Test Your Knowledge of the Causes of the French Revolution

What were some of the general causes of the French Revolution?

What was the main cause of the French Revolution?

True or false: The population of Europe had been steadily increasing since 1730.

How did the population of Europe increase in the 18th century?

What was the result of improved standards of living?

True or false: The French Revolution was caused by the spread of the ideas of Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

What was the goal of the societies of thought?

True or false: The Enlightenment only spread among the educated classes.

What was the most populated country of Europe in 1789?

The French Revolution had general causes common to all the revolutions of the West at the end of the 18th century and particular causes that explain why it was by far the most violent and the most universally significant of these revolutions.
The first of the general causes was the social structure of the West, which was weakening step-by-step and had already disappeared in parts of Europe. The increasingly numerous and prosperous elite of wealthy commoners—merchants, manufacturers, and professionals, often called the bourgeoisie—aspired to political power in those countries where it did not already possess it.
The peasants, many of whom owned land, had attained an improved standard of living and education and wanted to get rid of the last vestiges of feudalism so as to acquire the full rights of landowners and to be free to increase their holdings. Furthermore, from about 1730, higher standards of living had reduced the mortality rate among adults considerably. This, together with other factors, had led to an increase in the population of Europe unprecedented for several centuries.
For France, which with 26 million inhabitants in 1789 was the most populated country of Europe, the problem was most acute.
A revolution seemed necessary to apply the ideas of Montesquieu, Voltaire, or Jean-Jacques Rousseau. This Enlightenment was spread among the educated classes by the many “societies of thought” that were founded at that time.
A political crisis was needed before a revolution could take place, and this was most likely caused by the heavy expenditure that the wars of the 18th century entailed.

What were the general causes of the French Revolution? The French Revolution was caused by the social structure of the West, which was weakening step-by-step and had already disappeared in parts of Europe. The increasingly numerous and prosperous elite of wealthy commoners—merchants, manufacturers, and professionals, often called the bourgeoisie—aspired to political power in those countries where it did not already possess it. A political crisis was needed before a revolution could take place, and this was most likely caused by the heavy expenditure that the wars of the 18th century entailed.