The Enlightenment links closely to a long-term cause to the revolution; that of the unfairness of the ancien régime, which refers to the old regime, built up of the three estates with an absolute monarch at the head. The First Estate, made up of the clergy, enjoyed many privileges such as tax exception and tithe collection. These privileges made the clergy appear corrupt with wealth and many bishops did not even visit their diocese. This absenteeism would have made the church very unpopular with ordinary people and would have helped to undermine the ancien régime. Like the first estate, the second enjoyed a vast range of privileges such as being exempt from taxation. The nobles did not like any erosion to their privileges, which would not bode well for finance minsters attempting to enact reforms.
The third estate was at the very bottom and consisted of everybody else and there were great extremes of wealth. They did not have rights and privileges and had to carry the burden of the two privileged classes. They were taxed considerably and had to perform forced labour on the roads (the corvée). They were worst hit by the subsequent disasters, such as bad harvests, and because they kept the country running due to their hard work, it would have been necessary to keep them happy. Many of the bourgeoisies wanted to join the second estate and many historians believe in the Marxist interpretation of the cause of the revolution; that the rise of the bourgeoisie threatened the structure of the regime. I think that although like the Enlightenment, it provided a framework for the revolution; it did not cause it on its own.
These long-term factors created a framework on which the revolution took place. Many countries were also experiencing similar problems, there were riots in London, Brussels and Amsterdam, however nowhere experienced the complete collapse of royal power, and so it is obvious that revolution in France was fuelled by short-term factors. These short-term factors consist of foreign policy, the financial crisis, the political crisis and the economic crisis.
France had fought many expensive wars throughout the 18th century but the Seven Year War and the American War of Independence are important short-term causes of the revolution. France resolved their differences with Austria, and allied with them against Britain in the Seven Year War. They suffered many crushing and humiliating defeats at the hands of the British and lost much of their territories oversees. Due to slow communications and being unable to provide their colonies with support France lost the Seven Year War at great expense (both politically and financially). The Royal Expenditure was heavily devoted to repaying war loans and this crippled the French economy. Many finance ministers struggled to provide funds for the country and royal authority was quickly diminishing. Such crushing defeats were also detrimental to the self-esteem of the nation especially as the world regarded it as a superior power. This was a major contributing factor to France’s involvement in the American War of Independence. France was able to gain revenge against Britain and repair the confidence of the people. The victory however was hollow for the cost of the war plunged France into a graver financial situation (approaching bankruptcy) and soldiers returning from the war had been exposed to ideas such as liberty and democracy and would soon demand similar rights for the French people.
The War of American Independence fuelled the financial crisis France was experiencing at the time. The government had built up a huge deficit of 112 million livres and in 1786; Calonne (the controller-general) told Louis XVI that they were on the verge of bankruptcy. Expenditure was far greater than income and this had political repercussions, for finance minister were needed to create reforms yet the first and second estate were unwilling to lose their privileges. Politically, the financial crisis was caused by the expensive wars but also due to the inefficiency of the taxation system. The privileged classes whose income from property had increased was an untapped source of revenue but there was powerful resistance. Reforms such as removing the charge of levying taxes from the nobles and instead employing government officials to levy taxes boosted the efficiency of the taxation system but deprived many nobles of a steady income. This angered the nobles and would be part of the reason they would revolt. Other reforms included taxation for everyone, yet Calonne needed an Estates General to pass the reforms for the Paris Parlement refused. Calonne opted for an Assembly of Notables but they had the most to lose by accepting the reforms and they said that although they agreed that the idea of taxation for everyone was right, they required an Estates General to be able to pass the reform. By allowing an Assembly of Nobles, Louis undermined his own royal authority and his weakness in this field helped cause the revolution. Louis was the person who held power to pass the reforms, yet his inability to do so is what undermined his authority.
The political crisis in 1787-8 was also another short-term cause of the revolution. After Calonne was dismissed in April 1787, one of the notables, Archbishop Loménie de Brienne replaced him. The Assembly however was no more cooperative with him than they were with his predecessor. When Brienne attempted to pass reforms through the Paris Parlement, they refused again, saying that only the Estates General could pass the reforms. The constant calls for an Estates General politicised the third estate; they felt the first and second estate were on their side. This coupled with Louis’ political weakness helped cause the revolution. On 15th August 1787, the King sent the Paris Parlement to Troyes to take it away from the influence of the Parisian crowds. This move failed however, and in calling them back, Louis made a fatal blow to his own authority and showed the country he was unable to perform without the aid of the parlements. This fatal blow would prove to remove much of his power and acted as a catalyst for the subsequent revolution. On 8th May 1788, the King issued the ‘May Edicts’ which deprived the Paris Parlement the right to register laws. This angered the nobles and subsequently led to the revolt of the nobles, a fierce opposition to the government.
France’s harvests had been some of the worst for a considerable period. Jacques Turgot, the finance minister from 1774-76, reintroduced free trade in grain. During good harvests, this would have allowed those selling grain to become richer. Unfortunately, the harvest was terrible and there were huge shortages; the price of bread soared and peasants unable to afford bread prices starved. As a pre-industrialised society, bad harvests led to mass-unemployment. The third Estate became politicised and accused landowners of hoarding the grain and speculating on prices. There were many raids on grain stores, undermining the King’s authority. With the Third Estate politicised and the King’s authority undermined, there was no longer a safeguard against revolution.
France signed the Eden Treaty in 1786. It was a commercial agreement with Britain (who it solely benefitted). It allowed Britain to trade their industrialised goods in France if France was able to sell its agricultural goods in Britain. Due to the bad harvests, French exports like wine were low whereas Britain’s industrialised society allowed them to sell their products in France. The French economy and industry faltered leading to mass unemployment, higher prices and even more politicised Third Estate as well.
The ideas of the philosophes were not an outright challenge to the crown and did not cause the revolution themselves. The ideas did spark debate and many revolutionaries did take on their ideas but it took a large amount of long and short-term factors to cause the revolution. Had these crises not occurred at the time they did the revolution may not have happened in France in 1789. The ideas brought about in the enlightenment provided a framework for the revolution and the subsequent factors gave way to revolution.