How Did Poverty Cause The French Revolution

Poverty is not enough to cause a revolution and the French Revolution supports Goldstones belief. The French Revolution of 1789 was a long time coming and had many long-term causes other than the specific condition of poverty in the country. During the time leading up to the Revolution, there were bad political, social, and economic conditions in France which together contributed to the discontent felt by the majority of French people, mostly those of the third estate. The ideas of the intellectuals of the Enlightenment also brought new views to government and society. It is important to realize the Revolution was not caused by one singular event, but rather it was caused by the conglomeration of many problems over many years.
A cause of the

Revolution may be attributed to the overall political discontent in France at the time. France was governed by an absolute King in the 17th and 18th centuries; the king held all 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, and he did not care about the state of the country. While the people of France struggled to live a decent life, he and his Austrian queen, Marie Antoinette, spent their time living royally in Versailles. The large bureaucracy had numerous departments and countless governmental roles, all filled by people with money who only cared for people with money and themselves, which inherently meant the French government was inefficient, unjust and corrupt. The third estate could do nothing to bring about a change because there simply had no power or pull on the rich government officials which led to massive discontent and anger with the way France was governed. Not only did the people not have any say in what government officials were doing, but the Estates-General had no power as they could not meet without the consent of the king, which was not since 1614.
Political problems were not the only cause of the French Revolution-the economic problems created by the French kings also contributed to the eventual Revolution.

Although Goldstone believes poverty is not the only cause of revolution, poverty is a key cause to remember. The old regime had a bad habit during the 18th century-the government spent more money than it collected by taxation, which led to their bankruptcy in 1788. While there was almost no bread to be had by commoners, massive amounts of money was spent on wars. Out of the previous one hundred years, France was at war for fifty of them. After supporting the Americans in their fight for independence, France was in financial ruins. The governments high spending led to the high taxation which the nation’s people couldn’t sustain. Arthur Young, an English agriculturalist of the time, traveled to France from 1787 to 1789 and angrily describes the living conditions of the third estate in his book Travels in France. He observed how unfair the taxes were; peasants and common landowners were taxed exuberantly. In contrast, the nobles and the clergy paid low taxes if any at all. 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. France had a political system that was unfair and

unsustainable.
In addition to the political and economic issues of the time, social problems were also a major factor to create revolution. During the 18th century, the French social system was feudalistic with class divisions. The rights and privileges you had completely depended on your class. The first two estates, which consisted of clergy and nobility, made up about three percent of the population but owned forty-five percent of the land in France. The third estate, consisting of bourgeoisie, city workers and peasants, had ninety-seven percent of the people who owned only fifty-five percent of the land. These numbers speak to the lopsided division of wealth; the third estate owned very little land considering the amount of people that belonged to the estate.
The ideas of Enlightenment thinkers influenced the third estate by attacking the injustices of the time. Voltaire targeted corrupt officials and nobles by using his wit to battle inequality and injustice. The third estate resented the privileges of the nobility and wanted a larger role in state affairs. The City workers were angry because their wages were not enough to buy goods when prices were going up rapidly. The working classes were not able to control or start the Revolution. 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 could not do anything on their own or try to fight back.
The French Revolution was caused by social, political and economic problems. The reasons for the revolution are muddled and complex brought on by years of problems. Poverty was a key cause of the French Revolution, but not the singular cause. People were in discontent with the regime because of many reasons the first two estates were privileged while the third estate payed heavy taxes. The estates did not get along due to the divide in thinking and lack of respect for other estates. French kings spent a lot of money on wars and spent much more money than they had.

Doyle, William. The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: New York. 2001.
Goldstone, Jack A. Revolutions: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: New York. 2014.
Gottschalk, Louis. Causes of Revolution. University of Chicago Press. 1944.