The French Revolution is undoubtedly one of the most prominent events to occur in French history. Occurring the in the late 18th century, the French Revolution transitioned France from a nation of intense debt to the abolishment of a monarchy, and rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Following the Seven Years War and American Revolution, France was in significant debt due to the cost of wars and existence of prior debt, and as a result, they turned to higher taxation to reach a solution. However, this increased taxation was not imposed on the wealthy, but rather on the poor. This sparked a lot of controversy, and in conjunction with other major revolutions, eventually led to the French Revolution. France prior to the Revolution was relatively peaceful, but consisted of a Third Estate in destitution. These actions eventually progressed into revolting and rioting, sparking a revolution. Therefore, the French Revolution caused a transition from peace to war due to the imposition of higher taxes on the Third Estate, …show more content…
King Louis XVI, his wife Mary Antoinette, and the Roman Catholic Church were all major sources of power abuse. Mary Antoinette used the funds of France to serve her own purposes, and lead to significant debt. King Louis XVI approved the levying of taxes against the Third Estate, despite their extremely poor economic state, causing revolts. The Roman Catholic Church and the Pope also exercised their power and superiority over the Third Estate and limited the working class’ power for unequal representation. The First and Second Estates also utilized social discrimination to their advantage. They lived lavish lifestyles without taxes, and forced the suffering upon the poor. The actions of these people and groups led to an increase in protest and disapproval, and led to the French Revolution. Therefore, the abuse of power played a major role in France’s change from peace to
One of the most important causes of the French Revolution was the French system of taxation. According to document one, there was an “injustice in levying the amount each person must pay. Lands held by the nobility were taxed very little. Lands held by commoners were taxed heavily.” This means that the third estate was responsible for paying most of the country’s taxes, while the first and second estates, were responsible for very little. Since the third estate was responsible to pay the most in taxes, they began to suffer the most. The taxes caused them to not be able to afford simple necessities in life, such as bread. This injustice caused the people to want to reform their economic situation by finding a way to avoid strangling taxes and make the first two estates contribute to a failing economy.
The French Revolution is often seen as a bloody mess. Just like most other revolutions, in the in exchanged an authoritarian regime for an authoritarian regime. The ideas of the revolution changed the human history around the world. The French Revolution started on July 14,1789 the revolution had many flaws but it the end it was still successful. Before the revolution third 3rd estate was burdened with taxes while the 1st and 2nd didn’t have to do anything.
The French Revolution took place during 1789 and 1799 in France. King Louis XIV needed money and passed an unfair tax. There were three Estates; the first; the clergy, the second; the nobles and the third; everyone else. The king did not seek any advice when putting the tax in place which caused a lot of unrest in the third estate. This was one incident that lead up to the French Revolution. The French Revolution was unsuccessful because it did not achieve freedom for the French people and it was bloody.
The French Revolution is said to have a number of causes. It was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799, and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the empire. The main causes of the French Revolution was the political, economic, and social problems happening in the society during this time. One of the causes of the French Revolution of the political tension going on during the time.
The events leading up to the French Revolution were many things, but the biggest and most recognized by historians is the fact that the French government was bankrupt due to funding the American Revolution. This lead for the king, King Louis XVI to raise taxes just like any country would. The only problem with what he did, was he was not taxing everyone. He was just taxing the poor, the people with the least amount of money. This left more wealth for the clergy and the
The French Revolution is known to be one of the major events in the world history. The revolution was led by some reformers in the government who demanded some changes in the political system. The purpose of the revolution was to eliminate the power of king and the rich people who owned most of the lands, and to have a government that is elected by the citizens. Although the revolution started as a movement for government reforms, but it turned out so violent that led to the execution of the royal family. The French revolution made a major change in France and inspired some other revolutionary movements throughout Europe. Three
To begin with, the French Revolution was partly caused by the economic crisis. The French Revolution began in 1787, but up until 1743, France, or at least the nobles of France, was in an extremely comfortable position. From 1713 to 1743, France was in the Thirty Years’ Peace, a period during which overseas trade was extremely profitable. However, after this period, the economy slowly began to crumble. At this
Just about any country that one can name has some history of civil unrest, class issues, rioting in the streets, and outright warfare. These patterns of behavior are common denominators for most civilization in the world. The names, faces, and places may change, but the motivations are generally the same, because of the need for change and the willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve it. In contrast to the United States, which was in the process of freeing itself from British colonial rule, France was working to free itself from royal absolutism. This period is historically known as the French Revolution. Many scholars do not agree on the chronology of the French Revolution; some scholars suggest that the Revolution took place between 1789 to 1799 while others feel that it did not end until Napoleon lost power in 1815. To better understand the history of the French Revolution it is necessary to discuss the causes, major events, significant figures, and the outcomes associated with these political developments. Without this uprising, that changed the face of the entire country and influenced local political life in many countries in Europe, in all likelihood the France we know today would never have existed.
The French Revolution was a bloody civil war that lasted from the years 1789-1799. [1] The revolution arose out of hard economic times that had befallen France. Widespread famine and hunger, due to a grain shortage, rampaged through sections of the country. The economic crisis led to an increase in taxes on the lower classes, known as the third estate, to upkeep the lavish lifestyle of the nobility. [1] All of these are the known factors that led to the rise of the French Revolution.
In the late eighteenth century France was in a finical crisis from the debt of war and supporting the New World in own revolt against Britain. To pay off the massive debt the French government increased the taxes on the only taxpaying social class, the Third Estate. Many had trouble paying this increased tax due to inflation and drought. France was on the verge of finical crisis so the king, Louis the XVI, called the Estates General for the first time in 175 years in attempt to devise a solution, however the power of Estates General was not divided evenly among the people, and gave the First and Second Estates more representation, and this was enough to push the Third Estate into starting a revolution.
DBQ Practice The French Revolution was caused by many problems within France. During the 18th century, France participated in wars such as the American Revolution and the 7 years war. With France participating in those 2 wars, they became bankrupt. France had to somehow make money so they decided to start heavily taxing the 3rd estate and made them work harder for their own food and wealth.
The French revolution was a period in French history when the 3rd estate became the National Assembly. These people of the National Assembly were fascinated by the enlightenment ideas of the new world. (Document 1) They were advocates for a non-monarchy. They created a document called the Declaration of the Rights of Man which was their laws that they abided by.(Document 5)
Before the revolution France was ruled under the Ancien Regime system, meaning the country and all its people were under the reign of an absolute monarch. This was a tradition that had been upheld through the years and the Royal family had enjoyed a life funded by the people of France, the royal family’s lifestyle unaffected by the situation outside their palace. The Palace, Versailles, was built by king Louis XIV and the expenses for building this “village” was very high, and in later years the cost for its upkeep would play a significant role in Frances financial difficulties. In order for these difficulties to be overcome France needed a tax reform. The government had a very high tax rate on the poorest of their people, the Third Estate, and they were still not getting enough money to get out of their
French Revolution was a horrifying event that was from 1789 to 1799. The revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic and created political chaos. The french revolution started because most people were denied basic rights because the King and Queen cared only for themselves, the economic crisis in France, and social injustices.
Economics also played an important role in the French Revolution. In France there was an abundance of debt and taxation. The French monarchy managed their fiscal affairs by using an unequal system of taxation, borrowing money, or selling noble titles and other privileges. This led to a long running fiscal debt. France could not solely rely on tariffs to generate income. Although other countries had higher taxation rates, the burden on the common people was greater in France. Peasants and other third estates were taxed harshly which in good times was burdensome and in bad times it was devastating. Nobility and clergy were exempted from paying taxes. This left the peasants, wage earners, and the professional and business classes with the burden of taxes. This burden caused the unrest, which eventually led to the French Revolution.