Question
State the political causes of French Revolution.
Solution
The political causes are explained below:
(i)The kings of France were absolute rulers. They believed in the Theory of Divine Right of Kingship. They claimed to be the representatives of God on the Earth. Therefore, they did not consider that they had any duty towards the people. Their courtiers had signed and stamped but unfilled papers. They had just to write down the name of the person to be sent to jail.
(i)The kings of France were absolute rulers. They believed in the Theory of Divine Right of Kingship. They claimed to be the representatives of God on the Earth. Therefore, they did not consider that they had any duty towards the people. Their courtiers had signed and stamped but unfilled papers. They had just to write down the name of the person to be sent to jail.
(ii)Inefficiency and corruption in the administration. The country was in the grip of corruption. The government offices were corrupt. They were unintelligent and incompetent.
(iii)All the political powers were in the hands of the king. All the representative bodies in the country had either ended or were a tool in the hands of the king. The king imposed taxes on the people at his own will. He also spent the money collected through taxes as he liked.
(iv)The law of the country were not uniform. There were different laws worked in different parts of the country. In all, there were about 400 laws in operation in France. There were separate laws for the rich and poor. The revolution could hardly be prevented in the country where no regard was shown to the law or the legal system.
(v)There was a lot of discontentment in the army. There were no avenues of promotion for the ordinary solidiers. This discontentment also contributed to the French Revolution.
