Causes of the FR from 1774 and the events of 1789

Structure of the Ancien Regime

Structure of the Ancien Regime

King > first estate > second estate > third estate

Power of the king within the Ancien Regime

Had absolute power and control as per the Divine Right of Kings

The First Estate

The first class of French society made up of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church

Why was the Church growing increasingly unpopular?

Plurality, absenteeism, tithes, exemption from taxation, power of the people

Plurality

When a bishop held more than one bishopric, meaning that they were bishops of more than one diocese

Absenteeism

A practice whereby many do not visit their diocese

Tithes

A charge paid to the Church annually by landowners, calculated based on proportion of crops produced

Exemption from taxation

The church avoided taxes by making an annual payment

The don gratiut

Annual payment of less than 5% of the Church's income

How much control did the Church have?

Had control over poor relief, hospitals, schooling, censorship over publishing, lists of births, marriages and deaths, was made the Ministry of Information when communication was very limited

The Second Estate

Aristocracy and nobility, reached between 110,000-350,000 by 1789

Tier 1 of the second estate

4000 court nobility, most powerful of the nobility which consisted of those whose noble ancestry could be traced to before 1400, and those who could afford the living costs in Versailles

Tier 2 of the second estate

The 'noblesse de robel': legal and administrative nobles, including the 1200 magistrates of the parlements

Tier 3 of the second estate

Remainder: overwhelming majority, lived in various states of prosperity

Law of Primogeniture

Common law that established the birth right of the oldest son to inherit the family estate, leaving the younger sons to fend for themselves; many joined the Church, army or administration

Benefits of the second estate

Tried in their own courts Exempt from military service Exempt from paying the gabelle Exempt from the corvee (forced labour on the roads) Received a variety of feudal dues Exclusive rights to hunting and fishing Monopoly right (banalities) to operate mills, ovens and wine presses

The Third Estate

Bourgeoisie, city workers and peasants

Bourgeoisie (Third Estate)

Made up of bankers, factory workers, merchants, professionals, and skilled artisans who were well educated and were as wealthy as the nobles. Bourgeoisie were mad that they were part of the third estate even though they were wealthy

Peasants (Third Estate)

85% of the French population, were the ones mostly protesting throughout the Revolution for more rights and power middle/lower class; paid all taxes

Grievances of the third estate

Burden of taxation Could be tried in the seigneurial court Rent increased drastically

Taille

A direct tax on either land or income from which nobles were exempt

Capitation

A direct poll tax of an annual fee that no one was exempt from, although it was often evaded by nobility

Vingtieme

A direct income tax of one twentieth of a year's earnings with no exemptions, although clergy often evaded it

Corvee

A labour tax requiring unpaid work mending roads. Nobles, clergy, townspeople, post masters, country school teachers and shepherds were exempt

Gabelle

Indirect tax on salt

Octroi

Indirect tax on goods being taken to the market

Aides

Indirect tax on drinks

Traites

Indirect tax on goods being transported from one province to another

The right of the oven

Peasants had to bake their bread in an oven owned by the landlord, paying a fee for its use

The right of the mill

Peasants had to grind their corn in the landlord's windmill or watermill, paying a fee to use it

The right of the press

Peasants had to press their grapes in the landlord's press, paying a fee for its use

The right of the hunt

The landlord could ride over his tenants' fields whilst hunting, even if they are planted

The right of the warren

The landlord could keep rabbits in a warren; tenants could not kill them, even when they damaged crops

The right of the dovecote

The landlord could keep pigeons in a dovecote; tenants could not kill them, even when they damaged crops

Champart

Peasants had to give the landlord a portion of their crops each year

Corvee dues

Peasants had to do several days' unpaid work for the landlord each year

Cens

Peasants had to pay a tax to the landlord each year

The Enlightenment

A "movement of criticism" in the 18th century which emphasised the importance of human reason guiding society

How did ideas of the Enlightenment spread?

Salons, Encyclopaedia, newspapers, pamphlets, letters, interested & wealthier middle class

Volataire (1694-1778)

Realist who claimed equality is unachievable as the poor will always lose since they do not have the money or resources to win against the rich and powerful

Montesquieu (1689-1755)

He wrote The Persian Letters (1721) and The Spirit of the Laws (1748) and tried to use scientific method to find natural laws that govern the social and political relationships of human beings. He believed in the separation of powers and criticised the lifestyle and liberties of the wealthy French and the church

Rousseau (1712-1778)

Believed that men and women were interdependent, but men could subsist without women and thought that all men could achieve true morality by joining a 'social contract' and living under laws that they themselves made

Diderot

Published work of many philosophes in his Encyclopaedia and believed in the superiority of men

7 Years War

1756-1763 against Great Britain. France allied with Austria and faced a series of crushing defeats in India and North America

Peace of Paris (1763)

Ended the Seven Year's War given that France abandoned any claim to North America, Great Britain received Canada and the eastern half of the Mississippi Valley, Spain received the Philippine Islands and Cuba but also had to cede Florida to England

American War of Independence

1775-1783, France joined in 1778 led by Marquis de Lafayette. Cost the country 4,000,000 livres and large death toll. Gained nothing for France. Ideas spread to French soldiers which encouraged the FR.

Bad harvests

In the 1770-80s there was a scarcity of food. A shortage of grain and consequently the rising price of bread which led to starvation. The population was steadily increasing and so food prices began to rise out of proportion to income.

Bread prices

Rose by 89% in 1789 from 9 sous to 14-15 sous

The Eden Treaty

Treaty between France and Great Britain in 1786 permitting the import of British manufactured goods into France

Charles de Calonne

The controller general of finance appointed by King Louis XVI who proposed a daring plan to shift the French tax burden from the poor to wealthy nobles and businessmen, suggesting a tax on land proportional to land values and a lessened tax burden for peasants

Calonne's plan

Land tax Sale of church land Free trade Cut of government spending Revision of indirect taxes

Turgot's improvements

Improved accounting procedures Reduced the number of government officials Restricted the guilds that controlled trade Aimed to abolish the corvee Opposed the War of Independence on economic grounds

'Flour War'

Series of riots that began when French deregulated grain. Army was eventually used to stop rioting.

Turgot's grievances

Tried to reintroduce free trade in grain but this resulted in poor harvest Turgot's plan was to introduce a single tax on land which would replace all existing taxes. Paris Parlement refused to register the edicts and Turgot was dismissed in 1776

Financial ministers of France

Turgot, Necker, Calonne, Brienne, Necker

Necker's improvements

Continued Turgot's policies Cut offices and introduced stricter methods of accounting Produced the first record of the royal accounts, making it appear as though there was a surplus of royal finances

Compte Rendu

First publication of the royal accounts by Necker in 1781. By omitting the costs of the war, he made it appear as though there was a surplus in the royal finances of around 10 million livres. This increased loans and consequently finances without taxation which made Necker popular within the third estate

Necker's grievances

The economic situation had steadily worsened as the royal debt increased He tried to control the level of war expenditure and tried to use his popularity to force the king to admit him to his special councils but he had too many ministerial opponents

Royal debt in 1786

50 million livres at the end of the seven years war in 1763, to 40 million by Louis' accession in 1774, then 112 million by 1786

Calonne's improvements

Convinced Louis XVI to replace the vingtieme with a single land tax paid by all landowners in goods rather than money

Calonne's grievances

Proposals were also made to stimulate the economy by removing internal custom barriers, abolishing the corvee and freeing trade in grain, internally and externally. But he was rejected by the AoN

Archbishop Loménie de Brienee

Brienne starved off bankruptcy by taking out new loans at a very high rate of interest and attempted to force his proposals though by taking them directly to the parlements. The Paris Parlement accepted the administrative reforms but it decreed that it lacked the authority to sanction land tax reform and refused to register the edicts

'Day of Tiles'

Part of the revolt of the nobles, 7th of June in Grenoble, 4 were killed and 30 were injured

16th August 1788

Brienne resigns, replaced by Necker, payments from the treasury suspended

'May edicts'

May 1788: royal decrees which deprived the parlements of the right to register and protest against royal decrees

Marie Antoinette

Queen of France (as wife of Louis XVI) who was unpopular due her extravagance and opposition to reform contributed to the overthrow of the monarchy. Guillotined in 1793

Trianon Palace

Louis gave Marie a small palace in the grounds of Versailles in 1774, where she spent 50,000 francs on the garden

Diamond Necklace Affair

2 jewellers were seeking to sell a very expensive necklace and Lamatte convinced Rohan to secure it for the queen, but forged papers to pay for it. The queen was not involved but Rohan had to vindicate himself in an elaborate show trial before the Paris Parlement in 1786. His acquittal was taken as a personal insult to the queen and he was greeted by cheering crowds upon his release

Estates General

An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates in France, which were called and dismissed by the king. Functioned as an advisory body to the king and had no true power in its own right and was not required to approve royal taxation or legislation

September - December 1788

Paris Parliament debates procedural change but, being essentially upper class, it decides to keep the traditional system

December 1788

King is under pressure and agrees to increase representatives of the third estate, but not change the vote

EG: first estate

Represented by 291 parish priests, 51 bishops, 16 monks and 32 others

EG: second estate

90/282 considered liberal, the rest conservative

EG: third estate

No peasants or artisans. 580 members in total. No political experience

National Assembly

French Revolutionary assembly formed on the 17th June 1789, when 3rd estate decided to work independently

19th June 1789

First estate voted to join the third in the National Assembly

Seance Royale

Royal session, meeting with all the estates and the king which took place on 23rd June 1789

Louis' respond to the NA

Declared the NA and its decisions null and void Ordered the estates to continue meeting separately Each meeting was told to go to its separate meeting hall at dismissal. 3rd estate refused

What restrictions to his power did the king not concede?

Abolition of lettres de cachet No taxation without consultation Abolition of the corvee and gabelle Abolition of internal custom barriers Freedom of the press

24th June 1789

151 deputies of the first estate meet with the national assembly

25th June 1789

47 nobles join the national assembly

27th June 1789

Union of the estates

4th July 1789

Roughly 30,000 troops were stationed around Paris. Rumours spread that the king was planning on dispersing the assembly by force

Abbe Sieyes

Spokesperson for the third estate who helped set up the NA. Attacked royal and noble privileges

Robespierre

Leader of the Committee of Public Safety, chief architect of the Reign of Terror, leader of the Jacobins, supported execution of Louis

Comte de Mirabeau

French revolutionary who favoured a limited constitutional monarchy and unsuccessfully tried to conduct secret negotiations to reconcile the French monarchy with the Revolution

Jean Joseph Mounier

Representative of the 3rd estate who proposed the Tennis Court Oath to prevent Sieyes' idea that the deputies take themselves to Paris. Helped draw up the Declaration of Rights

Economic crisis prior to the SoB

Poor harvests War costs High bread prices Starvation Industry fell

Bread prices in 1789

88% of Paris workers' wage was spent on bread

28th April 1789

Reveillon Riots

Reveillon Riots

Wages far too low compared to cost of living necessities Strikes/riots against these complaints by workers etc outside the Palais Royale Troops opened fire

Duc D'Orleans

Led 47 nobles in rejoining the NA

Dismissal of Necker

11 July 1789, unpopular decision as Necker was well-liked

Paris Commune

1789-95, council of nobles who were sympathetic to the rebels and aimed to prevent the damage of personal property and established the NG

Sans-culottes

Radical group made up of members of the third estate who wanted a greater voice in government, lower prices, and an end of food shortages

Social makeup of the SC

Mainly working class, some middle class professionals, some women too

14th July 1789

Fall of the Bastille, crowds went into the hotel des invalides. 8,000 seized 28,000 muskets and 20 canons but not enough

Marquis de Launey

Captured and decapitated during the fall of the Bastille

17th July 1789

Louis resigned himself by making an appearance in Paris and as a symbol of his acceptance of the changes, he wore the revolutionary cockade in his hat and reinstated Necker

20th July - 6th August 1789

Great Fear