couldn’t be fixed. (French Revolution Overview 6) Below the king came the first estate which was made of 100,000 nobles. Then came the second estate was made of 300,000 clergy. Finally came the third estate which was made of the rest of France, which was 23.5 million people. 90 percent of that 23.5 million were peasants. The third estate’s taxes ensured the financial well-being of the state, clergy and nobles. (French Revolution Overview

The causes of the French Revolution of 1787-1789 (Solé 3) is a subject worthy of investigation because the revolt is an event of crucial importance in Western History. It marked the end of feudalism and the beginning of democracy in France, and can be seen as a turning point for liberty in Europe. To quote the German author Goethe, ‘From this place, and from this day, commences a new era in the world’s history’ (Wright 2). In 1774 when Louis XVI ascended the French throne, he had the potential, if he exerted strength, to rule absolutely over France (Hampson 24), a powerful European nation. Less than twenty years later his monarchy had been replaced by a revolutionary government (Rudé 34), and