Causes of the French Revolution
Causes of the French Revolution The French Revolution, which started in 1789, had a variety of different causes. The social structures of France along with the changing demographics are one of these causes. Lack of power to act by the king along with new “Enlightened” ideas were also causes of the French Revolution. Alone, these causes would not have led to revolution. The underlying cause of this revolution was the financial system and debts the French government held to. In the end the French government had too many problems with its financial system to continue to follow it. This is shown by looking at how debts were incurred, why the current system couldn’t pay them and why the system couldn’t make changes so they could pay the debt. First, the vast majority of the debts held by the French were from wars. The Seven Years war which started in 1756 took place in both Europe and North America. It had the French fighting the English for naval and commercial superiority. The French lost this war. As a result, the French lost their North American colonies which were a good source of revenue for the country. This war also decimated the French army and navy. The French government responded by spending more money and taking on more debt to quickly rebuild the army and navy. The French were also involved in the American Revolution. They pledged a large land and naval force to the American cause. All together this war cost the French 1,066 million livres and resulted in the French main fleet being sunk. On top of that, all the money spent was from new loans taken out by the crown at high interest rates. For this, the French only received the two colonies of Tobago and Senegal. The cost of court expenses and of interest on loans also played a role in incurring France’s enormous debt. The greatest court expense was building the Palace of Versailles some 100 years before in 1682. The Palace required a large amount of money for it to be kept up to royal standards. The