Mention the economic causes of the French Revolution.

Answer

THe causes were:
(i)The rulers of France were very profligate. Louis XV spent money lavishly. As a result, the treasury became empty and France came under heavy debt. During the period of Louis XVI, the situation further deteriorated.

(ii)Not only the taxes were levied unfairly, they were also not collected in a proper manner. Anybody who bade to give the highest amount of money to the king was given the right to collect taxes. The tax collectors collected maximum taxes from the people and transferred a very little amount to the government. This system of collection of the revenue was a source of great trouble for the peasants.

(iii)The Church too extracted its share of taxes called tithes from the peasants, and finally, all members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state. These included a direct tax, called taille, and a number of indirect taxes which were levied on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco. The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by the third estate alone.