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What caused the great revolution in France? The revolution was the result of a severe economic failure at the heart of the nation, the monarchy. This was shown in the heavy debt that the monarchy amassed. To increase its funds, the government introduced an oppressive taxation system on its already poor peasantry. The unrest in the lower-class society was given a voice from the educated philosophes. Severe economic failure was at the heart of the French Revolution.
The ancien regime, by the time of the revolution was falling into heavy decay. Debt had been building up since the last days of Louis XIV. Involvement in both the French and Indian War (1756 - 63) over land in the New World, and the American Revolution (1775 - 1783) cost the French dearly. The French Involvement in the American Revolution alone cost one billion Livres, and was supported by the Queen, Marie Antoinette, and other members of the nobility who wanted revenge on Britain for past defeats. The Queen herself was attacked for her extravagant spending on jewels, clothes, gambling and parties.
She was once quoted as saying: ? ? Above all, let me avoid anything which will make life a burden, let me avoid anything which will foster gloom or dullness or melancholy! let me enjoy myself! Why should I bother to think things over, to calculate and economize? ? Her brother, Emperor Joseph II of Austria said of her lavish lifestyle in Versailles: ? ? I found there the charm of life which I had renounced and for which I see that the taste had never left me; she is pleasant and charming.
I spent hours with her, without noticing how quickly they flew? I needed all my strength to tear myself away? Such lavish spending gave the queen the nickname? Madame Deficit. ? But the queen was only an ideal scapegoat for a society that had been programmed never to criticize the power of the King.
The King, his advisors, and nobility were more to blame for the mounting debt that she was. For all that he did wrong, Louis did attempt to initiate some economic reform. His first attempt to do this was devised by his finance minister, Robert Anne Turgot. Turgot? s reforms involved the abolition of the tax exemptions of the nobility, the reduction of pensions, and the creation of an elected body to deliberate on any future taxes.
Louis was impressed by Turgot? s plans, and promised him his total support. Unfortunately, Louis was weak, and was swayed by his other ministers, nobility, and even the Queen, who feared a loss of power, and lifestyle, to dismiss Turgot before his reforms were put in place. This deeply hurt Turgot, who feared for the future of the monarchy. In a letter to the King after his dismissal he wrote: ? ? I have painted to you all the evils which have been caused by the weakness of the late King (Louis XV).
I have traced the course of the intrigues which gradually degraded his authority. I ask you if you want to run the risk of the same dangers, I should say even greater dangers? ? Following Turgot, other ministers were forced, by the nobility to resign. In the years prior to the revolution, the French government was falling into heavy debt, and the peasantry felt the burden of this debt the hardest. In an effort to stabilize the failing economy, the monarchy imposed a severe taxation system on the lower class.
A majority of this lower class was made up of the peasantry. Roughly half of the peasantry were poor metayers, who didn? t own the land they worked, and split their produce 50 / 50 with their lord. Even worse, one in twenty were serfs; tied to the land they worked by a lord, and receiving very little in return. Only one in four peasant families actually owned the land they worked.
At least 50 percent of the money the peasants made was paid in taxes. To the state was paid the Taille (tax on land and property), the Poll tax (tax on every head of a household), and (among others) the Gabelle (the salt tax). The nobility charged the peasants the Benalities (a mandatory fee for use of an oven, mill, or winepress), the Peages (toll paid on use of road or river) and the Cen's (feudal rent). Even the church cashed in, with the Tithe (percentage of income). The taxation system kept the peasantry in poverty. Most families didn?
t even own more that 5 hectares of land, and school was out of the question; the money simply wasn? t available. The money that could have been going towards the betterment of the peasantry was being spent recklessly by the monarchy and the nobility. Philosophe Voltaire described the ridiculous taxation system in his book, Lettres Philosophiques: ? In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one part of the citizens to give it to the other? The lower-class city dwellers also faced a hard life.
They too paid the crushing taxes, and unemployment in the cities was rampant. Increasing bread prices was always on the mind of the city dwellers, as a bad harvest could put this staple food out of reach. The lower-class citizens felt the burden of an economic failure the worst. Out of the discontent, the educated middle class gave the people of France a voice.
The philosophes were a product of the? enlightenment? and came mainly from a newly educated middle-class, the bourgeoisie. They resented the way the nobility and monarchy looked down on the people, and demanded change.
In some cases they were better off than the lowly? Nobles of the Robe? and wanted to share in the politics of the nation. Being well educated and intelligent, they gathered in lavish? salons? to discuss their views on the monarchy, religion, and politics.
Pamphlets and books were published by famous philosophes, inspired by the American Revolution, advocating free will, and thought independent from the influences of the crown and church. This demand for change from all levels of society, not just the lower class was perhaps best shown in the philosophy Voltaire. He was the son of a wealthy noble, and could have enjoyed the title as well. Very wealthy, he lived a comfortable life, but saw the wrongs in French society, and demanded change. He dared to attack the government (above), the nobility: ? What does a dog owe to a dog, and a horse to a horse?
Nothing, no animal depends on his like; but man having received the ray of divinity called reason, what is the result? Slavery throughout the world? and even the church: ? The institution of religion exists only to keep mankind in order? Voltaire, and other philosophes contributed greatly to the revolution because they were able to stand up to those in power, and tell the people that the King they adored, and the church that they worshiped were wrong.
The revolution in France was the result of an economic failure. The monarchy failed the people of France by not making any sufficient changes in spending. An oppressive taxation system was used to improve the economy, but this just caused unrest in the population. The people were given a voice by the philosophes, who attacked the government and its policies. A grand economic failure resulted in one of the major events of the 18 th century.
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