Key Causes of the French Revolution

Question 1

What are the 3 POLITICAL Triggers?

Answer 1

1. Kings dismissal of Necker
2. Storming of the Bastlle reflects increasing mood of revolution and violence in Paris
3. Great Fear - prompts nobles to renounce priviledge - August Decrees and Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen.

Question 2

What was a Medium Term POLITICAL Cause?

Answer 2

Assembly of Notables and Parliaments demand and elected Estates General to approve tax reforms - Ideas of Representation & Accountability

Question 3

What are the ECONOMIC Causes of the Revolution

Answer 3

1. Successive Poor Harvests
2. Deregulation of the Grain Market
3. Increasing Food Prices
4. Decreasing Food Availability
5. Heavy Taxes and dues on Third Estate
6. Economic Strains =’s Political Problem for the King’s Government

Question 4

What are the IDEOLOGICAL Causes of the Revolution

Answer 4

1. Clergy and Nobility Prosper at expense of Commoners in deeply unequal system
2. Third Estate aspires to political equality with other estates
3. Influential bourgeosisie assume leadership of the Third Estate
4. Birth of “Public Opinion” as an incluence on decision making
5. Outdated system of social control

Question 5

What is the Long Term FISCAL Cause of the Revolution?

Answer 5

Inefficient taxation system - no central treasury, corrupt tax farming practices and exemptions for the privileged

Question 6

What are the Medium Term FISCAL Causes of the Revolution

Answer 6

1. High Crown Debt due to involvement in Foreign Wars
2. Neckers Comte Rendu - Books open to the public but conceiled real deficit
3. Louis XVI tries to reform the tax system so that the privileged pay more.
4. Tax reforms rejected by parliaments and assembly of noteables - leads to political crisis