Explain the social and economic causes for the French Revolution.
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Explain the social and economic causes for the French Revolution.
Explain the social and economic causes for the French Revolution.
1. Social Causes: Social inequality was one of the main causes for the French revolution. On the top of the social hierarchy was the King and the Royal family, next came the Clergy the I Estate and Nobility the II Estate, and below them the Commoners the III Estate.
The first two Estates were the privileged classes and the Third Estate was the unprivileged one consisting of Peasants, Workers, Teachers, Lawyers, Doctors, and Philosophers, etc. The people of I and II Estates were in minority who were less than 2% of the French population. The first two Estates monopolized all the highest offices in the Army, Church and the Government.
They were also exempted from paying taxes and free from the authority of the court. They were the owners of enormous wealth and exploited the peasants and workers. On the other hand, the conditions of the commoners were deplorable. They had to pay all taxes and were not eligible for any higher government services.
“The Nobles fight, the Clergy pray and the Commons pay”, was a popular statement in France. Thus the majority of the French people were disgusted owing to their social inferiority and discrimination, which paved the way for the outbreak of this revolution.
2. Economic Causes: The policy of taxation in France was defective and unfair. The burden of tax mostly fell on the Commoners, because the Clergy and Nobles were exempted from all kinds of taxes. Commoners had to pay ‘Tai lie’(Property Tax), ‘Gable’ (Salt Tax), ‘Tithe’ (Religious Tax) and other cesses to the Government. The peasants and workers after paying all these taxes were left with only 18 to 20% of their earnings. Even during the famines they had to pay their taxes and were suffering from untold miseries.
Thousands of people died due to starvation. If 10 people died in France, 9 would have been due to the starvation and the tenth one due to indigestion” was the condition of France on the eve of the French Revolution. This kind of economic exploitation and discontent among the common people made them to revolt against the discriminative taxation policy of the French Government.