What Caused The French Revolution Essay

We associate Kings and Queens with beautiful castles, extravagant parties, and absolute power. But where does the money come from for the decadent parties and luxurious castles? What happens when a ruler 's subjects are untrusting and feel mistreated? The answer is revolution. In the late 1700s the main causes of the French Revolution were feudalism, the class system, the monarchy, and the economy. To begin with, feudalism and the class system helped contribute to the French Revolution. Feudalism was a social system based on land ownership. Feudalism existed in medieval Europe, but was declining at the time of the French Revolution. One reason for decline, was that the general population, the third estate, believed they were being treated unfairly. For one thing, the third estate were forced to pay all taxes. Whereas the first and second estate were tax exempt. The third estate had no privileges or exemptions. However, the first estate, made up of high ranking church officials,were not subject to civil law. They were

France 's economy in the late 1700s was based primarily on agriculture. Due to years of poor weather and drought, farmers produced little crops. As a result, the price of food increased, there was also shortage. The farmers found it hard to pay the new prices, as well as their taxes because they weren 't making enough profit. King Louis XV, also known as the Sun King, helped significantly contribute to France 's financial problems.. He spent a generous amount of money from the royal treasury to build the palace Versailles. The American Revolution and the Seven Years War were also costly. Many attempts to solve the financial crisis failed. In 1789, Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General, an assembly with representation from all three estates, to agree on a tax solution. The meeting was unsuccessful because the first and second estates refused to pay taxes, leaving the third estate