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Short-term causes

  • Financial crisis: France was bankrupt. Decades of wars (Seven Years' War, American Revolution) plus the lavish spending of the court at Versailles had created enormous debt. By 1789, interest payments consumed half the budget.
  • Bread crisis: Bad harvests in 1788 caused bread prices to spike. Bread was the staple food and constituted up to half the household budget for working people. Hunger and anger spread.
  • Weak king: Louis XVI was indecisive and out of touch. His wife, Marie Antoinette (an Austrian princess), was widely loathed for her perceived extravagance.
  • Calling of the Estates-General: Desperate for tax revenue, Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General in May 1789 for the first time in 175 years. This created the political opening for revolution.
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