French Rev Causes Flashcards
First Estate
- Clergy
- 0.5% population, 6% land
- controlled education, hospitals, poor relief, censorship
- Clergy dominated towns, Priest dominated country
Second Estate
Nobels
- < 1% population, 25%-66% land
- 3 types:
- d’epee: lived with the king as advisors, ambassadors, intenders and ministers. Had access to royal patronage
- De Robe: created by the monarchy by selling administrative offices (over 70,000 venal offices by 1789
- Others lived in country estates and were reliant on feudal rights
Third estate
- peasants and bourgeoisie
- Nearly 28 mill
- Bourgeoisie (middle class) often wanted to be nobles
- peasants (>80%) farmed @ subsistence and worked as labourers
- Towns had small property owners, skilled and unskilled workers
Louis XVI Strengths
- Not unintelligent
- somewhat frugal
- Kind and rough sense of humour
Louis XVI weakness
- Anxious, Indecisive
- Uncommunicative
- Ill at ease in social situations
- Constantly failed to act
- Did not command respect
- Over cautious of the importance of tradition
Financial issues
Debt:
- War of Austrian succession 1740-48: 1 Billion Livres
- 7 year war 1756-63: 1.8 billion Livres
- American revolution 1776: 1.3 Bill livres
- In the short term, France paid with loans but this caused long term issues
Tax system:
- Nobles were exempt from most taxes
- Tax collection was complex because of all the different tax rules in different areas
- Tax farming decreased percentage of profit going to the crown
by 1789, the crown was 126 million Livres in debt. 51% of total spending was going to paying off interests and more than 36% on defence
Turgot
- 1774-76
- influenced by physiocrats (believed in wealth solely from agriculture, not tolls etc)
- removed price controls, abolished guilds, proposed new property tax
- His reforms earnt him hostility from the elite
- Dismissed by Louis 1776
Necker
- 1777-81
- tried to reform expenditure, increase royal share of farmed taxes, cut venal offices
- Key mistake was advising Louis he could afford the American war which increased debt
- 1781: publication (faked) of the royal finances showing they were good (The Compte rendu)
- Lost him support and was forced to resign
Calonne
- 1783 - 89
- sold offices, encouraged lavish spending, maintaining confidence in the monarchy so they could raise loans
- recognised reform was needed and hoped to make it when taxes were due for renewal 1787 but was unsuccessful in raising loans 1785 and 86
Told Louis the government was close to bankruptcy Aug 1786
Social discontent: The court and middle class
- Selling of venal offices provided income and supporters for the monarchy but lead to wasteful corruption and blocking of talent rising
- The privileges of court nobles were resented by other nobles, the privileges of other nobles was resented by peasants
- there was discontent in the middle class around privilege and unfair tax burden and a new wide spread political awareness with the increase of books etc.
Social discontent: the church
- Bishops and abbots would take large portions of the tithes leaving lower clergymen and parishes with little money
- these higher clergy positions were often taken up by younger sons of nobles leading to problems of absenteeism and pluralism.
Economic problems: the country side
- there was a lot of rural poverty especially because of the bad harvests 1770-1789
- on a mans death, his land would go to each of his heirs instead of just one leading to smaller estates and little being owned by peasants working the land
- there was a lot of subsistence farming with no incentive to make improvements in farming methods
- agricultural problems effected the wood industry which worsened rural poverty
Economic problems: towns
- Town industries and foreign trade was growing leading to tensions in urban populations
- Towns consisted of:
- Nobles/Bourgeoisie/wealthy and educated
- Skilled craftsmen in guilds
- small property owners
- majority unskilled workers
- Poorer districts became more densely populated and relied on bread. Any change in price caused public disorder and bread riots were common
Who were the assembly of notables?
- 144 noblemen chosen by the king including 7 princes of the blood, important nobles/clergymen and leading parliament members
- They met Feb 1789 and were expected to just agree to Calonne’s proposals but they rejected it
- they therefore came to be thought of as a ‘prelude to the revolution’ as they objected to new taxation without more widespread consultation.
What were Calonne’s reforms (assembly of notables)?
- New land tax with no exemptions
- new regional assemblies to implement new taxes
- stimulate the economy by removing restrictions on trade like internal customs barriers
What was the aristocratic revolt?
- After Calonne’s failure, Brienne was appointed controller general
Brienne took revised proposals, including land tax, back to the assembly of notables who argued it should be by the approval of the whole nation - The assembly was dissolved and the plans presented to the Paris parliament
- when the Paris Parliament also refused, Louis passed it through the lit de justice
- Nobels and clergy met to discuss how to protect the power of the parliaments
- August 1788, the royal treasury suspended, the crown seemed to be bankrupt and Louis had to reappoint Necker and call the estate general
Calling of the estate general
- 3 estates were asked to write up the ‘Cahiers de doleances’ (letters of greivances
- First estate: greater control of education, more limited tolerance of protestantism
- Second estate: 1/3 willing to give up some financial privileges and were devided over tax reform and modern constitution
- Third estate: anything from fairer taxation to fewer rabbits
Estates general: debate over voting
- Voting was traditionally one per estate but the third estate wanted by head
- There was a dead lock due to lack of agreement
- 10th June: 3rd estate began verifying credencials without the nobels or clergy, a few clergy joined them
- 17th June: They claimed themselves the national assembly claiming to represent the french people
Tennis court oath
- 20th June: 3rd estates meeting room was closed without explanation
- Seeing this as a despotic act, they went to a near by tennis court and swore not to disband until France had a constitution (becoming the constitutional assembly
- the king opposed voting by head and the new assembly but gave in when Paris public opinion turned
- When rumours circulated about an attack on Versailles, the king ordered remaining clergy and nobles to join the assembly
(example of the king being unwilling/ unable to control events)
The development of the great fear
Main unrest: 20th July - 6th August
Towns and cities across France followed Paris in setting up revolutionary committees and national guard.
The kings intendents abandoned their posts and royal authority collapsed.
by 1788, there were high food prices, unemployment and layoffs in the textile industry.
There were rumours that brigands had been hired by fleeing nobles to take revenge and destroy harvests leading to peasants arming themselves and destroying chateaux and documentation of feudalism.
Nobels and their agents were killed, tithe barns holding grain taken by the church were attacked.
Abolition of feudalism
National assembly wanted to crush the rural revolts without the use of royal troops so decided to give in to the peasantry.
August decrees
4th August: In response to the great fear, on the 4th Augusts the assembly voted for the decrees resulting in:
- Abolition of Feudal rights
- abolition of Tithe and hunting rights
- all citizens would be taxed equally
- all citizens would be eligible for all offices
- Nobles would be compensated for lost feudal rights
Declaration of the rights of man
- 26th August 1789
- All citizens were equal
- Officially dismantled the ancient regime
- Echoed the American declaration of independence
- ’ all men are born free and remain free and equal in their rights’
Freedoms guaranteed: - speech, opinion, property, justice
- taxation by consent of the governed
- end of privileges
- meritocracy
