Causes of the French Revolution

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What were the 5 causes of the French Revolution?

The causes can be narrowed to five main factors: the Estate System, Absolutism, ideas stemming from the Enlightenment, food shortages, and The American Revolution.

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What are 3 main causes of the French Revolution?

Although scholarly debate continues about the exact causes of the Revolution, the following reasons are commonly adduced: (1) the bourgeoisie resented its exclusion from political power and positions of honour; (2) the peasants were acutely aware of their situation and were less and less willing to support the ..

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What was the main cause of the French Revolution essay?

[1] The French revolution occurred for various reasons, including poor economic policies, poor leadership, an exploitative political- and social structures. The political causes of the French revolution included the autocratic monarchy, bankruptcy and extravagant spending of royals.

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What were the major causes of the French revolution quizlet?

What were the main causes of the French Revolution? Enlightenment ideas, Economic Troubles, Weak Leader, Meeting of the Estates General, National Assembly, and Tennis Court Oath.

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What were the causes of French Revolution of 1848?

Social and political discontent sparked revolutions in France in 1830 and 1848, which in turn inspired revolts in other parts of Europe. Workers lost their jobs, bread prices rose, and people accused the government of corruption. The French revolted and set up a republic.

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What was the most immediate cause of the French Revolution?

The immediate cause of the revolution was the near collapse of the French budget. Although the economy was expanding, bad harvest in 1787 and 1788 and a slowdown in manufacturing led to food shortages.

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What were 3 causes of the 1848 revolutions?

The Revolutions of 1848 were caused by spread of ideas such as popular sovereignty (arguing for political liberalization of absolute monarchies), nationalism, and socialism. Their more immediate cause was economic crisis in Europe in 1845-48.

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What were the main causes and effects of the French Revolution?

The monarchy had consolidated power through the intendant system, and the failure of crops and the economy. These woes along with the ideas of the Enlightenment and the American Revolution led to the demand for a French constitution at the storming of the Bastille which helped to create it.

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What was the immediate cause of the 1789 French Revolution?

Answer: The immediate cause of the French Revolution was Financial Embarrassment. During the reign of Louis XVI, the government’s finances were in a terrible state. This situation arose as a result of a succession of costly wars undertaken since Louis XIV’s reign, as well as the court’s corrupt luxury.

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Which of the following was the most direct cause of the French Revolution?

. the most immediate cause of the French Revolution. Immediate cause- Rumors spread that the king will order his troops to attack Paris (as people were revolting) and then 4000- 5000 people gathered and formed people’s militia.

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French Revolution | History, Summary, Timeline, Causes …

French Revolution | History, Summary, Timeline, Causes, & Facts Entertainment & Pop Culture Geography & Travel Health & Medicine Lifestyles & Social Issues Literature Philosophy & Religion Politics, Law & Government Science Sports & Recreation Technology Visual Arts World History On This Day in History Quizzes Podcasts Dictionary Biographies Summaries Top Questions Week In Review Infographics Demystified Lists #WTFact Companions Image Galleries Spotlight The Forum One Good Fact Entertainment & Pop Culture Geography & Travel Health & Medicine Lifestyles & Social Issues Literature Philosophy & Religion Politics, Law & Government Science Sports & Recreation Technology Visual Arts World History Britannica ClassicsCheck out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives. Demystified VideosIn Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions. #WTFact VideosIn #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find. This Time in HistoryIn these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history. Britannica ExplainsIn these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions. Buying GuideExpert buying advice. From tech to household and wellness products. Student PortalBritannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more. COVID-19 PortalWhile this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today. 100 WomenBritannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians. Britannica BeyondWe’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning. Go ahead. Ask. We won’t mind. Saving EarthBritannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century. Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! SpaceNext50Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!

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Causes of the French Revolution – Students of History

Causes of the French Revolution It was quite common for Louis XVI to ensure that the people in the highest tiers of society were taken care of, and that they had adequate amounts of food. Conversely, the bottom tiers of society were practically starving. Food shortages ravaged the country, and there was a low supply of bread due to poor harvests. Thus, as the demand for bread increased, so did the prices of bread, since it was so hard to come by. This in turn increased tension and anger among the 3rd Estate individuals. Many ideas about how society and government should work were emerging around this time. These ideas would come primarily from the Age of Enlightenment, or the period of time in which thinkers promoted concepts such as science and reasoning over tradition. Enlightened thinkers championed new ideas regarding government, equality, and democracy. The people of France were also inspired by the American Revolution in which America had successfully gained independence from Britain. This served as an example of a proper revolution, and provided a sort of guideline as to how a country could revolt against its oppressor.

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French Revolution: Timeline, Causes & Dates – HISTORY

French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a watershed event in world history that began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790s with the ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte. During this period, French citizens radically altered their political landscape, uprooting centuries-old institutions such as the monarchy and the feudal system. The upheaval was caused by disgust with the French aristocracy and the economic policies of King Louis XVI, who met his death by guillotine, as did his wife Marie Antoinette. Though it degenerated into a bloodbath during the Reign of Terror, the French Revolution helped to shape modern democracies by showing the power inherent in the will of the people.Causes of the French RevolutionAs the 18th century drew to a close, France’s costly involvement in the American Revolution, combined with extravagant spending by King Louis XVI, had left France on the brink of bankruptcy.Not only were the royal coffers depleted, but several years of poor harvests, drought, cattle disease and skyrocketing bread prices had kindled unrest among peasants and the urban poor. Many expressed their desperation and resentment toward a regime that imposed heavy taxes—yet failed to provide any relief—by rioting, looting and striking.In the fall of 1786, Louis XVI’s controller general, Charles Alexandre de Calonne, proposed a financial reform package that included a universal land tax from which the aristocratic classes would no longer be exempt.Estates GeneralTo garner support for these measures and forestall a growing aristocratic revolt, the king summoned the Estates General (les états généraux) – an assembly representing France’s clergy, nobility and middle class – for the first time since 1614. The meeting was scheduled for May 5, 1789; in the meantime, delegates of the three estates from each locality would compile lists of grievances (cahiers de doléances) to present to the king.READ MORE: How the American Revolution Influenced the French RevolutionRise of the Third Estate France’s population, of course, had changed considerably since 1614. The non-aristocratic, middle-class members of the Third Estate now represented 98 percent of the people but could still be outvoted by the other two bodies.In the lead-up to the May 5 meeting, the Third Estate began to mobilize support for equal representation and the abolishment of the noble veto—in other words, they wanted voting by head and not by status.While all of the orders shared a common desire for fiscal and judicial reform as well as a more representative form of government, the nobles in particular were loath to give up the privileges they had long enjoyed under the traditional system.Tennis Court Oath By the time the Estates General convened at Versailles, the highly public debate over its voting process had erupted into open hostility between the three orders, eclipsing the original purpose of the meeting and the authority of the man who had convened it — the king himself.On June 17, with talks over procedure stalled, the Third Estate met alone and formally adopted the title of National Assembly; three days later, they met in a nearby indoor tennis court and took the so-called Tennis Court Oath (serment du jeu de paume), vowing not to disperse until constitutional reform had been achieved.Within a week, most of the clerical deputies and 47 liberal nobles had joined them, and on June 27 Louis XVI grudgingly absorbed all three orders into the new National Assembly.The Bastille On June 12, as the National Assembly (known as the National Constituent Assembly during its work on a constitution) continued to meet at Versailles, fear and violence consumed the capital.Though enthusiastic about the recent breakdown of royal power, Parisians grew panicked as rumors of an impending military coup began to circulate. A popular insurgency culminated on July 14 when rioters stormed the Bastille fortress in an attempt to secure gunpowder and weapons; many consider this event, now commemorated in France as a national holiday, as the start of the French Revolution.The wave of revolutionary fervor and widespread hysteria…

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Causes of the French Revolution – Wikipedia

Causes of the French Revolution There is significant disagreement among historians of the French Revolution as to its causes. Usually, they acknowledge the presence of several interlinked factors, but vary in the weight they attribute to each one. These factors include cultural changes, normally associated with the Enlightenment; social change and financial and economic difficulties; and the political actions of the involved parties. For centuries, the French society was divided into three estates or orders. The first estate, the highest class, consisted of clergy. The second estate consisted of the nobility. The third estate consisted of the commoners. It included businessman, merchants,court officials, lawyers, peasants, landless labourers and servants. The first two estates together were 10% of the population. The third estate was 90%. All of the many types of taxes were paid by the third estate. The society was based on the old French maxim “The nobles fight; the clergy and the people pay”. Beyond these relatively established facts about the social conditions surrounding the French Revolution, there is significant dissent among historians. Marxist historians, such as Lefebvre and Soboul, see the social tensions described here as the main cause of the revolution, as the Estates-General allowed them to manifest into tangible political action; the bourgeoisie and the lower classes were grouped into the third estate, allowing them to jointly oppose the establishment. Others see the social issues as important, but less so than the Enlightenment or the financial crisis; François Furet is a prominent proponent of the former, Simon Schama of the latter. Political background[edit] Prior to the revolution, France was a de jure absolute monarchy, a system that became known as the Ancien Régime. In practice, the power of the monarchy was typically checked by the nobility, the Roman Catholic Church, institutions such as the judicial parlements, national and local customs and, above all, the threat of insurrection. Prior to 1789, the last severe threat to the monarchy was the Fronde civil wars from 1648 to 1653, during the minority of Louis XIV.[1] Although the earlier reign of Louis XIII had already seen a move towards centralization of the country,[2] the adulthood of Louis XIV marked the peak of the French monarchy’s power. His tactics for bringing the nobility under control included inviting them to stay at his extravagant Palace of Versailles and participate in elaborate court rituals with a detailed code of etiquette.[3][4][5] Some scholars have argued that Louis XIV contributed to the monarchy’s downfall by failing to reform the government’s institutions while the monarchy was still secure. Others, including François Bluche, argue that Louis XIV cannot be held responsible for problems that would emerge over 70 years after his death.[6] His successor Louis XV was less interested in governing[7] and his reign saw a decline in the power of the monarchy.[8] Historians generally describe his reign as a period of stagnation, foreign policy setbacks, and growing popular discontent against the monarchy.[9][10][11][12] His affairs with a succession of mistresses also damaged its reputation.[11][13] During the reign of Louis XVI, the power and prestige of the monarchy had declined to the point where the king struggled to overcome aristocratic resistance to fiscal reform, with the parlements often being focal points for this resistance. The parlements were regional courts of appeal that had the de facto power to block the implementation of legislation in their respective provinces. They were each dominated by the regional nobility.[14] The power of the parlements had been curtailed by Louis XIV, but mostly reinstated…

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Social Causes of the Revolution

Social Causes of the Revolution · Explore · LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOUTION Map: Old Regime Provinces Map: Departments of 1798 Two Peasants Repairing a Cart People under the Old Regime A leading cause of social stress in France during the Revolution was its large population. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, France had 20 million people living within its borders, a number equal to nearly 20 percent of the population of non-Russian Europe. Over the course of the century, that number increased by another 8 to 10 million, as epidemic disease and acute food shortages diminished and mortality declined. By contrast, it had increased by only 1 million between 1600 and 1700. Also important, this population was concentrated in the rural countryside: of the nearly 30 million French under Louis XVI, about 80 percent lived in villages of 2,000 or less, with nearly all the rest in fairly small cities (those with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants). The foremost exception, of course, was Paris, which was home to about 600,000 by 1789. Only a handful of other cities—notably Lyons, Bordeaux, and Marseilles—had more than 100,000 within their limits. These demographics had an enormous impact, both inside and outside France. In addition, the eighteenth century saw the intrusion of capitalism into everyday life. Thanks to a large expansion of overseas trade and a longer-term development of domestic trade, the money economy experienced continued growth. Although self-sufficiency or local exchange remained the preponderant way of economic life, these incursions of capitalism began drawing everyone into some form of regional and even international exchange. Amid these broad economic and population shifts, daily life in the countryside remained much the same, particularly on small family farms. Their owners and workers were known as peasants, although they differed considerably in wealth and status. A few could claim to be “living nobly,” meaning they rented their land to others to work, but many were day-laborers desperate for work in exchange for a place to stay and food to eat. In the middle were others, including independent farmers, sharecroppers, and renters. Historians have estimated that in lean years 90 percent of the peasants lived at or below the subsistence level, earning only enough to feed their families. Others inhabited the countryside, most notably small numbers of noble and non-noble owners of manors, conspicuous by their dwellings, at the least. Consequently, documents on life in the countryside at this time reflect the omnipresence of poverty. One of the most well-known observers of the late-eighteenth-century French countryside, the Englishman Arthur Young, considered these small farms the great weakness of French agriculture, especially when compared with the large, commercial farms he knew at home. Others commenting on the lot of impoverished peasants before 1789 blamed the tensions between rich and poor on the country’s vast social differences. Although home to the wealthy and middling, cities tended to be even more unsavory places to live than the countryside. Exposed daily to dirty air and water, urban dwellers could…

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The long and short reasons for why Revolution broke out in …

The long and short reasons for why Revolution broke out in France in 1789 A study guide by Swansea University Historians Historians have identified multiple causes of the French Revolution, both long and short term. Early, royalist and clerical interpretations of the Revolution cast it as a conspiracy orchestrated by Enlightenment philosophes. From the late nineteenth century, explanations based on the theories of Karl Marx became dominant. In this reading the Revolution resulted from a struggle for power between the old feudal nobility, whose status was based on the ownership of land, and the bourgeoisie, who acquired wealth through trade, finance and the professions. In 1789 the bourgeoisie made common cause with the peasantry and the urban labouring classes to begin the Revolution. The Marxist interpretation of the French Revolution was increasingly challenged after 1945. Critics pointed out that there were many nobles amongst those clamouring for reform in 1789. Moreover, the distinction between noble and commoner was not as clear as once supposed. Nobles were also involved in trade and finance, whilst many wealthy bourgeoisie purchased patents of nobility. Indeed, the French nobility was relatively open and rich commoners bought and married their way to social mobility. Economic and social status were, therefore, revealed to be a poor guide to political behaviour and the idea of monolithic ‘classes’ out for their own economic interests increasingly untenable. This critique increasingly led historians to move away from social and economic causes as explanations for the Revolution. Instead, they focused on the role political and cultural causes played in fomenting the Revolution. The emergence of a revolutionary political culture has been identified. This culture was expressed in the increasing number of journals, newspapers, pamphlets and books and found a forum in the spread of coffee shops, salons, societies and clubs. It was this culture, these revisionist interpretations argued, that prompted the events of 1789. The post-war period also saw interest in the Revolution shift to encompass previously overlooked groups. The spread of second and third wave feminism led to more interest in the role of women in the French Revolution. There was also more interest in events outside of Paris and in the French Empire.   In the last decade ‘revisionist’ accounts of the Revolution that emphasise politics and culture have themselves been challenged. Questions have been raised about how political ideas were translated into concrete action on the streets of Paris? How could the revolutionary political culture mobilise the peasantry and urban poor? Several historians have argued that there must be a re-examination of the social causes of the Revolution. How did cultural and political developments identified by revisionist historians interact with the social and economic changes experienced by the wider French population? Nevertheless, historians acknowledge that the Revolution was caused by a multiplicity of factors. The rest of this essay will provide an overview of these factors. La Grande Nation: France as a Great Power At first glance eighteenth-century France was the powerhouse of Europe. It was the foremost of the five Great European Powers (France, Britain, Austria, Russia and Prussia). It was the largest state in western Europe. Moreover, its population was almost 28 million, making it the most populous state in Europe after Russia. France also had a colonial empire in the Caribbean and outposts elsewhere. It’s colonial possessions were not as extensive as those of the British, but by 1780s they comprised the richest colony in the world in Saint Domingue (later Haiti). In 1780 Saint Domingue supplied half the world’s exports of coffee and sugar and generated twice as much revenue as Spain’s richest colony, Mexico. In the late 1780s France sent more trading vessels to India than Britain and, between 1787 and 1791, even shipped more slaves from Africa than the British.  The most vibrant economic sector in France was, therefore, the slave/sugar trade that operated out of the Atlantic ports of Nantes and Bordeaux. However, other areas of the economy also underwent expansion in the eighteenth century. In the Paris basin commercial farming had spread, whilst Lyon remained the centre of banking and the silk trade.  By 1789 France’s GDP was three times that of Britain. Its large population and…

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Causes of the French Revolution – HISTORY CRUNCH

Causes of the French Revolution The French Revolution was a major event in the history of Western societies, and has had a profound effect on the world today.  Beginning in 1789, the French Revolution saw the French people overthrow their absolute monarchy and bring about a republic that was based on the principles of equality, liberty and fraternity.  In general, historians agree on several different causes of the French Revolution, including: the history of the estates-system, resentment towards the absolute monarchy of Louis XVI, the impact of the Age of Enlightenment, the weather conditions before 1789 and the economic crisis that France faced under Louis XVI. AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT Jean-Jacques RousseauThe Enlightenment occurred during the 18th century, in the decades before the 1789 outbreak of the revolution and although the Enlightenment took place many years before the outbreak of the French Revolution, its ideas and achievements still had a profound effect on the French Revolution.​The ideals of liberty and equality, that were needed to overthrow Louis XVI, emerged first from the writings of important and influential thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment. Specifically, the writings of John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Baron de Montesquieu greatly influenced the revolutionaries in France.  Each of these three Enlightenment thinkers questioned the traditional authority of an absolute monarch and argued against the rigid class divisions of feudalism, or the estates-system, present in France.  Their questioning of authority and the role of the government inspired the revolutionaries, and ordinary citizens, of France.  In fact, the ideas of many Enlightenment thinkers were commonly discussed and debated in the salons of France, in which intellectuals and would gather to discuss the ideas of the day.  For example, John Locke argued that a leader may only govern a society if he has the consent of those he is governing.  This idea caused people to question the legitimacy of Louis XVI to rule when he did not have the support of many of the citizens within France.  For his part, Rousseau argued against all class divisions in society, which caused French citizens to question the absolute monarchy of Louis XVI and the unequal nature of the estates-system.  Finally, Montesquieu advocated for a system of government based on a separation of powers with three branches of government, including: executive branch, legislative branch and judicial branch.  This model of government directly challenged the authority of the king because it involved his power being divided into three parts and others gaining more authority.  Again, this idea caused French citizens to begin to question the authority of their own king and to begin to think of other ways of government.The impact of the Enlightenment on the French Revolution can be seen in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.  The document was adopted by the National Assembly on August 26th, 1789.  The declaration was vitally important to the French Revolution because it directly challenged the authority of Louis XVI. For example, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen set out a series of individual rights protected by law.  The basic principles of the declaration can be seen in the ideas and arguments of the great thinkers of the Enlightenment. HISTORY OF THE ESTATES SYSTEM The second major cause of the French Revolution is the history of the estates system in France.  In the 1780’s the population of France numbered about 24,700,000, and it was divided into three estates.  The estate to which a person belonged was very important because it determined that person’s rights, obligations and status.  Usually a person remained in one estate for his or her lifetime, and any movement from upwards in the estate system could take many generations.  This is the period before the French Revolution and is a time known as the Ancien Regime.The First…

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