What were the main causes of the French Revolution?

The main causes of the French Revolution were as follows:

• Social inequality that was in place between the nobility, the clergy and the peasants
• A bad harvest had led to rise in the prices of bread, only further strengthening the resentment against the monarchy
• Ideas put forward by enlightened thinkers such a Rousseau, René Descartes
• Financial crisis due to expensive wars, especially the support lent to the American Revolution
• The refusal of the nobility and the clergy to pay taxes.
• The French monarchy, no longer seen as divinely ordained, was unable to adapt to the political and societal pressures that were being exerted on it.

For further reading check the following articles:

• The Renaissance
• Age of Enlightenment.
• French Revolution