Causes of the French Revolution of 1789: Revealing Hidden Forces

Chapter-1 Part-2

What have we learned so far?

• In Part 1 of Chapter 1, we learned how the People of France protested together because they were upset that bread cost too much. As a result, their protests changed their country a lot and this protest marked the beginning of The French Revolution. In Part 2, we will learn about Louis XVI, the Causes of the French Revolution 1789 which include France’s Empty Treasury Under Louis XVI’s Reign, the Division of French Society, Feudalism, and how the tax was collected and the Land divided.

Introduction

• When Louis XVI became king, France faced many money problems because of costly wars and maintaining the grand palace at Versailles.
• Additionally, by helping American colonies gain independence from Britain, France lost a lot of money.
• To cover the expenses of helping American colonies, he had to raise taxes on people. This raising tax caused challenges and difficulties in citizens’ lives.
• Part 2 of this chapter explains how these problems led to big changes in the French Revolution.

Louis XVI and His Family

• Louis XVI ascended to the throne(become the king) of France in the year 1774.
• He belonged to the Bourbon dynasty, which ruled over France and other countries for a long time.
• He came from a family of kings called the Bourbons.
• A Dynasty refers to many family members of a single-family ruling a big region one after another.
• He married a princess from Austria named Marie Antoinette at the age of 20 to maintain a good relationship between France and Austria.

France’s Empty Treasury Under Louis XVI’s Reign: War Costs and Palace Expenses

• Three reasons caused France’s treasury to be empty when Louis XVI became King:
  1. France participated in many wars, which cost a ton of money on soldiers, weapons, and other fighting necessities.
  2. King lived in the royal palace at Versailles
  3. Royal Palace of Versailles required a lot of money for maintenance, cleaning, and general operation due to its beautiful gardens, grand rooms, and large staff.
  4. He decided to help colonies in America.
     • Thirteen colonies in America wanted to be independent from Britain.
     • Because Britain tried to control them, France and American colonies regarded it as their enemy.
     • To fight against the British, France supplied soldiers, ships, and money to American colonies.
     • Thanks to France’s assistance, The American colonies achieved their freedom and formed the United States of America.
     • France spent a large amount of money on the war. France borrowed money from banks and investors.
     • Participation in the war and maintenance of the royal palace increased its debt by more than 2 billion livres (the official currency of France which was discontinued in 1794).
     • France has to repay the borrowed money with 10% interest.

• Therefore Louis XVI raised the tax amount collected from his citizens to settle debt.
• Instead of using the tax money of citizens to develop and improve schools, and hospitals, or help people, he used tax money to pay his army, royal court, government offices, and universities, and to pay the debt interest.
• Even after raising the tax, the collected tax was not enough to pay for all the things they needed to take care of, like paying for soldiers, running government offices, and other important tasks.

Division of French Society

• The French society was divided into 3 groups known as Estates:

1. The First Estate consisted of the Clergy.
2. The Second Estate comprised the Nobles.
3. The Third Estate included Farmers, peasants, artisans, landless labourers, servants, merchants, court officials, lawyers, and workers.

Before we move on, We need to understand the concept of Feudalism well before we explore how the taxes were collected from each estate, who owned the land, and what special privileges they had.

Feudalism

• During the Medieval times(period), People of Europe practised a system known as Feudalism.
• In this system, they arranged their society into different groups with specific roles.
• Under this system, the king had a large amount of land and gave some parts of his kingdom to his Nobles and Lords.

Lords

• Lords were wealthy and powerful landowners.
• The King gave him some parts of his land.
• All the properties of the Lord excluding land given by the king are called Manor.
• The lands given to the lord by the king were called Fiefs.
• The lord agreed to remain faithful to the king and assist him whenever he needs their support.
• The Lord is loyal to the king and he will support and follow the king’s rules without going against his wishes.
• The king also allowed lords to maintain a group of soldiers.
• As part of their agreement with the king, the Lord supplied knights to fight in the war when needed.
  • Knights were trained soldiers who could ride horses, fight a war while sitting on horseback, and use weapons like swords and spears in battles.

Nobles

• Nobles referred to relatives of a king or queen, as well as rich and powerful families who owned a lot of land.
• Additionally, Under feudalism, “Nobles” included both lords and other wealthy families.
• These nobles received special titles (names) from the king or queen.
• For example:
  • A Duke
    • It’s a high-rank title given to the upper class(Aristocrats).
    • He ruled a large piece of land.
    • The land he ruled was called a Dukedom or Duchy.
    • It’s a small kingdom within a larger kingdom of the King.
  • An Earl
    • He comes next in rank after a Duke.
    • He ruled a large piece of land
    • The land he ruled was called a County or Earldom.
    • He is responsible for managing the land, tax collection, and maintaining the order.
  • A Baron
    • He is of lower rank compared to a Duke or Earl.
    • He ruled a smaller area of land.
    • The land he ruled was called baronies.
    • Even though he had fewer duties compared to Dukes or Earls, he was still respected in his community.

• This was the old regime(old rules and structure) of the society before the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789.

Let’s Analyze the Taxation system, Land distribution, and special privileges in French Society in the Late 1700s

Who were the Clergy?

• Priest, minister, bishop, and monk who worked for the church were together called Clergy.

Who were the Nobles?

• “Nobles” refers to relatives of the king or queen and rich and powerful families who owned a lot of land.
• They lived in big houses that showed how wealthy they were.
• Additionally, nobles had an important job where they discussed laws(Politics) with the king and queen, led armies(Military), and, supported arts and Traditions(Cultural life).
• People respected and valued them as they ensured the country ran smoothly and kept society organized.

Tax paid by Peasants to the French government

• Ninety percent of the population in France consisted of peasants. They worked on land owned by nobles and clergy, where they grew crops and took care of animals.

Tax paid by Clergy and nobles to the French government

• As clergy and nobles were born into families of clergy and nobles, they had one special privilege.
• They didn’t have to pay taxes to the government like the people of the third estate.
• This special rule made life easier for them compared to others.

Land owned by Nobles

• Sixty percent of France’s land belonged to nobles, the clergy, and other wealthy members of the third estate.

Land owned by Peasants

• Only a small number of peasants owned a small piece of land.

How Tax was collected during the Medieval period, in societies of Europe under the Feudal system

• During the Medieval period, in societies of Europe under the Feudal system, the lord could collect taxes in the form of money or produce crops or animals reared by people who lived on their land.
• They also had the right to use peasants to build roads, train them as knights, and supply them as soldiers to the king when needed.

Who did the peasants pay taxes to?

Church

• The church collected tithes from the peasants.
• The church mandated that peasants should give 10% of their income or produce(crops) to the church as a form of tax known as Tithes.
• Church used these Tithes to build churches, help the needy, and support priests and monks.

Paid Direct Tax and Indirect Tax to the French Government or Taille

• The French Government also collected tax through Direct Tax or Taille from third estates.
• Additionally, Indirect Tax was an extra tax collected when the third estate people bought goods that were consumed frequently, like salt and tobacco.
• Therefore, The people of the third estate paid most of the taxes.

To summarize

• The first estate consisted of the Clergy.
  The second estate consisted of nobles who enjoyed special privileges.
  The third estate included peasants who worked in cities.
  Among these 3 estates, peasants formed the largest group in French society and so they had to pay heavy taxes to provide money and resources needed for clergy and nobles to live a luxurious life.
  This inequality in heavy taxes was the major reason for the causes of the French Revolution 1789.
  These Tax practices had a major impact on how French Society was formed and developed in the Late Eighteenth Century, highlighting the Causes of the French Revolution 1789.