France+Before+the+Revolution+2+weiweil2013+08.20.10


 * Incredibly Ugly Drawings Below**


 * The Government of France**
 * King = Louis XVI
 * absolute monarch
 * didn't have a parliament to share power with, unlike UK
 * governed France from Versailles (18km from Paris)
 * Queen = Marie Antoinette
 * Austrian archduchess
 * married in 1770 (she 14, he 15)
 * popular at first, lost popularity eventually
 * disliked especially by French people
 * foreign (Austrian)
 * spending money on clothes, jewelry, gambling
 * having favourites at court
 * unfaithful to Louis
 * Petit Trianon (1774)
 * built imitation village (the hamlet)
 * criticised and defended
 * criticised: pointless, silly, waste of money, insult to actual villagers
 * defended: brought income, helped 12 poor families personally
 * also disliked b/c: abuse of power
 * king had too much power
 * eg: sealed letters
 * royal warrant ordering imprisonment or exile of person named on it
 * ministers could use them as they wished
 * 14 000 letters issued, against people against gov.
 * only one example (many others)
 * called a "despot" (tyrant, dictator)


 * Financial problems**
 * France deep in debt for >100 years
 * most urgent problem gov. had to face
 * spent more than it received in taxes
 * spent: 633.1 million livres (1786)
 * received: 471.6 million livres (1786)
 * 1786: gov. close to financial collapse
 * only one way: raise taxes
 * attempt at tax system reform
 * biggest change: land reform (paid by all landowners)
 * nobles and clergy exempt from most taxes, unwilling to pay
 * refused to register in Parlement (controlled by them)
 * Calonne (financial minister) invited 150 nobles/clergymen to Paris to discuss/approve new tax (Assembly of Notables)
 * only loyal supporters invited, but all refused (Estates General had power, not them)
 * Assembly of Notables dismissed, Parlement also refuses, Louis exiles entire Parlement from Paris
 * angry, sometimes violent protests for six months
 * Louis XVI gives in, August 1788
 * hold elections for Estates General, 1 May 1789

The French government before the revolution was dominated by Louis XVI, a monarch who was also a tyrant. He was disliked for many reasons, including but not limited to: his flamboyant Austrian wife Marie Antoinette; his abuse of power especially with "sealed letters"; and the fact that the French government had been in debt for over 100 years. In 1786, the French government was close to financial collapse, and the only solution seemed to be to raise taxes. A reform of the tax system was put into action; the biggest change was the land tax. This change mostly applied to the landowners, or the first two estates; they refused to register in the Parlement, and Louis XVI exiled the entire Parlement, sparking protests for 6 months before the king gave in.
 * Summary**

Did Louis XVI exile just the Parlement, or their families, too? Did he really have THAT much power to exile THAT many people?? Why didn't they think of the possibility that they could reduce their spending instead?
 * Questions**