What caused the French Revolution?

The basic cause of the French Revolution was the fact that the common people of France were not given any sort of real voice in their own government.  They were relatively oppressed and were very unhappy with that state of affairs. However, their unhappiness could not directly turn into a revolution.  Instead, the revolution was only able to happen when the financial problems of the French government opened the door to rebellion.

By the late 1700s, the French government was badly in debt.  It had lost a lot of money paying for the Seven Years’ War and also in helping the American colonies rebel against England.  The problem was that the government, which was a monarchy, needed cooperation from the aristocrats before it could raise money through new taxes.  The aristocracy wanted more power while the monarchy wanted to remain absolute.  This led to an impasse.

Eventually, the impasse was broken in 1788 when the king agreed to call a meeting of the Estates General.  The aristocrats and the monarchy felt that this would allow them to make some sort of a new deal to share power.  The problem was that there was also the Third Estate, the common people.  They had had very little power even though they made up the vast majority of the country’s population.  The calling of the Estates General gave the Third Estate the opening they needed to push for major change.  This eventually caused the revolution.

Thus, the French Revolution came about when government debts forced the monarchy into a situation where the common people could try to take power.

The French Revolution was caused by a number of factors, some of which served to exacerbate others. Some of these factors, like a dying class system, were common to most of the European revolutions. Philosophical shifts, national debt, and even the environment played a part in this rapid social upheaval, too. 

Let's begin with the feudal system. For centuries, French society had been organized into three Orders or Estates: the laborers or peasants, the nobility, and the clergy. Under this system, the king divided up all the land in his kingdom among the nobility in return for military service. These nobles might then break it up among lesser nobles if they had the opportunity. Again, this obligated the lesser nobles to military service. Finally, the land was worked by peasants who had little say in their work or life situation. The clergy's function in this society was essentially to reinforce this system of social stratification by maintaining that it was how God wanted things.

By the time of the Revolution, the feudal system was weakened in many areas, and confusing in others. A shift in philosophies of the time (called the Enlightenment) and increasing literacy rates resulted in a peasant class who were acutely aware of their exploitation. Several years of crop failure due to weather had resulted in the peasant class being unfairly punished for something they had no control over. The food that peasants produced "belonged" to the king and nobility. When crop failure resulted in food shortages, the nobility were just fine, but a rise in prices put poor laborers at an unfair advantage. They couldn't afford the foods they were raising and producing! A number of bread riots broke out in protest of the high price of bread, a staple food many relied on.

Enlightenment philosophy emphasized equality and independent thought. It played a major part in the American Revolution, and in turn influenced the French Revolution. France was doubly impacted by the American Revolution-- they had fought alongside the United States against the British, and this military involvement had driven the government into extreme debt. Most of French society was unhappy with this fact and felt that it showed irresponsibility on the part of the monarchy.

So, what happens when a starving and exploited peasant class no longer feel obligated to participate in a weakened system of societal organization? Revolution!

What circumstances led to the outbreak of the French Revolution?

The circumstances that led to the outbreak of the French Revolution were intricate and complex. In analyzing these conditions, it becomes clear how seismic the French Revolution actually was. One of these circumstances was a cultural spirit of change and reform that permeated through France. The embrace of the Enlightenment, particularly the French brand of Enlightenment thought, was a significant circumstance that contributed to the outbreak of the revolution in France. The Enlightenment teachings and ideas embraced democratic self-determination and sought to remove monarchal power in favor of one where greater individual voice was evident. The Enlightenment sought to create the conditions of change in the world, and was very skeptical about creating circumstances which would have substantiated the ancien regime. Enlightenment ideals of equality, individual rights, and representative government became realities. These principles served to facilitate the American Revolution. The teachings of the Enlightenment played a vital role in leading to the outbreak of the French Revolution.

Economics also led to the outbreak of revolution in France. While France was not destitute, it increased economic hardship in the form of taxation on the poorest of French society. The French monarchy resisted economic and political reforms, seeking instead to have the peasants pay so much more in way of taxes from a proportional standpoint than those who were wealthy. The prices of basic necessities such as food were skyrocketing and, combined with a greater tax burden, the poorest of French society had had enough. This resentment is something that Thomas Carlyle saw as a major circumstance that led to the outbreak of revolution:

. . . the hungry food-year, which runs from August to August, is getting older; becoming more and more a famine-year! With 'meal-husks and boiled grass,' Brigands may actually collect; and in crowds, at farm and mansion, howl angrily, Food! Food! It is in vain to send soldiers against them: at sight of soldiers they disperse, they vanish as under ground; then directly reassemble elsewhere for new tumult and plunder...

The economic condition of hardship which was brought on by rising costs and taxation combined with the monarchy's inertia towards economic and political reform. These circumstances led to the disenchantment of the lower classes that clamored for revolution and change in France.

In a larger sense, one of the circumstances that led to the outbreak of revolution in France was a changing world. The emergence of the bourgeoisie and the growing dissatisfaction of the poorest in society were changing facets of French society. These groups' changing political and economic aspirations were a part of why revolution took place in France. The monarchy failed to understand the level of change in its society, believing that it could assert its power through insistence and then through the use of the military power in order to silence dissent. However, it was not merely dissent as much as it was a fundamental shift in how French society was constructed. The French monarchy's absolute power was "dissolving," its dream of total control collapsing. This changing status quo was another circumstance that led to the outbreak of revolution in France.