Final answer:
Before the French Revolution, France's tax system placed the burden on the Third Estate, comprising peasants and the bourgeoisie, while the clergy and aristocracy were largely exempt. Resentment due to these inequalities and subsequent resistance to reforms proposed by King Louis XVI contributed to the revolutionary movement.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the years preceding the French Revolution, the tax system in France was deeply inequitable. The First Estate, comprising the clergy, and the Second Estate, made up of the aristocracy, held a substantial portion of the country's wealth and lands yet were virtually exempt from taxation.
Conversely, the Third Estate, which included peasants, the urban poor, and the burgeoning middle class or bourgeoisie, shouldered the majority of the tax burden. This unfair tax distribution and the privileged lifestyles of the nobility and clergy built resentment among the commoners, setting the stage for revolution.
Amidst consecutive poor harvests and the Crown's near-bankruptcy, King Louis XVI's attempt to impose a land tax on the aristocracy was met with stiff resistance, which only further highlighted the disparities within the tax system. The Third Estate's grievances led them to form the National Assembly and to challenge the fiscal privileges of the other two estates, ultimately igniting a call for reform that could no longer be ignored.
France's outdated social structure demanded the Third Estate, despite its diverse and at times affluent composition, to pay taxes while the privileged estates contributed little, if any, to the nation's coffers.
The subsequent convening of the Estates General and the establishment of the National Assembly marked a significant pivot toward addressing these financial injustices, setting forth the sequence of events leading to the French Revolution.