French Revolution, social and political process occurred in France between 1789 and 1799, whose main consequences were the overthrow of Louis XVI, belonging to the Royal House of the Bourbons, the abolition of the monarchy in France and the proclamation of the First Republic, with what could end the Old Regime in this country. Although the causes that generated the Revolution were diverse and complex, these are some of the most influential: the inability of the governing classes -nobleza, clergy and bourgeoisie- to face the problems of the State, the indecision of the monarchy, the excessive taxes that fell on the peasantry, the impoverishment of the workers, the intellectual agitation encouraged by the Enlightenment and the example of the American War of Independence. Current theories tend to minimize the relevance of the class struggle and to highlight the political, cultural and ideological factors that intervened in the origin and development of this event.
More than a century before Louis XVI ascended the throne (1774), the French State had suffered periodic economic crises motivated by the long wars waged during the reign of Louis XIV, the mismanagement of national affairs in the reign of Louis XV , the heavy losses that the French and Indian War (1754-1763) brought and the increase of the debt generated by the loans to the British colonies of North America during the American War of Independence (1775-1783). The defenders of the application of fiscal, social and political reforms began to insist with insistence on the satisfaction of their claims during the reign of Louis XVI. In August of 1774, the king appointed as controller general of Finance to Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, a man of liberal ideas who instituted a rigorous policy regarding the expenses of the State. However, most of its restrictive policy was abandoned after two years and Turgot was forced to resign under pressure from the reactionary sectors of the nobility and clergy, supported by the Queen, Marie Antoinette of Austria. His successor, the financier and politician Jacques Necker also failed to make major changes before leaving his post in 1781, also due to opposition from reactionary groups. However, he was acclaimed by the people for making public an extract of the real finances in which one could appreciate the burdensome cost that the privileged estates supposed for the State. The crisis worsened during the following years. The town demanded the convening of the States General (an assembly formed by representatives of the clergy, the nobility and the third state), whose last meeting had taken place in 1614, and King Louis XVI finally agreed to hold national elections in 1788. The censorship was abolished during the campaign and a multitude of writings that collected the ideas of the Enlightenment circulated throughout France. Necker, whom the monarch had reappointed as Comptroller General of Finance in 1788, agreed with Louis XVI that the number of representatives of the third state (the people) in the States General should be equal to that of the first state (the clergy). and the second state (the nobility) together, but neither of them came to establish a method of voting.
Although the three states agreed that the stability of the nation required a fundamental transformation of the situation, the state antagonisms made impossible the unity of action in the States General, which met at Versailles on May 5, 1789. The delegations representing the privileged classes of French society immediately confronted the chamber, rejecting the new voting methods presented. The objective of such proposals was to obtain the vote by individual and not by estate, with which the third state, which had the largest number of representatives, could control the States General. The discussions regarding the procedure lasted for six weeks, until the group led by Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes and the Count of Mirabeau was constituted in the National Assembly on June 17. This open challenge to the monarchical government, which had supported the clergy and the nobility, was followed by the approval of a measure that granted only the National Assembly the power to legislate on fiscal matters. Louis XVI hastened to deprive the Assembly of its meeting room in retaliation. It responded on June 20 with the so-called Oath of the Ball Game, which promised not to dissolve until a constitution for France had been drafted. At that time, the deep dissensions in the two upper levels caused a break in their ranks, and numerous representatives of the lower clergy and some liberal nobles left their respective estates to join the National Assembly.
