<Li> Economic: The deregulation of the grain market, advocated by liberal economists, resulted in an increase in bread prices . In periods of bad harvests, it would lead to food scarcity which would prompt the masses to revolt . </Li> <P> All these factors created a revolutionary atmosphere and a tricky situation for Louis XVI . In order to resolve the crisis, the king summoned the Estates - General in May 1789 and, as it came to an impasse, the representatives of the Third Estates formed a National Assembly, against the wishes of the king, signaling the outbreak of the French Revolution . </P> <P> The essence of the revolutionary situation which existed in France in the 1780s was the bankruptcy of the king, and hence the state . This economic crisis was due to the rapidly increasing costs of government and to the overwhelming costs incurred by fighting two major wars: the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War . These costs could not be met from the usual sources of state revenue . Since the 1770s, several attempts by different ministers to introduce financial stability had failed . The taxation system was burdensome upon the middle class and the more prosperous peasants, given that the nobles were largely able to exempt themselves from it . As a result, there was "an insistent demand" for reform of these abuses of privilege, for an equitable means of taxation and for improved government processes . David Thomson argued that the bourgeoisie and peasantry had "something to lose, not merely something to gain" in their demands for a fairer society and this fear too was a major factor in the revolutionary situation . </P> <P> The population of France in the 1780s was about 26 million, of whom 21 million lived in agriculture . Few of these owned enough land to support a family and most were forced to take on extra work as poorly paid labourers on larger farms . There were regional differences but, by and large, French peasants were generally better off than those in countries like Russia or Poland . Even so, hunger was a daily problem which became critical in years of poor harvest and the condition of most French peasants was poor . </P>

What was an immediate cause of the french revolution