French Revolution Causes

The French Revolution evolved to be a very important time in history because it forever changed the face of France. The revolution was caused by several conditions which greatly impacted the change of France. The causes that contributed to the French Revolution were the political, social, and economic conditions of the years leading up to 1789. Those factors not only induced many events during the revolution but also the ideas from the Enlightenment era sparked the minds of many French civilians. It is clear that the French Revolution was inevitable due to the many circumstances lingering at that time. France’s political condition was something the French had been extremely displeasured about for countless years. Their political stance
France’s social structure was an aspect of society that majority of the French were greatly displeasured about. The social structure was very unbalanced during the Old Regime. The majority of the Third Estate third estate was going hungry and only as time went on poverty kept increasing. It was also clear that as time went on that the nobles and the clergy were only seeking more privileges than what they already had. As if the Third Estate couldn't have any more burdens put on their lives, there was also a food shortage occurring that would completely shock the whole nation. The harvest season the year before was so “disastrous” that it’s effects were greatly “felt” and because of that bread prices quickly rose (Price 77). When that occurred, the poverty stricken people had a difficult time trying to provide for themselves along with their families. This enraged the Third Estate because while they were suffering horribly, the First and Second estates were living luxuriously and were able to afford the sky rocketing food prices. From there, the angered civilians had enough reasons to act out and because of that they lashed out against the higher ups. "The third estate seemed intent not just on removing fiscal inequality, but on undermining the entire social order” (Price 60). The Third Estate felt very strong about how they have been mistreated
King Louis XIV left France with an enormous pile of debt to be paid due to his luxurious life style, countless wars, and much more. From there, when Louis XVI reigned during those years, there was huge upset throughout the whole county because the debt only began to increase more than ever because the constant involvement of more wars and unnecessary spendings. The only way in King Louis’ mind to clear some of the debt was to tax the people of France. When he proposed the idea of increasing the tax system many were against it. When the countless taxes were given out the burden of paying them were towards the Third Estate. The Third Estate paid all of the taxes all the way from the church taxes to salt taxes. On the other hand, the First and Second Estates, were exempt from taxes and had no obligated dues directed towards the country of France. The only “burden” they had was to support the Old Regime and the monarchy of course. It was clear that the tax system needed a rapid change but the church and nobles rejected that idea. They rejected the concept because to them, being taxed would have been something they would label as unethical but it was fine if the taxes were directed towards the Third Estate. “The distribution of the tax burden was only part of the problem. In particular, the administration of direct and indirect taxes was both inefficient and corrupt” (Price