The origins of the French Revolution

Question 1

What is the Ancien Regime?

Answer 1

French society and government before the Revolution of 1789.

Question 2

What was the royal government before 1789?

Answer 2

France was an absolute monarchy ruled by the Bourbons.
This meant the authority of the Crown was not limited by any representative body, e.g. elected parliament.
The king was only answerable and responsible to God.
This system is absolutism.

Question 3

What were the limitations to power of the king?

Answer 3

Kings were bound by the laws and customs of their kingdom.
For example, there were many independent bodies such as the assembly of the clergy which had rights and priveleges guaranteed by law, which the king could not interfere with.
The king also had to consult his council of ministers and advisers to make laws.
This meant considerable power was in the hands of a small number of men, who dealt with the king individually, not as a cabinet system.
The most important minister was the controller-general, in charge of royal finances.

Question 4

What was the royal government in the provinces like?

Answer 4

It was carried out by intendants, who had far-reaching powers in the generalites.
Intendants were officials directly appointed by and answerable to the Crown who were mainly responsible for police, justice, finance, public works, and trade and industry.

Question 5

What sort of character was the king?

Answer 5

In 1774, Louis XVI, aceded to the french throne.
He was well intentioned but never came to terms with the State’s financial problems.
In an absolutist system the monarch needed to be a strong figure with a dominant personality.
Louis was rather weak and indecisive.

Question 6

Who was Marie Antionette?

Answer 6

Louis married the Austrian Marie Antionette.
Initially, they were very popular, but this dissipated over the following years due to Marie Antionette’s extravagance and scandals.
She was portrayed very negatively and suggested to be wildly out of touch with ordinary people.
Widely believed by revolutionaries that she influenced the king to avoid granting them concessions.

Question 7

What is tax farming?

Answer 7

Taxes were collected in this way where the government agrees a tax assessment figure for an area, which is then collected by a company that bids for the right to collect it.
The Farmers-General collected indirect taxes, keeping any money above the fixed sum for themselves.
This meant the government never received enough money from taxes to cover its expenditure, and frequently borrowed money.
Interest rates increased.

Question 8

What is venality?

Answer 8

The sale and purchase of certain jobs which could be inherited by descendants.
Many taxes were collected by venal office holders, who could therefore not be dismissed.
Corruption and wastage were vast, so the crown could not recieve an adequate income, and the taxpayers knew most of their money did not reach the treasury.

Question 9

How did Louis respond to the tax problem?

Answer 9

He was very aware of the problems regarding finance.
He appointed Turgot as Controller-General, who was influenced by philosophes and created a reform programme.
His attempts to abolish trade guilds and the corvee and to reform the tax system sparked protest.
So Louis removed his support and Turgot left office.

Question 10

What are guilds, corvee and parlements?

Answer 10

Guilds - tightly control entry into a trade.
Corvee - unpaid labour service to maintain roads.
Parlements - all edicts handed down by the crown had to be registered by them before being enforced as law.

Question 11

Who were the first estate?

Answer 11

The clergy, which consisted of members of religous orders and clergy (parish priests).
Numbered about 115,000.
The Church was very unpopular with many people.

Question 12

Why did plurality and absenteeism cause unpopularity?

Answer 12

Many bishops and archbishops came from noble families and earned large incomes.
Some bishops controlled more than one diocese (made up of a large number of parishes), called plurality.
Many never visited their diocese - absenteeism.
This made the church very unpopular with the people, who considered that bishops were more interested in wealth than in the religous needs of the people.

Question 13

Why did tithes mean the church was unpopular?

Answer 13

The wealth of the church came from the land it owned - 10%, and the tithes paid to it.
The tithes were paid yearly by landowners based on a proportion of crops they produced.
The income provided the church with 50 million levres each year.
Tithes were supposed to provide for parish priests, poor relief and the upkeep of church buildings, but most went into the pockets of bishops and abbots.
The peasantry and ordinary people greatly resented this.

Question 14

What are Cahiers?

Answer 14

Lists of grievances and suggestions for reform drawn up by representatives of each estate and each community and presented to the Estates-General for consideration.

Question 15

Why did tax exemption cause the church to be unpopular?

Answer 15

Even though the church had an immense income from property (100 million livres), instead of paying tax, the church agreed to make an annual payment, which was under 5% of their income.

Question 16

Why did power over the people cause the church to be unpopular?

Answer 16

France was very religous and the Church had huge influence.
They could censor books that were critical of it, provided poor relief, hospitals and schools, and kept records of all births, marriages and deaths.
Its wealth and resistance to new ideas made it unpopular with the people.

Question 17

Who were the second estate?

Answer 17

The Nobility - the most powerful.
Numbered about 350,000.
The most powerful were the 4000 court nobility, they lived at Versailles and had direct access to the king.
The remainder lived in the countryside, the eldest son inherited the land, while the younger joined the church, army or administration.
Their main income source was land, and owned between a 1/4 and 1/3 of France.

Question 18

What were the privileges of the second estate?

Answer 18

Tried in their own courts.
Exempt from military service.
Exempt from paying the gabelle.
Exempt from the corvee.
Recieved feudal dues.
Exclusive rights to hunting and fishing.

Question 19

Why were many nobles protective of their privileges?

Answer 19

Provinicial nobles, unlikely to be wealthy, relied on them for their source of income.
Consequently, they were determined to oppose any changes that threatened their position.
Many ordinary people resented the tax exemption and land privilege, contributing to the causes of the revolution.

Question 20

How could one join the nobility?

Answer 20

Besides inheriting:
By direct appointment by the king or buying venal offices that carried hereditary titles.
There were about 12,000.
They could then be brought, sold or inherited.

Question 21

Who were the Bourgeoisie?

Answer 21

The top end of the third estate, rich commoners who weren’t peasants or urban workers, making a living through skills or businesses.
The wealthiest were merchants and traders.
Others were landowners, doctors, lawyers and civil servants.
Many were venal-office holders.
Their number was increasing, and importance, but no conflict with the nobles until the end of the Ancien Regime.
They felt their wealth and power should be reflected in the political system.

Question 22

Who were the peasantry?

Answer 22

Made up 85% of population.
Top end is small group of large farmers who owned their land and employed labourers.
Half the peasants did not own their land but farmed and gave half the crops to the landlords instead of rent.
1/4 were landless labourers who owned only their house.
Serfdom (slaves), a million in the east, and the bottom of the social structure.

Question 23

What were the grievances of the peasants?

Answer 23

They bore the tax burden.
All peasants had to pay a tithe to the church, feudal dues to their lord and taxes to the state.
The peasants could be tried in a seigneurial court, where the lord acted as both judge and jury.

Question 24

What increased the peasants grievances?

Answer 24

Taxes paid to the state were taille, capitation and gabelle.
These increased enourmously to pay for the various wars France was involved in.
The increase in population increased the rent to the landlords, increasing the demand for farms.
This increasing financial burden was an important long-term cause of the revolution.

Question 25

Who were the urban workers?

Answer 25

Small property owners and artisans in Paris known as sans-culottes.
They were unskilled and poor, living in crowded, unhygenic conditions.
The standard of living had fallen, as wages had only increased by 22%, while prices by 65%.
The Sans Culottes readily became involved in popular demonstrations due to their resentment against the worsening economic situation.

Question 26

What was the Enlightenment?

Answer 26

An intellectual movement of writers and thinkers developed in Europe in the 18th century.
It questioned and challenged ideas about religion, nature and absolute monarchy.
Based on reason and rational not superstition and tradition.
In France, they were called philosophes.

Question 27

What is the aim of the philosophes?

Answer 27

To apply rational analysis to all activities.
Favoured liberty, of press, speech, trade, freedom from arbitrary arrest, rather than equality.
Mainly attacked the church and government.
Condemned the catholic church for being corrupt, wealthy and intolerant.
Not revolutionary, as while they were critical of the regime, they did not oppose it.
They influenced many who became revolutionaries, and undermined the position of the church.

Question 28

What is the Seven Years’ War?

Answer 28

France and Austria were allies in the Seven Years War 1756-63, against Britain.
French forces in India and North America suffered crushing defeats against the British.
Much of France’s overseas empire was lost in 1763 and some of these territories provided lucrative trade.
This was a humiliation to France.

Question 29

What is the American War of Independence?

Answer 29

The French wanted revenge against Britain.
France intervened on the side of the rebels in 1776-83, providing both military and financial support.
The intervention was decisive and helped to bring about the defeat of British forces and the creation of the USA.
France didn’t recover their territories but did satisfy French honour.
The war cost a great deal of money and worsened the already weak financial situation of the Crown.
French soldiers had been exposed to ideas such as liberty and democracy, and many of them on return, demanded this for France.

Question 30

How was war a reason for financial crisis in France?

Answer 30

Between 1740-83 France was at war. The cost of helping the American Colonists was 1066 million livres.
The finance minister, Jacques Necker, financed the war by raising loans, and the lack of an elected parliament to guarantee loans did not give the lenders confidence.

Question 31

What was the financial crisis?

Answer 31

This is the main short-term cause of the Revolution.
The government was building up a huge deficit.
Calonne, the Controller-General, told Louis on August 1786 that France was on the verge of bankruptcy.
There was a total deficit of 112 million livres, 1/4 of the total income.
This increased in two years to 126 million livres.

Question 32

What was Calonne’s plan for reform?

Answer 32

To replace the capitation on landed property with a single land tax.
A tax on the land not the people, with no exemptions, including all landed properties, the church.
The nobles, clergy and pays d’états would pay.

Question 33

What is the failure of the reform process?

Answer 33

The summoning of the Estates-General was rejected for being too unpredictable.
Calonne and Louis instead opted for a handpicked assembly of Notables, who would willingly agree to accept the reform package.
The 144 members met in February 1787, with leading parlements members, princes, nobles and bishops.
They did not collaborate in agreeing the reforms, as they had the most to lose from them.
The Notables were not opposed to all change and agreed that taxation should be extended to all.
They urged the summoning of the Estates-General to get the approval of the Nation.

Question 34

What is the Estates-General?

Answer 34

Elected representatives of all three estates of the realm.
This body was only summoned in times of extreme national crisis.
It had last met in 1614.

Question 35

What were Brienne’s reforms?

Answer 35

Louis dismissed Calonne in April 1787, as he realised the strength of opposition to him, and replaced him with Brienne.
An end to venal financial officials.
A new central treasury.
Laws codified in a printed form accessible to those who needed to consult them.
Educational reform.
Religous toleration.
Reforming the army to make it more efficient and less expensive.
The Assembly of Notables was no more cooperative with Brienne than with Calonne.

Question 36

What was the response to Brienne’s reforms?

Answer 36

The Parlement of Paris refused the reforms and said only the Estates General who represented the whole nation could consent to new taxes.
Louis exiles the Parlement on 15 August.
This was considered high handed and an aristocratic revolt, the most violent opposition yet faced, broke out.
There were riots in some provincial capitals.
Nobles met in unauthorised assemblies to discuss action in support of Parlements.
An assembly of the clergy also joined in support, breaking its long tradition of loyalty to the Crown.

Question 37

How did Brienne respond to the opposition?

Answer 37

Despite the opposition being fragmented and dispersed, it continued because of the collapse of the government’s finances.
August 1788, the royal treasury was empty.
Brienne summoned the Estates General, with Louis’ reluctant approval on May 1789.

Question 38

Why was Necker recalled?

Answer 38

September 1788, Louis was forced to allow the parlement to return.
Brienne and Lamoignon resigned so the king recalled Necker, believing him the only one to restore the government’s credit and raise new loans.
Necker stated he would do nothing until the Estates General had met.

Question 39

What was the significance of the Political crisis?

Answer 39

It showed the limitations of royal power.
Although Louis was an absolute monarch, he was not able to impose his government’s reforms on the State.
The opposition detected clear signs of weaknesses in the Crown.
The failure of reform contributed to the paralysis of the government.

Question 40

What were the bad harvests?

Answer 40

During the 1780s the general agricultural prosperity suddenly ended due to bad harvests.
This led to massive unemployment.
The resulting rise in price of food led to a lower demand for manufactured goods, as more money had to be spent on food.
Over 1726-89 prices increased by 60%, and 88% of a labourers wage was spent on bread.

Question 41

What were the food shortages?

Answer 41

Tithe-owners and landowners were accused of hoarding grain and speculating on prices rising, contributing to the lack of food.
There were food riots and disturbances as people attacked grain stores.
Increasing disturbances against the nobility encouraged ordinary people to take direct political action.
The politicalisation of most of the Third Estate began.
Louis’ handling of the crises further worsened the situation.

Question 42

What was the aim of Calonne’s plan for reform?

Answer 42

To stimulate the economy to ensure future tax revenue would increase. Calonne proposed abandoning controls on the grain trade and abolishing internal customs barriers, that prevented free movement of grain within France.
To restore national confidence so new loans could be raised.
Calonne hoped that parlements would less likely oppose the registration of his measures, and to display national unity and consensus.