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... Its collapse has been argued by historians to have been instituted by Economic crisis as argued by Bosher, social considerations pertaining to the rise of the bourgeoisie as argued by Lefebvre, and political radicalism as argued by Doyle. In order to complete this essay, it will be essential to critically assess the economic, social and political reasons for the death of the old regime in France.
In the late 1770’s a depression began in France which affected the whole economy. ... Several poor harvests in 1778-9, 1781-2 and 1785-6 only made the situation worse and a major disaster in 1788 in which freak whether in many areas in France resulted in a poor harvest . ...
In addition in 1789 France was still paying off her debts from the wars of Louis XIV, the wars of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. ... When Necker came to examine France’s tax system he was faced with a difficult problem, which he was unable to resolve. The various taxes in France were all subject to variations and exceptions, inequalities in distribution and abuses in collection; which was a cause of social unrest. In addition the increasing expenses of the government and public works and the costs of the country’s wars in particular the War of American independence which cost France 2,000 million livres, made an increase in taxation necessary, to prevent bankruptcy . ... The nobility’s, position of power and the countries inability to reform because of it was a contributing factor in the death of the ancien regime. ...
However, one must critically evaluate Boshers argument, after all France had been in economic crisis in 1693-4, in 1740-1, and in 1770-1, why wasn’t their revolution during these economic difficulties .
Approximate Word count = 1333
Approximate Pages = 5.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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