Ancien Régime & Causes

The French Revolution didn't emerge from a vacuum. Decades of fiscal crisis, social inequality, and intellectual ferment under the Ancien Régime created the conditions for revolutionary upheaval. The rigid three-estate system left 97% of the population bearing the tax burden while the privileged few enjoyed exemptions.

Key concepts including the Three Estates, Enlightenment influence, and the fiscal crisis of the 1780s will be explored here.