The French Revolution 1789-1799

Event Outline

1756–1783

France builds up enormous debt by participating in the Seven Years’ War and American
Revolution

November 2, 1783

Louis XVI appoints Charles de Calonne controller general of finance

February 22, 1787

Assembly of Notables convenes, rejects Calonne’s debt-relief proposals

Key People

• Louis XVI

French king of the Bourbon dynasty who took the throne in 1774; inherited massive debt
problems but was unable to fix them

Louis XVI, sometimes known as "The Last" (French: [lwi sɛːz]; Louis-Auguste; 23 August
1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy
during the French Revolution. He was addressed as Citizen Louis Capet during the four
months before he was executed by guillotine.

The son of Louis, Dauphin of France, son and heir-apparent of King Louis XV, and Maria
Josepha of Saxony, Louis became the new Dauphin when his father died in 1765. On his
grandfather's death on 10 May 1774, he became King of France and Navarre, reigning
until 4 September 1791, when he received the title of King of the French, reigning as king
until the monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792.

The first part of his reign was marked by attempts to reform the French government in
accordance with Enlightenment ideas. These included efforts to abolish serfdom, remove
the taille (land tax) and the corvée (labour tax),[2] and increase tolerance toward non-
Catholics as well as abolish the death penalty for deserters.[3][4] The French
nobility reacted to the proposed reforms with hostility, and successfully opposed their
implementation. Louis implemented deregulation of the grain market, advocated by
his economic liberal minister Turgot, but it resulted in an increase in bread prices. In
periods of bad harvests, it led to food scarcity which, during a particularly bad harvest in
1775, prompted the masses to revolt. From 1776, Louis XVI actively supported the North
American colonists, who were seeking their independence from Great Britain, which was
realised in the 1783 Treaty of Paris. The ensuing debt and financial crisis contributed to
the unpopularity of the Ancien Régime. This led to the convening of the Estates-General
of 1789. Discontent among the members of France's middle and lower classes resulted in
strengthened opposition to the French aristocracy and to the absolute monarchy, of
which Louis and his wife Queen Marie Antoinette were viewed as representatives.
Increasing tensions and violence were marked by events such as the storming of the
Bastille, during which riots in Paris forced Louis to definitively recognize the legislative
authority of the National Assembly.

Louis's indecisiveness and conservatism led some elements of the people of France to
view him as a symbol of the perceived tyranny of the Ancien Régime, and his popularity
deteriorated progressively. His unsuccessful flight to Varennes in June 1791, four months
before the constitutional monarchy was declared, seemed to justify the rumors that the
king tied his hopes of political salvation to the prospects of foreign intervention. The
credibility of the king was deeply undermined, and the abolition of the monarchy and
the establishment of a republic became an ever-increasing possibility. The growth
of anti-clericalism among revolutionaries resulted in the abolition of the dîme (religious
land tax) and several government policies aimed at the dechristianization of France.

In a context of civil and international war, Louis XVI was suspended and arrested at the
time of the Insurrection of 10 August 1792. One month later, the monarchy was
abolished and the First French Republic was proclaimed on 21 September 1792. Louis
was then tried by the National Convention (self-instituted as a tribunal for the occasion),
found guilty of high treason and executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793, as
a desacralized French citizen under the name of Citizen Louis Capet, in reference to Hugh
Capet, the founder of the Capetian dynasty – which the revolutionaries interpreted as
Louis's surname. Louis XVI was the only king of France ever to be executed, and his
death brought an end to more than a thousand years of continuous French monarchy.
Both of his sons died in childhood, before the Bourbon Restoration; his only child to
reach adulthood, Marie Thérèse, was given over to the Austrians in exchange for French
prisoners of war, eventually dying childless in 1851.

• Marie-Antoinette

Wife of Louis XVI, whose self-indulgent tendencies became a symbol of royal excess and
extravagance

• Charles de Calonne

Controller general of finances appointed by Louis XVI in 1783; recommended across-the-

The French Monarchy and Parlements

In addition, there was no universal law in France at the time. Rather, laws varied by
region and were enforced by the local Parlements (provincial judicial boards), guilds, or
religious groups. Moreover, each of those sovereign courts had to approve any royal
decrees by the king if these decrees were to come into effect. As a result, the king was
virtually powerless to do anything that would have a negative effect on any regional
government. Ironically, this “checks and balances” system operated in a government rife
with corruption and operating without the support of the majority.

Power Abuses and Unfair Taxation

The monarchs of the Bourbon Dynasty, the French nobility, and the clergy became
increasingly egregious in their abuses of power in the late 1700s. They bound the French
peasantry into compromising Feudal obligations and refused to contribute any Tax
Revenue to the French government. This blatantly unfair taxation arrangement did little
to endear the aristocracy to the common people.

France’s Debt Problems

A number of ill-advised financial maneuvers in the late 1700s worsened the financial
situation of the already cash-strapped French government. France’s prolonged
involvement in the Seven Years’ War of 1756–1763 drained the treasury, as did the
country’s participation in the American Revolution of 1775–1783. Aggravating the
situation was the fact that the government had a sizable army and navy to maintain,
which was an expenditure of particular importance during those volatile times.
Moreover, in the typical indulgent fashion that so irked the common folk, mammoth
costs associated with the upkeep of King Louis XVI’s extravagant palace
at Versailles and the frivolous spending of the queen, Marie-Antoinette, did little to
relieve the growing debt. These decades of fiscal irresponsibility were one of the primary
factors that led to the French Revolution. France had long been recognized as a
prosperous country, and were it not for its involvement in costly wars and its
aristocracy’s extravagant spending, it might have remained one.

Charles de Calonne

Finally, in the early 1780s, France realized that it had to address the problem, and fast.
First, Louis XVI appointed Charles De Calonne controller general of finances in 1783.
Then, in 1786, the French government, worried about unrest should it to try to raise
taxes on the peasants, yet reluctant to ask the nobles for money, approached various
European banks in search of a loan. By that point, however, most of Europe knew the
depth of France’s financial woes, so the country found itself with no credibility.
Louis XVI asked Calonne to evaluate the situation and propose a solution. Charged with
auditing all of the royal accounts and records, Calonne found a financial system in
shambles. Independent accountants had been put in charge of various tasks regarding
the acquisition and distribution of government funds, which made the tracking of such
transactions very difficult. Furthermore, the arrangement had left the door wide open to
corruption, enabling many of the accountants to dip into government funds for their
own use. As for raising new money, the only system in place was Taxation. At the time,
however, taxation only applied to peasants. The nobility were tax-exempt, and the
parlements would never agree to across-the-board tax

The Assembly of Notables

Calonne finally convinced Louis XVI to gather the nobility together for a conference,
during which Calonne and the king could fully explain the tenuous situation facing
France. This gathering, dubbed the Assembly Of Notables, turned out to be a virtual
who’s who of people who didn’t want to pay any taxes. After giving his presentation,
Calonne urged the notables either to agree to the new taxes or to forfeit their exemption
to the current ones. Unsurprisingly, the notables refused both plans and turned against
Calonne, questioning the validity of his work. He was dismissed shortly thereafter,
leaving France’s economic prospects even grimmer than before.

Revolution on the Horizon

By the late 1780s, it was becoming increasingly clear that the system in place under the
Old Regime in France simply could not last. It was too irresponsible and oppressed too
many people. Furthermore, as the result of the Enlightenment, secularism was
spreading in France, religious thought was becoming divided, and the religious
justifications for rule—divine right and absolutism—were losing credibility. The
aristocracy and royalty, however, ignored these progressive trends in French thought and
society. Rather, the royals and nobles adhered even more firmly to tradition and archaic
law. As it would turn out, their intractability would cost them everything that they were
trying to preserve.

The Bourgeoisie

Although many accounts of the French Revolution focus on the French peasantry’s
grievances—rising food prices, disadvantageous feudal contracts, and general
mistreatment at the hands of the aristocracy—these factors actually played a limited role
in inciting the Revolution. For all of the hardships that they endured, it wasn’t the
peasants who jump-started the Revolution. Rather, it was the wealthy commoners—
the Bourgeoisie—who objected most vocally to the subpar treatment they were
receiving. The bourgeoisie were generally hardworking, educated men who were well
versed in the enlightened thought of the time. Although many of the wealthier members
of the bourgeoisie had more money than some of the French nobles, they lacked elite
titles and thus were subjected to the same treatment and taxation as even the poorest
peasants. It was the bourgeoisie that would really act as a catalyst for the Revolution,
and once they started to act, the peasants were soon to follow.

Answer 1

Louis the 16th was an ordinary man that by chance of birth was propelled to the position
of absolute monarch. He had absolute powers and cold in theory enforce everything he
wanted.

But to face the massive crisis that led to the french revolution — it was a financial crisis,
France had a gigantic debt it couldn't master any more — you would have needed an
energetic, imaginative, daring personality. Instead of that, Louis liked to go hunting and
when he came back, he loved to play with clockworks and locks.

The aristocracy had immense wealth, the clergy as well, yet they paid no taxes. All
powers of french society having been neutralized by the crown — parliament had last
seated in 1614, the provinces were we facto managed by royal bureaucracy while the
aristocrats owning the land received a yearly payment in return — no one felt
responsible for bringing up a solution. They had all been barred from responsibility, it
was the kings job to find solutions.

What clergy and the aristocracy could do however is to resist necessary reforms. So while
capable ministers of Louis xvi proposed the right thing to do, they were met with fierce
resistance. No doubt a king with a more dominant personality could have had his way
and beat that opposition. But Louis didn't, so in last resort his council reverted to the
nuclear option as we would say nowadays. Call in the estates general, the parliament of
France, that had been stashed away by royal power for 150 years. The parliamemt had
the right to change taxation laws, but reverting to it was already a sign of weakness.

That opened the door for all the unsatisfaction that had been oppressed in France for
centuries. It was basically like opening the lid of a steam.cooker too soon, it blew
everything to pieces.

The commoners who had always been the most numerous group of societ, had during
the first stages of the industrial revolution become its most dynamic economically. They
wanted to participate in.power instead of financing an incompetent and lazy elite with
their tax money. They seized the opportunity to change the way France as ruled. The first
stage of the french revolution was comparatively peaceful compared to what happened
in the further stages.

It resulted in France becoming a constitutional monarchy with Louis 16 still being the
king. He could have left it at that and appreciate the fact that although weak and
incompetent, people liked him enough to let him be king. He would have lived happily
ever after and France would have prospered under a stable and fair political system.
But Louis was weak and influencable. His entourage and his fellow aristocrats in Europe
persuaded him to rebuke the new order. A plan was schemed to make Louis flee France
in secret, his king colleagues of Europe would then round up an army and crush the
french commoners and reinstall Louis as an absolute king. Unfortunately during
his attempt.to flee, he was recognized and captured.

People were outraged as that meant perjury. The king had sworn an oath on the
constitution and by fleeing, he had shown his oath to be phony. The king was
imprisoned and tried for high treason before the parliament. When it had to decide the
sentence, death penalty or prison for life, the parliamentarian were asked to.show their
decision by sitting themselves to the right (prison) or to the left (death) of the assembly.
This was the origin of the traditional left and right division of the political landscape.

After the decapitation of Louis xvi, things got completely out of hand. The European
kingdoms declared war on France, the constitution was no longer in effect, the political
climate had become one of open conflict, France drifted into civil war while being
attacked from outside. The situation.was desperate. The parliament installed a committee
of public welfare that was given immense powers. That was 1793, the year that is
remembered as the terrible one. In January the king was beheaded, by summer France
was Armageddon. The guillotine worked around the clock to squash the internal
rebellion, french armies of citizens defended their nation against the armies of European
monarchs and against uprisings within.

Millions of dead, unnecessary wars, loss of life and not least, of his head. That was the
result of Louis xvi lack of personality.

Answer 2

He was more indecisive than weak. By the way, Marie Antoinette answered that question
when during her trial she was accused of pulling the strings of her weakling husband “I
have never known him to have the character you have described.”

Louis XVI had a great deal of passive courage : he stood up to rioters more than once
and he showed a fortitude during his trial and execution that blew away even the
executioner himself.

However, he did not have the wherewithal and self confidence that are essential for
effective decision making and was mostly useless when under pressure. Moreover, he
was deeply religious and had moral qualms about shooting his own people, even when
the situation warranted it, such as when the Tuileries palace was stormed out.

From 1788 onwards, it seems that he started to suffer from depression, relying
increasingly on his wife Marie Antoinette who, to make matters worse, wasn't the
sharpest knife in the drawer as far as policy making went. So yes, all of this contributed
to a chain of events that would certainly have unfolded differently had Louis XIV been
the king rather than him -for one thing, Louis XIV would never have flinched from having
the populace shot at in case of uprising or unrest.

Last, the reputation for weakness was also rooted in Louis' overall demeanour, which
didn't exactly ooze self confidence : he was withdrawn, socially awkward and cripplingly
shy and as time when on increasingly stout and pot bellied. This gave rise to rumours to
the effect that he was but a dim witted glutton under the spell of his malicious wife.