French Revolution

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The French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in 1792, though certain people include Napoleon’s reign as part of the revolution, stating it ended in 1804. It was a time of confusion, disorder, and bloodshed. The commoners of France decided that they were being treated unjustly and planned to overthrow their king. The French Revolution was a long and terrible war, which promoted democracy and equality for the people of France and resulted, not only in the death of Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI, but with France becoming a more liberal country. This essay will investigate causes of the French Revolution such as enlightenment ideas, taxation and economical problems, and the political system of the time. It will be shown that there is not a single direct cause for the occurrence of the French Revolution, but many different reasons of varying importance.
The first and less important cause of the three was the enlightenment ideas of the time. Christianity was the dominant religion at the time and the clergy had a lot of power and were a heavy political influence as well as very wealthy. However, the church and most of the higher clergy were ignoring the problems of the poorer people of France, who they were supposed to be serving, and were criticized by Enlightenment writers like Voltaire. Enlightenment writers challenged the ways things had worked for years. The ancien regime was the political and social system of France before the French Revolution. Under the system, everyone was a subject to the king and people were sorted into three estates. Enlightenment writers and philosophers would question the old order and write about new political systems and a society where everyone would have equal amounts of power. Because of this, ...

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... Soon, King Louis XV had bankrupted the national treasury of France and had left the country in debt. By this time, the monarchs were being frowned upon, so when France was passed onto Louis XVI, people judged him quickly and deemed him a bad king who did not know how to deal with the country’s affairs. The people of France were tired of having kings who repeatedly ignored their problems and needs and were turning against the idea of absolutism, making it one cause of the French Revolution.
The last and most important cause was taxes. France’s involvement in the Seven Years’ War and the American War of Independence depleted the national treasury and left France with multiple debts. Queen Marie Antoinette’s love of the extravagant lifestyle and the large sum of money used to keep the palace at Versailles in good condition did nothing to help with the debts.

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