Describe the circumstances leading to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France.
Answers
Answer:The circumstances leading to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France were:
Social Inequality: French society in the eighteenth century was divided into three estates namely The Clergy, The nobility and third estates which comprise peasants, officials and small business. It was only third estates that pay taxes. Clergy and nobility were exempt from taxes.
Subsistence Crisis: The population of France also increased from 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789. Food grains were now in great demand. Price of bread shot up. Wages did not keep pace with rising prices. This led to subsistence crisis.
Economic Problems: Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France. France had a debt of more than 2 billion livres. To meet its regular expenses, such as the cost of maintaining an army, the court, running government offices or universities, the state was forced to increase taxes.
Strong Middle Class: The middle class emerged educated and wealthy during the eighteenth century. They believed that no group in society should be given privileges by birth. Ideas of equality and freedom were put forward by philosophers. The ideas of these philosophers were discussed intensively in salons and coffee houses and spread among people.
Immediate Causes: On 5 may, 1789, Louis XVI called together an assembly of Estates General to pass proposals for new taxes. Third estates protested against this proposal but as each estate have one vote, the king rejected this appeal. They walked out of the assembly.
Explanation:
Answer:
When King Louis XVI was anointed as the new king, he found an empty treasury. Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France. On top of this, there was the cost of maintaining an extravagant court at the Palace of Versailles. France had helped the thirteen American colonies gain their independence from their common enemy, Britain. The war added more than a billion lives to a debt that had already risen to more than 2 billion lives. Lenders who gave credit began to charge 10 per cent interest on loans. So the French Government had to spend an increasing percentage of its budget on interest payments alone. To meet its regular expenses, such as cost of maintaining an army, the court, governmental offices and Universities were increasingly becoming difficult. Raising taxes did not suffice, because the French society was divided into 3 estates and only the 3rd estate had to pay taxes. The 1st estate and the 2nd estate did not pay any taxes. The population of France was also growing massively. This led to a rapid increase in the demand for food grains. Production of grains could not keep pace with demand. So the price of bread, which was the staple diet of the majority rose rapidly. Most workers were employed as labourers in workshops, whose owner fixed their wages. But the wages did not keep pace with the rise in prices. So the gap between the rich and the poor widened. All these factors led to the outbreak of the French Revolution.