Why did the French regime collapse in 1789?

The taxation system was both chaotic and inefficient, consequently the French government never received enough money from taxes to cover its expenditure. Moreover, privileges from the clergy and the nobility hugely enlarged the divisions between the three states and created a feeling of resentment towards the system which grew larger with the Enlightenment, which was an intelectual movement started by the �philisophes�. Their analysis of society was based on reason and rational thought, rather than supersticion and tradition. They were in favour of liberty and wanted equally before the law. Although they were not necessarily opposed to the regime they had an impact on the outbreak of the Revolution as they influenced people�s perspectives and ideas and was therefore one of the key factor and starting points of the Revolution.

France�s economic crisis was probably the most important factor when deciding why did the ancien r�gime collapsed in 1789. The French monarchy had bankrupted itself from expensive wars for centuries. Nearly their entire annual income went to interest on their enormous debts. This crisis together with a bad harvest year made prices increase in such a way that urban workers had to spend half of their salaries to buy bread, later increased to 88 per cent of their salaries. Poverty was increasing rapidly and so where tensions, politicisation of the majority of the Thid Estate began as a reslut of economic crisis. It was believed by many ordinary people that the economic crisis was in part the fault of the nobility (hoarding grain and speculating on prices rising during times of shortage), thus enlarging the divisions between the estates. The failure of all attempts to improve the economy showed the depth of the divisions within French society and the inefficiency of Louis XVI, so the Estates-General had to be called, proving how France was gradually walking near the path of the Revolution.

After the Tennis Court Oath event, deputies of the Third Estate were very furious and therefore were becoming more radical. This frightened the King who decided to use military force and ordered troops to be moved to Paris. This caused alarm in the capital and it became obvious that the King and his advisers had decided to dissolve the National Assembly, by force if necessary. Therefore we can say that together with Louis XVI`s weak personality, his decision to use military force caused the start of the popular movements, or journ�es, such as the capture of the Bastille, which would give the final stroke to the ancien regime given its symbolic importance.

In conclusion, and answering the question of why did the anciene regime collapse, we can say that the mayor themes were Louis XVI�s ineffiency both in character and in making decisions, movements such as the Enlightenment which made people reconsider their conditions on society, the economic crisis caused by France �s foreign policy and bad harvests, and the way France was governed including the taxation system which enlarged the divisions between the Three Estates and their living styles.