Causes of the French Revolution - wikipedia Causes of the French Revolution The causes of the French Revolution can be attributed to several intertwining factors : Cultural : The Enlightenment philosophy desacralized the authority of the monarchy and the Catholic Church, and promoted a new society based on reason instead of traditions. Social : The emergence of an influential bourgeoisie which was formally part of the Third Estate ( commoners ) but had evolved into a caste with its own agenda and aspired to political equality with the clergy ( First Estate ) and the aristocracy ( Second Estate ). Financial : France 's debt, aggravated by French involvement in the American Revolution, led Louis XVI to implement new taxations and to reduce privileges. Political : Louis XVI faced strong opposition from provincial parlements which were the spearheads of the privileged classes ' resistance to royal reforms. Economic : The deregulation of the grain market, advocated by liberal economists, resulted in an increase in bread prices. In periods of bad harvests, it would lead to food scarcity which would prompt the masses to revolt. All these factors created a revolutionary atmosphere and a tricky situation for Louis XVI. In order to resolve the crisis, the king summoned the Estates - General in May 1789 and, as it came to an impasse, the representatives of the Third Estates formed a National Assembly, against the wishes of the king, signaling the outbreak of the French Revolution. Contents 1 The revolutionary situation 2 Social inequality 3 Enlightenment ideas 4 Material strengths 4.1 Debt 4.2 Taxation 4.3 Failure of reforms 5 Deregulation and hunger 5.1 Before the revolution 5.2 Deregulation of the grain industry 5.3 Results of the revolution 6 Transparency 7 Notes 8 Further reading The revolutionary situation The essence of the revolutionary situation which existed in France in the 1780s was the bankruptcy of the king, and hence the state. This economic crisis was due to the rapidly increasing costs of government and to the overwhelming costs incurred by fighting two major wars : the Seven Years ' War and the American Revolutionary War. These costs could not be met from the usual sources of state revenue. Since the 1770s, several attempts by different ministers to introduce financial stability had failed. The taxation system was burdensome upon the middle class and the more prosperous peasants, given that the nobles were largely able to exempt themselves from it. As a result, there was `` an insistent demand '' for reform of these abuses of privilege, for an equitable means of taxation and for improved government processes. David Thomson argued that the bourgeoisie and peasantry had `` something to lose, not merely something to gain '' in their demands for a fairer society and this fear too was a major factor in the revolutionary situation. Social inequality The Third Estate ( commoners ) carrying the First ( clergy ) and Second Estate ( nobility ) on his back. The population of France in the 1780s was about 26 million, of whom 21 million lived in agriculture. Few of these owned enough land to support a family and most were forced to take on extra work as poorly paid labourers on larger farms. There were regional differences but, by and large, French peasants were generally better off than those in countries like Russia or Poland. Even so, hunger was a daily problem which became critical in years of poor harvest and the condition of most French peasants was poor. The fundamental issue of poverty was aggravated by social inequality as all peasants were liable to pay taxes, from which the nobility could claim immunity, and feudal dues payable to a local seigneur or lord. Similarly, the destination of tithes which the peasants were obliged to pay to their local churches was a cause of grievance as it was known that the majority of parish priests were poor and the contribution was being paid to an aristocratic, and usually absentee, abbot. The clergy numbered about 100,000 and yet they owned 10 % of the land. The Catholic Church maintained a rigid hierarchy as abbots and bishops were all members of the nobility and canons were all members of wealthy bourgeois families. As an institution, it was both rich and powerful. As with the nobility, it paid no taxes and merely contributed a grant to the state every five years, the amount of which was self - determined. The upper echelons of the clergy had considerable influence over government policy. Dislike of the nobility was especially intense. Successive French kings and their ministers had tried with limited success to suppress the power of the nobles but, in the last quarter of the 18th century, `` the aristocracy were beginning once again to tighten their hold on the machinery of government ''. Enlightenment ideas A growing number of the French citizenry had absorbed the ideas of `` equality '' and `` freedom of the individual '' as presented by Voltaire, Jean - Jacques Rousseau, Denis Diderot and other philosophers and social theorists of the Age of Enlightenment. The American Revolution demonstrated that it was plausible for Enlightenment ideas about how a government should be organized to actually be put into practice. Some American diplomats, like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, had lived in Paris, where they consorted freely with members of the French intellectual class. Furthermore, contact between American revolutionaries and the French troops who served in North America helped spread revolutionary ideas to the French people. Material strengths France in 1787, although it faced some difficulties, was one of the most economically capable nations of Europe. The French population exceeded 28 million ; of Europe 's 178 to 188 millions, only Imperial Russia had a greater population ( 37 to 41 million ). France was also among the most urbanized countries of Europe, the population of Paris was second only to that of London ( approximately 500,000 vs. 800,000 ), and six of Europe 's 35 larger cities were French. Other measures confirm France 's inherent strength. France had 5.3 million of Europe 's approximately 30 million male peasants. Its area under cultivation, productivity per unit area, level of industrialization, and gross national product ( about 14 % of the continental European product, excluding Russia, and 6 % to 10 % above the level elsewhere in Europe ) all placed France near the very top of the scale. In short, while it may have lagged slightly behind the Low Countries, and possibly Switzerland, in per capita wealth, the sheer size of the French economy made it the premier economic power of continental Europe. Debt Historian John Shovlin states, `` It is a truism that the French Revolution was touched off by the near bankruptcy of the state. '' It was the burden of the national debt that led this to the long - running financial crisis of the French government. Before the revolution, the French debt had risen from 8 billion to 12 billion livres. Extravagant expenditures on luxuries by Louis XVI, whose rule began in 1774, were compounded by debts that were run up during the reign of his even - more - profligate predecessor, Louis XV ( who reigned from 1715 to 1774 ). Heavy expenditures to conduct losing the Seven Years ' War ( 1756 -- 1763 ), and France 's backing of the Americans in their War of Independence, ran the tab up an even further 1.3 billion livres Louis XV and his ministers were deeply unhappy about Britain 's victory in the Seven Years ' War and, in the years following the Treaty of Paris, they began drawing up a long - term plan that would involve constructing a larger navy and building an anti-British coalition of allies. In theory, this would eventually lead to a war of revenge and see France regain its colonies from Britain. In practice, it resulted in a mountain of debts. On the advice of, what many believed was, his mistress, the Marquise de Pompadour, the king supported the policy of fiscal justice designed by d'Arnouville. In order to finance the budget deficit, which amounted to 100 million livres in 1745, Machault d'Arnouville created a tax of 5 % on all revenues ( the vingtième ), a measure that affected the privileged classes as well as the rest of the population. Still, expenditures outpaced revenues. Ultimately, Louis XV failed to overcome these fiscal problems, mainly because he was incapable of harmonizing the conflicting parties at court and arriving at coherent economic policies. Worse, Louis seemed to be aware of the anti-monarchist forces that were threatening his family 's rule, yet he failed to do anything to stop them. Under the new king, Louis XVI, radical financial reforms by his ministers, Turgot and Malesherbes, angered the nobles and were blocked by the parlements who insisted that the king did not have the legal right to levy new taxes. So, in 1776, Turgot was dismissed and Malesherbes resigned. They were replaced by Jacques Necker, who supported the American Revolution and proceeded with a policy of taking large international loans instead of raising taxes. Jacques Necker France sent Rochambeau, Lafayette and de Grasse, along with large land and naval forces, to help the Americans. French aid proved decisive in forcing the main British army to surrender at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. The Americans gained their independence, and the war ministry rebuilt the French army. However, the British sank the main French fleet in 1782, and France gained little, except for the colonies of Tobago and Senegal, from the Treaty of Paris ( 1783 ) that concluded the war. The war cost 1.066 million French livres, a huge sum, that was financed by new loans at high interest rates, but no new taxes were imposed. Necker concealed the crisis from the public by explaining only that ordinary revenues exceeded ordinary expenses, and by not mentioning the loans at all. When Necker 's tax policy failed miserably, Louis dismissed him, and replaced him, in 1783, with Charles Alexandre de Calonne, who increased public spending in an attempt to `` buy '' the country 's way out of debt. This policy also failed ; therefore, Louis convened the Assembly of Notables in 1787 to discuss a revolutionary new fiscal reform proposed by Calonne. When the nobles were told the extent of the debt, they were shocked ; however, the shock did not motivate them to rally behind the plan -- but to reject it. This negative turn of events signaled to Louis that he had lost the ability to rule as an absolute monarch, and he fell into depression. Britain, too, was heavily indebted as a result of these conflicts ; but Britain had far more advanced fiscal institutions in place to deal with it. France was a wealthier country than Britain, and its national debt was no greater than the British one. In each country, servicing the debt accounted for about one - half the government 's annual expenditure ; where they differed was in the effective rates of interest. In France, the debt was financed at almost twice the interest rate as the debt across the Channel. This demanded a much higher level of taxation and less flexibility in raising money to deal with unforeseen emergencies. ( See also Eden Agreement. ) Edmund Burke, no friend of the revolution, wrote in 1790 : `` the public, whether represented by a monarch or by a senate, can pledge nothing but the public estate ; and it can have no public estate except in what it derives from a just and proportioned imposition upon the citizens at large. '' Because the nobles successfully defended their privileges, the king of France lacked the means to impose a `` just and proportioned '' tax. The desire to do so led directly to the decision in 1788 to call the Estates - General into session. The financial strain of servicing old debt and the excesses of the current royal court caused dissatisfaction with the monarchy, contributed to national unrest, and culminated in the French Revolution of 1789. Taxation Louis XVI, his ministers, and the widespread French nobility had become immensely unpopular. This was a consequence of the fact that peasants and, to a lesser extent, the poor and those aspiring to be bourgeoisie, were burdened with ruinously high taxes levied to support a wealthy monarchy, along with aristocrats and their sumptuous, often gluttonous lifestyles. France raised most of its tax revenue internally, with a notable deficit regarding external customs tariffs. Taxes on commerce consisted of internal tariffs among the regions of France. This set up an arbitrary tax - barrier ( sometimes, as in Paris, in physical form ) at every regional boundary, and these barriers prevented France from developing as a unified market. Collections of taxes, such as the extremely unpopular salt tax, the gabelle, were contracted to private collectors ( `` tax farmers '' ), who, like all farmers, preoccupied themselves with making their holdings grow. So, they collected, quite legitimately, far more than required, remitted the tax to the State, and pocketed the remainder. These unwieldy systems led to arbitrary and unequal collection of France 's consumption taxes. ( See also Wall of the Farmers - General, Jean Chouan, Octroi, Claude Nicolas Ledoux, and the Indian salt tax. ) Hôtel de la gabelle ( House of the Salt Tax ) in Bernay, Eure, Upper Normandy, built in 1750 by Bréant and Ange - Jacques Gabriel. Peasants and nobles alike were required to pay one - tenth of their income or produce to the church ( the tithe ). Peasants paid a land tax to the state ( the taille ), a 5 % property tax ( the vingtième ). All paid a tax on the number of people in the family ( capitation ), depending on the status of the taxpayer ( from poor to prince ). Further royal and seigneurial obligations might be paid in several ways : in labor ( the corvée ), in kind, or, rarely, in coin. Peasants were also obligated to their landlords for : rent in cash ( the cens ), a payment related to their amount of annual production ( the champart ), and taxes on the use of the nobles ' mills, wine - presses, and bakeries ( the banalités ). In good times, the taxes were burdensome ; in harsh times, they were devastating. After a less - than - fulsome harvest, people would starve to death during the winter. Tax collection was farmed out ( privatized ) to `` fermiers '', through a system of public bidding. Public officials bought their positions from the king, sometimes on an annual basis, sometimes in perpetuity. Often an additional tax, called `` paulette '' was paid by the holders of an office to upgrade their position to one that could be passed along as an inheritance. Naturally, holders of these offices tried to reimburse themselves by milking taxpayers as hard as possible. For instance, in a civil lawsuit, judges required that both parties pay for the costs of the trial ( called the épices, the spices ) ; this, effectively, put justice out of the reach of all but the wealthy. The system also exempted the nobles and the clergy from taxes ( with the exception of a modest quit - rent, an ad valorem tax on land ). The tax burden, therefore, devolved to the peasants, wage - earners, and the professional and business classes, also known as the third estate. Further, people from less - privileged walks of life were blocked from acquiring even petty positions of power in the regime. This caused further resentment. Failure of reforms During the reigns of Louis XV ( 1715 -- 1774 ) and Louis XVI ( 1774 -- 1792 ), several ministers, most notably Turgot and Necker, proposed revisions to the French tax system so as to include the nobles as taxpayers, but these proposals were not adopted because of resistance from the parlements ( provincial courts of appeal ). Members of these courts bought their positions from the king, as well as the right to transfer their positions hereditarily through payment of an annual fee, the paulette. Membership in such courts, or appointment to other public positions, often led to elevation to the nobility ( the so - called Nobles of the Robe, as distinguished from the nobility of ancestral military origin, the Nobles of the Sword. ) While these two categories of nobles were often at odds, they both sought to retain their privileges. The need to raise taxes placed the king at odds with the nobles and the upper bourgeoisie, he appointed as his finance ministers, `` rising men '' ( to use François Mignet 's insightful term ), usually of non-noble origin. These commoners, Turgot, Chrétien de Malesherbes, and Jacques Necker lobbied for reforms in taxation and other moves toward moderation, such as Necker 's attempts to reduce the lavishness of the king 's court. Each one failed. Instead, the `` Parkinson 's law '' of bureaucratic overextended waste prevailed, to the detriment of the gentry and other non-seigneurial classes. In contrast, Charles Alexandre de Calonne, appointed finance minister in 1783, restored lavish spending reminiscent of the age of Louis XIV. By the time Calonne brought together the Assembly of Notables on 22 February 1787 to address the financial situation, France had reached a state of virtual bankruptcy ; no one would lend the king money sufficient to meet the expenses of the royal court and the government. According to Mignet, the loans amounted to 1.64 billion livres, and the annual deficit was 140 millions. Calonne was succeeded by his chief critic, Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, archbishop of Sens, but the fundamental situation was unchanged : the government had no credit. To address this, the Assembly of Notables sanctioned `` the establishment of provincial assemblies, regulation of the corn trade, abolition of corvées, and a new stamp tax '', but the assembly dispersed on 25 May 1787 without actually installing a longer - term program with prospects for success. Deregulation and hunger Main article : Deregulation Le Traité de la Police by Nicolas de La Mare ( 1707 ) : under the Ancien Régime, the police regulated price, quality and supply of bread. Before the Revolution In Ancien Régime France, bread was the main source of food for poor peasants and the king was required to ensure the food supply of his subjects, the king was affectionately nicknamed le premier boulanger du royaume ( `` prime baker of the kingdom '' ). During this period, the role of the royal police was far more involved than simply upholding the law. Police held responsibility over many systems in society, even street sweeping, it also exercised a strict control over food supply. In order to maintain social order, the grain market was submitted to harsh rules to ensure the quality of the bread and its availability at all time and for the entire population. Grain merchants were viewed with suspicion, they were called `` the most cruel enemies of the people '' because they were suspected to mix flour with other products ( such as chalk or crushed bones ) or to hoard grains to raise artificially the prices of this vital commodity. The Ancien Régime favoured a `` moral economy '' where cupidity was moderated by strict regulations. The police controlled the purity of the flour and made sure that no one would hide grains to drive up prices. Food scarcity was common in the 18th century, but the grain police would forbid exportations from regions facing bad harvests and would import grain from regions enjoying overproduction. It could also force a merchant to dump the price of his flour ( he was later compensated for his loss in times of abundance ). Deregulation of the grain industry Turgot 's portrait. During the Age of Enlightenment, the physiocrat school of economy emerged. The physiocrats, or économistes as they called themselves, had a great impact on Turgot, Louis XVI 's Controller - General of Finances. Their opinion on what government economic policy should be was summarized in the term Vincent de Gournay laid claim to : `` laissez faire, laissez passer '', meaning leave it alone and let it pass, also known as the `` invisible hand '' notion. Turgot passionately defended Gournay 's belief in `` laissez - faire '' economic principles in his writing `` Éloge de Gournay ''. Accordingly, Turgot abolished police regulations and established free trade in grain on 13 September 1774. Results of the Revolution During the period before the spring harvest of 1775, the cereal reserves were exhausted while new crops had not yet arrived. In spring 1775, famine arose in this new context : before Turgot 's edict, every region faced its own shortages, so that some would have suffered a genuine famine while others would have been totally spared and supplied through stable prices ; a royal intervention would have been requested, and without a doubt obtained, to assure the supply of the regions most affected. With liberalization, owners of grain started to speculate by storing grain. They also tend to buy en masse in areas of good harvests to sell in areas of bad harvests where profits could be greater, causing significant price increases and shortages all over and affecting more people more quickly. Changes to grain and bread supply had serious implications, and was met with disorder. This conflict was known as the Flour War of 1775. Reports from those that controlled the flow of grain stated there were problems with the grain harvest which caused shortages and less grain availability. The price of grain also increased, and became hard for some to afford. News of a grain shortage was met with skepticism and frustration rose from higher prices. Those in opposition of the reform rioted, and seized grain that came in on shipments. They offered what they felt was the `` just price '' for it. This demonstrated a way in which the people took some power back into their own hands. This practice was known as `` taxation populaire '', or popular taxation. While there were documented efforts to deal with the grain shortage problems, such as increasing shipments from foreign countries, beliefs that the famine was intentionally orchestrated by Louis XVI, through the `` Pacte de Famine '', emerged. Turgot repressed the riots and restored controls over the grain market. The idea of free trade of grain was discredited and the economic experiment distanced the masses from the government in Versailles. The Flour War can be seen as a prelude to the French Revolution. The fear of famine became an ever - present dread for the lower strata of the Third Estate, and rumors of the `` Pacte de Famine '' to starve the poor were still rampant and readily believed. Mere rumors of food shortage led to the Réveillon riots in April 1789. Rumors of a plot aiming to destroy wheat crops in order to starve the population provoked the Great Fear in the summer of 1789. The hunger and despair of the Parisian women was also the original impetus for the Women 's March on Versailles in October 1789, they wanted not just one meal but the assurance that bread would once again be plentiful and cheap. The two years prior to the revolution ( 1788 -- 89 ) saw meager harvests and harsh winters, possibly because of a strong El Niño cycle caused by the 1783 Laki eruption in Iceland. The Little Ice Age also affected farmers ' choices of crops to plant ; in other parts of Europe, peasant farmers had adopted the potato as its staple crop. The potato had been introduced to France during the 16th century and despite resistance had largely supplanted the turnip and rutabaga in France. Despite encouragement from individuals like Antoine Parmentier and Louis XVI, grain was still a much more popular staple crop in France. This was partially because potatoes were seen as more difficult to transport and store than grain. Transparency H.F. Helmolt argued that the issue was not so much the debt per se, but the way the debt was refracted through the lens of Enlightenment principles and the increasing power of third - estate creditors, that is, commoners who held the government 's paper. Properly speaking, the people ought to have been accustomed to the fact that the French government did not fulfill its financial obligations, for since the time of Henry IV, that is, within two centuries, it had failed to meet its obligations fifty - six times. In earlier days such catastrophes had not been announced and publicly discussed. Now all France, which for two generations had been worked upon by the party of rationalism, shared the outcry against the financial situation. The struggle with the parlements and nobles to enact reformist measures displayed the extent of the disintegration of the Ancien Régime. In short order, Protestants regained their rights, and Louis XVI was pressured to produce an annual disclosure of the state of his finances. He also pledged to reconvene the Estates - General within five years. Despite the pretense that France operated under an absolute monarchy, it became clear that the royal government could not successfully implement the changes it desired without the consent of the nobility. The financial crisis had become a political crisis as well, and the French Revolution loomed just beyond the horizon. Notes Jump up ^ Dorinda Outram, `` The Enlightenment '', 2013, p. 45 Jump up ^ John Hardman, `` The Life of Louis XVI '', 2016 Jump up ^ James B. Collins, `` The Ancien Régime and the French Revolution '', 2002, p. 23 : `` The Physiocrats denounced government interference in the economy, and sponsored free market ideas. These ideas had some currency in France in the 1760s : the government briefly created a free market in grain and abolished the state monopoly of the West India Company in 1769. The free market in grain led to riots (... ) Turgot 's deregulation of the grain trade, enacted on the eve of a widespread grain shortage, led to riots so severe they are known as the Flour War. '' Jump up ^ Peter McPhee ( 2015 ). The French Revolution. Melbourne U. p. 34. Jump up ^ David Thomson, Europe Since Napoleon ( 1957 ) pp. 24 -- 25. Jump up ^ Thomson, pp. 25 -- 26. Jump up ^ Thomson, p. 25. Jump up ^ Hibbert, p. 29. ^ Jump up to : Hibbert, p. 30. Jump up ^ Hibbert, p. 31. Jump up ^ Vincenzo Ferrone, The Enlightenment : History of an Idea ( Princeton UP, 2015 ). Jump up ^ R.R. Palmer, The age of the Democratic Revolution : a political history of Europe and America, 1760 -- 1800 ( 2nd ed. 2014 ) pp. 177 -- 213 ^ Jump up to : Bairoch 1989, p. 941 Jump up ^ Bairoch 1989, p. 943 Jump up ^ Bernard Lepetit, The Pre-industrial Urban System : France 1740 -- 1840 ( Cambridge UP, 1994 ). ^ Jump up to : Bairoch 1989, p. 945 Jump up ^ Bairoch 1989, p. 946 Jump up ^ Bairoch 1989, p. 949 Jump up ^ Bairoch 1989, pp. 959 -- 963 Jump up ^ Ralph W. Greenlaw, ed., The economic origins of the French revolution : poverty or prosperity ? ( Heath, 1958 ). Jump up ^ John Shovlin ( 2007 ). The Political Economy of Virtue : Luxury, Patriotism, and the Origins of the French Revolution. Cornell UP. p. 9. Jump up ^ Eugene Nelson White, `` The French Revolution and the politics of government finance, 1770 -- 1815. '' Journal of Economic History 55 # 2 ( 1995 ) : 227 -- 55. Jump up ^ Stacy Schiff ( 2006 ). A Great Improvisation : Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. Macmillan. p. 5. Jump up ^ Kenneth N. Jassie, `` We Do n't Have a King : Popular Protest and the Image of the Illegitimate King in the Reign of Louis XV ''. Consortium on Revolutionary Europe 1750 -- 1850 : Proceedings 1994 23 : 211 -- 19. ISSN 0093 - 2574 Jump up ^ The Great Nation : France from Louis XV to Napoleon, ( 1715 -- 99 ), a scholarly bibliography by Colin Jones ( 2002 ) pp. 124, 132 -- 33, 147 Jump up ^ Jonathan R. Dull, The French Navy, and American Independence : A Study of Arms and Diplomacy, 1774 -- 1787 ( 1975 ) ISBN 0 - 691 - 06920 - 4 Jump up ^ On finance see William Doyle, Oxford History of the French Revolution ( 1989 ) pp. 67 -- 74 Jump up ^ John Hardman, Louis XVI, Yale university Press, New Haven and London, 1993 p. 126 Jump up ^ The French Revolution. Discoverfrance.net. Retrieved on 2011 - 11 - 18. Jump up ^ Peter Mathias and Patrick O'Brien, `` Taxation in Britain and France, 1715 -- 1810. A comparison of the social and economic incidence of taxes collected for the central governments. '' Journal of European Economic History 5 # 3 ( 1976 ) : 601 +. Jump up ^ Jeff Horn, The Path Not Taken : French Industrialization in the Age of Revolution, 1750 - 1830 MIT 2006 ISBN 978 - 026208352 - 2 Jump up ^ The taille was meant to pay for the war effort ; nobility was exempted as they considered their physical participation in the war as a `` blood tax ''. Jump up ^ Louis XV introduced a fixed remuneration scheme for tax collectors in 1769. Jump up ^ The épices were no bribes, as they did not go to the judge directly, but to a common fund, and served to pay for the costs incurred by the judges, who had to remunerate their auxiliaries - see Albert N. Hamscher, The Parlement of Paris after the Fronde 1653 -- 1673, p. 66. Jump up ^ Robert D. Harris, Necker : reform statesman of the Ancien Régime ( U of California Press, 1979 ). Jump up ^ Gilbert Faccarello, `` Galiani, Necker and Turgot. A debate on economic reform and policy in 18th Century France. '' History of Economic Thought 1.3 ( 1994 ) : 519 -- 50. Jump up ^ Eugene Nelson White, `` Was there a solution to the Ancien Régime 's Financial Dilemma ?. '' Journal of Economic History 49.03 ( 1989 ) : 545 -- 68. Jump up ^ `` Labyrinthe, Numéros 20 à 22 '', 2005, p. 58 Jump up ^ ( Andress, David. French Society in Revolution, 1789 -- 1799. France : Manchester University Press, 1999, pp. 16 -- 18 ) Jump up ^ Steven Kaplan, Jean - Philippe de Tonnac, `` La France et son pain : Histoire d'une passion '' ( 1 ) Jump up ^ Nicolas Bourguinat, `` L'État et les violences frumentaires en France sous la Restauration et la Monarchie de Juillet '', Ruralia, ^ Jump up to : Andress 17 Jump up ^ Bourguinat, Nicolas. `` L'État et les violences frumentaires en France sous la Restauration et la Monarchie de Juillet ''. Ruralia. Retrieved 26 February 2014. Jump up ^ Doyle, p. 121. Jump up ^ Soboul, p. 155. Jump up ^ Richard H. Grove ( 1998 ). `` Global Impact of the 1789 -- 93 El Niño ''. Nature. 393 : 318 -- 19. doi : 10.1038 / 30636. Jump up ^ Wood, C.A., 1992. `` The climatic effects of the 1783 Laki eruption '' in C.R. Harrington ( Ed. ), The Year Without a Summer ? Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, pp. 58 -- 77 Jump up ^ `` Histoires de légumes '' by M. Pitrat and C. Foury, Institut National de la recherche agronomoique, 2003, p. 167 Jump up ^ William L. Langer, `` American Foods and Europe 's Population Growth 1750 -- 1850 '' Journal of Social History 8 # 2 ( 1975 ) pp. 51 -- 66. in JSTOR ^ Jump up to : H.F. Helmolt, History of the World, Volume VII, Dodd Mead 1902, pp. 120 -- 21. Further reading Main article : Historiography of the French Revolution § Further reading Andress, David, ed. The Oxford Handbook of the French Revolution ( Oxford University Press, 2015 ). excerpt Bairoch ( 1989 ). `` L'economie francaise dans le contexte european a la fin du XVLLLe siecle ''. Revue Economique. 40 ( 6 ) : 939 -- 64. mirror Campbell, Peter, and Peter McPhee. `` Rethinking the origins of the French Revolution. '' in Peter McPhee, ed., A Companion to the French Revolution ( 2013 ) pp. 1 -- 23. Campbell, Peter R., ed. The Origins of the French Revolution ( 2005 ). Censer, Jack R. `` Historians Revisit the Terror -- Again. '' Journal of Social History ( 2014 ) 48 # 2 pp 383 -- 403 Doyle, William. Origins of the French Revolution ( 2001 ). Hibbert, Christopher ( 1980 ). The French Revolution. London : Penguin. ISBN 978 - 0140049459. Kaiser, Thomas and Dale Van Kley. From Deficit to Deluge : The Origins of the French Revolution ( 2010 ) Maza, Sarah. `` Politics, culture, and the origins of the French Revolution. '' Journal of Modern History 61.4 ( 1989 ) : 704 - 723. in JSTOR McPhee, Peter. Liberty or Death : The French Revolution ( 2016 ) Thomson, David ( 1957 ). Europe Since Napoleon. London : Longmans. French Revolution Causes Timeline Ancien Régime Revolution Constitutional monarchy Republic Directory Consulate Glossary Significant civil and political events by year 1788 Day of the Tiles ( 7 Jun 1788 ) Assembly of Vizille ( 21 Jul 1788 ) 1789 What Is the Third Estate ? ( Jan 1789 ) Réveillon riots ( 28 Apr 1789 ) Convocation of the Estates - General ( 5 May 1789 ) National Assembly ( 17 Jun -- 9 Jul 1790 ) Tennis Court Oath ( 20 Jun 1789 ) National Constituent Assembly ( 9 Jul -- 30 Sep 1791 ) Storming of the Bastille ( 14 Jul 1789 ) Great Fear ( 20 Jul -- 5 Aug 1789 ) Abolition of Feudalism ( 4 - 11 Aug 1789 ) Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen ( 27 Aug 1789 ) Women 's March on Versailles ( 5 Oct 1789 ) 1790 Abolition of the Parlements ( Feb -- Jul 1790 ) Abolition of the Nobility ( 19 Jun 1790 ) Civil Constitution of the Clergy ( 12 Jul 1790 ) 1791 Flight to Varennes ( 20 -- 21 Jun 1791 ) Champ de Mars Massacre ( 17 Jul 1791 ) Declaration of Pillnitz ( 27 Aug 1791 ) The Constitution of 1791 ( 3 Sep 1791 ) Legislative Assembly ( 1 Oct 1791 -- Sep 1792 ) 1792 France declares war ( 20 Apr 1792 ) Brunswick Manifesto ( 25 Jul 1792 ) Paris Commune becomes insurrectionary ( Jun 1792 ) 10th of August ( 10 Aug 1792 ) September Massacres ( Sep 1792 ) National Convention ( 20 Sep 1792 -- 26 Oct 1795 ) First republic declared ( 22 Sep 1792 ) 1793 Execution of Louis XVI ( 21 Jan 1793 ) Revolutionary Tribunal ( 9 Mar 1793 -- 31 May 1795 ) Reign of Terror ( 27 Jun 1793 -- 27 Jul 1794 ) Committee of Public Safety Committee of General Security Fall of the Girondists ( 2 Jun 1793 ) Assassination of Marat ( 13 Jul 1793 ) Levée en masse ( 23 Aug 1793 ) The Death of Marat ( painting ) Law of Suspects ( 17 Sep 1793 ) Marie Antoinette is guillotined ( 16 Oct 1793 ) Anti-clerical laws ( throughout the year ) 1794 Danton and Desmoulins guillotined ( 5 Apr 1794 ) Law of 22 Prairial ( 10 Jun 1794 ) Thermidorian Reaction ( 27 Jul 1794 ) Robespierre guillotined ( 28 Jul 1794 ) White Terror ( Fall 1794 ) Closing of the Jacobin Club ( 11 Nov 1794 ) 1795 Constitution of the Year III ( 22 Aug 1795 ) Conspiracy of the Equals ( Nov 1795 ) Directoire ( 1795 -- 99 ) Council of Five Hundred Council of Ancients 13 Vendémiaire 5 Oct 1795 1797 Coup of 18 Fructidor ( 4 Sep 1797 ) Second Congress of Rastatt ( Dec 1797 ) 1799 Coup of 30 Prairial VII ( 18 Jun 1799 ) Coup of 18 Brumaire ( 9 Nov 1799 ) Constitution of the Year VIII ( 24 Dec 1799 ) Consulate Revolutionary campaigns 1792 Verdun Thionville Valmy Royalist Revolts Chouannerie Vendée Dauphiné Lille Siege of Mainz Jemappes Namur ( fr ) 1793 First Coalition Siege of Toulon ( 18 Sep -- 18 Dec 1793 ) War in the Vendée Battle of Neerwinden ) Battle of Famars ( 23 May 1793 ) Expédition de Sardaigne ( 21 Dec 1792 - 25 May 1793 ) Battle of Kaiserslautern Siege of Mainz Battle of Wattignies Battle of Hondschoote Siege of Bellegarde Battle of Peyrestortes ( Pyrenees ) First Battle of Wissembourg ( 13 Oct 1793 ) Battle of Truillas ( Pyrenees ) Second Battle of Wissembourg ( 26 -- 27 Dec 1793 ) 1794 Battle of Villers - en - Cauchies ( 24 Apr 1794 ) Battle of Boulou ( Pyrenees ) ( 30 Apr -- 1 May 1794 ) Battle of Tournay ( 22 May 1794 ) Battle of Fleurus ( 26 Jun 1794 ) Chouannerie Battle of Tourcoing ( 18 May 1794 ) Battle of Aldenhoven ( 2 Oct 1794 ) 1795 Peace of Basel 1796 Battle of Lonato ( 3 -- 4 Aug 1796 ) Battle of Castiglione ( 5 Aug 1796 ) Battle of Theiningen Battle of Neresheim ( 11 Aug 1796 ) Battle of Amberg ( 24 Aug 1796 ) Battle of Würzburg ( 3 Sep 1796 ) Battle of Rovereto ( 4 Sep 1796 ) First Battle of Bassano ( 8 Sep 1796 ) Battle of Emmendingen ( 19 Oct 1796 ) Battle of Schliengen ( 26 Oct 1796 ) Second Battle of Bassano ( 6 Nov 1796 ) Battle of Calliano ( 6 -- 7 Nov 1796 ) Battle of the Bridge of Arcole ( 15 -- 17 Nov 1796 ) The Ireland Expedition ( Dec 1796 ) 1797 Naval Engagement off Brittany ( 13 Jan 1797 ) Battle of Rivoli ( 14 -- 15 Jan 1797 ) Battle of the Bay of Cádiz ( 25 Jan 1797 ) Treaty of Leoben ( 17 Apr 1797 ) Battle of Neuwied ( 18 Apr 1797 ) Treaty of Campo Formio ( 17 Oct 1797 ) 1798 French invasion of Switzerland ( 28 January -- 17 May 1798 ) French Invasion of Egypt ( 1798 -- 1801 ) Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( 23 May -- 23 Sep 1798 ) Quasi-War ( 1798 -- 1800 ) Peasants ' War ( 12 Oct -- 5 Dec 1798 ) 1799 Second Coalition ( 1798 -- 1802 ) Siege of Acre ( 20 Mar -- 21 May 1799 ) Battle of Ostrach ( 20 -- 21 Mar 1799 ) Battle of Stockach ( 25 Mar 1799 ) Battle of Magnano ( 5 Apr 1799 ) Battle of Cassano ( 27 Apr 1799 ) First Battle of Zurich ( 4 -- 7 Jun 1799 ) Battle of Trebbia ( 19 Jun 1799 ) Battle of Novi ( 15 Aug 1799 ) Second Battle of Zurich ( 25 -- 26 Sep 1799 ) 1800 Battle of Marengo ( 14 Jun 1800 ) Battle of Hohenlinden ( 3 Dec 1800 ) League of Armed Neutrality ( 1800 -- 02 ) 1801 Treaty of Lunéville ( 9 Feb 1801 ) Treaty of Florence ( 18 Mar 1801 ) Algeciras Campaign ( 8 Jul 1801 ) 1802 Treaty of Amiens ( 25 Mar 1802 ) Military leaders French Army Eustache Charles d'Aoust Pierre Augereau Alexandre de Beauharnais Jean - Baptiste Bernadotte Louis - Alexandre Berthier Jean - Baptiste Bessières Guillaume - Marie - Anne Brune Jean François Carteaux Jean Étienne Championnet Chapuis de Tourville Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine Louis - Nicolas Davout Louis Desaix Jacques François Dugommier Thomas - Alexandre Dumas Charles François Dumouriez Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino Louis - Charles de Flers Paul Grenier Emmanuel de Grouchy Jacques Maurice Hatry Lazare Hoche Jean - Baptiste Jourdan François Christophe de Kellermann Jean - Baptiste Kléber Pierre Choderlos de Laclos Jean Lannes Charles Leclerc Claude Lecourbe François Joseph Lefebvre Jacques MacDonald Jean - Antoine Marbot Jean Baptiste de Marbot François Séverin Marceau - Desgraviers Auguste de Marmont André Masséna Bon - Adrien Jeannot de Moncey Jean Victor Marie Moreau Édouard Mortier, duc de Trévise Joachim Murat Michel Ney Pierre - Jacques Osten ( fr ) Nicolas Oudinot Catherine - Dominique de Pérignon Jean - Charles Pichegru Józef Poniatowski Laurent de Gouvion Saint - Cyr Barthélemy Louis Joseph Schérer Jean - Mathieu - Philibert Sérurier Joseph Souham Jean - de-Dieu Soult Louis - Gabriel Suchet Belgrand de Vaubois Claude Victor - Perrin, Duc de Belluno French Navy Charles - Alexandre Linois Opposition Austria József Alvinczi Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen Count of Clerfayt ( Walloon ) Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze ( Swiss ) Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth Pál Kray ( Hungarian ) Charles Eugene, Prince of Lambesc ( French ) Maximilian Baillet de Latour ( Walloon ) Karl Mack von Leiberich Rudolf Ritter von Otto ( Saxon ) Prince Josias of Saxe - Coburg - Saalfeld Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss - Plauen Johann Mészáros von Szoboszló ( Hungarian ) Karl Philipp Sebottendorf Dagobert von Wurmser Britain Sir Ralph Abercromby Admiral Sir James Saumarez Admiral Sir Edward Pellew Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany Dutch Republic William V, Prince of Orange Prussia Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick - Wolfenbüttel Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe - Ingelfingen Russia Alexander Korsakov Alexander Suvorov Spain Luis Firmin de Carvajal Antonio Ricardos Other significant figures and factions Society of 1789 Jean Sylvain Bailly Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de la Rochefoucauld - Liancourt Isaac René Guy le Chapelier Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès Charles - Maurice de Talleyrand - Périgord Nicolas de Condorcet Feuillants and monarchiens Madame de Lamballe Madame du Barry Louis de Breteuil Loménie de Brienne Charles Alexandre de Calonne de Chateaubriand Jean Chouan Grace Elliott Arnaud de La Porte Jean - Sifrein Maury Jacques Necker François - Marie, marquis de Barthélemy Guillaume - Mathieu Dumas Antoine Barnave Lafayette Alexandre - Théodore - Victor, comte de Lameth Charles Malo François Lameth André Chénier Jean - François Rewbell Camille Jordan Madame de Staël Boissy d'Anglas Jean - Charles Pichegru Pierre Paul Royer - Collard Girondists Jacques Pierre Brissot Roland de La Platière Madame Roland Father Henri Grégoire Étienne Clavière Marquis de Condorcet Charlotte Corday Marie Jean Hérault Jean Baptiste Treilhard Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve Jean Debry Jean - Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil Olympe de Gouges Jean - Baptiste Robert Lindet Louis Marie de La Révellière - Lépeaux The Plain Abbé Sieyès de Cambacérès Charles François Lebrun Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot Philippe Égalité Louis Philippe I Mirabeau Antoine Christophe Merlin de Thionville Jean Joseph Mounier Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours François de Neufchâteau Montagnards Maximilien Robespierre Georges Danton Jean - Paul Marat Camille Desmoulins Louis Antoine de Saint - Just Paul Nicolas, vicomte de Barras Louis Philippe I Louis Michel le Peletier de Saint - Fargeau Jacques - Louis David Marquis de Sade Jacques - Louis David Georges Couthon Roger Ducos Jean - Marie Collot d'Herbois Jean - Henri Voulland Philippe - Antoine Merlin de Douai Antoine Quentin Fouquier - Tinville Philippe - François - Joseph Le Bas Marc - Guillaume Alexis Vadier Jean - Pierre - André Amar Prieur de la Côte - d'Or Prieur de la Marne Gilbert Romme Jean Bon Saint - André Jean - Lambert Tallien Pierre Louis Prieur Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac Antoine Christophe Saliceti Hébertists and Enragés Jacques Hébert Jacques Nicolas Billaud - Varenne Pierre Gaspard Chaumette Charles - Philippe Ronsin Antoine - François Momoro François - Nicolas Vincent François Chabot Jean Baptiste Noël Bouchotte Jean - Baptiste - Joseph Gobel François Hanriot Jacques Roux Stanislas - Marie Maillard Charles - Philippe Ronsin Jean - François Varlet Theophile Leclerc Claire Lacombe Pauline Léon Gracchus Babeuf Sylvain Maréchal Others Charles X Louis XVI Louis XVII Louis XVIII Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien Louis Henri, Prince of Condé Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé Marie Antoinette Napoléon Bonaparte Lucien Bonaparte Joseph Bonaparte Joseph Fesch Joséphine de Beauharnais Joachim Murat Jean Sylvain Bailly Jacques - Donatien Le Ray Guillaume - Chrétien de Malesherbes Talleyrand Thérésa Tallien Gui - Jean - Baptiste Target Catherine Théot List of people associated with the French Revolution Influential thinkers Les Lumières Beaumarchais Edmund Burke Anacharsis Cloots Charles - Augustin de Coulomb Pierre Claude François Daunou Diderot Benjamin Franklin Thomas Jefferson Antoine Lavoisier Montesquieu Thomas Paine Jean - Jacques Rousseau Abbé Sieyès Voltaire Mary Wollstonecraft Cultural impact La Marseillaise French Tricolour Liberté, égalité, fraternité Marianne Bastille Day Panthéon French Republican Calendar Cult of the Supreme Being Cult of Reason Temple of Reason Sans - culottes Metric system Phrygian cap Women in the French Revolution Symbolism in the French Revolution Historiography of the French Revolution Influence of the French Revolution Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Causes_of_the_French_Revolution&oldid=837426086 '' Categories : French Revolution Ferme générale Causes of the French Revolution Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2017 Interlanguage link template link number Articles containing French - 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Question: what was an immediate cause of the french revolution
Answer: bankruptcy of the king, and hence the state