In 1788 France was in the middle of an economic crisis partly due to its wars with England before and during the American Revolution. King Louis XVI agreed to call an Estates-General which was an assembly of elected deputies to try and solve the crisis even though an assembly hadn’t been called in 175 years. As a result a new National Assembly was created which claimed to be representative of the PEOPLE. Louis XVI was eventually forced to recognize the Assembly but he was not interested in dealing with this group. Also in 1788 there was a shortage of food and the price of bread was rising. On July 11, 1789 Louis XVI fired Prime Minister Necker who wanted to negotiate with the assembly. Necker was seen as being friendly to the people and who was the one most interested in keeping the price of bread down. Protests immediately sprang up in the streets and three days later the Bastille was stormed in what is seen as the beginning of the French Revolution.

(The Great Courses – Living the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon)