Part 1 Flashcards
Turgot (main ideas)
- cuts to royal expenses
- removal/reduction to pensions
- encouraged Louis to live less lavishly
- fails to dissuade Louis fro joining American Rev
- tried to set up general land tax
Turgot’s Six Edicts
-wanted to abolish privilege, to tax all and to grant every man the right to work without restriction
Which two edicts met the most opposition and why
5th and 6th
- 5th suppressed the guilds (to reduce their control and increase competition)
- 6th abolished the corvee in favour of a tax paid by landowners
How were the six edicts registered in 1776
through a lit de justice
Why was Turgot forced to resign
he offended a wide range of influential people including Marie Antoinette
Necker (main ideas)
- reduced royal household expenses
- appointed salaried officials rather than venal corporations to run the royal estates
- removed the vingtieme on industry
- tried to make royal accounting system more professional- gain more income (better tax system)
- instead of raising taxes he raised money by borrowing 520 million livres
What was the nature of the compte rendu
inaccurate statement about the countries expenditure and income
Nicker dsguised France’s high interest payments as normal expenditure to suggest that France was in a stronger financial position
How much of a surplus did Necker record France having i the Compte Rendu
suggested that France had a surplus of 10 million livres
Why was Necker so popular with the third estate
as his attacks were mainly on vested interest and he involved France in a successful war without raising taxes
Why did Necker resign
As Marie Antoinette didn’t like him
Calonne (main ideas)
- carried on raising loans as far as possible (unsuccessful as loans dried up)
- planned a new land tax- imposed on landowners regardless of social status (rejected by assembly of notables)
- an extra indirect land tax on legal documents (stamp duty)
- end of the corvee royale- replaced by a tax on landowners
- removal of controls on grain trade
- removal of internal customs barriers to boost commerce
Brienne (main ideas)
- attempted to persuade Assembly of notables to agree to a land tax (unsuccessful)
- wanted to make army more efficient and less expensive
- wanted to introduce religious toleration
When was the treaty of Paris
1783
Why did the French receive little reward from USA in treaty of paris
as the USA chose to maintain commercial ties with Britain so French
How much debt did the French gov face by the end of the American War of Independence
3.3 billion livres
Why did Louis and French gov officially help in the American War of Independence
thought America would win and so we would reap rewards in the end
How much debt was France in when Louis ascended to the throne in 1774
about 2.3 billion livres
Which two wars did Louis XV get involved in before Louis XVI came to the throne
- War of Austrian Succession (1746-8)
- 7 Years War (1756-63)
How much did the two wars of Louis XV cost
1.3 billion livres
What did enlightened thinkers question
questioned traditional assumptions, ideas and institutions such as absolute monarchy, the church and structure of society
What aspect of the english model of control did many philsophes take interest in
the idea of a ‘limited monarchy’ and shared power with an elected parliament
What did Francois Quensay believe needed to be abolished
need to abolish monopolies, guilds, tariffs and special privileges (attacking 1st/2nd estate)
What was Francois Volitaire’s main principles
-attacked hypocrisy and injustice and in support of toleration, civil rights and the right to a fair trial
Jean Jacques Rousseau main principles
the people have the right to overthrow government that have failed to act correctly
government should be a contract between the king and his subjects
Denis Diderot main principe
rejected religion and saw church as a bar to progress
Charles-Louis de Montesquieu main beliefs
wanted sepearate legislature, executive and judiciary and questioned the structure of political authority
law of 1781 in the army
restricted certain positions in the army to those who had 4 generations of noble family
had did the social structure contribute to the financial collapse
1st/2nd estate had lots of privileges and didn’t pay direct taxes so gov received less money than they needed
What did the clergy pay instead of the taille (direct tax)
don gratuit
How many people were in the first estate
about 150,000
How many people were in the second estate
about 400,000
How big was the population of France in the 1780s
27 million
Even though many nobles/clergy agreed with the ideas of the enlightenment why were they still unwilling to give up privileges
due to their distrust of the government and their wish for an estates general
Why did the assembly reject tax reforms
didnt think situation was bad enough due to Necker’s compte rendu and clergy were particularly hostile to the new plan to tax the church
How did Calonne anger the notables further
published articles accusing them of allowing self interest to stand in the way of change
Why did the Paris Parlement refused to allow Brienne’s lit de justice
they wanted an estates general
What percentage of the 2nd estate did the cahiers show were willing to give up their financial privileges
89%
In spring 1789 what percentage of their wages were Parisian workers spending on bread
88%
How much did textile production fall by in 1789
50%
When were the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom published?
May 1788
What were the Fundamental laws of the kingdom
consent of an Estate General was needed for such fundamental changes Louis was proposing
What were the May Edicts
hit at power of the parlements in a last attempt to reform old institution
no. of judges in paris parlement reduced
When was the revolt of the nobles
May-August 1788
What did the revolt of the nobles involve
provincial parlements flooded royal court with remonstrances and paris parlement led cries to end the lettres de catchet and imprisonment without trial
demands for estate general
royal authority collapsed- taxes weren’t paid
series of sporadic risings broke out across the country- day of Tiles Grenoble
How did the procedures in Estate General work against the third estate
followed the procedures of the last estate general in 1614
equal representation for each estate
seperate estate meetings
one vote per estate
Why was the King’s declaration of double representation for the third estate during estate general ultimately meaningless
as the King refused to pronounce the voting procedures
What was the nature of Abbe Sieyes pamphlet ‘What is the third estate’
argued that the third estate was ‘everything’ it alone represented the nation
the message was clear and led to a growing desire to have a voice in the assembly and act as its leaders
How many cahiers were produced
40,000
What was the nature of the cahiers
third estate- concerned about taxation and peasants worried about specific and local concerns
most were about the desire for representative government
