The French Revolution

There were many reasons for the French Revolution and they are very complex and multifaceted, including the awful social structure, the bad leadership of the absolute monarchy, and the major economic issues made people unhappy with the state of France. Let's look at some of these issues to better understand why the people were upset.

The Social Structure

One cause of the French Revolution is the social structure. Before the French Revolution, the social structure was composed of the old regime, which included three estates. The first estate comprised the clergy, representing the highest estate. The second estate consisted of noble people, and the third estate, the largest estate in France, was composed of commoners, including peasants and the middle class (bourgeoisie). The third estate faced the most challenges; peasants endured heavy taxation due to the French monarchy, and the bourgeoisie, despite being wealthier than the peasants, had limited political influence and sought more representation.

The Economic/Financial Crisis

To be fair, France's economy grew significantly in the 18th century due to trade, but problems arose near the end of the century. Although the economy experienced substantial growth, it wasn't beneficial for French society. In fact, the cost of living in France increased by 62% in the years preceding the revolution, and income did not keep pace. Additionally, the population of France increased from about 19 million to 26 MILLION!!! This was the highest population in the whole of Europe at the time. Most of the population increase occurred in rural areas where peasant farmers worked. At that time, peasant farmers would consume almost 80% of the food they produced, and only a small portion could be sold for money, which was not sustainable for the people and because of this, many of them began to starve.

The Environment

The thing is, many of the problems that led up to the French Revolution could have been fixed, except for the environment, as you can't really change that. In the late 18th century, France experienced a lot of extreme weather, including very harsh rainy days, boiling hot summer days, and absolutely freezing cold winters. This was another reason why people couldn't get much food, as the weather prevented harvests during these times, making it very challenging to obtain food.

The Absolute Monarchy

The absolute monarchy has been in France since forever and it’s bad leadership was a major cause for the French Revolution. An absolute monarchy is when one person like a king or queen has absolute power and rule over a territory. France’s king at the time was King Louis XVI and he became king in 1774 along with his wife, Marie Antoinette. But while he was heiring the throne, he decided to give him and his wife luxury pleasures instead of taking care of their own country and controlling the aristocracy. This bad leadership eventually led to both Louis and Antoinette getting killed by the guillotine later on.