Causes of the French Revolution On July 14, 1789, several starving working people of Paris and sixty soldiers seized control of the Bastille, forever changing the course of French history. The seizing of the Bastille wasn’t caused by one event, but several underlying causes such as the Old Regime, the raising of taxes, the American revolution, and the idea and beliefs of the philosophes. The immediate causes of the revolution were the rising price of bread …showed first 75 words of 524 total…

…showed last 75 words of 524 total…that touched off the French Revolution, was the ordering of the Swiss guards to Paris by Louis the XVI. The king felt that he could not trust his own military, so he hired Swiss mercenaries. He finally called them off when the Bastille was stormed (Krieger 486). The French Revolution was caused by many underlying causes, immediate causes, and finally, a spark which touched off a national revolution, forever changing the course of France’s history.