Members of the 3rd Estate in France had all sorts of reasons to dislike the king and queen -- King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette -- in the days leading up to the French Revolution. Let me count the ways (well, a few of them): 1. Louis XVI was not a kingly figure. He preferred to be out in the woods hunting or at a workbench taking apart a clock than doing the tasks of royal government. He wasn't the sort of person to inspire the confidence of the people in him. 2. Marie Antoinette was an Austrian princess, and the French people despised the Austrians. France and Austria had been enemies for years, and this attempt to bring the two countries together through a marriage wasn't popular with the people. 3. Louis and Marie had sex problems. You'd think that would be a private matter, but when you're the king and queen it's your job to produce an heir to the throne, and they weren't managing to do that. 4. Both Louis and Marie spent way too much money -- money that came from the taxpayers (the members of the 3rd Estate). Louis spent it on the lavish palace life of Versailles and on wars. (His government had given a huge loan to the Americans to help them fight vs. Britain.) Marie spent money on frills and dresses and jewelry and whatnot. 5. They didn't seem to know the people's situation or care about them much. They didn't want to be bothered with concerns about the poor people of France.
I could keep counting more ways, but that's enough for now!
The need for raw materials for the factories and increased food supplies for the growing population in urban centers had led to the growth of export economies around the world that had specialized in commercial extraction of natural resources and the production of food and industrial crops.
