Compare then and now...
Louis XVI ascended to the throne amidst a financial crisis; the nation was nearing bankruptcy and outlays outpaced income. This was because of Frances involvement in the Seven Years War and its participation in the American Revolution. In May 1776, finance minister Turgot was dismissed, after he lost favor. The next year, Jacques Necker, a foreigner, was appointed Director-General of Finance. He was not made a minister because he was a Protestant, and could not become a naturalized French citizen. Necker realized that the country's tax system subjected some to an unfair burden; numerous exemptions existed for the nobility and clergy. He argued that the country could not be taxed higher, that the nobles and clergy should not be exempt from taxes, and proposed that borrowing would solve the country's fiscal problems.
The national debt amounted to almost 2 billion livre. The social burdens caused by war included the huge war debt, made worse by the monarchy's military failures and ineptitude, and the lack of social services for war veterans. The inefficient and antiquated financial system was unable to manage the national debt, something which was both caused and exacerbated by the burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation. Another cause was the continued conspicuous consumption of the noble class, especially the court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette at Versailles, despite the financial burden on the populace. High unemployment and high bread prices caused more money to be spent on food and less in other areas of the economy.
Resentment by the ambitious professional and mercantile classes towards noble privileges and dominance in public life, many of whom were familiar with the lives of their peers in commercial cities in The Netherlands and Great Britain, resentment by peasants, wage-earners, and the bourgeoisie toward the traditional seigneurial privileges possessed by nobles
Finally, perhaps above all, was the almost total failure of Louis XVI and his advisers to deal effectively with any of these problems.
IN REVIEW:
1. National financial crisis
2. Pushed to the edge of bankruptcy by entangling itself into a foreign war of dubious value to the county.
3. A class of wounded and/or unemployed war veterans return home to find their country in shambles
4. An inefficient, antiquated, and corrupt financial system
5. Conspicuous consumption by the noble class in the midst of widespread misery
6. Nobles and clergy are disproportionately exempt from paying taxes
7. Borrowing spree conducted in order to solve the country's fiscal problems merely worsens the situation.
8. A commoner party increasingly at odds with conservatives backed by the royals, the wealthy, and the religious establishment.
hmm...anyone else see a pattern here?
French Revolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Louis XVI ascended to the throne amidst a financial crisis; the nation was nearing bankruptcy and outlays outpaced income. This was because of Frances involvement in the Seven Years War and its participation in the American Revolution. In May 1776, finance minister Turgot was dismissed, after he lost favor. The next year, Jacques Necker, a foreigner, was appointed Director-General of Finance. He was not made a minister because he was a Protestant, and could not become a naturalized French citizen. Necker realized that the country's tax system subjected some to an unfair burden; numerous exemptions existed for the nobility and clergy. He argued that the country could not be taxed higher, that the nobles and clergy should not be exempt from taxes, and proposed that borrowing would solve the country's fiscal problems.
The national debt amounted to almost 2 billion livre. The social burdens caused by war included the huge war debt, made worse by the monarchy's military failures and ineptitude, and the lack of social services for war veterans. The inefficient and antiquated financial system was unable to manage the national debt, something which was both caused and exacerbated by the burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation. Another cause was the continued conspicuous consumption of the noble class, especially the court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette at Versailles, despite the financial burden on the populace. High unemployment and high bread prices caused more money to be spent on food and less in other areas of the economy.
Resentment by the ambitious professional and mercantile classes towards noble privileges and dominance in public life, many of whom were familiar with the lives of their peers in commercial cities in The Netherlands and Great Britain, resentment by peasants, wage-earners, and the bourgeoisie toward the traditional seigneurial privileges possessed by nobles
Finally, perhaps above all, was the almost total failure of Louis XVI and his advisers to deal effectively with any of these problems.
IN REVIEW:
1. National financial crisis
2. Pushed to the edge of bankruptcy by entangling itself into a foreign war of dubious value to the county.
3. A class of wounded and/or unemployed war veterans return home to find their country in shambles
4. An inefficient, antiquated, and corrupt financial system
5. Conspicuous consumption by the noble class in the midst of widespread misery
6. Nobles and clergy are disproportionately exempt from paying taxes
7. Borrowing spree conducted in order to solve the country's fiscal problems merely worsens the situation.
8. A commoner party increasingly at odds with conservatives backed by the royals, the wealthy, and the religious establishment.
hmm...anyone else see a pattern here?
French Revolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
