The French Revolution

The French Revolution was one of the most traumatic events in human history. Over seven million people may have died as a result.

The immediate reason was the financial crisis caused by French support for the American Revolution. France invested 2 billion pieces of silver to win the war. Her tax system could only support the government during peace. A war called for extraordinary measures. This was the beginning of the first phase of the revolution, which is referred to as the Aristocratic Revolution. The aristocrats saw this crisis as an opportunity to reassert their power.

The French Finance Minister, Necker (1776-1781) didn't use new taxation to finance the war, he borrowed the money. In 1781, he published the Compte Rendu Ð'- which was the first budget the people of France had ever seen. It showed a budget surplus of ten million pieces of silver and Necker was hailed as a hero of the Enlightenment throughout Europe. His budget, however, was a fabrication. France was actually 80,000,000 pieces of silver in debt.

When Calonne became finance minister in 1783, he found over half of France's income went to pay the interest on the debt and the debt was increasing at the rate of 100,000,000 a year. Soon France would not be able to borrow any more money. She had to either repudiate the debt or find new taxes. Repudiating the debt was out of the question because governments have to be able to borrow money. They need to borrow to bridge the gap between the yearly arrival of tax revenues. The only course open was to find new taxation. The problem was who to tax? The peasants and artisans were already taxed to the limit. New taxes would have to be put on the aristocracy and the clergy. The Parlement registered new edicts and the nobility controlled it. The problem would be getting the taxes through the Parlement.

Calonne called together an assembly of notables in 1787, hoping to gain momentum for reform. The notables refused to back the new taxes, because they didn't believe there was a deficit. The notables believed Necker's Compte Rendu. Calonne and Necker traded charges and insults and King Louis XVI fired Calonne.

Louise XVI hired the head of the notables Ð'- Brienne Ð'- to be his new finance minister in 1787. Brienne reviewed the budget and realized that Calonne had been telling the truth, but when he presented his case to the notables, they no longer trusted him. Brienne went to the Parlement on June 23, 1787. The Parlement refused to register the new tax edicts and said only the Estates General could enact new taxation. The Estates General was the legislative body of France and had not been called together in a hundred years.

Louis XVI ordered the Parlement to register his new taxation edicts. At this point, Louis XIV would have sent in troops to shoot down the members of the Parlement Ð'- but Louis XVI was not as tough as Louis XIV and he only banned the Parlement. Protests against the King's action broke out all over France. Louis XVI backed down on November 19, 1787 and called the Parlement back. On May 3, 1788, Parlement issued the Fundamental Laws. These stated, among other things, that new taxes have to come from the Estates General.

Louis XVI's reaction was to exile Parlement and to set up a new Parlement. However, riots started throughout France. These were so severe that the French government ceased functioning. Louis XIV would have sent in the army, but Louis XVI backed down. Brienne called for opinions as to how the Estates General should be set up on July 5, 1788. Unfortunately, for the French government his statement ended censorship, since all you had to do was relate what you were talking about to choosing an Estates General. As a result, political discussions ran rampant and all of France became stirred-up by the political rhetoric.

Brienne resigned on August 25, 1788 and the King brought Necker back. Necker was able to secure an 80,000,000 pieces of silver loan to keep France from bankruptcy. The King called back the Parlement on September 25 and it called for the Estates General. At this point, the Aristocratic Revolution ended. They had achieved their goal. They believed they would control the Estates General and through the Estates General they would rule France.

The next phase of the French Revolution is known as the Bourgeois Revolution. This is when, unexpectedly, the middle class came to dominate the Revolution. On October 5, 1788 the Assembly of Notables met and set up the Estates General. There were three estates: the Aristocracy, the Clergy and everyone else. The normal procedure was to vote by order. The Aristocrats also controlled the Clergy and they thus had two votes and controlled the Estates General.

However, members of the Third Estate argued for doubling the number of representatives in the Third Estate since they made up 99% of the population, and voting by head instead of by order. With the addition of Liberal Noble and Clergy votes, the Third Estate would control the Estates General.

The Aristocrats were shocked and went to the King on December 12, 1788 and declared that the "state was in peril!" The Nobles wanted to stop the Revolution. The King rejected their concern and was in favor of doubling the Third Estate and voting by head, because he believed the Third Estate would grant his request for taxing the Nobility and Clergy.

The economic situation in France in 1788 was very bad because of a poor harvest. Men who starve are not revolutionary, but they are rebellious. Rural rioting over food shortages took place throughout France. There was a break down of law and order. The army became exhausted and cities formed their own militias.

January 4, 1789 the rules for the election of the Estates General were issued. Any noble with a fief could be elected. If you were 25 and paid taxes you could be chosen to serve in the Third Estate. Bishops and priests could be picked and order could send a representative. Conservatives dominated the Aristocracy, but radicals controlled the Clergy and Third Estate.

On May 1, 1789 the Estates General opened and on May 5, 1789, speeches were made. The Crown made the mistake of not presenting a plan for reform. Without leadership from the King, the Estates drifted to the left.

While the nobles and Third Estate were able to organize themselves, the Clergy could not and asked for a conference. On June 10th, the Third Estate invited the Aristocracy and Clergy to join them. A large number of Clergy did just that and they changed their name to the National Assembly on June 15th. On June 20th, they found themselves locked out and went to a nearby indoor tennis