The three main contributing factors that I will focus on are the aristocracy, increasing debt levels, and inequality among the French. The role played by King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette before and during the revolution was a key factor in sparking the revolution. His attitude towards his role as king was poor. He was shy, indecisive and disinterested in politics from a young age and this continued throughout his reign. In the years leading up to the revolution, France was massively in debt after the Seven Years' War. Added to this is a famine which increases the price of bread and brings a large part of the country to the brink of famine (Kinser, 1999). The eating habits of Louis and Marie Antoinette did little to reassure the French about Louis' competence as a ruler. They gorged themselves on fine cuisine while their people starved across the country (Cavallaro, 2001). The ministers of Louis Turgot, Necker and Calonne all agreed that France needed reforms if it was to get out of the massive debt it had accumulated. In February 1787, Louis convened the Assembly of Notables because France was in dire need of tax reform due to its debt. Louis suggested tax reforms to bring public spending in line with state revenues, but because he had lost his authority as king, he was unable to persuade the First and Second Estates to agree to tax reform and they did not want to bear the burden of increased taxes. taxation. This showed that Louis was weak and incapable of making decisions about the future of France. Shortly afterwards, on May 5, 1789, the Estates General was convened and Louis' absolute power over France was virtually ended. This was one of the main events that led to the start of the French Revolution and......the middle of the ......paper iography. [Online] 01/07/2012. Available at: http://bastille-day.com/biography/LouisXVI-Biography. [Consulted: 01/11/2014]Vallée Bleue. (2013). The French Revolution. [Online] Available at: http://www4.bluevalleyk12.org/bvhs/mklopfenstein/WW_notes/lecture%20notes/The%20French%20Revolution.pdf. [Consulted: 01/11/2014]Cavallaro, D. (2001). Critical and cultural theory. [Online] London: The Athlone Press. Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=coqW0qPzT3kC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=louis+xvi+eating+habits&source=bl&ots=opohSS1D0u&sig=sPbe6cm0WtjbEL4NzSjTGCrwJ7w&hl=en&sa=X&ei=S9LNUvH5 O oGI7AbZ7IDwBg&ved=0CC8Q6AEwADgK#v= onepage&q =louis%20xvi%20eating%20habits&f=false. [Accessed 01/11/2014]Dodd, Mead & Co. (1920). The new international encyclopedia. [Online] New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. Available at: http://dromo.info/louis16bio.htm. [Accessed: 11/01/2014]