e extend in the second estate, who were not necessarily rich. This was compounded by bad weather in 1788 which ruined harvests and resulted in famine. In 1789 this was repeated, with a severe winter making things worse. The frozen rivers affected trade, causing unemployment, which led to mobs of the unemployed forming in the cities during winter. A crucial event came on 14th July 1789, when there was an uprising of the Paris mobs, who stormed the Bastille, a royal prison and symbol of royal despotism. This event was a result of the economic conditions (caused by both weather and taxes) and the anti-monarchic mood at the time, and was one of the first revolts in the French Revolution as a whole. The French Revolution was by no means inevitable. If Louis XVI had listened to the States-General and the mood of the middle classes and peasants, and made some concessions, he would probably have remained as a constitutional monarch without the loss of too much power. However, this is not what he did. The main underlying cause of the French Revolution was the combination of the autocratic Ancien Rgime with the influence of the philosophers and the Enlightenment. The two could not co-exist, and the new nationalism would not go away; therefore the only option was for the people to be granted some sovereignty. The economic conditions of the day and the American example merely accelerated the start of the Revolution; no government can govern perfectly forever, so at some point there would probably have been objections to the autocracy, and an uprising. So instead, the French Revolution was made inevitable through the continued denial of sovereignty from the people by the French monarchy, and in the short term, by King Louis XVI....
