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Edward Wielgus History 3250 Dr.

Van Kley 2/14/2013

Causes of the French Revolution


The French Revolution, which started in 1789, had a variety of different causes. The social structures of France along with the changing demographics are one of these causes. Lack of power to act by the king along with new Enlightened ideas were also causes of the French Revolution. Alone, these causes would not have led to revolution. The underlying cause of this revolution was the financial system and debts the French government held to. In the end the French government had too many problems with its financial system to continue to follow it. This is shown by looking at how debts were incurred, why the current system couldnt pay them and why the system couldnt make changes so they could pay the debt. First, the vast majority of the debts held by the French were from wars. The Seven Years war which started in 1756 took place in both Europe and North America. It had the French fighting the English for naval and commercial superiority. The French lost this war. As a result, the French lost their North American colonies which were a good source of revenue for the country. This war also decimated the French army and navy. The French government responded by spending more money and taking on more debt to quickly rebuild the army and navy. The French were also involved in the American Revolution. They pledged a large land and naval force to the American cause. All together this war cost the French 1,066 million livres and resulted in the French main

Edward Wielgus History 3250 Dr. Van Kley 2/14/2013 fleet being sunk. On top of that, all the money spent was from new loans taken out by the crown at high interest rates. For this, the French only received the two colonies of Tobago and Senegal. The cost of court expenses and of interest on loans also played a role in incurring Frances enormous debt. The greatest court expense was building the Palace of Versailles some 100 years before in 1682. The Palace required a large amount of money for it to be kept up to royal standards. The king hosted a large court at Versailles too which required food and to be waited upon. These costs continued to add to the debt while the people did not receive much of anything from this court. In addition to the cost of wars and the court, the cost of paying interest on loans had started to become very significant. By 1753, interest payments totaled to about 85 million livres a year. That was equivalent to 20% of the annual budget. By the end of the seven years war, interest payments were up to 160 million livres, this is nearly half of the annual budget for the country. At this point, it is clear that Frances debts are putting a huge burden on its economy that will be hard to overcome. Now why the current system couldnt handle the debts will be examined. At this time, French society was broken into three estates. The first was the clergy, the second the nobles and the third the commoners. Under Frances financial system, the first two estates were taxed little to none. This caused great financial disparity because the first two estates already owned much of the land and money in the country. Also, Frances

Edward Wielgus History 3250 Dr. Van Kley 2/14/2013 government started to sell noble offices to raise money. Although it was successful in raising money, the newly made nobles were now tax exempt, so France was shrinking its tax base by selling nobility. Almost the entire tax burden fell upon the third estate, which had the fewest means to pay these taxes. These taxes included the tithe, a 10% of production tax paid to the church, and the taille, a land tax on all commoners. On top of these annual taxes, peasants also had to pay a salt tax and other excise taxes. Local lords also required peasants to pay seigniorial dues, either in money, labor or crops. This system of taxation took essentially all that it could possibly could from the farmers of the third estate. Jacques Necker argued that the country as a whole could not be taxed anymore; the only thing that could change is making fewer exemptions for nobility and clergy. Economic shifts towards industrialization and the use of tax collectors hampered how much money the government could bring in through taxes. In the late 18 th century, taxes fell hardest of farming members of the third estate. During this time period more and more economic activity was happening in commerce and industry in the cities. As a result, more farmers are moving into the city to become wage earners. This caused a reduction of the number of farmers to pay the taille. Unfortunately, France did not see this trend of industrialization and make new taxes to take advantage of this new booming industry. Instead, the continued their current taxation and kept falling short of the monies they needed. Also, the reduction in the number of farmers and an increase

Edward Wielgus History 3250 Dr. Van Kley 2/14/2013 in non-farming wage earners in the city caused an increased demand for bread. This, coupled with bad harvests in the years leading up to 1789, caused the price of bread to increase by at least 25%. These price increases outraged the already overworked and overtaxed third estate. The government of France collected taxes by hiring independent tax collectors or farmers. These collectors were hired by the government to go out and collect money that was due for taxes such as the taille. The collectors would have an area assigned to them to collect taxes from and in return the must bring a set amount of money back to the crown. As commission, these collectors got to keep the remaining money after the money to the crown had been paid. This system had the advantage of the government not having to do anything. They simply told the collectors where to go and received money. No special bureaucracy was needed to oversee and manage the collectors because the collectors were not government agents. This system had two very large disadvantages though. The amount of money the government received was significantly less than what was being taken from the people. So by hiring these collectors the government was removing all costs to collecting taxes but was putting a low limit on how much they could collect. Another disadvantage of this system was that collectors overtaxed the people they were collecting from in order to make their commissions larger. Taxes were often paid in goods; in order to overtax, the collectors would normally under value to worth of these goods. It is easy to see how the combination of

Edward Wielgus History 3250 Dr. Van Kley 2/14/2013 exemptions for the rich, changing economic activity and the use of tax collectors made it impossible for France to raise the necessary money to start to pay off the debt. Reforms were attempted by the French government to fix their flawed financial system but were stopped by the internal conflict of different groups in French society as well as a lack of power by the king. This internal conflict was everywhere: The king against the parlements, the three estates against one another, the village clergy against the high clergy within the first estate, the old nobility against the new nobility within the second estate and the bourgeois against the peasants within the third estate. The parlements were royal courts who must approve royal decrees. Most of these officials were newer nobles who had bought their offices fairly recently. When the king attempted to start taxing the first estate the parlements responded with staunch opposition. Obviously these nobles were not eager to vote to pay taxes so the reform never got passed even though it may have very well saved Frances financial system. This is the first sign of the kings weakening power. This is weakening is shown again when the king sets up a proposal for the assembly of notables to accept but do not. And once again when he orders the parlement of Paris to accept a compromise from the assembly of notables. If in any of these situations the king still had absolute power something may have been done to stop the country from being swallowed by its debts. The king against the parlements was not the only conflict going on in France. The third estate was always been against the first two estates because of the special

Edward Wielgus History 3250 Dr. Van Kley 2/14/2013 privileges they enjoyed. The first two estates were against the third because they knew their special privileges were always either being sought by the third estate or being sought to be destroyed by the third estate. Seeking the abolition of these privileges was becoming more popular in this time of spreading enlightened idea which claimed all men, regardless of birth, were equal. On top of conflict between the estates, groups within estates had conflict. Within the first estate, small parish priests and the high abbots were at odds. The Parish priests were much poorer and in general had a more Jansenist view of their faith. While high abbots and clergymen of the court were very wealthy, loaned great sums to the government and had a much more lax view on their faith. Within the second estate, poorer rural nobles held contempt for new nobles who had bought their titles. Even within the third estate, the poorer peasants and wage earners held contempt for the bourgeois, who had grown quite rich and powerful in the recent years. As you can see, the political climate in France was so divided that there was no way these groups of people were able to agree on major policy changes before it was too late. Also, the king, who normally could have pushed reform through into law, had lost his absolute power to create law. In conclusion, the French revolution had many origins. The most important of these origins was their financial system and debts. Many other factors like economic and demographic trends along with weakening power of the monarchy exacerbated the financial situation the country was in. In the end, the country rose against its

Edward Wielgus History 3250 Dr. Van Kley 2/14/2013 government because it had incurred enormous debts, created an inadequate system to pay these debts and was unable to come together to make needed reforms to this system.

1. Gallicanism- The thought that the Catholic Church in France enjoyed special privileges since the king had a special relationship with God. This is why France chooses its own bishops and kings could make laws dealing with church. Jansenism- Beliefs which became popular in the 1630s to 40s. Opposition to Jesuit order, much stricter religious life. Popular with the local parish priests. Gallicanism is a central principle of Jansenism. 2. Parlement of Paris- royal court in Paris, shared in legislative role of the king. Most members bought their position from the king. Estates General- Assembly made up of representatives of each estate for legislative purposes. Had not met since 1614. The parlement of Paris called the estates general for the first time since 1614 in 1787. They did this because they wanted new tax reforms to be accepted countrywide, not just in Paris. 3. General will- This refers to the wishes of the population as a whole. In this population everyone is given an equal voice and no one person is more important than another

Edward Wielgus History 3250 Dr. Van Kley 2/14/2013 Social contract- political theory stating that government should be a contract made by the people with their consent to relinquish some rights to a government in return for protection of their remaining rights. A true social contract cannot be made unless the general will of the people agrees to this contract. 4. Charles Loyseau- French lawyer in the parlement of Paris. He was alive from 1564 to 1627. He wrote A Treatise on Orders and Simple Dignities which is still used today to get a glimpse of 17th and 18th century French society. The abb Siyes- A politician and clergyman during the French revolution. Wrote the pamphlet what is the third estate ? Both of these men wrote literature that describes the social structure of the old regime and the different estates.

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