Countries in Europe were very competitive in the 1600s and 1700s. France was involved in expensive wars against its main rival, England. Examples: the Seven Years’ War (1753-1763) and when the French supported the Americans in the American Revolution (1775-1783). Conflicts like these cost the French government LOTS of money.
To raise more money, the French government started taxing the middle and lower classes of France (the “Third Estate”), two groups that were already paying high taxes.
The society of France was divided into three groups called Estates. The First Estate, the clergy, were about 1% of the population, but they controlled 10% of the land. The Second Estate, the nobility, were 2% of the population, but they controlled 25% of the land. The Third Estate were the other 97% of the population, but they owned only 65% of the land.
The king of France, Louis XVI (the Sixteenth) and his wife, Marie Antoinette, spent a lot of the government’s money on nice clothes, the best food and wine, and many other expensive goods to make their lives as comfortable as possible.
France was an absolute monarchy, but in the 1700s, lots of new ideas were coming from Enlightenment thinkers. For example, John Locke said that if the government was not serving the people, the people could take control.
Due to harsh (difficult) winters and less government controls, there was a shortage (not enough) of wheat, making the bread very expensive. Bread was the most important food for the poor people in France.
The king could hold a special meeting called the Estates-General between the different groups of France: the First, Second, and Third Estates. Each group had the same number of votes at the meeting, 1, even though the Third Estate was much bigger than the other groups (97% of the population).
The middle class in France (the bourgeoisie) was getting richer, but they were a part of the less powerful Third Estate. The middle class wanted more power.
Farmers had very difficult lives. Their work was hard, and they had to pay high taxes.
People were starting to use reason (their ability to think), so they did not listen to the Catholic Church as much.
Baron de Montesquieu, an Enlightenment thinker, said that the power of the government should be separated.