Callie - Why Did the Revolution Happen?

The French revolution began in 1789 and ended with the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815.

  I think the financial crisis was a big part of the French revolution. It was a time when Louix XVI was deeply in debt from giving money to America to support their bid to separate from Brittan. Since all this money had been spent, taxes were placed on the majority of the third estate while the first and second estate barely had to pay anything. This was a problem because the first and second estate already had many privileges compared to the third.

The second reason the revolution happened is because of the power of the thrones and the weakness of the kings. At this time the French king was an absolute monarch so really he could do whatever he wanted. I think Louis XV and Louis XIV were bad Kings. They were considered indecisive, unintelligent and weak as a leader. During this time France needed strong rulers and they didn’t have them. Marie Antoinette was also disliked by many people.  She built her own “get away” house which to me makes it seem like she didn’t want to be queen.

I think the Ancien Regime was the most important reason why the revolution happened. This political/social system was very unfair. This system consisted of three classes (estates). The first estate consisted of the clergy (members of the church). These people payed no taxes, didn’t have to work and owned much land. The second estate was made up of anyone with a title. These people also did not have to pay taxes and owned even more land then the clergy. The third estate consisted of everyone else. Peasants, farmers, doctors, laborers and lawyers had to pay almost all the taxes and had no privileges.. The first and second estate saw nothing wrong with the way things were going. They always had food, could go hunting... meanwhile the third estate was suffering from food shortages. The third estate were the ones who took action first on trying to make a change. If it wasn’t for the unfairness of the three classes the revultion might not have happened.