Week 5- Economic problems and royal finance Flashcards
What was the population of France by the 1780’s?
27 million
Compared with 21.5 million in 1700
This was due to a large population growth in the late 1730’s
What was the political state of France in the first three quarters of the 18th century?
In contrast to Italy and Germany, France was politically united and stable.
It also benefited from the decline of Spain’s power.
How did agriculture improve in the first three quarters of the 18th century?
It had lots of suitable land for farming.
Landowner’s incomes were rising due to increased demand for goods.
From the 1730’s France started to improve agricultural techniques such as crop rotations and fertilisers.
Trade with the colonies quadrupled
How did trade improve in the first three quarters of the 18th century?
By 1771, France was second only to GB in trade.
Trade with the colonies quadrupled.
Merchants grew rich from the slave trade and the import of cotton, coffee, sugar etc.
Transport was improving with roads being maintained by the corvée royale.
How did industrial production improve in the first three quarters of the 18th century?
Industrial production doubled between 1715 and 1771.
Mechanisation was introduced and some factories appeared.
What economic problems were there that grew worse in the 1770s and 80s?
The French economy relied on agriculture but there were many problems with France’s system.
Food production could not keep up with the population growth.
The metric system across France was very inconsistent, with an estimated 25,000 different units of measure across France before 1789.
This allowed some traders to use their own measuring devices, resulting in fraud.
France lacked a network of rivers and canals to transport goods.
France’s textile industry was less mechanised than that of Britain.
There was a series of poor harvests from 1785 to 1789 which depressed peasants incomes.
In July 1788, a hailstorm which destroyed crops resulted in the worst harvest in 40 years.
This lead to many lay-offs in the industry at a time of rising bread prices.
What was wrong with France’s agricultural system?
Farming families divided land between the sons which reduced the size of holdings below the level of self-sufficiency.
This was worsened by the growing population.
How many people lived in the countryside?
About 17 million.
Giving a rural population of about 80%.
How was the Government financed?
From direct and indirect taxation, supplemented by loans or sales of office.
Name 4 different taxes
The capitation, vingtième, Taille and Gabelle
What problems were there with taxation?
The church only offered a don gratuit, which was self-calculated and had little relation to the church’s wealth.
Accounting procedures were unorganised and there was widespread corruption.
There was no central treasury, making it impossible to anticipate income and budget accordingly.
Financial officials purchased their positions and often kept something of what they collected.
Therefore, Government relied on loans in times of heavy expenditure such as war.
These had a large interest which often resulted in Royal dept.
What were the capitation and the vingtième?
Direct taxes introduced by Louis XIV and XV to pay for wars.
What was the Taille?
Tax on the property and income of the third estate.
Divided into Taille personelle and Taille reélle
What was the Gabelle?
The salt tax.
Collected by the ferme général
What dept did Louis XIV leave behind when he died?
2 billion livres
The interest payments on this dept were more than what was collected in taxes.
This produced a balance of payments crisis.
