A poor economic situation and an unmanageable national
debt were both caused and exacerbated by the burden of a
grossly inequitable system of taxation and France's funding
of the American Revolution;
A resentment of royal absolutism;
An aspiration for liberty and republicanism;
A resentment of Manorialism (seigneurialism) by peasants,
wage-earners, and, to a lesser extent, the bourgeoisie
The rise of enlightenment ideals
Food scarcity in the months immediately before the
revolution
High unemployment and high bread prices resulting in the
inability to purchase food
A resentment of noble privilege and dominance in public life
by the ambitious professional classes
A resentment of religious intolerance
The failure of Louis XVI to deal effectively with these
phenomena