France+Before+the+Revolution+(Pg.+15-21)+JonathanK2013+08.30.2010

=** France Before Revolution (Pg. 15-21) **=

The Government of France
**King Louis the Sixteenth﻿ ﻿(Louis XVI)**
 * Absolute Monarch
 * Governed France from **Versailles**
 * Thousands of nobles lived with him, helping him to run the country

**Maria Antoinette**
 * Australian archduchess
 * People disliked her
 * She is foreign (Australia)
 * Spend lots of money on clothes
 * Jewelry and gambling
 * Having favorites at court
 * Thought she was unfaithful to Louis


 * In 1774, Louis gave Maria her own palace in the grounds of Versailles
 * She made gardens and a village
 * The money could have helped the poverty instead
 * Some people defended her for building the village

**Use and Abuse of Power**
 * Dislike
 * King had too much power
 * **Sealed** **Letters**
 * A sealed letter was a royal warren letter ordering the imprisonment of exile of the person named on it.
 * Written on a single piece of paper, and sealed with wax

Financial Problems
**The Royal Debt**
 * Government was deeply in debtSpend more each year more than it receive
 * In 1786, **Calonne** (Government minister in charge of finance), informed Louis that the government was close to financial collapse
 * They had to either increase taxes, reduce their spending, or borrow more money

**An Attempt at Reform**
 * Calonne drew up a plan to reform the tax system
 * Biggest change: Tax on land which all landowners had to pay
 * Nobles and Clergy would oppose and refuse to register it at the parlement which they own
 * **Assemble of the Nobles**
 * Calonne invited 150 of the leading nobles and clergymen to discuss the new tax.
 * Only loyal supporters of the King were invited
 * They rejected that idea, and said the only body with power to agree to new taxes was the Estate General
 * Louis then exiled the entire Parlement from Paris
 * People protested, some violent
 * Louis gave in, August 1788, he ordered elections to be held for an Estates General

**Summary:** King Louis the Sixteenth was the current ruling absolute monarch at that time, his wife, Maria Antoinette (Australian archduchess) was hated by many people. She spent money to make her palace look better when that money could have been use to help the poverty. Many people also hated the Sealed letters, in which the King could exile or imprison anyone he wants to. When the government started to collapse, Calonne drew a new plan to tax landowners, the Clergy and the Noble disagreed and in the end led to a big fight.

**Questions** : Couldn't the government cut down on the amount it spends every year instead of increasing the taxes of the people? The result of taxing people more is obviously not good.

media type="youtube" key="G93EhIGlVS0?fs=1" height="385" width="640" A tour of Versailles, Louis XVI's Palace (Part 1)

media type="youtube" key="-CtyOGRszkk?fs=1" height="385" width="480" A tour of Versailles, Louis XVI's Palace (Part 2)