InNo+France+before+the+Revolution+p.+15-21+michellel2013+08.30.10



__**The Government of France **__
 * France was governed by King Louis the Sixteenth (Louis XVI)––was an absolute monarch
 * He did not have to share his power with anyone and could do anything he wanted whenever he wants to
 * Lived in the palace of Versailles along with other nobles
 * Louis's wife was Marie Antoniette, an Austrian archduchess
 * At first they were popular with the public, but then they slowly lost popularity. Especially Marie Antoniette


 * Marie Antoniette **
 * People disliked her for many reasons
 * One was because she was foreign and they called her " Austrian woman" which in French can sound like "bitch"
 * Also because people think she spends a lot of money on clothes, jewelry and gambling; having favorites at court; and unfaithful to Louis
 * Louis gave Marie her own small palace in the ground of the palace and she spent a lot of money on building a garden, with a real-looking village and farm
 * Many people thought this was pointless


 * Use and Abuse of Power **
 * People also didn't like the royal government because they thought the king had too much power
 * 'sealed letters'= a royal warrant ordering the imprisonment or exile for as long as the king wished
 * King's ministers can use it also, which people hated
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Around 14,000 sealed letters were issued, mainly to people who disagreed with the government
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A great range of other powers other than the sealed letters let him impose his authority.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">People started to criticize it, calling Louis a "despot", which mean a tyrant or dictator

__**<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Financial Problems **__


 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The Royal Debt **
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A big problem Louis had to face: his government was deeply in debt, for nearly 100 years
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1786, Calonne (in charge of finances) told Louis that their government was close to financial collapse
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Have to either increase taxes, reduce their spending, or borrow money.


 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">An Attempt at Reform **
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Only one way to avodi bankruptcy: raise taxes
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Biggest change was the tax on land where landowners had to pay
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The clergy+nobles did all they could to get out of it
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">They controlled the Parlement, therefore refused to register it in the Paris law courts
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Calonne invited 150 leading nobles+clergymen to discuss and approve the new law
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">This "Assembly of Notables" refused, saying that only the Estates General(a sort of national parliament elected by all three states) had that power
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Louis then dismissed the AoN and tried to introduce new tax without their approval
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The nobles in Paris Parlement refused to, because they said only the Estates General had that power
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Louis got angry and insisted he held all power, so he exiled the entire Parlement from Paris
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">People all over France protested against this for the next 6 months
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Four people died in a "Day of Tiles" when a bunch of protestors attacked soldiers with tiles torn off from the city's rooftops
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">August 1788 Louis gave in and ordered and election for an Estates General
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Date of its first meeting was to be May 1st, 1789

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//Summary: This chapter talks about the time when France was ruled by King Louis XVI (an absolute monarch) and his Austrian wife Marie Antoniette. It explains why the French people disliked Marie Antoniette, and how King Louis also started to become less popular among the French people due to having too much power and becoming more and more like a dictator/tyrant; for example he could have anyone imprisoned or exiled through a simple “sealed letter”. This section also talks about how the French government was deeply in debt, and financial problem was the biggest problem that the government had to face, In order to avoid financial collapse, new tax laws were proposed. The Paris law courts (Parlement) must approve of the law. However, the nobles and clergy, who were exempt from most taxes and would try to evade taxes, controlled the Parlement and they could refuse the law. This could delay the new tax coming into effect. Calonne invited nobles and clergymen to discuss the tax to avoid delay. However, they refused to agree with the new tax, claiming that they didn't have the power to approve new taxes. Only the Estates General had the power. So, Louis tried to introduce the new tax without approval. The nobles of Paris Parlement refused to register it, again saying only the Estates General could approve. Louis said he had this power, and exiled the entire Parlement from Paris. This caused people to protest angrily, sometimes with violence. The Day of Tiles was when protestors attacked the soldiers with tiles torn from rooftops. The protests lasted 6 months, then on August 1788 Louis gave in. He ordered elections to be held for an Estates General, 1 May 1789 being the first meetin//g.

//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Questions: // //<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">-Why did people think Marie Antoniette was disloyal to Louis? // //<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">-Why was Marie allowed to spend so much money if their government was already in debt? // <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">