Problems that contributed to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte
Before the French Revolutionary war, France was the most powerful European country. It was the most powerful because of it's constitutional monarchy. Later on, France had faced many problems that led to the French Revolutionary war. The French Revolutionary war was a rebellion from the peasants of France, which made up almost 98 percent of France's population, against the king and the higher class. The peasants were angry at the king because, he was taxing them, even though they barely have land to live on (spielvogel, 341). Nearly at the end of the French Revolution, a new regime was created, the directory. this regime lasted for almost five years until Napoleon Bonaparte came to power. There were many problems that contributed to the rise of Napoleon, but the most important problems were the division of French citizens, wars against foreign enemies, and economic growth problems.
One of the most important problems that contributed to the rise of Napoleon was the division if French citizens. This was the most important problem because it was the reason
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France faced the worst subsistence crisis since 1709 caused by the poor harvest of 1794 and the long and harsh winter of 1794 to 1795 (Price, 147). Poor people suffered from this problem the most. When France was divided into three estates, the third estate had to pay the taxes. The reason why the poor people suffered the most from the poor harvest of 1794 because, harvesting was how they made a living. With the poor harvest, many people starved of no food. France had faced inflation, people began to accept or demand payment in kind; even the directors salaries were partly paid in grain (The Directory: the Economy). When the French Revolution began, indirect taxes were abolished. In 1798, indirect taxes were reintroduced to help pay off the