The cause of the French Revolution is a significant subject of historical debate (argument). France in 1789, although facing some economic (and especially fiscal) difficulties and simplicities, was one of the richest and most powerful nations in Europe;^[1] further, the masses of most other European powers had less freedom and a higher chance of arbitrary punishment. At the time Louis XVI called the Estates-General of 1789, he himself was generally popular, even if the nobility and many of the king's ministers were not.^[2]. The History of France has been divided into a series of separate historical articles navigable through the list to the right. ... Gaul (Latin: ) was the name given, in ancient times, to the region of Western Europe comprising present-day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... Gaul in the Roman Empire Roman Gaul consisted of an area of provincial rule in what would become modern day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. ... This article is about the Frankish people and society. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For the administrative and social structures of early modern France, see Ancien Régime in France. ... The history of France in Modern Times I (1792-1920) extends from the fall of the Ancien Régime and the proclamation of the First French Republic on 1792 September 21 to the demission of the French wartime Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau on 1920 January 18. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... The Estates-General (or States-General) of 1789 (French: Les États-Généraux de 1789) was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly consisting of representatives from all but the poorest segment of the French citizenry. ... During the French Revolution, the National Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale) was a transitional body between the Estates-General and the National Constituent Assembly that existed from June 17 to July 9 of 1789. ... Combatants French government Parisian militia (predecessor of Frances National Guard) Commanders Bernard-René de Launay â€  Prince de Lambesc Camille Desmoulins Strength 114 soldiers, 30 artillery pieces 600 - 1,000 insurgents Casualties 1 (6 or possibly 8 killed after surrender) 98 The Storming of the Bastille in Paris occurred on... The National Constituent Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale constituante) was formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789, during the first stages of the French Revolution. ... The National Constituent Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale constituante) was formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789, during the first stages of the French Revolution. ... The French Revolution was a period in the history of France covering the years 1789 to 1799, in which republicans overthrew the Bourbon monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. ... The French Revolution was a period in the history of France covering the years 1789 to 1799, in which republicans overthrew the Bourbon monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. ... During the French Revolution, the Legislative Assembly was the legislature of France from October 1, 1791 to September 1792. ... The French Revolution was a period in the history of France covering the years 1789 to 1799, in which republicans overthrew the Bourbon monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. ... This article is about the legislative body and constitutional convention during the French Revolution. ... For other uses of terror, see Terror; Great Fear . ... Executive Directory (in French Directoire exécutif), commonly known as the Directory (or Directoire) held executive power in France from November 2, 1795 until November 10, 1799: following the Convention and preceding the Consulate. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This is a glossary of the French Revolution. ... Timeline of the French Revolution // The Enlightenment, which led to many European writers criticising the Monarchy and espousing democratic, liberalist, nationalist and socialist ideas. ... Combatants Great Britain Austria Prussia Spain[1] Russia Sardinia Ottoman Empire Portugal Dutch Republic[2] France The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states. ... This is a partial list of people associated with the French Revolution, including supporters and opponents. ... The historiography of the French Revolution stretches back two hundred years to the event itself. ... Map of the First French Empire in 1811, with the Empire in dark blue and satellite states in light blue Capital Paris Language(s) French Government Constitutional Monarchy Emperor  - 1804 - 1814/1815 Napoleon I  - 1814/1815 Napoleon II Legislature Parliament  - Upper house Senate  - Lower house Corps législatif Historical era... Kingdom of France Capital Paris Language(s) French Government Monarchy King of France and Navarre  - 1814-1824 Louis XVIII  - 1824-1830 Charles X  - 1830 Louis XIX  - 1830 Henri V Legislature Parliament History  - Louis XVIII restored 6 April, 1814  - July Revolution 21 January, 1830 Currency French Franc Following the ousting of... Kingdom of France Capital Paris Language(s) French Government Monarchy King of the French  - 1830-1848 Louis-Phillipe Legislature Parliament  - Upper house Chamber of Peers  - Lower house Chamber of Deputies History  - July Revolution 1830  - Revolution of 1848 1848 Currency French Franc The July Monarchy (1830-1848) was a period of... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Map of the French Second Empire Capital Paris Language(s) French Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1852-1870 Napoleon III Legislature Parliament  - Upper house Senate  - Lower house Corps législatif History  - French coup of 1851 December 2 1851  - Established 1852  - Disestablished September 4, 1870 Currency French Franc The Second French Empire or... Motto Liberté, égalité, fraternité (Liberty, equality, brotherhood) Anthem La Marseillaise The French Third Republic, pre-World War I Capital Paris Language(s) French Religion Roman Catholicism, protestantism and judaism official religions (until 1905), None (from 1905 until 1940) (Law on the separation of Church and State of 1905) Government Republic... The History of France from 1914 to the present, includes the later years of the Third French Republic (1871-1941), the Vichy Regime (1940-1944), the years after Libération (1944-1946), the French Fourth Republic (1946-1958) and the French Fifth Republic (since 1958) and also includes World War... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... History is often used as a generic term for information about the past, such as in geologic history of the Earth. When used as the name of a field of study, history refers to the study and interpretation of the record of human societies. ... This article is about the human activity. ... A tax is an involuntary fee paid by individuals or businesses to a state, or to functional equivalents of a state, including tribes, secessionist movements or revolutionary movements. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Freedom. ... The Estates-General (or States-General) of 1789 (French: Les États-Généraux de 1789) was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly consisting of representatives from all but the poorest segment of the French citizenry. ...

Nevertheless, the Ancien Régime was brought down, partly by its own rigidity in the face of a changing world, partly by the ambitions of a rising bourgeoisie, allied with aggrieved peasants and wage-earners and with individuals of all classes who were influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment. As the revolution proceeded and as power devolved from the monarchy to legislative bodies, the conflicting interests of these initially allied groups would become the source of conflict and bloodshed. Bourgeois redirects here. ... ...

Absolutism and privilege

France in 1787 was, at least in theory, an absolute monarchy, an increasingly unpopular form of government at the time. In practice, the king's ability to act on his theoretically absolute power was curtailed by the (equally resented) powers and prerogatives of the nobility and clergy, remnants of feudalism. Similarly, the peasants covetously eyed the relatively greater privileges enjoyed by townspeople.^[3] Louis XIII in full military regalia by Peter Paul Rubens Absolute Monarchy in France was established during the 17th century. ... The nobility (la noblesse) in France in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period had specific legal and financial rights and prerogatives (the first official list of these prerogatives was established relatively late, under Louis XI of France after 1440), including exemption from paying the taille (except for non... In France of the ancien régime and the age of the French Revolution, the term First Estate (Fr. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste Feudalism, a term first used in the late modern period (17th century), in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval European political system comprised of a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the...

Enlightenment Ideology

The large and growing middle class, and some of the nobility and of the working class, had absorbed the ideology of equality and freedom of the individual, brought about by such philosophers as Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Turgot, and other philosophers of the Enlightenment. The example of the American Revolution showed them that it was plausible that Enlightenment ideals about governmental organization could be put into practice. Some of the American revolutionaries, such as Benjamin Franklin, had stayed in Paris, where they were in frequent contact with the French intellectuals; furthermore, contact between the American revolutionaries and the French troops who had assisted them resulted in the spread of revolutionary ideals to the French. Many people in France attacked the undemocratic nature of the government, pushed for freedom of speech, and challenged the Roman Catholic Church and the prerogatives of the nobles.^[4] A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... For other uses, see Voltaire (disambiguation). ... Portrait of Diderot by Louis-Michel van Loo, 1767 Denis Diderot (October 5, 1713 – July 31, 1784) was a French philosopher and writer. ... Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune, often referred to as Turgot (10 May 1727 – 18 March 1781), was a French economist and statesman. ... ... John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen... This article is about the American political figure. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... For other uses, see Democracy (disambiguation) and Democratic Party. ... This article is about the general concept. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ...

There is controversy over exactly how deeply ideals penetrated the various classes, and over the degree to which these ideals were simply cover for bourgeois self-interest. For example, Karl Marx writing in the Neue Rheinische Zeitung shortly after the Revolutions of 1848 wrote that in both the English Revolution of 1648 and in the French Revolution "the bourgeoisie was the class that really headed the movement. The proletariat and the non-bourgeois strata of the middle class had either not yet evolved interests which were different from those of the bourgeoisie or they did not yet constitute independent classes or class divisions. Therefore, where they opposed the bourgeoisie, as they did in France in 1793 and 1794, (that is to say, during the Reign of Terror) they fought only for the attainment of the aims of the bourgeoisie, albeit in a non-bourgeois manner. The entire French terrorism was just a plebeian way of dealing with the enemies of the bourgeoisie: absolutism, feudalism and philistinism."^[5][6][7] Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a 19th century philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... The Neue Rheinische Zeitung (New Rhenish Newspaper) was a German (specifically Rhenish, from the Rhineland) daily newspaper, published by Karl Marx from Cologne in 1848 and 1849. ... The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations or the Year of Revolution, were a revolutionary wave which erupted in Sicily and then, further triggered by the revolutions of 1848 in France, soon spread to the rest of Europe and as far afield as... For other uses, see English Civil War (disambiguation). ... The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. ... For other uses of terror, see Terror; Great Fear . ... In Ancient Rome, the plebs was the general body of Roman citizens, distinct from the privileged class of the patricians. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Economics

France in 1789, although facing some economic (and especially fiscal) difficulties, was one of the richest and strongest nations in Europe. The following all comes from [Bairoch 1989]. This article is about the human activity. ... A tax is an involuntary fee paid by individuals or businesses to a state, or to functional equivalents of a state, including tribes, secessionist movements or revolutionary movements. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

• France had over 28 million inhabitants. In Europe, only Imperial Russia had more (37–41 million) and it was a poor country. All of Europe, outside of Russia, counting France and the British Isles, had a total of about 141–147 million. (p. 941)
• France was amongst the most urbanized countries in Europe if one considers communities over 2,000 to be urban (and of slightly above average urbanization if one holds to a minimum of 5,000). (p. 942)
• The population of Paris was second only to that of London (approximately 500,000 vs. 800,000; p. 941), and the country had six of Europe's 35 largest cities. (p. 943)
• France had 260,000 square kilometres under cultivation; the entirety of Europe outside Russia — that qualifier will apply unless otherwise noted — had no more than 100 million. (p. 945)
• France had 5.3 million of Europe's 30 million male peasants. (p. 945)
• In 1800, the earliest date for which good statistics are available, only the Netherlands and British Isles exceeded France (in its 1789 borders) in agricultural productivity per unit area. (p. 946)
• France ranked roughly even with Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands and significantly behind only the British Isles in its level of industrialization. (p. 949) Because France would have constituted about 14% of the continental European product (again excluding Russia) at the time. He does not believe that data is available to do a reasonable comparison to Britain. The per capita GDP of France would have been equivalent to about US$200–205 at the 1960 value of the United States dollar, 6–10% above the (non-Russian) European average of the time. (p. 959–963)

In short, while not having quite the per capita wealth of the Low Countries and possibly Switzerland, the sheer size of the French economy made it the premier economic power in continental Europe. Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... This article explains the archipelago in north-western Europe. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... USD redirects here. ... For information about the confusion between the Low Countries and the Netherlands, see Netherlands (terminology). ...

Debt

The French monarchy had operated for over a century without resorting to a legislature. Since 1614, French kings had managed their fiscal affairs by increasing the burden of the ancient and unequal system of taxes, by borrowing money, and sometimes by selling noble titles and other privileges; however, because noble titles exempted the holder from future taxes, the purchasers of titles were effectively buying an annuity. The term annuity is used in finance theory to refer to any terminating stream of fixed payments over a specified period of time. ...

This led to the long-running fiscal crisis of the French government. On the eve of the revolution, France was so deeply in debt as to be effectively bankrupt. Extravagant expenditures by Louis XVI on luxuries such as Versailles were compounded by heavy expenditures on the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence. Louis XVI, born Louis-Auguste de France (23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. ... This article is about the city of Versailles. ... For the 1563–1570 war, see Northern Seven Years War. ... The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen of her North American colonies. ...

Britain too had a great debt from these conflicts, but Britain had a far more advanced fiscal structure to deal with it. France was a wealthier country than Britain, and its national debt was no greater than the British one. In each country the servicing of the debt accounted for about half the annual expenditure of the government. Where they differed was in the fact that the rate of interest in France was almost double than of across the Channel. This implied a much higher level of taxation and less scope for any increase to deal with a specific emergency.

Edmund Burke, no friend of the revolution, was to write in 1790, "...the public, whether represented by a monarch or by a senate, can pledge nothing but the public estate; and it can have no public estate except in what it derives from a just and proportioned imposition upon the citizens at large." Because of the successful defense by the nobles of their privileges, the king of France lacked the means to impose a "just and proportioned" tax. The desire to do so led directly to the decision in 1788 to call the Estates-General into session.^[8] Edmund Burke (January 12, 1729[1] – July 9, 1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher, who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. ... The Estates-General (or States-General) of 1789 (French: Les États-Généraux de 1789) was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly consisting of representatives from all but the poorest segment of the French citizenry. ...

Taxation

Not being one of the major trading nations, France needed to raise most of its government's revenues internally rather than from external tariffs. While average tax rates were higher in Britain, the burden on the common people was greater in France. Taxation relied on a system of internal tariffs separating the regions of France, which prevented a unified market from developing in the country. Taxes such as the extremely unpopular gabelle were contracted out to private collectors ("tax farmers") who were permitted to raise far more than the government requested. These systems led to an arbitrary and unequal collection of many of France's consumption taxes. Other taxes the peasants were required to pay included a tenth of their income or produce to the church (tithe), a (taille) to the state, a 5% property tax (vingtième) and a tax on the number of people in the family (capitation). Further royal and seigneurial taxes were collected in the form of compulsory labor (the corvée). The peasants also had numerous obligations to their landlords - rent in cash (cens), a payment related to their amount of produce (champari), and taxes on the use of the nobles' mills, wine presses or bakeries (banalités). In good times, the taxes were burdensome; in harsh times, they were devastating. A tariff is a tax placed on imported and/or exported goods, sometimes called a customs duty. ... The gabelle was a very unpopular tax on salt in France before 1790. ... The Ferme Générale was, in ancien régime France, essentially a franchised customs and excise operation which collected duties on behalf of the king, through 6-years adjudications. ... A tithe (from Old English teogoþa tenth) is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a (usually) voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a Jewish or Christian religious organization. ... The taille was a direct land tax on the French peasantry in ancien régime France (since the nobles refused to pay taxes). ... The vingtième was an income tax of the ancien régime in France. ... A poll tax, head tax, or capitation is a tax of a uniform, fixed amount per individual (as opposed to a percentage of income). ... For the 17th century system in Canada, see Seigneurial system of New France. ... Corvée, or corvée labor, is a term used in feudal societies. ... Banalités were essentially the dues that peasants owed their lords in France until the 18th century. ...

Many public officials had to buy their positions from the king, as well as the right to keep this position hereditary; they of course tried to have these expenses repaid by making a profit out of their appointment. For instance, in a civil lawsuit, judges had to be paid some fees by the parties (the épices); this put justice out of reach of everybody but the wealthy classes.

The system also excluded the nobles and the clergy from having to pay taxes (with the exception of a modest quit ren). The tax burden was thus paid by the peasants, wage earners, and the professional and business classes. These groups were also cut off from most positions of power in the regime, causing unrest.

Failure of reforms

During the régimes of Louis XV (reigned 1715-1774) and Louis XVI (reigned 1774-1792) several ministers, most notably Turgot and Necker, unsuccessfully proposed to revise the French tax system to tax the nobles. Such measures encountered consistent resistance from the parlements (law courts). Members of these courts bought their positions from the king, as well as the right to transmit this position hereditarily (the so-called Paulette tax). Membership in such courts, or appointment to other similar public positions, often led to the elevation into the nobility (the so-called noblesse de robe – "nobility of the robe", as opposed to the nobility of ancestral military origin, the noblesse d'épée, nobility of the sword). While these two categories of nobles were often at odds, they both sought to keep in place their privileges. Louis XV (February 15, 1710 – May 10, 1774), ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1715 until his death. ... Louis XVI, born Louis-Auguste de France (23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. ... Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune, often referred to as Turgot (10 May 1727 – 18 March 1781), was a French economist and statesman. ... Jacques Necker Jacques Necker (September 30, 1732 – April 9, 1804) was a French statesman of Swiss origin and finance minister of Louis XVI. // Necker was born in Geneva, Switzerland. ... This article is for the Ancien Régime institution. ...

Because the need to raise taxes placed the king at odds with the nobles and the high bourgeoisie, he typically appointed as his finance ministers, (to use François Mignet's term) "rising men", usually of non-noble origin. Turgot, Chrétien de Malesherbes, and Jacques Necker successively attempted to revise the system of taxation and to make other reforms, such as Necker's attempts to reduce the lavishness of the king's court. Each failed in turn. François Auguste Alexis Mignet (May 8, 1796 - March 24, 1884) was a French historian. ... Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, often referred to as Malesherbes or Lamoignon-Malesherbes (December 6, 1721–April 23, 1794) was a French statesman, minister, and afterwards counsel for the defence of Louis XVI. Born at Paris from a famous legal family... Jacques Necker Jacques Necker (September 30, 1732 – April 9, 1804) was a French statesman of Swiss origin and finance minister of Louis XVI. // Necker was born in Geneva, Switzerland. ...

In contrast, Charles Alexandre de Calonne, appointed finance minister in 1783, restored lavish spending more reminiscent of the age of Louis XIV. By the time Calonne brought together the Assembly of Notables on February 22, 1787 to address the financial situation, France had reached a state of virtual bankruptcy: no one would lend the king funds sufficient to meet the expenses of government and court. According to Mignet, the loans amounted to "one thousand six hundred and forty-six millions... and... there was an annual deficit... of a hundred and forty millions [presumably of livres]." Calonne was succeeded by his chief critic Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, archbishop of Sens, but the fundamental situation was unchanged: the government had no credit. To try to address this, the assembly "sanctioned the establishment of provincial assemblies, a regulation of the corn trade, the abolition of corvées, and a new stamp tax; it broke up on the 25th of May, 1787." Charles Alexandre de Calonne, portrait by Marie Louise Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. ... Louis XIV redirects here. ... The Assembly of Notables was an assembly convened on 1787-02-22 by Charles Alexandre de Calonne, the minister of finance of France. ... is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Etienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne Etienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne (October 9, 1727 - 16 February 1794) was a French churchman and politician. ... The Archdiocese of Sens, which perhaps became a metropolitan see at the middle of the fifth century, until 1622 numbered seven suffragan bishoprics: Chartres, Auxerre, Meaux, Paris, Orléans, Nevers and Troyes, hence the acronym CAMPONT ; the Diocese of Bethléem at Clamecy (see Nevers) was also dependent on the... Corvée, or corvée labor, is a term used in feudal societies. ...

Transparency

H.F. Helmolt argued that the issue was not so much the debt as such, but the way the debt was refracted through the lens of Enlightenment principles and the increasing power of the Third Estate creditors. In France of the ancien régime and the age of the French Revolution, the term Third Estate (tiers état) indicated the generality of people which were not part of the clergy (the First Estate) nor of the nobility (the Second Estate). ...

Properly speaking, the people ought to have been accustomed to the fact that the French government did not fulfill its financial obligations, for since the time of Henry IV, that is, within two centuries, it had failed to meet its obligations fifty-six times. In earlier days such catastrophes had not been announced and publicly discussed. Now all France, which for two generations had been worked upon by the party of rationalism, shared the outcry against the financial situation. ^[9] Henry IV of France, also Henry III of Navarre (13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), ruled as King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. ... In epistemology and in its broadest sense, rationalism is any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification (Lacey 286). ...

The subsequent struggle with the parlements in an unsuccessful attempt to enact these measures displayed the first overt signs of the disintegration of the Ancien Régime. In the ensuing struggle, Protestants regained their rights and Louis XVI promised an annual publication of the state of finances, and a convocation of the Estates-General within five years. In France under the Ancien Regime, the States-General or Estates-General (French: états généraux), was a legislative assembly (see The States) of the different classes (or estates) of French subjects. ...

Despite Ancien Régime France being, in theory, an absolute monarchy, it became clear that the royal government could not successfully effect the changes it desired without the consent of the nobility. The financial crisis had become a political crisis as well.^[10] Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government where the monarch has the power to rule his or her land or country and its citizens freely, with no laws or legally-organized direct opposition in force. ...

Famine

These problems were all compounded by a great scarcity of food in the 1780s. A series of crop failures caused a shortage of grain, consequently raising the price of bread. Because bread was the main source of nutrition for poor peasants, this led to starvation. The two years previous to the revolution (1788-89) saw bad harvests and harsh winters, possibly because of a strong El Niño cycle^[11] caused by the 1783 Laki eruption at Iceland^[12]. The little ice age was also affecting agriculture: many other areas of Europe had adopted the potato as the staple crop by this time, whereas the French generally refused it as a dirty food or the devil's food. The potato was more resilient to the colder temperatures during the little ice age and also could not be easily destroyed by scorched earth warfare^[13]. A normal worker earned anywhere from 15 to 30 sous a day while skilled workers received 30 to 40 sous. A family of four would need about 2 loaves of bread a day to survive. The price of bread rose by 88 percent in 1789, going from 9 sous to 14.5/15 sous^{[citation needed]}. Many peasants were relying on charity to survive. The peasantry became a class with the ambition to counteract social inequity and put an end to food shortages. The 'bread riot' evolved into a central cause of the French Revolution. Mass urbanization coinciding with the beginning of the industrial revolution led residents to move into French cities seeking employment. French cities became overcrowded and filled with the hungry and disaffected. The peasantry suffered doubly from the economic and agricultural problems. This article is about extreme malnutrition. ... Chart of ocean surface temperature anomaly [°C] during the last strong El Niño in December 1997 El Niño and La Niña (also written in English as El Nino and La Nina) are major temperature fluctuations in surface waters of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. ... The name Laki has more than one meaning:- A town called Laki in Plovdiv district in Bulgaria. ... The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of cooling occurring after a warmer era known as the Medieval climate optimum. ... For other uses, see Potato (disambiguation). ... A staple food is a food that forms the basis of a traditional diet, particularly that of the poor. ... For the computer game, see Scorched Earth (computer game). ... In a detail of Brueghels Land of Cockaigne (1567) a soft-boiled egg has little feet to rush to the luxuriating peasant who catches drops of honey on his tongue, while roast pigs roam wild: in fact, hunger and harsh winters were realities for the average European in the... A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ...

Notes

National Review (NR) is a biweekly magazine of political opinion, founded by author William F. Buckley, Jr. ... is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... Fran̤ois Auguste Alexis Mignet (May 8, 1796 - March 24, 1884) was a French historian. ... is the 208th day of the year (209th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1789 (MDCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Jean Sylvain Bailly Jean-Sylvain Bailly (September 15, 1736 РNovember 12, 1793), French astronomer and orator, was one of the leaders of the early part of the French Revolution. ... French tricolour flag A tricolour is a flag or banner having three colours, usually in approximately equal size (horizontally or vertically) and lacking additional symbols. ... The Tricolore cockade of France. ... Nature is a prominent scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869. ...

References

• Paul Bairoch, "L'économie française dans le contexte européen à la fin du XVIIIe siècle", Revue économique, Vol. 40, No. 6, Révolution de 1789: Guerres et Croissance économique (Nov., 1989), p. 939-964 DOI:10.2307/3501973. Online as PDF on JSTOR (pay site).