On the eve of the French Revolution, i.e. in 1789 A.D. France presented a dismal look. Following were the conditions on the eve of the French Revolution. In other words, we van say that following were the chief causes of the French Revolution:
(i) Social Causes or Social Conditions. On the eve of the revolution, the French society was ridden with several inequalities. The clergy and the nobles led a life of luxury and enjoyed numerous privileges. On the other hand, the peasants and workers lived a wretched life. They grounded under heavy taxed and forced labour. The middle class comprising of lawyers, doctors and teachers, etc. also suffered humiliation at the hand of the clergy and the nobles. This state of social inequality was the chief cause of the French Revolution.
(ii) Political Causes or’ Political Conditions. Emperor Louis XVI of. France was an empty headed despot. He and his queen, Marie Antoinette, squandered money on their luxurious living and wasteful festivities. The high posts were often auctioned, so inefficiency reigned supreme. The whole administration was corrupt and each department had its own laws. In the absence of any uniform system there was confusion all around. The people were tired of such a rotten system of administration and wanted a change.
(iii) Economic Causes or Economic Conditions. France had been continually involved in wars which had broken her economy. The luxurious life led by the French King Louis XVI and his queen had made the mater still worse. The people groaned under heavy taxes. The system was so faulty that only a fraction of the taxes could be realized as the people were too poor to pay them while nobles and the clergy, who could pay, were completely exempted from all the taxes. The economy became so bad that the French Government had almost reached a state of bankruptcy. Thus the shattered economy of France proved a major cause of the Revolution/
(iv) Immediate Cause. Forced by financial bankruptcy; Emperor Louis XVI was compelled to call a meeting of the Estates General in 1789 A.D. After a lapse of 175 years. It generated much excitement as the members of the Third. Estate were determined to put forth their problems. But when the first two Estates i.e., the Clergy and the Nobility refused to have a common meeting with the Third Estate, the people lost their temper. They had already suffered a much in the severe famine in 1788-89. In this way, the calling of the Estates General in 1789 A.D. proved the immediate cause of the French Revolution.
