Understanding Western Society
Printed Page 585
As did the American Revolution, the French Revolution had its immediate origins in the government’s financial difficulties. The efforts of the ministers of King Louis XV (r. 1715–
When renewed efforts to reform the tax system met a similar fate in 1776, the government was forced to finance its enormous expenditures during the American war with borrowed money. As a result, the national debt soared. In 1786, the finance minister informed the timid king Louis XVI (r. 1774–
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