During the 17th and 18th century, France was ruled by absolute monarchy. The king had all of the political power. For example, if citizens criticized the government, they could be arrested and put in prison without a trial. King Louis XIV (1774-1793) was king at the time of the French Revolution. He was more interested in hunting than governing France. He and his Austrian queen, Marie Antoinette, lived an extravagant life at the Palace of Versailles. They did not really care about the state of their country. He did make a good decision, however, in hiring Jacques Necker to take care of financial problems. Despite the good job that he did, he was

During the 18th century, the French government spent more money than it collected in taxes. By 1788, the country was bankrupt. Most of the money was spent on wars. France had been at war for nearly 50 years out of the previous one hundred years. France supported the Americans in the American War of the Independence. After the war, France was in financial ruin. The Bourbon kings spent large amounts of money on palaces and entertainment. Because the government spent a lot of money, taxes were high. The tax system was unjust. The

Napoleon had many successes in war. He drove British forces away from France and was awarded many awards for his achievements. He made himself Emperor and established the Napoleonic Code. At the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Napoleon was defeated by Haratio Nelson. Then, Napoleon was also defeated at Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington and went into exile on St. Helena, an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. After Waterloo, the Congress of Vienna met to restore order to Europe after 25 years of war. The goal was to create lasting peace by establishing a balance of power. Metternich, was the more dominant figure in congress and wanted things to restore the status quo Latin for (“the way things are”) of 1792. They redrew the map of Europe. (Ellis and Esler pg.503)

nobles and the clergy hardly paid any taxes. The Church owned one-tenth of the land in France and it did not pay taxes. (Censer, Jack R.). The peasants paid most of the taxes and they were the people least able to afford them.

quickly fired and so the crisis got worse. Soon, the wealthy and powerful classes demanded that the king call the Estates General. They hadn’t met since 1614 and could not meet without the consent of the king. As a result, they had no power. “The government was inefficient, unjust and corrupt.” (Sikes, Robert).

With these problems at hand, the revolution began. The Third Estate formed themselves into the National Assembly and were then locked out of its meeting place. They then took the famous Tenn

Some topics in this essay:
French Revolution, Censer Jack, France Continuing, Declaration Rights, War Independence, Jacques Necker, Legislative Assembly, Congress Vienna, Sikes Robert, Reign Terror, french revolution, 18th century, third estate, ellis esler, dempsey parr pg219, paid taxes, dempsey parr, legislative assembly, nobles clergy, spent money, 18th century france, government spent money, century france,