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In the 1780s, France faced huge economic difficulties. The monarchy’s heavy expenditures on luxuries and its military campaigns against Prussia and Britain effectively bankrupted the nation’s coffers. This state of insolvency was underscored two years later when harsh weather led to a series of crop failures, causing a nationwide shortage of grain that raised the price of bread, the main food of the peasantry, by over eighty-eight percent. Further complicating matters was the country’s antiquated and unequal system of taxation, which exempted the nobility and relied heavily on the various duties paid by local peasants, wage earners, professionals, and businessmen, instead of raising funds through external trade tariffs.
Q: What can be inferred about France in the 1780s?
(a) It was not strong enough economically to compete with Prussia and Britain.
(b) Its problems arose from the monarchy’s unwillingness to enact fiscal reforms.
(c) It was crippled by the lack of commercial activity within the country.
(d) Its government imposed high taxes on local agricultural products.
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