The French Revolution happened after the American Revolutionary War.
Causes of the French Revolution . Financial : France 's debt , aggravated by French involvement in the American Revolution , led Louis XVI to implement new taxations and to reduce privileges . France played a key role in the American Revolutionary War ( American War of Independence ; 1775 -- 1783 ) . French Revolution . Through the Revolutionary Wars , it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East . Following the Seven Years ' War and the American Revolutionary War , the French government was deeply in debt and attempted to restore its financial status through unpopular taxation schemes .