French Revolution Dbq

The French Revolution of 1789 is still today considered one of the most controversial Revolutions and can be seen as a decade of progressive societal and political development. There are several factors that are thought to have contributed to the revolution, including social, economic and political factors. Some historians such as William Doyle argue that the main cause of the Revolution was the economic state of France at the time which led to a financial crisis. Doyle specifically argues that the state’s heavy taxation on the peasantry and the growing debt of Louis XVI were the most significant factors that fueled the county’s resentment of the government that led to the demand for reform. As well as this, he argues that the shortages of

The nobility’s opposition to the King, combined with their resistance to new taxes and reformation, helped to create tension between the two authorities and eventually the outbreak of the Revolution.

William Doyle – The Financial Crisis

Louis XVI inherited a large national debt from his predecessors, which arguably contributed heavily to the state's economic crisis, and his way of attempting to tackle this was to impose new taxes on the lower classes while exempting the higher classes. This eventually led to widespread anger among France’s citizens, who believed they were being treated unfairly by the government. A notable historian named William Doyle argued that one of the most significant causes of the French Revolution of 1789 was The Financial Crisis. Doyle mentions the misconception of the Revolution’s official start date, which he states did not start on 14 July 1789 but is believed to go back as far as 20 August 1786. Thus comptroller general of the royal finances, under King Louis XVI from 1783 to 1787, Calonne announced that France was on the verge of a financial collapse after taking two years to discover this. He was tasked with

Historian Henri Lefebvre argued that the Aristocratic Revolution of 1717 to 1788 was the most important cause of the French Revolution. He states that “the French Revolution was started and led to victory by the aristocracy”. The situation was so confusing that it could not be fully reported according to the fiscal administration. The budget of the Old regime roughly consisted of a 126 million livres deficit and the government could have solved this crisis by cutting down spending or raising taxes, though many thought taxes were already too high despite the richest of society; bourgeoisie, nobility and clergy paid the least tax. The nobility controlled the majority of France’s estates and held high-ranking positions in the army and government “The nobility constituted a vast social and political network, a source of power and influence that pervaded every level of French society”. Lefebvre argues that the nobility formed a vast social and political network that reached all over France, from the government all the way down to the peasantry. He draws attention to the extent of the nobility’s power and the role they played in French politics and society even before the revolution. Lefebvre’s quote also suggests that the nobility’s influence was not limited