Paper 3: The Ancien Régime

crisis of the ancien regime

crisis of the ancien regime

• Louis XVI became king 1774

• Louis XIV sun king reign enabled by multiple bankruptcies and exacerbated by Louis XV corrupt reign with failures in foreign policy and embarrassing revelations about his personal life

• going public view that the king was making himself richer rather than strengthen the country

• Versailles was often the inspiration of satirists and court gossip was printed in pamphlets

political propaganda

• Louis XVI was hesitant and unable to set clear directions eg. following the collapse of his reform plans and the crown’s declaration of bankruptcy in august 1788 he withdrew from politics

• many scandals surrounding Marie Antoinette - she spent nearly 3 mil livres on a diamond necklace

• he re-instated the parlements (traditional opponents of tax reforms) and elected Turgot (controversial reformer) and backed down when inevitable conflict arose between the two

the government

• king was expected to consult others on formation of policy

• the conseil d’Etat, des Dépêches and Royal des Finances

• power tended to fall to few individuals eg. secretaries of state for war, foreign affairs, the navy and the royal household who met with the king weekly

the intendants

• france was divided into 33 generalities

• each had their own intendant appointed by the king to maintain his rule and feedback

• they had to:

  • ensure taxes were paid

  • carry out the king’s edicts

  • preside over local court

  • raise troops

  • couldnt make decision without an order from the king’s council

local government

• provincial governors - drawn from nobility - were responsible for painting order in their regions - 1779 there were 39 governors

• six areas of france known as pays d’etats who could negotiate taxes directly with the crown

• in rural areas land owning nobles (seigneurs) exercised considerable influence and some felt superior to intendants

the law and parlements

• highest court was the Paris Parliament - controlled guilds, corporations and markets as well as local government finances and law + order

  • they often came into conflict with the intendants

• the parlements registered the king’s edicts to ensure conformity with previous legislation and provincial codes

• they held the right to remonstrate but the kings had the lit de justice as overuling power

Social divisions

• first estate - Clergy - 150,000 members

  • church was a wealthy institution from rent and dues but this only applied to cardinals, bishops and archbishops

  • they were not required to pay the taille - a main direct French tax instead choosing their own don gratuit

  • could only be prosecuted in church courts and couldn’t be asked to perform military duty

• second estate - Nobility - 200,000 members

  • serve and advise the king

  • owned between 1/5 and ¼ of French land & lived off rent and pensions from the king

• third estate - everyone else

  • there were social divisions within the third estate eg. craftsmen and sex workers

enlightenment ideas

• the movement questioned traditional assumptions, ideas, and institutions stressing the importance of reason, logic and criticism over blind faith

• it argued for pluralism of thought

• moderate ideas of Montesquieu and Voltaire were championed by revolutionaries in 1789 but the revolution was shaped by those who wanted to remake society along the lines proposed by Rousseau

impact of enlightenment ideas

• the size of the bourgeoise trebled to 230,000 during the 1700s

• foreign trade increased 5-fold between 1720 → 1780

• industry grew at 2% a year

• this created a class of wealthy, educated people with more time & money

  • the attended the theatre and art exhibitions

  • congregated in coffee shops and salons to discuss literature and publications

  • joined the Freemasons - with over 20,000 members inf range they furthered the principles of liberty, equality and brotherhood

  • read the journal de Paris - first daily newspaper founded in 1777 sold on av. 10,000 copies a day in 1780

William Doyle’s and Francois Furet’s View

• WD: spread of ideals of the enlightenment came after the revolution and was not the main cause itself

• FF: felt the driving force for change was the advanced democratic ideas of the enlightenment

impact of the American revolution

• physiocrats opposed entering the war of independce

• france joined in 1778 spending 1.3 billion livres

• some intellectuals, radicals and noblemen looked to America as a model for the future, inspired by the Bill of Rights and the ideas of national unity, representative government and equality

• most Frenchmen only celebrated the British defeat and boot to French prestige but did not care about revolutionary ideas

financial crisis

• population was growing rapidly: 21 → 27 millions from 1700s to 1780s

• French economy was predominantly agricultural and still archaic

• france lacked a network of rivers that could be used as transport lines

• 1780s there was a decline in the textile industry

• 1778 poor harvest and failure of the vintage depressed incomes

Royal Finance

• government was financed from direct and indirect taxation

• main tax was the taille personelle and prev-louis’s had introduced capitation (poll tax) to pay for wars

• first two estates received considerable tax exemptions and privileges

• tax collectors also kept some of what they collected

• 1764: france ws 2.3 billion livres in debt

• increased to 3.3 billion after the American War of Independence

Anne-Robert-Jaques Turgot

1774-6

• though domestic reforms and avoiding foreign entanglement were important

• believed privileges made the country less efficient

• his reforms faced strong opposition

• creation of free grain trade in 1774 caused a spike in bread prices followed by a poor harvest causing the flour wars of 1775

• attempt to abolish tax privileges created powerful opposition in the parlements resulting in his dismissal

Jacques Necker

1776-81

• accepted the necessity of French support for the American colonies

• initially sought to avoid conflict with the parlements

• advocated combination of loans and reforms to finance the war

• ignored state expenses to claim a surplus of 10 million livres

• made enemies in court trying to streamline administration

• abolished 400 ceremonial offices which ensures his downfall in 1780

Charles-Alexandre de Calonne

1783-7

• saw the urgent need to reform state finances to avoid bankruptcy

• proposed the following in 1786:

  • land tax for all three estates

  • sale of church land to repay its debts to the state

  • reduction of the taille

• most radical so far which reflected the desperate nature of the situation

• strongly supported by Louis XVI

• rejected by Paris Parliament in 1786

• many believed necker had improved the situation and blamed Calonne for squandering expenses and Marie Antoinette was nicknamed “Duchess of Deficit”

• Calonne advised the King to call the Estates General

• despite Calonne’s pamphlets attacking nobility, the public were deaf to any arguments made by the crown

• Louis neither pushed the reforms through or called the Estates General so the parliament continued to present itself as the defenders of the nation

Brienne

1788-90

• produced reform proposals based on his predecessors’

• changes affecting the army, navy, administration and central government were put forward

• supported spread of education and codification of the law

• plans were overshadowed by the desperate need for money

• and the assembly were too used to challenging the king’s representative

• publications of accounts led to accusations of incompetence

• notables supported calling the estates general as an opportunity to fully scrutinise proposals with national consent

clashes with the Parlements

may 1787 → may 1788

• Brienne was forced to turn to the Paris Parlement for legitimacy and they petitioned the king for the estates general

• he bansiehd them to Troyes in august but after riots allowed their return in September

• may 1788: Parlements issued Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom claiming they couldnt be changed even by royal demand and Louis needed the consent of the Estate General to impose the changes proposed

• all night protest to may edicts being forced through by lit de justice which said

  • a new court appointed by the king would be responsible for registration of laws - in an attempt to overrule the parlements

revolt of the Nobles

may → august 1788

• radical pamphlets attacking Brienne and public demands for the estates general

• June: royal authority collapsed, confidence in the gov. disappeared eg. ¼ of Don Gratuit requested amount

• July: Brienne suspended payments forcing Louis to call the Estates

• August: country declares Bankruptcy and Brienne is forced to resign, necker is recalled

calling the estates general

August 1788 → may 1789

• 1614 form: equal numbers from each estate who voted by order → this meant the third estate was always outvoted

• the parlements argued strongly to keep the 1614 form

• writers took advantage of the relaxation of censorship to public attack the parlements’ stance - inc. Abbe Sieyes who argued the third estate were the driving force of progression and had been unjustly excluded from political life

• in response Louis permitted doublement - doubling the third - but left open the question of voting by head, ultimately the estates general still voted by order and neither Louis nor necker made moves to intervene

the Estates General

5th may 1789

• no agenda was put forward for a reform package

• third estate still unaware of how meetings and voting would proceed

formation of the National Assembly

• 17th June 1789: third estate votes 491:90 to rename as National Assembly

• royal assembly planned with necker to present reform plan → doors to room locked

• assembly, uninformed, thought the king was trying to forcibly remove them

• 20th June: tennis court oath → never disband til a new constitution

the royal session and aftermath

1789

• 23rd June: royal session → Louis accepted principle of consent to new taxation and fairer land tax but refused to recognise National Assembly

• 26th: 4,800 troops to Paris

• 27th: recognised the national assembly and permitted head votes

• 4th July: 30,000 troops surrounding the capital

• 11th July: necker dismissed, poor harvest

• 12-13th: breakdown of order in Paris → mobs being to form and arm, raiding prisons, factories and monastery or Saint Lazere

• the royal troops failed to take action

• 14th July: bread prices at highest since 1715

• crowd of 8,000 stormed the Bastille for more weapons and ammunition

• 17th: King announced reinstatement of Necker, acceptance of National Assembly Paris commune and national guard

• 4th august decrees: feudalis, venal and other privileges abolished

• 26th August: Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens issued