The Main Causes of The French Revolution

On July 14, 17, the common people of France attacked the Bastille, which was a prison in France that represented the royal authority in France; the riot revealed the Third Estate’s resentment toward the absolute monarchy. Prior to the revolution, the French were deprived of individual’s natural rights and freedom due to the political ignorance of the monarch and incompetent leaders: King XVI and Marie Antoinette, who lacked intelligence and ambition. The relentless taxation of the Third Estate left financially crippled economics and bankruptcy. The main cause of the injustice was from the societal privilege of clergy and nobles, which led to the lack of opportunities of the middle class. The French government’s refusal to solve the political injustice, the excessive taxations to the lower class, and unequal social structure caused the French Revolution.

The political causes of the French Revolution were caused by the centralization of government power within an elite circle. There was political absolutism under the Bourbon dynasty and gained unreasonable amounts of power. The monarchy justified its right to rule based on the divine right. The king used his power to gain political influence by limiting the meeting of the Estates General. After years of abuse and unequal treatment, the Third Estates began to question the traditions and rules of the absolute monarch. Prior to their first congregation in 175 years, the Estates General formed Cahiers in which they listed their grievances. Especially, it mentioned the political liberty of the Third Estates. “In order to assure the third estate the influence it deserves because of its numbers… its votes in the assembly should be taken by head…”. Three percent of the country was the First and Second Estate and the rest of the country was all of the Third Estate. The grievances also included the reform about king’s abuse and tyranny of letter de cachet. American Revolution was another political event that sparked French to seek for changes. “The condition of France alone did not bring about the overthrow of the monarchy…The ideas of the philosophs were not directly responsible for the outbreak… but the American example caused the Revolution to break out…”. With the corrupted monarch, the Declaration of American Independence changed the Third Estates’ thought and caused to break out people’s anger towards absolute monarch. The Third Estate, with the lead of bourgeoisie class, began to call themselves the National Assembly and set the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. It placed law above all men, and law became the expression of their will. “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights; social distinctions can be established only for the common benefit…these rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression…”.

The centralization of government power left a majority of the French population with discontent with the monarchical dominance in France, leading to revolt. Increasing war debts from various wars in the eighteenth century left France in an economic downfall, which the privileged estates sought to resolve the problems by implementing financial restrictions on the Third Estate. They pushed all the government taxation towards the Third Estate when they had only sixty-five percent of the land. The taille, which was the tax on the land and its produce, was paid unequally based on the estates. “There is an injustice in levying the amount each person must pay. Lands held by the nobility are taxed very little. Lands held by commoner are taxed heavily”. Ironically, the wealthiest people did not pay the taxes while the poorest members of society shouldered the tax burden. The tax increased particularly on bread, which heavily affected the sustentation of the Third Estate’s unstable life. It increased above people’s ability to pay. “The lack of bread is terrible. Stories arrive every moment from the provinces of riots and disturbances, and calling in the millitary, to preserve the peace of the markets…”. Many people complained about how the tailles and feudal dues are crushing them. With the tax exemption the First and Second Estates had received, the Third Estates were displeased. 

The financial struggle of the French economy, mainly due to the war debt, could have been easily solved with monetary contributions from all three estates; however, the upper estates’ unwillingness to cede their privileges lead to the societal uproar. The rigid social class structure of Old Regime within the French society brought the resentment amongst the Third Estates and finally be displaced by the French Revolution. The First Estates and the Second Estates consisted of clergy members and nobility. They were only the three percent of the French population. The rest of ninety-seven percent of the population was the Third Estates, which was consist of peasants and bourgeoisie. They were treated unjustly and badly from the First and the Second Estates. Also, they did not receive any special treatment from the government before the French Revolution. The bourgeoisie, who was the middle class, resented by having no say in the government when they were all educated, wealthy, and hardworking men. They were the one who wanted change in French society and spread the ideas of Enlightenment to the rest of the Third Estates. Regarding the injustice, the bourgeoisie lead the National Assembly and expressed their urge to displace feudalism within France. “The middle class… was sensitive to their inferior legal position. The Revolution came from them- the middle class”. Their ultimate goal was to create a society in which social status was determined on one’s individual merit than their birth name. The social restrictions that were placed on the Third Estates under the Old Regime largely influenced to resist against the French aristocracy. 

The political, economic, social inequality that characterized the structure of the French government developed resentment amongst French citizens caused the French Revolution. The king’s inability to govern the nation and appeal to the Third Estate resulted in widespread opposition towards the monarchy. Continuation of excess unequal taxation towards the lower class left a majority of France in economic distress. The clerical privilege within the French society further separated between the First and Second Estate and the Third Estate. The French Revolution marked a new era not only in France itself, but also in the other countries around the world to treat all human equal and free. Furthermore, the changes remains in the society where people live now.  

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