Origins and onset of revolution2.1 Flashcards
absolute monarchy
widely accepted that the king’s power was god-given; he had a divine right to rule with total power
had absolute power: no elected representative body: like a parliament to check the power of the king, he chose small group of ministers to advise him- controller-general-had to impress jo, to win his appointment
king was only person to initiate new legislation, he had no legislation to accept his advisors things
Palace of Versailles
was extended by King Louis XI, front of palace was 402 metres long filled with finest art, furniture and decoration
versailles would host lavish parties where court factions would compete to win king’s favor
limits’ to the monarch’s power
parlements- local courts or councils, 13 regional administrative centres like Toulouse,- they did not create laws would be important local nobles and clergy, they could refuse to register and implement laws created by the king if they felt them to be against the traditions and values of the ancien regime
IF king did dare to over-rule the parlements he would risk being accused of despotism
ancien regime
first estate-consisted of the Catholic clergy
second estate- was the nobility
third estate- peasants, some would own land, employ labourers an sell produce for profit
they loved on nobility’s land under system of feudalism
enlightment and spread of new ideas
Age of reason- new thinker began to question the conventions of the societies within which they lived in
IN salons, coffee houses of Paris
sometimes challenged the structure and inequality of the ancien regime
Montesquieu-challenged the estates system pf the ancien regime, argued feudalism and estates should be abolished, believed in constitutional monarchy
Voltaire- favourably of english system of government, seen as attack on French monarchy, his essays were even banned, major advocate of freedom of expression
censorship and sion of enlightened ideas
publication of literature was controlled but not efficiently
printers had to be granted royal licenses to own printing presses and all publications were supposed to be granted approval
church and gov produced lists of banned books including voltaire and montq philosophes
Rural poverty and urban food price
bad harvests were reported in 1778-79,1781-82, 1785-86 and 1787
harvest of 1788 was long drought equalled to urban population
when harvests failed wheat prices increased and so did bread (increased over by 50% between august 1788 to 1789)
population grew and so did poverty and starvation
taxation
Direct taxes- are applied to individual person in relation to their wealthy or property
Indirect taxes- applied by being added to items or goods purchased
1st/2nd estates could often find ways to buy exemption from taxation
examples- taille- a tax on land- only the 3rd estate
gabelle- a tax on salt (only the 3rd estate)
Crown Debt
Kings had to take large loans
Seven Year War(1756-63)-france was defeated by British costing french valuable overseas colonies
By1780, 43% of state expenditure was committed to debt (spending higher than state income)
in 1786- state revenue was 472million livres compared with an expenditure of 633 million livres
American Revolutionary War
For 5 years France provided armies and resources in support of the USA’s cause- costing 1.3 billion livres
corruption at court
6% of the state’s expenditure was the epense of the royal court
Offices and positions in the royal court and administration could be bought from the Crown-venality
Sometimes 3rd estate wanted to buy themselves into 2nd estate -30,000-50,000 people bought such titles
it blocked the advancement and promotion of people= corruption
Louis’s character
inherited throne at 20
not destined to be King as he had an older bro who was meant to be King
Did not receive specific training to prepare him for kingship
as a resuslt of his upbringing louis was a weak character: indecisive, easily led and lacking in court and political experience
attitudes to Marie Antoinette
distrust of the princess was furthered at court by her lack of familiarity and system of etiquette at Versailles
popularity was dented when she couldn’t produce an heir
‘madame deficit’ nickname blamed the financial crisis o her lavish spending
financial reforms of Turgot
less successful was intro of free trade in grain, with duties, barriers and controls on prices removed- caused opposition as it affected those people who profited from such privileges
in theory free trade would be to the benefit of the majority as providing grain was plentiful, prices would remain low
Turgot unlucky as bad weather in winter-spring 1774-5 resulted in bad harvests-sparked flour wars
Failure- aristocratic opposition to reforms
also he aimed to abolish privileges and introduced property tax payable by ALL ESTATES- led to his resignation
financial reforms of Necker
he publicly released record, wanted to increase transparency- led to popular support
he was determined to raise money for American revolutionary wars w/o taxation
he increased state debt- deficit from the public
attempted to streamline the state’s financial administration by ensuring that venal ministers were replaces by trained and salaried officials- reduction in sale of offices (fewer opportunities for nobles/artistocrats)
Failure: caused strong opposition and those close to King= his dismissal
