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Causes Of French

Essay by   •  June 19, 2011  •  283 Words (2 Pages)  •  933 Views

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The French Revolution took place in France in 1789. There wasn't just one main cause but many causes. The king at the time, Louis XVI, was too young and too inexperienced to be a good king for France. He was the first spark to start the French Revolution. The peasants also had an impact on the Revolution. The lack of food and attention from the government were upsetting them. They were so angry so the enlightenment ideas sounded like promising ideas. The lack of food, lack attention from the government, and too many ideas are what began and ended the French Revolution.

King Louis XVI led a glamorous and expensive life. Him and his wife, Austrian princess, Marie Antoinette, spent lots of the government's money on luxuries even though the government had some financial problems. In the Seven Years War against England, France spent large sums of money on the war effort but they still lost the war and had to give up their colonies in North America. This was King Louis's first of many mistakes. He also made peasants pay a ridiculous tax, which made them very poor and hungry.

The Enlightenment is a period when new ideas spread throughout the country, which often were against the government. The ideas of the intellectuals of the Enlightenment brought new views to government and society. Since most of these ideas went against the government many people began to be against the government. Revolutionary thinkers such as Voltaire, and Rousseau, came up with new theories. They presented an idea of a liberal society, which appealed especially to the business population of the third estate. They also challenged the absolute right to rule and presented ideas

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