What were the political causes of the French Revolution?
The most important event in European history during the 18th century was the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. Many and various causes-political, economic, social, and philosophical led to the outbreak of the revolution. Political causes of the French Revolution.[1] The king of France regarded himself to be representative of God on earth and believed in the theory of ‘Divine Right’. He did not consider himself responsible to anybody for his actions. This will was law.[2] The administrative system of France before the revolution was completely rotten and inefficient. Louis XVI as the king of France acted in an arbitrary manner. He spent a huge amount of money on maintaining his court at Versailles and for his luxuries.[3] The nobility of France became very powerful. They shamelessly accumulated power in their own hands. In fact, the French king became a puppet in the hands of the nobility.[4] The king had the fullest control over the subjects. He could imprison or punish any person with the help of ‘letters de cachet’. By this, any individual could be imprisoned for an indefinite period. The ‘letters’ were misused by the faithful officials of the king Thousands of persons were imprisoned in the Bastille which became a symbol of autocratic rule.[5] The administrative system was hopelessly unsatisfactory. The legal system was full of confusion. There was no uniform law for the whole of the country. For all these reasons the Frenchmen naturally became restive to put an end to the autocratic rule in France.
”France was a museum of economic errors.” Discuss. Or, What were the economic causes of the outbreak of the French Revolution?
The economic structure of France was one of the causes of the French Revolution.[1] Louis XVI, the ruler of France, had drained the resources of the nation in successive wars.[2] Due to rise of population in France, there was more demand for food grains. So the price of food soared and the poor could not afford to buy food. As a result, the gap between the rich and the poor widened.[3] There was a discriminatory tax system in France. The privileged class or the wealthier section of the society paid no tax to the government. On the other hand, the unprivileged class had to bear the burden of taxation. Only 4% of the total revenue collected by the government was paid by the privileged class and 96% was paid by the unprivileged class.The Third Estate had to pay different kinds of taxes like taille (land tax), capitation (production tax), vingtiemes (income tax), glabella (salt tax), tithe (Religious tax), corvee (labor tax) aides (tax on wine, tobacco, etc.) and so on.[4] Moreover, the method of realizing the revenue was also faulty. The revenue was collected by the contractors who used to realize more than what was due from the farmers but they deposited in the royal treasury only a part of it and thus appropriated a good amount for their own use. Thus whereas the peasants were exploited, the royal treasury was also being looted by the revenue officers.Due to the faulty economic structure of France, Adam Smith has remarked, “France was a museum of economic errors.”
Describe the discriminatory tax system in France before the outbreak of the French Revolution.
Before the outbreak of the French Revolution, French society was divided into two classes-the privileged and non- privileged. The privileged class or the wealthier section of society paid no tax to the government. On the other hand, the unprivileged class had to bear the entire burden of taxation. Only 4% of the total revenue collected by the government was paid by the privileged class and 96% was paid by the unprivileged class.Taille or direct land tax and tithes or religious tax were realized from the peasants. Vingtiemes or income tax, Gabella or salt tax, capitation or production tax, were also realized from them. They had also to pay Aides or taxes on wine, tobacco, etc. The peasants had to work for the reconstruction of roads without any payment. This was known as corvee. Again they had to pay toll tax for using the same roads.Thus the French peasantry, which then constituted about 80% of the total population, had to deposit the lion’s share of their income to the king’s treasury as direct or indirect tax. After paying 80% of their income in taxation, the peasants hardly had any money to meet the basic necessities of life.