Factors and Events Leading to the French Revolution
Financial Crisis
For most of the 18th century, France took part in expansive wars, especially against Britain. Prior to the revolution, King Louis XV lost the ‘Seven Years’ war. To avenge the nation’s loss, he built a larger navy and formed an anti-British coalition. This resulted in huge debts. Louis XVI further worsened the situation when he involved France in the American War of Independence against Britain. Ultimately, after spending more than a million livres, France gained very little from the war. Consequently, France’s debt increased (Doyle, 2018, p.15). Taxes, subsequently, were raised to help in offsetting the debts. Undeniably, this angered the population, who responded with calls for a change in leadership.
Social Inequality
In the 1780s, the French were stratified into three estates. The first comprised of the Roman Catholic clergy. The French nobility was in the second estate, while the third estate included everyone who did not belong in the categories mentioned above. Indeed, most of the French residents belonged in the third estate. However, the third estate was excluded from political positions and other honorary appointments. Additionally, the first and second estates were exempted from paying taxes and had many privileges (Bush, 2014, p.66). The third group, in contrast, paid massive fees, which burdened them. Irrefutably, this made the third estate resent the other two groups, eventually prompting them to unite and launch a revolution.
Rise of the Bourgeoisie
These were wealthy individuals of the third estate. In the years preceding the revolution, they became influential, developing their political agenda and aspiration; they wanted to political equality with the first two groups (Barber, 2015, p.14). Furthermore, they had commercial prospects and desire to own properties. With this, they convinced their ‘third estate counterparts’ to agitate for changes in the government.
Parliament’s Opposition to Reforms
French ministers, to counter the worsening financial crisis, proposed that the first two estates be included as taxpayers. This would have also sufficed in making the taxation system fair and lessen the anger of the poor. Nonetheless, the parliament did not approve of the taxation reforms. This prompted a series of demonstrations from the poor, which culminated in a revolution.
Adverse Weather and Poor Harvests
In 1784, severe winters, with subsequent extreme droughts, across Europe, caused poor harvests. Additionally, France experienced a series of poor harvests in 1787 and 1788 (Marzagalli, 2015, pp. 9-14). This, in the setting of high costs of living, took a toll on the peasant farmers. Eventually, they became frustrated, and this angered them to revolt.
Higher Education
The 18th century saw a rise in several great philosophers who had influential ideas on people’s empowerment (Doyle, 2018, p.44). This sparked discussions, among the French third estate citizens, on the need for social change.
References
Barber, E., 2015. The bourgeoisie in 18th-century France. Princeton University Press.
Bush, M.L., 2014. Social orders and social classes in Europe since 1500: studies in social stratification. Routledge.
Doyle, W., 2018. The Oxford history of the French revolution. Oxford University Press.Marzagalli, S., 2015. Economic and demographic developments. The Oxford Handbook of the French Revolution, pp.3-20.