In the early 1780s, France was one of the richest and most successful countries in Europe. However, due to due to the interplay of many factors (political, social and economic) there was a revolution that broke out in 1789. This revolution would later be referred to as the French Revolution. Let us delve into the causes that led to the French revolution as see how they affected the path of the revolution.
For starters, the political disquiet in France was one of the major causes of the French revolution. This political discontent was as a result of poor leadership of the ruling king. The kind of government in France was absolutist and autocratic, whereby the king had immense political power. It was considered treasonous to criticize or challenge the government of the day. In this regard, anyone who dared criticize the government was sentenced without trial. At the time of the French revolution, King Louis XVI lived an extravagant life. He and his wife, an Austrian queen, did not really care about the well-being of the people. The level of corruption and inefficiency of the French government at that time was just unbearable for the people.
Although there were various departments in the government, these departments were not functional as the king controlled the entire government. So dire was the situation that even the French parliament that was meant to oversee the executive was subject to the king’s manipulation. It could not hold any meetings without the king’s consent. Due to the luxurious and extravagance of the French autocratic monarchy, the economic situation began to deteriorate drastically during Louis XVI’s reign. It therefore happened that the defective French administration, government extravagance and the absolutist monarchy sowed the seeds that became the political cause of the French revolution. It followed that people wanted a change in power and the system of governance in France. The king and his administration, therefore, faced strong opposition that culminated in their being dislodged from power.
The second cause of the French revolution was the miserable social condition of the French people, especially in the last half of the eighteenth century. The French society was divided into three social classes namely: the nobles, the clergy and the ordinary people. The clergy was considered the most influential and topmost social class in France. This group did not pay any tax and they contributed a great deal to the exploitative nature of the government. They lived in scandalous luxury at the expense of the common people who were taxed heavily. The same was true for the noble class who also lived in pomp and extravagance and did not pay any tax to the monarch. The nobles were indifferent to the plight of the ordinary people.
On the other hand, the common people were farmers, cobblers and other people who had no influence at all in the government. They were expected to pay tithe, gable and taille to the monarch. Nevertheless, among this social class, was a small group of educated people consisting of doctors, philosophers, lawyers, people in business and teachers who had a little wealth and were thus influential. It is this group of enlightened bourgeoisie (middle class) that aroused the common people to stand up for their rights. Due to the emergence of an influential bourgeoisie, the common people who were the majority became rebellious to King Louis XVI’s government. This is what catapulted the French revolution that was also aptly referred to as the ‘Bourgeoisie Revolution.’
The other cause of the French revolution was the degraded economy of France in the 1780s. A lot of factors collectively contributed to the poor economic situation of France including the extravagance of the government and the king’s palace, the expensive external wars that France participated in, and lack of investment in agriculture and other economic activities. It is during the reign of King Louis XVI that the royal treasury became empty, an indication that France was bankrupt. King Louis XVI dismissed the advice given to him by the finance ministers he had appointed. He later on resorted to borrowing money in order to meet the growing expenditure of the government and the royal palace. As a result of this, the debt of France doubled in just under three years from three hundred million Francs to six hundred million Francs. This created economic instability in France by 1788.
The economic situation in France was debilitating such that the expenditure was way higher than the income from tax collected by the government. Essential food commodities became unaffordable to the common people. France was in financial ruins. Moreover, there was an unfair tax collection system in France that allowed private collectors to levy much higher taxes than the government required. This, compounded by the fact that the tax burden was borne by the peasants and the low wage earners led to a fast deteriorating economy in France.
Due to the fact that the king made all decisions without advice and oversight from parliament, he ended up making poor financial decisions that adversely impacted France’s economy. This led to a financial crisis in the government. Another factor that was closely tied to the economic crisis in France in the 1780s, was France’s involvement in the American Revolution. France spent humongous sums of money in the American Revolution, so much so that France became heavily indebted to a revolution that did not benefit it directly. Also, the fact that King Louis XVI failed to heed advice from genuine finance ministers, meant that there were no reforms in the tax systems of France. The ripple effect of all these economic factors was a revolution that made people become disobedient to the government. Civil disobedience and resistance to the exploitative tax systems inevitably led to the fall of the regime that had oppressed the common people for far too long.
Another factor that led to the outbreak of the French revolution was deregulation of the grain industry. Poor peasants relied on bread as their primary source of food. In this regard, it was in every king’s interest that his subjects are well fed and have a good supply of bread. In the 1780s, it was the role of the police to maintain social order as well as control food supply. In a bid to achieve social order, the police had to strive to ensure the quality of bread that was availed for purchase by the people was good. Hence stringent rules and regulations had to be given to the suppliers of grain and farmers. However, due to rampant corruption even within the police service, the grain merchants mixed flour with other substances in order to increase their profit margins. Moreover, the grain merchants hoarded grains to create an artificial shortage that would eventually lead to exorbitant prices for flour.
The deregulation of the grain industry resulted in poor quality flour and bread that was unaffordable to the common people. There was no quality assurance on the food products that were availed to the people. As a result the French revolution broke out since people demanded that good quality food be made available and at a reasonable price. The various envoys from the bourgeoisie who went to inform the top government officials in the royal court about the food crisis were dismissed. Consequently, a revolution was in the offing and became a reality in 1789 when an uprising against the government erupted. The king made efforts to intervene and reassure the people, but they would hear none of it. The people wanted an overhaul of the entire system due to its oppressive nature.
Aside from causes that were attributable to France itself, there were other external causes that may have helped fan the need for change in France. The American Revolution was arguably the most significant external cause of the French revolution. In 1775, former British colonies gained their hard-earned independence and became part
of the present-day United States of America. The events that led to the gaining of independence of the former British colonies were called the American Revolution. It therefore followed that those seeking change in France got an apt example from the American Revolution. The American Revolution inspired French intellectuals and other reformers to fight for change in the French system of governance in a peaceful yet resolute manner.
Indeed, the American Revolution spurred the spread of revolutionary ideas not only in France but also in other countries in Europe. The French soldiers that had been sent to fight in the American Revolution were able to gain the know-how and insight of undertaking a successful uprising against their French government at home. It was indeed ironical that King Louis XVI supported the American Revolution that would later become a cause for a revolution against his government. Hence, in the wake of the successful American Revolution, the French revolution materialized and was catapulted by French revolutionaries and reformists who became aware that enlightenment could be a basis for change in the France’s political system.
In conclusion, it is evident that it was an interplay of several factors, both from within and without France that led to the French revolution that put an end the exploitative autocratic monarch in France.