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26 August, 15:21

What was the nature of the fiscal crisis that triggered the french revolution? (note: this question is asking you to describe the economic crisis which is one of the reasons for the french revolution) ?

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  1. 26 August, 15:43
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    The long-term cause of the fiscal crisis was a social structure called the estate system, in which the population of France was divided in accordance with their class. There were three estates: the 1st estate was the clergy, which owned about 10% of France's land but paid no taxes for them. The 2nd estate was composed of the French nobility/aristocrats, who owned about 25% of France but paid almost no taxes as well. The 3rd estate, of which 98% of France's population was composed, were burdened with France's financial woes, and were understandably angry about it. The peasants were poor and yet had a higher tax burden than those who could actually afford to pay it, the urban working class was impacted by inflation due to a bad harvest in 1787/88, and the bourgeoisie were a wealthy and well educated portion of the 3rd estate, yet they had no respect or political voice. To make matters worse, government finances were dwindling because of the luxurious living of the royals and aristocracy, and the many wars France had fought in the past couple of years. It finally got so bad that King Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General, which hadn't been done in 175 years, and held a vote for taxing the 1st and 2nd estates. The vote would not go through, because each Estate had 1 vote, and the 1st and 2nd Estates would obviously not vote for taxing themselves, so they voted as a bloc, making the vote 2 against 1 (the 3rd Estate), and bringing about no change to the fiscal crisis. The 3rd Estate walked out of the Estates General, along with handfuls of the 1st and 2nd estate representatives. Angry at what they felt was a corrupt financial and political system, they established the National Assembly and vowed to make change. The King, recognizing what he was up against, ordered the 1st and 2nd Estates to join the National Assembly, and called in the army to restore the peace, but the move was perceived as him attempting to suppress the people, and so it led to the storming of the Bastille on July 14th, 1789, thus setting the French Revolution into motion.
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