Essay
What caused the French Revolution? Rough Answer to the exam question
- Module
- The French Revolution
- Institution
- AQA
What caused the French Revolution? Rough Answer
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What caused the French Revolution?There are many reasons for the cause of the French Revolution. Some one
these are Political reasons, some are financial reasons, some are social
reasons, and some are to do with the cultural change. Political reasons include
the monarchy and how unprepared Louis was as a royal leader, as well as how
young he and his wife, Marie-Antoinette, were when they took over the
throne. Financial reasons include Marie-Antoinette’s excessive spending, such
as her buying hundreds of dresses and shoes and buying a very expensive piece
of jewellery. Social reasons include the estate system and the third estate
being sick of having to pay ridiculous taxes, such as the salt tax. Lastly, Cultural
change may include the Enlightenment, when people wanted to start looking
into stuff more, science, further study in their religion and how the world
works. The two most significant reasons are the Social reasons and the
financial issues.
The estate system was a system which was very simple, but it was a very unfair
one. The first estate consisted of the clergy; Archbishops, Bishops and Priests
to list a few. The second estate consisted of the Nobles and lastly, the third
estate consisted of the bourgeoisie, the Artisans and the peasants. Though the
first and second estate had the most money, they had to pay the least taxes.
However, the third estate had to pay many, many taxes. One of these included
the salt tax, a tax on salt. During this time, the only real way to preserve meat
was to preserve it with salt as there were no devices such a freezers or
refrigerators so having a tax on salt, something that was needed to store meat,
was cruel, especially since it was only on the third estate. Eventually, the third
estate grew sick of paying these ridiculous taxes and, through the
encouragement of the American Revolutionary war, revolted.
The Financial issues during Louis’ reign also caused problems. Marie-
Antoinette, Louis’ wife, had a bad spending habit. She would buy hundreds of
dresses a year, hundreds of shoes and she was involved in many financial
scandals, such as the ‘diamond necklace scandal’. She also had ‘the little
hamlet’ built, which was very expensive. She built the little hamlet to help her
feel as though she was poor and to hang out with her friends. France also
helped in the American revolution and, since war is costly, Frances economy
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