‘The French Revolution was caused largely by errors of omission rather than those of commission’. Discuss this view of the reasons for the outbreak of the French Revolution

The 1789 revolution in France was largely caused by what Louis xvi failed to do [errors of omission]. The errors of omission included Louis xvi’s failure to reform unfair taxation, his failure to reform the feudal system of government, his failure to reform the autocratic system of government and his failure to reduce expenditure at the royal court.

However, the errors of commission [what Louis xvi did] also contributed to the outbreak of the French revolution. The
errors of commission are that, Louis xvi’s dismissed able ministers; he sanctioned the involvement of French forces in the American war of independence and he signed the ommercial treaty with Britain which worsened the economic situation in France.

Errors of omission / Errors omitted

-The errors of omission were largely responsible for the outbreak of the French revolution, for example, Louis xvi failed to reform unfair taxation which was a burden only to the peasants.
-He failed to reform the class system.
-He failed to reform the feudal system of government which he inherited from his predecessors
-He failed to reform royal absolutism of the ancient regime.
-He did nothing to reduce expenditure at the royal court with Marie Antoinette as the major culprit hence worsening the financial crisis.
-Nothing was done to promote religious tolerance.
-Nothing was done to alleviate the effects of poor harvests [inflation, unemployment, starvation, shortage of food and the like.
-He failed to address grievances of the army.
-He failed to solve grievances of the third estate when the estates general meeting was called.

Errors of commission / Errors committed

*However, errors of commission also led to the outbreak of the French revolution; for instance, Louis xvi withdrew his support from able ministers at critical moments.
-He dismissed competent ministers. For instance, he dismissed Louis xv’s ministers Terray and Mampeou whose advice could have changed the situation in France. He also dismissed competent ministers like Turgot, Necker, Calonne and DeBrienne who could have helped to improve the situation.
-He sanctioned the involvement of French forces in the American war of independence.
-He listened to grievous influence from his wife, Marie Antoinette and the royal entourage.
-He signed the commercial treaty with Britain which worsened the economic situation in France