There is significant disagreement among historians of the French Revolution as to its causes. Usually, they acknowledge the presence of several interlinked factors, but vary in the weight they attribute to each one. These factors include cultural change, normally associated with the Enlightenment; social change and financial and economic difficulties; and the political actions of the involved parties.
Historians generally view the underlying causes of the French Revolution as driven by the failure of the Ancien Régime to respond to increasing social and economic inequality. Rapid population growth and restrictions caused by the inability to adequately finance government debt resulted in economic depression, unemployment and high food prices. Combined with a regressive tax system and resistance to reform by the ruling elite, the result was a crisis Louis XVI proved unable to manage.