The French Revolution of 1789 Essay -- French History

There is no doubt that the French Revolution has had a profound effect on the world. The cause or causes of it have been greatly disputed. Clearly the Revolution's primary cause was the presence of a weak monarchy and a lack of a stable system of government. France's absolute monarchy had many changes toward the end of the eighteenth century. King Louis XVI, in his attempts to consolidate his authority and lessen the power of the aristocrats, had planned out an intendant system. The intendants were like governors. They would oversee one constituency of the country. These intendants could not govern the region in which they lived, and were chosen from other than the aristocracy. This insured that their allegiance was pledged to the king and not to their own region. This system caused great disturbances among the aristocrats who felt that the regions should rule them, which in fact, would take away the power from the monarchy. Unfortunately for King Louis XVI, this system had been corr upted by the time he had come to power. The intendants had been replaced by nobility and they had no loyalty to the monarchy. Everybody was trying to be more independent from the monarchy. The Parliaments, who before King Louis XVI had the right to bar the king's legislation, all changed when Louis XVI had made it illegal to veto. This had diminished any kind of check or balance system that had existed in France. This decision by Louis XVI made the Parliaments rebel against the King. Louis XVI, who had not been a very strong king to begin with, sat idle while the Parliaments reduced his power. France, who had been in great debt, could not raise taxes because the Parliaments would not pass it. Nothing was accomplished because the government could not ag... ...and the presence of a weak monarchy in Louis' XVI indecisive and half-hearted attempt at running the country, had caused the downfall of the French monarchy and an overhaul of the country itself. Works Cited 1. Hooker, Richard. (1999): n. pag. Web. 7 Jan 2011. . 2. Kreis, Steven. "The Origins of the French Revolution." (2006): n. pag. Web. 6 Jan 2011. . 3. "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity." Exploring the French Revolution n. pag. Web. 6 Jan 2011. . 4. "The Social Causes of the French Revolution." n. pag. Web. 6 Jan 2011. . 5. n. pag. Web. 6 Jan 2011. .