INO-+French+Revolution+Notes+August+30+2010

= French Revolution Notes Pg. 15-21 = toc

= Awesome Stuff = media type="custom" key="6821925"a video about a tour at the Versailles

The Government of France

 * 1) ﻿France was governed by King Louis XVI
 * absolute monarch
 * unlike King George III of Britain who shared power with Parliament
 * Louis governed from the palace of Versailles, 18km outside Paris
 * Thousands of nobles lived with Louis, served him as courtiers and helping to run the affairs of the nation
 * Wife= Marie Antoinette, an Austrian archduchess
 * At first they were popular but as the the years went by, they lost them.
 * People disliked Marie

Marie Antoinette
2. Maire deserved her bad reputation
 * 1) ﻿Many people disliked Marie Antoinette
 * Foreign
 * Called "Austrian Women", sounded like bitch in French
 * Autrichienne= Austrian, chienne= bitch
 * Disliked her for spending too much money on clothes, jewelry and gambling
 * For having favorites at court, and especially because they thought she was unfaithful to Louis
 * 1774, Louis gave Marie her own small palace in the grounds of the palace of Versailles, Petit Trianon
 * Next 5 years, Marie spent lots of money creating beautiful gardens
 * She built a village, hamlet, with cows and sheep
 * many thought it was silly, even her most loyal courtiers

Use and Abuse of Power

 * 1) ﻿It wasn't only Marie who made the royal government unpopular
 * many people thought the king had too much power
 * e.g. King's use of sealed letters, "lettres de cachet"
 * It was a royal warrant ordering the imprisonment or exile of the person's name in it
 * The person written in the letter stayed in prison/exile for as long as the king wished
 * King's ministers could use them too
 * Around 14,000 sealed letter were issued, mainly to people who disagreed with the gov.
 * Many people accused Louis of being a "despot"

The Royal Debt

 * 1) ﻿Louis had to deal with many serious problems, debts
 * The French government was deeply in debt for 100years
 * 1786 the government minister in charge of finances, Calonne, informed Louis that the government was close to financial collapse
 * Solution: increase taxes, reproduce their spending or borrow more money

An Attempt at Reform
2. Louis then dismissed the AoN and tried to approve the tax without their approval 3. People everywhere protested
 * 1) The only way to avoid bankruptcy was to raise taxes
 * Biggest change would be a tax on land which all landowners would have to pay
 * The clergy and nobles 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
 * Calonne invited 150 leading nobles and clergymen to Paris to discuss and approve the new tax
 * Calonne thought they would approve but this "Assembly of Notables" refused
 * They said they didn't have the power to approve them
 * Estates General, a sort of national parliament elected by all three estates, had that power
 * the nobles in the Paris Parlement refused to register it
 * Louis then exiled the entire Parlement from Paris
 * Some were violent
 * IN Grenoble, 4 people died in a "Day of Tiles" when a mob of protesters pelted soldiers with tiles torn from the city rooftops
 * the protests went on for 6 months
 * August 1788, Louis gave in
 * He ordered elections to be held for an Estates General, first meeting was May 1 1789

= Summary = France during the time was ruled by King Louis XVI and his Austrian wife, Marie Antoinette. Louis had absolute monarch power, unlike King George III of Britain who shared some power with the parliament. Many people hated the royal family. Marie spent lots of money on buying clothes, jewelry and gambling. She had a small palace in Versailles, Petit Trianon. For the next 5 years, she started to create beautiful gardens and even built a small village inside with cows and sheep. Many people hated Louis because the use of sealed letters. He could send anyone in prison or exile just by writing the letter.

The French government was heavily in debt so the only way to escape from bankruptcy was raising the tax. Calonne, the government minister in charge of finances, invited leading nobles and clergymen to Paris to discuss the new tax but the "Assembly of Notables" refused because they had no real power, the Estates General had the real power. However, Louis tried to approve the tax by himself, but obviously the Paris Parlement refused to register it and he then exiled the entire parlement. This caused everyone to protest and some were very violent. Finally on August 1788, Louis decided to set up an election for an Estates General.

= Questions = 1. If the government was so heavily in debt, why did Louis still allow Marie to spend so much money? 2. What other notable protests were there?