Causes Of The French Revolution
...government. The king had
all the political power. And the kings who came after him were despots. For example, anyone
who criticized the government could be arrested and put in prison without trial. Louis XIV at l
east ruled this country efficiently. Last French kings were not good rulers. Louis XIV (1774-
1793) was king at the time of the French Revolution. He was more interested in hunting than
governing France. He and his Austrians queen, Marie Antoinette, lived an extravagant life at the
Palace of Versailles. They did not really care about the state of their country. The government
was inefficient, unjust and corrupt. There were too many government departments, different laws
in different parts of the country and officials. Many people became angry about the way France
was governed. They could do nothing to change it. The French Parliament was called the Estates-
General. It was made up of the First Estate- churchmen or clergy, the Second Estate- nobility, the
Third Estate- commoners. The Estate- General had not met since 1614. It could not meet without
consent of he king. It had no political power.
During the 18th century, the French government spent more money than it collected in
taxes. By 1788, the country was bankrupt. Because the government spent a lot of money, taxes
were high. The tax system was unjust. The nobles and the clergy paid hardly any taxes. The
Church owned one-tenth of the land in France. It did not pay taxes. The peasants paid most of the
taxes. Yet, they were the people least able to afford them.
In the 18th century, France was a feudal country with class division. People were divided
into three estates or classes. The First Estate consisted of the clergy. The Second consisted of the
nobility, and the Third included the bourgeoisie, the city workers and the peasants. The estate to
which he belonged...
View Full Essay
