Causes of the French Revolution

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Across
  1. 3. A royal session used to force laws past the parlements.
  2. 5. A tax on income, often avoided by nobles and clergy.
  3. 6. France supported this overseas conflict, worsening its financial crisis.
  4. 11. Finance minister who published an inaccurate budget report in 1781.
  5. 18. Writers and thinkers who spread new Enlightenment ideas.
  6. 19. Forced labour service used to maintain roads.
  7. 21. Royal officials who collected taxes and enforced the King’s laws.
  8. 22. Everyone else in society who carried most of the tax burden.
  9. 23. Poor harvests in the 1780s that caused food shortages.
  10. 24. The major grievance of the Third Estate about unfair treatment.
  11. 25. A system where the King had almost unlimited power.
  12. 26. The shortfall between what France earned and what it spent.
  13. 27. The wealthier middle class within the Third Estate.
  14. 29. A system where jobs could be bought and passed down to descendants.
  15. 32. A direct tax paid mostly by the Third Estate.
  16. 34. Riots that broke out when food prices rose too high.
  17. 37. The special rights enjoyed by the First and Second Estates.
  18. 38. A trade agreement with Britain in 1786 that hurt French industry.
  19. 39. A poll tax, paid unequally by clergy and nobility.
  20. 40. Finance minister who tried to cut expenses and reform grain trade.
  21. 41. Radical urban workers named for their trousers.
Down
  1. 1. Enlightenment thinker who fought for freedom of speech.
  2. 2. The system of government in France before 1789.
  3. 4. High courts that could block royal laws unless forced by a lit de justice.
  4. 7. A voluntary gift from the clergy to the King instead of taxes.
  5. 8. Philosophe who argued for separation of powers.
  6. 9. Nobility who owned around 20% of land and resisted reform.
  7. 10. Clergy who enjoyed privileges such as not paying taxes.
  8. 12. Controller-General who tried and failed to reform taxation in 1787.
  9. 13. A deeply unpopular tax on salt.
  10. 14. Years War A costly conflict with Britain that drained French finances.
  11. 15. The unpopular Queen, nicknamed Madame Deficit.
  12. 16. Philosophe who promoted the idea of a social contract.
  13. 17. The banning of books and writers who challenged the monarchy.
  14. 20. The indecisive king who failed to manage reform.
  15. 28. Gatherings, often run by women, where Enlightenment ideas spread.
  16. 30. Intellectual movement that challenged divine right and absolutism.
  17. 31. The main burden of supporting France fell on the Third Estate through these.
  18. 33. The assembly of the three estates called in 1789 to solve the crisis.
  19. 35. Battle where French aid helped Americans defeat Britain in 1781.
  20. 36. France owed over 3 billion livres by 1783 due to wars.