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Submitted by Anubis_04 on December 13, 2006
Category: History Other
Words: 1272 | Pages: 6
Views: 191
Popularity Rank: 40,918
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The French Revolution, a political and social transformation, sought to dismantle the Old Regime of France and replace it with a more appropriate government. The Old Regime kept the nobles and clergy exempt from paying the towering taxes, forcing the middle and working classes to carry this burden. In as much as France was bankrupt, the king should have increased the nobility�s taxes. That would have helped them get out of debt quicker. Forcing the high taxes on poor peasants, most of who could not even pay them, would not help stop the downward spiral. In a time of skyrocketing bread prices, the peasants and workers had a hard enough time paying the taxes. The absolute monarchy practically gave the king unlimited power.
Therefore, it is somewhat obvious that this form of government was unpopular to the people who were not of �high-ranking� class. The rise of the Enlightenment ideas gave the bourgeoisie more reason to rise up and rid France of the absolute monarchy. King Louis XV sent foreign troops into Paris and Versailles to prevent rebellions. This only made the situation remarkably worse. All of these problems and many more helped spark the French Revolution.
France was bankrupt by the expensive wars fought over the past years. The American Revolution alone cost France two billion livres. The monarchy spent more money than it was taking in from taxes, sending them into an even greater debt. The solution to the problem was to tax the nobility and clergy, not just the commoners. Reforms were proposed with this solution but turned down because the nobility and clergy did not want anything to change. The reforms supposedly violated the rights of the nobility. Being ordered to pay taxes must have been the right that was violated; give me a break. They did not want their taxes to rise, but instead raised them on the middle and poor classes. The commoners, known as the Third Estate, demanded greater political equality and the...
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