Causes of the French Revolution

Delve into the complex web of causes that fueled the French Revolution with this meta description. Uncover the political, social, and economic factors that fueled the discontent of the French population, from the burden of taxation and economic inequality to the suppression of political freedoms by an absolutist monarchy. Explore how Enlightenment ideals of freedom and equality ignited the revolutionary spark that led to pivotal events such as the storming of the Bastille. This meta description offers a brief overview of the multifaceted causes that coalesced into revolutionary fervor and forever changed the course of French and world history.

Causes of the French Revolution

Historical Facts	Causes of the French Revolution
Economic Inequality	Influence of the American Revolution
Social Injustice	The rigid social structure, where the Third Estate faced discrimination and lacked political power,
Enlightenment Ideas	Influence of Enlightenment thinkers advocating for liberty, equality, and fraternity.
Financial Crisis	France’s economic difficulties included debt from wars and extravagant royal spending.
Weak Leadership	Corruption within the monarchy and the Estates General hinders effective governance.
Political Corruption	Corruption within the monarchy and the Estates General hinders effective governance.
Crop failures and food scarcity lead to widespread suffering.	France’s economic difficulties included debt from wars and extravagant royal spending.
Famine and Food Shortages	The success of the American Revolution inspired French citizens to seek political change.

Introduction

The French Revolution of 1789 was a significant event in the history of the modern world that began in 1787 and ended in 1799. This revolution started against the feudal mode of economy, autocratic monarchy, excessive economic exploitation, class privilege, and apathy of the king towards the citizens of France. French Revolution Inspired by liberal and radical ideas, the overthrow of the monarchy influenced the decline of absolute monarchies in other parts of Europe.

Causes of the French Revolution of 1789

The main causes that led to the French Revolution are as follows:

(1) Political causes of the French Revolution

The political causes of the French Revolution are that King Louis XVI of France was despotic, and due to his indiscreet policies, the colonies of India and America were removed from France, and France was crushed in the Seven Years’ War. Added to this was the king and the rest of the nobility’s extravagant lifestyle that began through the treasury.

(2)  Social Causes of the French Revolution

Social Causes of the French Revolution is to say that French society was divided into three categories. The first estate included the clergy, the second the aristocracy, and the third the peasant worker and middle class, comprising merchants and the intelligentsia. The first and second estates were the privileged class, and the third was exploited. They were exploited by kings, feudatories, and clergy. This divided them into two classes, the exploiting class, and the exploited class, and increased the discontent between them.

(3) Religious Discontent

There were more than a hundred thousand religious priests in France at that time. The lives of some priests were so rich that some did not even have two meals a day. Churches held more than 40% of the total land, and poor people were running out of land for agriculture. A religious tax called the tithe, which was voluntary, was collected by force. This increased public discontent.

(4) Economic causes of the French Revolution

The economic causes of the French Revolution are to say that, from an economic point of view, the situation in France at that time was worse than in the rest of Europe. The main reasons were the heavy expenditure on warfare, corruption, sovereign taxation, and the extravagant life of the monarchy. The first and second farms were exempt from taxation. Income and expenses were not counted for the first two estates. The Seven Years’ War emptied the treasury. When King Louis XIV won the throne, inherited an empty treasury. During the reign of Louis XVI, France supported the American colonies in their struggle for freedom. War expenses added another debt of 1 billion livres (a unit of currency in France until 1794) to the already existing 2 billion livres.

The 10% interest on the war debts continued to increase, which pressured the French government to raise the country’s tax rates. Along with several indirect taxes on daily necessities such as salt and tobacco, direct taxes called taille were levied by the government. The first and second estates were exempted from paying taxes, and the entire burden fell on the third estate. On the one hand, where peasants had to bear the burden of taxes, the working class did not receive wages on time, pushing them further into poverty.

(5) Rise of the Middle Class

Farmers and workers could not resist the French elite. The newly created middle class of society made up for this deficiency. This middle class included thinkers, teachers, merchants, lawyers, doctors, etc. They were neither extremely rich nor poor and thus had a unique political significance similar to the merchants of the Roman Empire.

(6) Influence of the Enlightenment

At this time, France was going through a period of renaissance. Philosophers and writers in France awakened French society by exposing the celebration of France’s ancient traditions. Among these scholars, the names of Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu are particularly noteworthy. These views spread like wildfire among the peasantry and working class and functioned as the ideological backbone of the French Revolution.

(7) Tax Burden of the Third Estate

The First Estate in France, or the Ministry, owned 10% of the land but comprised less than 0.5% of the population. It was exceptionally good and paid no fees. It had many honors, including a number of bids. Tithes were one-tenth of the annual production or income taken as a reward for helping the church. The second estate, or aristocrats, owned about 25% of the land. They were excluded from many assessments and allowed to collect benefits from the workers. Interestingly, the Third Estate had to pay severe assessments while the other two were excluded. This alarmed the Third Estate, prompting them to investigate this vile estate system and intend to oust it.

(8) Rise of the Bourgeoisie

The Bourgeoisie were the rich people of the third estate who became persuasive in the years that led to the uprising. They worked their way up to another rank with their own agenda and political desires. The bourgeoisie hated the place of the First and Second Estates, which they recognized as having been won by their efforts. They also tried to strike a political balance with the other two domains. The desire of the bourgeoisie to be free from medieval and royal infringements on their freedom, business opportunities, and responsibilities was one of the reasons that fueled the French Revolution.

(9) Currency crisis caused by costly wars

For the whole 1800 years, France was interested in the course of costly conflicts, especially against its protracted rival, Great Britain. Louis XV, who ruled France from 1715 to 1774, lost the Seven Years’ War against Britain. He then pulled the arrangement to retaliate for the mishap by building a larger naval force and an enemy of Britain’s alliance partners. Be that as it may, this man has brought with him a pile of liabilities. Louis XVI, grandson of Louis XV. followed in 1774, then fought with France in the American War of Independence against Britain. However, the US won the conflict, nd France gained little from it. French aid in the conflict was costly, costing 1.066 million French lives, a huge sum at the time.

(10) Unusual weather and poor harvests in previous years

In June 1783, Laki’s lava flow in Iceland erupted, sending volcanic debris high into the air in Europe. This caused a severe winter in Europe in 1784, and the accompanying summers included outrageous droughts that caused crop failures and famine. At that point, France experienced another series of bad harvests in 1787 and 1788, with outrageous winters. 10 years of outrageous weather patterns and unfortunate harvests have taken their toll on the hapless workers in France trying to get by each day. The workers’ disappointment spurred them to revolt.

(11) Rise in the cost of bread

The situation in France worsened when bad harvests caused a decisive increase in the cost of flour, which increased the price of bread. Bread was a staple food for most of the French population, and antiquarians have estimated that common laborers in France spent up to 90% of their daily wages on bread. Louis XVI liberalized the grain market, but this brought a further increase in the price of bread. The bread-and-butter rise seriously affected ordinary French people, who resented the rulers for not being able to solve the food shortage.

(12) Inadequate leadership of Louis XV. and Louis XVI

In France, as in most other European countries, the ruler is governed by the heavenly right of the lords. In this way, he was not accountable to his subjects. However, the Enlightenment architects’ thinking methods made the public think in unexpected ways. LouXV neglected to overcome the monetary problems facing France. He was unable to organize clashes at court to show up for reasonable monetary approaches. Louis XVI then tried to achieve revolutionary changes at that point but failed miserably. The poor financial condition of the country drove most of them mad and they began to distrust their ruler. Furthermore, both Louis XV and his grandson were aware of the enemy of the royalist powers who were undermining their family’s standards but were unable to stop them.

(13) Successful opposition of parliaments to reforms

Several French clerics, including Anne Robert Jacques Turgot and Jacques Necker, proposed modifications to the French spending framework to include aristocrats as citizens. This could have reduced the country’s monetary emergency and lessened the resentment of the poor, as the expenditure framework would have become even larger. The Parliament in France was a common revising court. They were not official bodies but were composed of reworking judges. Parliaments were the points of protection of honesty against famous changes and prevented any change in the determination of the tax which involved seriousness.

(14) Extravagant lifestyle of the French monarchy

The rich use of extravagance, first by Louis XV. and then by Louis XVI, intensified the monetary emergency facing the country and was one of the fundamental explanations for the transformation. For example, the development and rebuilding of the Palace of Versailles during the 17th and 18th centuries brought enormous costs to the country. This enormous use by the French government caused disillusionment among individuals who began to perceive its bosses as ineffective, which they experienced due to the country’s poor financial situation. This sparked public agitation and eventually revolution.

(15) Financial Crisis of the 1780s

The financial crisis of the 1780s was a period of economic turmoil that began with the bankruptcy of the French East India Company in 1785. This led to a sharp rise in the price of bread, which led to riots. in Paris and other cities. The financial crisis deepened when King Louis XVI attempted to implement austerity measures, including tax increases and government spending cuts. This led to further unrest and eventually the storming of the Bastille and the start of the French Revolution.

(16) Political Crisis of the 1780s

The political crisis of the 1780s was a period of turmoil in the French government. The main cause of the crisis was the financial problems of the state, which led to a series of protests by the people. Other causes of the crisis were corruption in the government and the growing power of the king. A number of factors caused the state’s financial problems. First, much was spent on wars, which drained resources from the state. Second, there was a decline in tax revenues due to the economic recession. Third, there was an increase in government borrowing, which further increased its debt burden.

Corruption in government was another major cause of the political crisis of the 1780s. Officials in the government were accountable to no one and abused their power for personal gain. This led to resentment among people who felt they were being taken advantage of by their own government. A third cause of the political crisis of the 1780s was the growing power of the king. The king had absolute power and used it to promote his own interests, not those of his subjects. This has led to a feeling among the people that they are not run democratically.

(17) Causes of the storming of the Bastille

The storming of the Bastille was one of the defining moments of the French Revolution. It was a symbol of the power of the people and showed that the people would no longer tolerate the rule of King Louis XVI. There were many reasons for the storming of the Bastille. One reason was a growing feeling among people that they deserved more say in how their country was run. The King of France had absolute power and was answerable to no one but himself. This frustrated and angered many people who felt they should have a say in how their country was run. Another reason for the conquest of the Bastille was economic inequality. The rich got richer while the poor got poorer. This led to resentment and frustration among those struggling to make ends meet. Finally, another reason for the storming of the Bastille was fear. People feared that King Louis XVI would use his army to crush any rebellion against him. They were also afraid that he would take away their rights and freedoms. These fears led to paranoia and eventually violence.

(18) Causes of the Women’s March on Versailles

The Women’s March on Versailles was a turning point in the French Revolution. On October 5, 1789, a large group of women from Paris and the surrounding area marched to the Palace of Versailles to demand justice for the high price of bread. The women met resistance from the guards, but eventually made it into the palace. The march was a response to the growing economic crisis in France. Bread was one of the most important foodstuffs and its price had tripled since 1788. The cost of living rose, but wages did not. This put enormous pressure on working families who were already struggling to make ends meet. The Women’s March on Versailles signaled the transfer of power from the monarchy to the people. It was an act of defiance that ultimately led to the downfall of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Conclusion

The Revolution unified France and strengthened the power of the nation-state. The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars tore down the ancient fabric of Europe, accelerated the rise of nationalism, and ushered in the era of modern total warfare. The beginning of nationalism in Europe can be traced back to the French Revolution in 1789. France had an absolute monarchy, which meant that the king had complete power. But during the revolution, people wanted change. Their goal was to replace the rule of the king with a system where power belonged to the citizens through a republic or constitutional monarchy. Although few in France were wealthy, the revolution gave everyone a chance to have a say in how the country was run.

(FAQ) Questions and Answers about the Causes of the French Revolution