The Social Revolution: The Cause Of The French Revolution

The French Revolution started in 1789 and lasted till 1799. The French Revolution began because of several government issues that caused the poor citizens to become poorer and the wealthy to become wealthier. Before the French Revolution, the government of France would stock pile extra food for the citizens for if they could not produce the food themselves. However, the government had been selling the extra food to gain more money until the agrarian crisis in 1788-1789. The economy declined even further causing more and more people to become unemployed and evicted from their homes. The French Revolution began on July 14, 1789 when rioters stormed the Bastille for weapons and gunpowder; they had also released seven prisoners that were being

France had twenty million people living within its borders. Within a century that number increased by another eight to ten million people leaving in France. This caused shortages of food and an increase in disease through out France. By 1789 about 600,000 people lived within Paris alone. Only a small amount of other cities such as Lyons, Bordeaux, and Marseilles had more than 100,000 people living in them. This caused many tensions in and outside the cities. Once the agrarian crisis had begun it destroyed most of the crops that had been used to feed the millions of people that it could. The agrarian crisis was a hailstorm that killed all crops in France and when the government would not help the citizens they began to riot. The King of France Louis XIV also played a role in the cause of the French Revolution. Louis XIV increased taxes on the peasants but in return he would not help the tax payer’s deal with the looting that was happening in the country side of France. Louis XIV scheduled an assembly for the representatives of the clergy, nobles, and the middle class. This type of an assembly has not taken place since 1614. Before the assembly the delegates from all three estates would create a list of grievances to present to the king. The meeting was to be held on May 5,