Origins Of Thefrench Revolution

Question 1

What ere the problems that Louis faced ?

Answer 1

• tax collection system was incomplete and ineffective due to regional differences: france needed a centralised form of collecting and administrating taxes
• tax farming: reduced the crown’s income as the farmers general (company responsible for collecting taxes for the king) gave the state the agreed amount and took the rest as their pay. Consequently the state didn’t have enough money for expenditure and had to borrow
• court factions: to resolve this, needed a king with strong leadership
• wide variations in laws and customs: there was no single representative body. there needed decisive modernisation and reform

Question 2

What were the economic (long-term) problems that Louis faced?

Answer 2

• the countryside was divided unequally between heirs rather than going to the eldest, this created smaller estates and therefore rural poverty
• when bread would increase in price, this would cause hardship and bread riots

Question 3

What were Louis’ limitations to power?

Answer 3

• kings had to comply with certain laws and customs. for example, couldn’t interfere with the Assembly of the Clergy which had certain rights and privileges.
• had to consult his council of ministers and advisors to make laws
• had to retain support of the nobles

Question 4

How did the class system (long term) cause the revolution?

Answer 4

• the clergy: made up 0.5 of the population but owned 1/10 of the land. they were exempt from taxes.
  
  • parish priests claimed they were poor and did not receive their full tithe, it was taken by the archbishops, bishops etc.
  • absenteeism: when higher clergy wouldn’t live at their dioceses they were pursuing a political career at court
  • pluralism: higher clergy would hold more than one diocese and rarely visit them
  • sale of venal offices: the sale and purchase of certain jobs within the church: often sold to the younger sons of the nobility who would not inherit the family’s noble title
• the nobility: made up less than 1% of the population but owned between 1/4 - 1/3 of the land. other nobles were jealous of court nobles. exempt from conscription.
• the third estate had the heaviest burden. had to pay tithe to the church, had to pay indirect taxes such as the gabelle, taille, had to pay rent and tax to the lord of the manor

Question 5

How did the enlightenment ( short term) cause the revolution?

Answer 5

• philosophies: a movement that challenged ideas of religion, nature and absolute monarchy. used reason and ration rather than superstition and tradition
  
  • they were not revolutionaries themselves but influenced revolutionaries
    
    • Montesquieu: criticised royal power, but argued it was the jo of the aristocracy to limit royal power not the people
    • Voltaire criticised the Catholic Chuch and religions intolerance but believed religion was necessary to preserve public morals. he also defended royal authority
    • Rousseau argued that a despotic monarch could be overthrown by their subjects and that soverignty resided with the people.
  • The philosophees were not that radical, but they reached a wide audience
• enlightenment ideas would spread through salons, which would be attended by bourgeoise and nobles. their ideas were also discussed in newspapers
• their participation in the American war of Independence. french soldiers were fighting for liberty and democracy. Soldiers like lafeyette brought home ideas of democracy and overthrowing an existing political authority and building a new one.

Question 6

How did the financial crisis (short term crisis) contribute to the revolution?

Answer 6

• huge deficit, verge of bankruptcy in 1786
• war: cost of American war of independence was 1066 million alone
• tax: powerful resistance to taxing te first and second estate which would’ve helped the financial situation.
  
  • controller generals
    
    • Louis wanted to pursue a policy of improving state finances and put the controller general in charge of this.
    • Turgot: appointed in 1774
      
      • influenced by the physiocrats: removed price controls and abolished guilds and a new property tax
      • aroused hostility from the parlements and louis dismissed him in 1776
    • Necker: 1777
      
      • wanted to increase royal share of farmed tax. tried to cut venal offices, but this raised hostility from the nobles who held them.
      • advised Louis that they could afford to enter the American war of independence
      • 1781: Necker issued the first public report on royal finances to give the impression that they were in good order and to raise loans. However, many details of the report showed the extravagant spending of the monarchy. Necker gained popularity amongst the third estate, but lost the popularity of the court and resigned
    • Calonne: 1783
      
      • managed finances by selling venal offices and lavish spending, which he believed would increase confidence in the monarchy to raise loans
      • hoped to make changes when taxes were due for renewal in 1787
      • but he was unsuccessful in raising loans in 1875. in 1876 he told louis they were close to bankruptcy
      • by 1789, there was a deficit of 126 million livres
      • Louis dismissed Calonne when there was clear opposition to Calonne’s reforms

Question 7

How did the revolt of the aristocracy ( short term) contribute to the revolution?

Answer 7

• Controller General Calonne was replaced by Brienne, Archbishop of Toulouse
• Brienne wanted to introduce reforms such as end to venal financial offices, a new central treasury, and reforming the army to make it more efficient and less expensive and more reforms.
• when Brienne submitted these reforms to the Parlements, they rejected them and said that only the estates general, which was representative of the whole nation could consent to new taxes.
• Louis responded by exiling the Parlement to Troyes on 15th Aug
• this caused the revolt of the nobility in the summer of 1788. riots in some provincial capitals. country nobles met to discuss the action in support of the parlements
• an assembly of the clergy also supported the parlements - breaking its tradition of loyalty to the crown
• Brienne and Louis agreed to summon to estates general for 1 May 1789
• 16 Aug 1788, Brienne suspended all payments from the treasury, acknowledging that it was bankrupt
• Sept 1788 Louis was forced to allow the Parlements to return
• King was forced to recall Necker as he believed he was the only one who could restore the government’s credit and raise new loans. Necker stated he wouldn’t do anything until the estates general had met.
• this crisis showed the limitations of royal power: Louis was unable to enforce govt reforms on the state, showing the weakness of the crown. failure to secure reform contributed to the paralysis of the govt.

Question 8

How did the short term economic crisis cause the revolution?

Answer 8

• disastrous harvests in 1788. this lead to employment and production dropping 50% in the textile industries
• unemployment was rising at the same time as the cost of living was workers couldn’t increase their wages since wages were stagnant
• food shortages: 1788-9 bread took up 88% of a labourers wages
  
  • many people blamed tithe-owners and landowners for hoarding and speculating (and thus increasing the price of grain)
  • food riots and disturbances as people attacked grain stores
  • believed this was partly fault of the nobility
  • THIS CRISIS CAUSED THE POLITICISATION OF MANY OF THE THIRD ESTATE

Question 9

What were the short term causes of the French Revolution?

Answer 9

• foreign policy and American war of independence
  Created massive debt 1000 million livers, awareness of political liberty in America
• the financial crisis
  Government was on the verge of bankruptcy
• sought new ensures to raise taxes

The failure of the reform process
- Louis political weakness
- revolt of the aristocracy

The economic crisis
- bad harvests: rising bread prices
- grain and food riots