The French Revolution wasn't caused during the time of Louis XVI but before him, Louis XIV left France in debt because he spent too much money on art. Louis XV came along and he left France in an even larger debt then France was already in. But this wasn't the only issue the 3rd Estate was enraged with the King because they were the only ones being taxed, that year was a very bad harvest meaning not enough money. Also the people with the larger amount of money was the 1st and 2nd Estates, and they were not being taxed. Because of this an Estates General was brought into order. However there was no agreement at the end of the Assembly, because of this hostility all ready there. When Necker, the voice of the 3rd Estate, was stripped from his position suddenly there was no one on the "inside" helping the 3rd Estates to receive their rights. Because of this there was a huge commotion leading to the storming of Bastille. Bastille was a representation of the power of the King, and by taking control and destroying Bastille it meant they were overthrowing the absolute monarchy. As you can see the people were suddenly standing up for themselves, and one of the reasons is because of the new philosophers and their ideas. This was a period of enlightenment, the church suddenly isn't the greatest power and because of that people start having a sense of doubt about what is true. And suddenly, people start thinking for themselves, and they do not believe what they hear they themselves must find an answer. People were becoming independent, that is the big key. Because of this people I think started to think that they are someone in their country, they started to be independent and because of that everyone became equal. No one was special, God did not chose the King, he was not divine. Because of this I think people had more confidence to speak their needs because they were equal to the nobles and even the King himself. There was no royalty, and aristocrats but instead they were all human.