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Causes of the French Revolution of 1789
The French Revolution of 1789 had many long-range causes. Political, social, and economic
conditions in France contributed to the discontent felt by many French people-especially those of
the third estate. The ideas of the intellectuals of the Enlightenment brought new views to
government and society. The American Revolution also influenced the coming of the French
Revolution. The Philosophes planted the seeds for the French Revolution. Their goals were to expose
and destroy the inequalities of the ancient regime (old order).
The political discontent of France was one of the causes of the Revolution. In the 17th and 18th
centuries, France was ruled by an absolute government. The king had all the political powers.
Anyone who criticized the government could be arrested and put in prison without trial. Louis XVI
was king at the time of the French Revolution. He was more interested in hunting than governing
France. He and his Austrian queen, Marie Antoinette, lived an extravagant life at the Palace of
Versailles. They did not really care about the state of their country. The excerpt from the cahiers
mentioned in document 3 shows that the votes in the assembly were not taken by head. The people
of the 3rd estate felt a sense of betrayal when the king supported the block voting over the head
voting. The first two estates worked together to outvote the large third estate to keep them from
becoming a threat to the power. Lord Acton, an Englishmen, states that the monarchy being
overthrown wasn't the spark of the Revolution. He recognizes the American Independence as the
spark of the French Revolution. The French government was inefficient, unjust and corrupt. There
were numerous government departments, different laws in different parts of the country and
officials. Many people became livid at the way France was governed. The people couldn't do
anything to bring about a change. The French Parliament was called the Estates-General. It had not
met since 1614 and couldn't without the consent of the king. It basically had no power.
The economic problems created by the French kings also contributed to the Revolution. During the
18th century, the French government spent more money than it collected in taxes. By 1788, the
country was bankrupt. Arthur Young, an Englishmen and observer, who travelled to France from
1787 to 1789 angrily describes the living conditions of the peasants in his book Travels in France. The
amount of tax each person must pay is unfair. Landholders found in the nobility weren't taxed much.
The landholders found in the commoners were taxed heavily. There was lack of bread. The price of
bread was a lot higher then one's ability to pay which caused great misery for the people of France.
Most of the money was spent on wars. France had been at war for nearly 50 years out of the
previous one hundred years. France supported the Americans in the American War of the
Independence. After that, France was in financial ruins. A large sum of money was also spent on
palaces, entertainment and gifts by the kings of France. The government spent a lot of money which
put forth high taxes. The tax system was unjust. The nobles and the clergy hardly paid any tax. The
Church owned one-tenth of the land in France and did not pay any taxes. The peasants were the
victims of the heavy taxation. Louis XVI tried to reform the taxation system but the nobility and the
clergy refused to accept the new reforms. Therefore, the king was unable to make any financial
reforms. The gabelle, salt tax, was also levied by the French Kings. When Jacques Turgot tried to
impose the corvee, tax on land property, he was opposed by the nobility. He failed to pass the
corvee and was dismissed by Louis XVI..
Social problems were also a major factor that brought about the French Revolution. In the 18th
century, France was a feudal country with class divisions. People were divided into three estates.
The First Estate consisted of the clergy. The Second consisted of the nobility, and the Third included
the bourgeoisie, the city workers and the peasants. The state you belonged to decided your power
and rights. Document 2 shows the social class distinctions. The first estate was made up of 1% of the
people and owned 10% of the land in France. The second estate consisted of 2% of the people and
owned 35% of the land. The third estate held 97% of the people who owned 55% of the land. The
people-to-land proportion was unjust looking at the amount of people in each estate. The third
estate held very little land compared to the amount of people it had. It was overcrowded. The first
and the second estate were the privileged classes. They clergy and the nobility were exempt from
many taxes. They had to pay about four-fifths of their income on tax. They also needed to pay the
land tax: also the taxes on property, roads, and salt. The third estate was the most discontented
class. The bourgeoisie were well educated. They were strongly influenced by the ideas of Voltaire
and Rousseau who attacked the injustices of the time. Rousseau believed that people are basically
good but become corrupted by society. In an ideal society, people would make the laws and would
obey them willingly. Probably the most famous of the philosophes was Francois-Marie Arouet who
took the name Voltaire. He used biting wit as a weapon to expose the abuses of his day. He targeted
corrupt officials and idle aristocrats. With his pen, he battled inequality, injustice, and superstition.
He detested the slave trade and deplored religious prejudice. They resented the privileges of the
nobility and wanted a larger role in state affairs. City workers were angry because their wages were
not enough to buy goods when prices were going up rapidly. The peasants made up 80% of the
population and had to pay heavy taxes. In his book The French Revolution, Albert Mathiez states
that the Revolution was caused by the middle classes. The working classes weren't able to control or
start the Revolution. They were just starting to learn how to read. French peasants were subject to
certain feudal dues, called banalities. These included the required used-for-payment of the lord's
mill to grind grain and his oven to bake bread. The lord could also require a certain number of days
each year of the peasant's labor. Peasants were targeted by society. They couldn't do anything on
their own or try to fight back.
The French Revolution was caused by social, political and economic problems. People were in
discontent with the king. The first two estates were privileged and the third was very unprivileged
and had to pay heavy taxes. The third estate did not get along with the first two. French kings spent
a lot of money on wars. They spent more money than they made. It was time for a change in France.