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Four years after the defeat of the British empire by the American colonists, the French began their own revolution to overthrow their monarchy. Since the two wars share many similarities, it has often been debated if the American Revolution was a prequisite for the French Revolution. According to the facts available, The French Revolution would have happened regardless of the American Revolution, although it may have happened at a later time without the aid of the American Revolution. While the American Revolution may have been a catalyst in our history, the French Revolution would have happened eventually. From the 1750s onward it became clear that the absolute monarchy was not the best form of government for France. The people felt that government should reflect the needs of the people, instead of the revolving around the whims of the monarchy. This was partly due to the observation of the poverty and poor rulership, due to Enlightenment ideals, which constantly undermined the rule of despot monarchs, and due to the fact that the nobles wanted more power in the government. 1 Before the French aided the American colonists in the American Revolution, the French were involved in the French-Indian War aka the Seven Years War. The French-Indian war was fought between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. The French were also suffering financially from aiding the American War, in which the French spent "over a billion livres, the equivalent of the state's entire income for a year."1