thinking of major causes of the French Revolution which do you think was the most significant in explaining why the revolution Began in 1789

Answer 1

A vital fact about the beginning of the French Revolution to keep in mind was the social hierarchy in place in France in the 18th century. This hierarchy in place saw the noble class (First Estate) and clergy (Second Estate) above essentially every other citizen (Third Estate). Unlike the wealthy nobles and clergy, the growing Third Estate were burdened with paying the taxes owed due to France's huge debt from funding the American Revolution. King Louis XVI allotted half of France's national budget to payoff federal debts, however, this was not enough. As well as this, hail storms ruined many crops which caused food prices in France to sky rocket.

While the lower class struggled to survive with their little access to food, King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette remained well fed and living in the Palace of Versailles, Enlightenment thinkers began to challenge the idea of religion and the King's relationship with God, and the nobility made no progress in aiding with financial reform.

Louis XVI responded to the crisis by meeting with the Estates General, which was the closest thing France had to a democratic legislature. This meeting had representatives from the first, second and third estate present. The First and Second Estate together had around the same number of representatives as the number of representatives from the Third Estate, so every vote came down to a tie. The angered third estate decided to leave and create their own National Assembly, where they agreed to fight until they established a French Constitution.

Louis XVI responded by sending troops to Paris to prevent any uprisings due to food shortages. However, Revolutionaries saw this as Louis XVI attempting to incite a battle with them, so they seized the Bastille prison, beginning the revolution.

The French Revolution began mainly because the Third Estate was hungry, impoverished, and helpless due to the growing taxes imposed on them by the First Estate and Second Estate. Because they were unable to get anything done at the Estates General due to their unequal representation of the entire French population, they began this revolution in order to establish a French Constitution that would protect them from being over-taxed, and give them a more amplified voice in France's government.