Causes of the French Revolution

The French Revolution began in 1789 and it was ended in the late 1790s. This revolution
consists of many causes. The first cause of this revolution is the Old Regime, the classification of
the class of people, the first one is the first estate, which is the clergy, the second is the second
estate which is all nobles, the third estate is the peasants and the educated artists. The second reason
is the decline of the economic . The third reason is the weak leader in France which is King Louis
XVI, he is very bad leader compare to King Louis XIV. And these cause lead to the French
Revolution.

In the 1770s, the social and political system of France are called the Old Regime. This
system divided people into three large social classes, or estates. The First Estate are made up of the
entire clergy. The First Estate is traditionally divided into higher and lower clergy. The upper
clergy were clerical nobility from the families of Second Estate. The population of the First Estate
in 1789 is about 130,000 (which is about 0.5% of the population). The Second Estate comprised the
French nobility and the royalty. The Second Estate is traditionally divided into noblesse de robe
(nobility of the robe) and noblesse dpe (nobility of the sword). The Second Estate constituted
about 2% of the Frances population. The Third Estate are made up of all people who were not
nobility and royalty. In the Third Estate, it is divided into 2 major group: urban and rural. The urban
group include the bourgeoisie the middle class. The bourgeoisie were the bankers, factory
owners, and etc. About 97% of the French population were belong to the Third Estate.

In the 1780s, Frances once prosperous economy was in decline. The decline caused alarm,
particularly among the merchants, factory owners, and the bankers of the Third Estate. It is almost
impossible to conduct business profitably in France because the heavy of taxation. So the cost of
living was rapidly rising. The bad weather also caused widespread of crop failures, resulting the
double price of bread in 1789. During 1770s and 1780s, France helped the American revolutionaries
in their war against the Great Britain. Because of the war, Frances government sank deeply into
debt. Louis XVI and his queen was also the part of extravagant spending. Louis XVI also inherited
the debt from the previous king. Finally in 1786, Louis faced serious problems, because the bankers
refused to lend the government any more money.

Louis XVI was a very weak leader, he hasnt have the the choice of his own. He dint make
any decisions for the country only his wife Marie do the job. But his wife is a very bad advisor, her
decisions is not suitable for the French people. King Louis XVI also spend a lot of money on his
dressing and the accessories, even during the economic decline. He didnt care of anyone, he didnt
listen to other advice except of his wife. And at last, he was beheaded in front of French people in
1793.

In this essay I would like to conclude that in France there are many problems that the King
and the government ignored. The problems have lead it into the French Revolution. I think that if
Louis XVI is the strong leader and the third estate have more right it might not lead to the French
Revolution. If the king let the nobility paid the taxes too it will fair to the third estate.