How Did Poverty Cause The French Revolution

Poverty is not enough to cause a revolution and the French Revolution supports Goldstones belief. The French Revolution of 1789 was a long time coming and had many long-term causes other than the specific condition of poverty in the country. During the time leading up to the Revolution, there were bad political, social, and economic conditions in France which together contributed to the discontent felt by the majority of French people, mostly those of the third estate. The ideas of the intellectuals of the Enlightenment also brought new views to government and society. It is important to realize the Revolution was not caused by one singular event, but rather it was caused by the conglomeration of many problems over many years.
A cause of the

Although Goldstone believes poverty is not the only cause of revolution, poverty is a key cause to remember. The old regime had a bad habit during the 18th century-the government spent more money than it collected by taxation, which led to their bankruptcy in 1788. While there was almost no bread to be had by commoners, massive amounts of money was spent on wars. Out of the previous one hundred years, France was at war for fifty of them. After supporting the Americans in their fight for independence, France was in financial ruins. The governments high spending led to the high taxation which the nation’s people couldn’t sustain. Arthur Young, an English agriculturalist of the time, traveled to France from 1787 to 1789 and angrily describes the living conditions of the third estate in his book Travels in France. He observed how unfair the taxes were; peasants and common landowners were taxed exuberantly. In contrast, the nobles and the clergy paid low taxes if any at all. Louis XVI tried to reform the taxation system but the nobility and the clergy refused to accept the new reforms. Therefore, the king was unable to make any financial reforms. France had a political system that was unfair and