What were the significant causes of the French Revolution?
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What were the significant causes of the French Revolution?
![Source 4: Marquis de Bouille Francois, was a French
aristocratic general and supporter of the king. Writing in his
memoirs in 1797 in exile in London.
Alarmed by the dangerous situation of the kingdom, the
King's Finance Minister' made it clear to the king and
convinced him of a new system of administration in order to
avoid disaster.
The most striking of the country's troubles was the chaos in
its finances, the result of years of extravagance intensified
by the expense of the American War of Independence,
which had cost the state over twelve hundred million livres.
No one could think of any solution but a search for fresh
funds, as the old ones were exhausted.
The Minister of Finance had conceived a bold and
wide-ranging plan. This plan was put to the king, who gave it
his approval and promised to support its implementation.
Without either threatening the basis of the French
monarchy or damaging the sovereign's authority, this plan
changed the whole previous system of financial
administration and attacked all its vices (evils) at their root.
The worst of these were: the arbitrary system of [taxation]
and the abuse of privilege by the richest section of
taxpayers.
It was the more welcome to the king in that it fulfilled his
dearest wish: the relief of the most numerous class of his
subjects.
The government made a great mistake: it promised to call
the Estates General. They had not met for almost two
hundred years, and in this long period of time there had
been such great changes in the minds, the way of life, in the
character, customs and government of the French nation
that their meeting now could only produce upheaval and
rejected the new system of taxation.](/v2/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.bartleby.com%2Fqna-images%2Fquestion%2F7c6a3dff-6729-485c-933e-bf615eefedb6%2F04349578-9960-4270-856c-e3b226400a8f%2F5y7u4_processed.jpeg&w=3840&q=75)
Transcribed Image Text:Source 4: Marquis de Bouille Francois, was a French
aristocratic general and supporter of the king. Writing in his
memoirs in 1797 in exile in London.
Alarmed by the dangerous situation of the kingdom, the
King's Finance Minister' made it clear to the king and
convinced him of a new system of administration in order to
avoid disaster.
The most striking of the country's troubles was the chaos in
its finances, the result of years of extravagance intensified
by the expense of the American War of Independence,
which had cost the state over twelve hundred million livres.
No one could think of any solution but a search for fresh
funds, as the old ones were exhausted.
The Minister of Finance had conceived a bold and
wide-ranging plan. This plan was put to the king, who gave it
his approval and promised to support its implementation.
Without either threatening the basis of the French
monarchy or damaging the sovereign's authority, this plan
changed the whole previous system of financial
administration and attacked all its vices (evils) at their root.
The worst of these were: the arbitrary system of [taxation]
and the abuse of privilege by the richest section of
taxpayers.
It was the more welcome to the king in that it fulfilled his
dearest wish: the relief of the most numerous class of his
subjects.
The government made a great mistake: it promised to call
the Estates General. They had not met for almost two
hundred years, and in this long period of time there had
been such great changes in the minds, the way of life, in the
character, customs and government of the French nation
that their meeting now could only produce upheaval and
rejected the new system of taxation.
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