What was the immediate reason for the calling of the Estates General in May 1789?

Question

What was the immediate reason for the calling of the Estates General in May 1789?

a. revolt by the privileged classes against Louis XVI's wish to tax them
b. outbreak of rebellion in the rural departments
c. the inability of the army to maintain order
d.the storming of the bastille prison

any help would be appreciated thanks

Answer 1

a. A new tax, according to the feudal system, left over from the middle ages, could only be approved by the estates general. England had gone through this in the 1200's when the kings of that time wanted special grants of money. In England, things proceeded slowly at first, with the first two estates of clergy and nobles meeting to vote the money and the commons called in later to approve the grant. Later, in England, the commons wanted more to say about things as they voted the money, and the speaker of the commons expressed the commons concern to the king's government. By contrast, in France, there had not been a meeting of the estates general since the middle ages. So when the royal government tried to dissolve them, they (the estates general) adjourned to a nearby tennis court to meet and take an oath to seek equity. That was the beginning of the French Revolution. "The Oath on the Tennis Court."

Answer 2

a. revolt by the privileged classes against Louis XVI's wish to tax them

The Estates-General (or States-General) of 1789 (French: Les États-Généraux de 1789) was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly consisting of representatives from all but the poorest segment of the French citizenry. The independence which it displayed from the crown paved the way for the French Revolution.

Among the direct causes of the French Revolution was a massive financial crisis caused by France's enormous debt, the government's lavish spending, and an archaic system of taxation which brought little money to the national coffers by placing the greatest tax burden upon the Third Estate (in theory, all of the commoners; in practice, the bourgeoisie), while virtually ignoring the First Estate (the clergy) and the Second Estate (the nobility). Successive attempts at reforming the system had proven fruitless in the face of opposition from the First and Second Estates.

On February 22, 1787, Charles Alexandre de Calonne, the minister of finances, convened an Assembly of Notables to deal with the financial situation. On July 13, the assembly demanded that Louis XVI call the Estates-General, and on December 18, the king promised to do so within five years. By this time, Calonne had been succeeded as finance minister by his chief critic, Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne; In turn, Brienne was succeeded by Jacques Necker, a former finance minister who was sympathetic to the Third Estate. With Necker once again in charge of the nation's finances, the King, on August 8, 1788, agreed to convene the Estates-General in May of 1789.

Answer 3

The economy was in shambles and he wanted some ideas on how to fix it. The result was that the Third Estate (the Bourgeoisie and commoners) realized how little power they had and how it was unfair that the nobles and clergy had so much. They decided to end the Estates General and found the National Assembly, which was more democratic, over the objections of the king, the nobles and most of the clergy.

Answer 4

None of the alternatives you indicated.

The reason for calling the General Estates was to get their OK. to impose taxes specially on the lower classes, since France was broke and bankrupt.

The government needed money desperately.