InNo+hyundoj2013+08.30.10

Page 15-21 Notes Hyun do Jun

<- King Lous the Sixteenth <- Marie Antoinette <-Sealed Letter <- Financial Problems

** The government of France ** -France was governed by King Louis the Sixteenth. -King Louis was an absolute monarch, and he did not have to share his power with anyone else. -King Louis could do whatever he chose whenever he pleased. -Thousands of Nobles lived with King Louis in the palace, serving him as courtiers and helping to run the affairs of the nation. -King Louis's wife was Marie Antoinette, and Austrian archduchess. -They married when they were very young. -At first, they had been popular with the French public, but they lost popularity after few years went by. -People especially disliked Marie Antoinette. ** Marie Antoinette ** -People disliked Marie Antoinette, because she was a foreign. -People celled her the 'Austrian woman’, which, in French, could be made to sound like 'bitch'. -People also disliked her for spending huge amounts of money on clothes, jewelry and gambling, for having favourites at court, and, especially, because they thought she was unfaithful to Louis. -In 1774, King Louis gave Marie Antoinette her own small palace in the grounds o f the palace of Versailles. It was called the Petit Trianon. ** Use and abuse of power ** -Many people disliked the royal government, because they thought the king had too much power. -They disliked the king's use of 'sealed letters'. A sealed letter was a royal w arrant ordering the imprisonment or exile of the person named on it. -The person whose name appeared on it stayed in prison or in exile for as long as the king wished. -People hated sealed letters more than any other aspect of the king's power. -Sealed letters were only one of the ways in which the King could impose his authority. ** Financial Problems ** ** The Royal Debt ** -As king of one of the world's largest countries, Louis had to deal with many serious problems. The most urgent problem facing him was the fact that his government was deeply in debt. -The French government had been in debt for nearly a hundred years. This was because it spent more each year than it received in taxes. -In 1786, the government minister in charge of financ es, Calonne, informed Louis that the government was close to financial collapse. -They must either increase taxes, or reduce their spending, or borrow more money. ** An attempt at reform ** -The govenment had only one way of avoiding bankruptcy. -It would have to raise takes. -The nobles and clergy, who were exempt from most taxes, would do all they could to get out of paying it. -They could refuse to register it in the Paris law courts, or Parlement, which they controlled.  - King Louis still tried to make effect of the new tax without their permission and he insisted he had the power to put taxes and he exiled the entire Parlement from Paris.  -Due to this incident people everywhere in France protested against the king and some of the protests were violent.  -After 6 months King Louis gave up and he ordered an election for an Estate General to be elected. -People everywhere in France protested angrily against this. ** Summary: **  The French government before the revolution was dominated by Louis XVI. He had a terrible wife named, Marie Antoinette, and everyone hated her. He wasdisliked for many reasons, including but not limited to: his flamboyant Austrian wife Marie Anto  inette; his abuse of power especially with "sealed letters"; and the fact that the French government had been in debt for over 100 years. King Louis still tried to make effect of the new tax without their permission and he insisted he had the power to put taxes and he exiled the entire Parlement from Paris. Due to this incident people everywhere in France protested against the king and some of the protests were violent. After 6 months King Louis gave up and he ordered an election for an Estate General to be elected.