The Six Major Causes Of The French Revolution
Although French Revolution was a result of many reasons in a short time period, Here are the six major causes of French revolution-
- Ineffective leadership of King Louis XVI
Louis XVI became the King of France upon the death of his grandfather at a very young age of 21.He was already incompetent enough to lead France in normal conditions, let alone during the turmoil which lea to the French Revolution.
Let them Eat Cake!
His wife Marie Antoinette as mentioned above lived a lavish life and was also infamous for the remark “Let Them Eat Cake!” (Translation of the French phrase “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”) upon being told that the peasants had no bread.This remark showed the apathy the monarchy had over the poor people in France.
- The period of enlightenment
The Enlightenment period was one of the major contributors to the French revolution.
The Enlightenment was simply an intellectual movement that challenged the old ways of thinking and inspired the revolutionary ideas among the common people.
Immanuel Kant in his essay ‘What Is Enlightenment?’ written in 1784 summarized the era in the following words — ‘Dare to know! Have courage to use your own reason!’
The ideas of philosophy was so common that the ordinary people began regularly talking about it on coffee shop and salons.
The ideas were also spread across via newspapers and books.
- The Huge Financial Crisis
King Louis XVI when he descended on the throne found an akmost empty treasury. Long years of had already drained a lot of money.
Adding to it the cost of maintaining an immense palace and luxurious lifestyle o the monarchy further depleted the treasury.
Louis XVI also helped the 13 American colonies to gain independence, which furthered the debt.
The war added more than 1 billion livres in expense and the total debt had already risen to 2 billion livres and the lenders began charging extra interest on the loans lent which further added more fuel to the already burning treasury!
This forced King Louis XVI to to increase taxes.
- The Food Scarcity
The Population of France was about 23 million in 1715.
By 1789 it had an exponential growth to 28 million. This necessitated the demand for foodgrains ,But the production of grains could not keep up the growing population.
The wages of the workers were not increased. But the prices of food grains increased exponentially.
Thus the poor could not afford grains, This also increased the gap between the rich and poor in a very significant manner.
- The Drastic Weathers
In 1784 Europe was hit by severe winters and summers which included extreme droughts that caused poor harvests which ultimately lead to famine.
In 1787 and 1788 France was hit by another series of winters which lead to a huge fall in food production.
- Social Inequality and the division of estates
France under the Ancient Regime (before the French Revolution) ,The society was divided into three estates-
The First Estate (clergy)
The Second Estate (nobility)
Third Estate (commoners)
The king was not considered part of any estate.
One Crucial difference between the estates of the Ancient Regime was the burden of taxation.
The nobles and the clergy were largely excluded from taxation while the commoners(who were also the majority) paid high direct taxes, which were burdensome to them. All these major reasons along with many others cause the lid to break and cause the French Revolution.
As said earlier, The French revolution had too much pace in a less period of Time. Hence it is best to understand the French Revolution with the help of a timeline.
The Effects Of French Revolution — LOST ON HISTORY
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