French Rev
France was an absolute monarchy. Louis XIV was the greatest of all other rulers in Europe. While Louis XIV held the throne he encouraged trade and centralized government. Louis XIV successors, Louis XV and Louis XVI, all shared one common mistake, they all participated in lengthy and costly wars. France was defeated in Seven Years War against Britain. France was then crushed by the Prussians. The fatal weakness in France's monarchy system was its inability to produce a strong dictator. The people began to see Louis XVI as being weak, and they doubted the king as being divine. The events that occurred next will lead us to France's great Revolution. These following paragraphs will answer the famous question, "What caused the French Revolution and made it possible?" France was an absolute monarchy before the French Revolution. Absolutism, "king is divine", states that king was put on the throne by god. The Ancien Regime, the old order in France until the Revolution had large powers over society. They controlled the system of justice, the military; they influenced the Catholic Church, and had the right of taxa
Under all the pressure the King is forced to limit his absolutism. The peasants were ecstatic about the idea of tax reform and equality. The Revolution reformed France, made it stable and strong once again. These would greatly clash with the ideas of Absolutism. The Revolutionists also challenged the absolute rule of the king, they believed god wasn't the reason the king held the throne. Firstly they related to the peasant grievances and secondly they were the only class the peasants would associate with. Louis outraged tried to close their assembly hall. It stopped high taxation of the people, and encouraged free trade. To keep absolutism strong your dictator must be strong and stable, Louis the XVI was neither strong nor stable, the people would doubt the divined and thus start "The Age of Enlightenment," a growth of new critical ideas. This all appealed greatly to the people. This strongly favored the businessman. They swore not to stop until France had a constitution. Louis XVI failed to introduce reforms that were fair, and gain support of the people. Growth of new ideas amongst the Bourgeoisie, the majority population in France, reflected their high education levels. This only encouraged more criticism and provided more force against absolutism and the Ancien Regime.
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