It is a very well-known fact that one of the major causes of the French Revolution was the extravagant and ignorant reign of the generations of the Bourbon dynasty. Right from King Louis the fourteenth, the economy started to crumble, and the rise of the masses against this weak rule was inevitable.
But this was just one of the factors that sparked the revolution. History could have been different if the rulers identified the beginnings of the uprisings and took measures to ensure that the needs of the hour were met. But instead, a series of miscalculated decisions were taken that led to an avalanche of events.
The calling of the estates general was one of the turning points of the revolution. The gross misrepresentation of votes and the ganging up of the first and second estates against the third in terms of taxation, votes, etc., angered the population of France. The imposition of high tax on the middle-class third estate, while the other two estates syphoned off of them, ensured that the poor remained unhappy and dissatisfied.
The decision of France to go against the British, resulting in a 7-year war and the supplying of armaments for the American army while the French population starved, was a misjudgement that further aggravated the economic crisis.
Removal of the popular finance minister Jacque Necker, who was the sole hope of the people to resolve the crisis, and the threat of annexation of Paris was another immediate cause of the fall of Bastille.
The famous phrase “Let them eat cake” by Queen Marie Antionette in response to the agrarian distress is a classic example of the sheer ignorance the monarchy had towards its people’s plight. The French Revolution teaches us that even autocratic rule needs to be democratic in that they need to listen to the voices of the people to remain in power.