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1774, May 10  Ascension of Lewis the XVI .

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1774, May 10  Ascension of Lewis the XVI .

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In 1774 Louis XVI of the Bourbon family of kings ascended the throne of France on his accession in 1774 Louis XVI was aware of many of the problems affecting the finances of the State. He appointed Anne Robert Jaques Turgot as Controller-General.

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in April–May there was a wave of riots called the "Flour War" against increasing bread prices in the northern, Eastern and western parts of the Kingdom of France.

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1776, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot Program

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1776, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot Program

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Turgot was Louis XVI’s first Controller-General of finances and, with the King’s support, attempted to introduce a wide-reaching reform programme, which included abolishing the Corvée in 1776.

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1778 , The intervention of the French army in the American war of independence

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1778 , The intervention of the French army in the American war of independence

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In the resulting American War of Independence (1776–83), France intervened on the side of the rebels, providing both financial and military support. The intervention of France in 1778 was decisive and helped bring about the defeat of British forces and the creation of the United States of America.

The cost of helping the American colonists defeat the British government was approximately 1066 million livres

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The general agricultural prosperity suddenly came to an end, and was brought by a series of disastrous harvests between 1778 - 1787.

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Necker was dismissed because the king regarded that he has too many sympathy for the third estate.

Following Necker’s dismissal in 1781 his successor Joly de Fleury discovered the true nature of France’s finances.

The Treasury was 160 million livres short for 1781

295 million livres short for 1782

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September 3, 1783, end of america war of independence.

The treaty of Versailles managed to give back Alsace- Lorraine to France. Although they didn't give French most of their lost territory.

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England and France Agree on a Resolution to the American Revolution

PRELIMINARY ARTICLES OF PEACE, BETWEEN HIS BRITANNICK MAJESTY, AND THE MOST CHRISTIAN KING. SIGNED AT VERSAILLES, THE 20th OF JANUARY, 1783.

[Treaties of Paris - Great Britain and France]:

London. 1783. 14pp. Quarto. Antique half calf and marbled boards. Some minimal old ink underscoring, else a near fine copy, untrimmed. Item #WRCAM20840

The first British publication of the terms of peace agreed upon between France and England after the American Revolution. The French had hoped to obtain more from England in the final peace settlement, but De Grasse's catastrophic naval loss to Rodney in the Caribbean in 1782 weakened their position, and the American commissioners forced their hand by coming to their own accord with the British on Nov. 30, 1782. By this treaty the British cede Newfoundland fishing rights, return St. Lucia and Tobago to France, and France gives back Nevis, Grenada, St. Kitts, Montserrat and St. Vincent to the British, as well as territorial exchanges in India. This treaty was vital to the final resolution of the American Revolution, since the United States was pledged to move with France as an ally, and was not in a position to settle without her. The final treaties of all the warring powers were signed on Nov. 3, 1783. DAVENPORT 169. AMERICAN CONTROVERSY 83-45.

Price: $6,500.00

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PRELIMINARY ARTICLES OF PEACE, BETWEEN HIS BRITANNICK MAJESTY, AND THE MOST CHRISTIAN KING. SIGNED AT VERSAILLES, THE 20th OF JANUARY, 1783 by Treaties of Paris - Great Britain and France on William Reese Company

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London. 1783. 14pp. Quarto. Antique half calf and marbled boards. Some minimal old ink underscoring, else a near fine copy, untrimmed. Item #WRCAM20840 The first British publication of the terms of peace agreed upon between France and England after the American Revolution.

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- On 20 August 1786, Calonne, the Controller-General, told Louis XVI that the government was on the verge of bankruptcy.
- Revenue for 1786 would be 475 million livres, while expenditure would be 587 million livres, making a deficit of 112 million – almost a quarter of the total income.
- This information caused Louis to form a plan to further increase the taxes.

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Charles de Calonne (1734-1802) was a royal minister whose attempts to reform the nation's fiscal system in the late 1780s helped trigger the revolution.

A judge's son from northern France, Calonne entered the public service as an indentant and displayed a capacity for managing difficult financial matters.

In 1783, Louis XVI appointed Calonne as finance minister, at a time when the nation's debt was stretched to its limits by involvement in the American Revolutionary War. Calonne made some superficial reforms, chiefly to debt management and currency - but he knew the size of the national debt (more than 110 million livres) required more fundamental fiscal restructuring.

Calonne recommended increasing the government's revenue base by introducing a tax on all land, with no exemptions for the First or Second Estates.

Aware that this proposal would be rejected by the parlements, Calonne instead submitted it to a specially-convened Assembly of Notables. The Notables, however, also rejected it, believing that Calonne was either exaggerating the debt or was himself personally responsible for it.

His plans thwarted, Calonne resigned and went into self-imposed exile in England, which allowed him to survive the revolution. Calonne returned to his native France a month before his death in October 1802.

Citation information
Title: "Charles de Calonne"
Authors: John Rae, Steve Thompson
Publisher: Alpha History
URL: https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/etienne-brienne/
Date published: May 13, 2017
Date accessed: August 01, 2022
Copyright: The content on this page may not be republished without our express permission. For more information on usage, please refer to our Terms of Use.

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Charles de Calonne (1734-1802) was a royal minister whose attempts to reform the nation's fiscal system in the late 1780s helped trigger the revolution. A judge's son from northern France, Calonne entered the public service as an indentant and displayed a capacity for managing difficult financial matters.

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- Louis's tax reform proposals were supposed to be approved by the parlement first.  But Calonne and Louis found differences with the parlement.
- The Notables was an assembly that consists of 144 men of nobles, archbishops, and others.
-  1787 assembly was called to assess Louis's reform proposals. Hoping to get the Notables support.
- But The king's plan to raise the tax price of the higher estates enraged them that they ended up rejecting the plan.

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The Assembly of Notables was an advisory council summoned by France's king, Louis XVI, during the fiscal crisis of the late 1780s. As its name suggests, it was comprised of significant figures from the First and Second Estates. The king hoped the Notables would endorse the tax reforms proposed by his ministers. Instead, they blocked these reforms and recommended the convocation of the Estates-General.

Background

By the beginning of 1787, France's fiscal crisis - the product of extravagant spending, insufficient revenue and mounting debt - had pushed the nation to the brink of bankruptcy. Louis XVI's ministers attempted to push through urgent reforms but they were thwarted by opposition from the parlements.

On the advice of his financial chief Charles-Alexandre de Calonne, the king called upon an ancient institution known as the Assembly of Notables. Two of these assemblies were convened: the first in February 1787, the second in November 1788.

Like the Estates-General, the Assembly of Notables had no constitutional authority - but Calonne gambled on the Notables supporting his fiscal reforms, an outcome that would give him the upper hand over the parlements. It was a gamble that failed as the Notables also rejected his proposals.

Calonne's reforms

Calonne's solution to the fiscal crisis was more pragmatic than others. He proposed significant cuts to government expenditure, removal of some trade restrictions to free up commerce and the standardisation of indirect taxes like the gabelle.

Most significantly, Calonne sought to limit the taxation privileges of the First and Second Estates. He proposed a new tax on land, to be levied on landowners based on the value of their holdings. This land tax would apply to all French citizens, regardless of class or privilege.

Needless to say, Calonne's proposed reforms were popular with most of the Third Estate but were rejected by the church, the nobility and many wealthy bourgeoisie. Realising the parlements would not support his proposed changes, Calonne advised the king to convoke an Assembly of Notables.

First Notables since 1626

Like the Estates-General, the Assembly of Notables was an ancient but seldom-used institution. It was a council of high-ranking nobles and clergymen summoned at the king's pleasure, usually in a time of crisis or uncertainty.

The function of the Assembly of Notables was to provide ideas and advice to the crown. Only four of these Assemblies had been summoned in the previous 200 years, the most recent in 1626.

The Notables who gathered at Versailles in February 1787 contained 144 men, only two of whom were not nobles or higher clergymen. Among their number were 36 influential nobles, 14 bishops or archbishops and seven 'Princes of the Blood', as well as magistrates from the parlements, provincial deputies and the mayors of city governments.

More rejection

Unsurprisingly, the Notables did not respond well to Calonne's reform package. There was some in-principle agreement about the need for structural reform, however, the Notables believed that any major changes - particularly those that affected the privileges and power base of the Three Estates - must be debated and approved by the Estates-General. Calonne's prickly relationship with members of the Assembly of Notables did not help the situation.

When it became clear the Notables would not endorse his proposals, Calonne sought public support by publishing information about the fiscal crisis and his attempts to resolve it.

This information exposed the urgent need for debt relief and tax reform, highlighting the nation's empty treasury and a deficit of 110 million livres in 1786. This infuriated both the Notables and the king, who dismissed Calonne on April 7th.

Brienne also fails

Louis XVI replaced Calonne with Étienne Loménie de Brienne, the canny Bishop of Toulouse.

Brienne seemed better placed to push through ambitious and unpopular fiscal reforms. He was more measured in his speech and had fewer detractors than Calonne. Brienne was also a favourite of Marie Antoinette, which gave him some influence in the royal court.

In addition, Brienne was himself a member of the Assembly of Notables so he had been a party to their earlier deliberations.

After consideration, Brienne presented the Notables with a reform package that was not greatly different from Calonne's. Brienne suggested a land tax on the privileged orders and called for increased taxation contributions from the church. He was able to persuade the parlements to register many of his minor reforms, however, neither the parlements or the Notables would endorse a new land tax or any changes to noble and ecclesiastical privilege.

Estates-General procedures

A second convocation of the Assembly of Notables was ordered by the king in November 1788. This assembly was summoned shortly after the calling of the Estates-General for May 1789.

This time, the king sought the Notables' advice on political procedure rather than taxation. He asked the Notables for guidance on how the Estates-General should be selected, compiled and organised - and, most importantly, how it should vote.

Their answer was straightforward: the Estates-General should adopt the same procedures employed at its previous sitting in 1614. Each of the Three Estates should meet separately. Each of the Estates should vote together, by order, rather than allowing deputies to vote individually.

Third Estate outraged

This use of ancient procedure outraged members of the Third Estate, who considered voting by order a means of asserting privilege. If the Estates voted by order then the First and Second Estates would always vote together and the Third Estate would always lose.

News of the Notables' ruling reached the people in late November 1788. This was around the time the king relaxed restrictions on the press, allowing greater freedom of speech in publications and pamphlets. As a consequence, there was a flood of political literature about voting procedures at the Estates-General and the urgent need for political and fiscal reform.

Some of this literature was moderate and thoughtful, some of it was radical or obscene. A few pieces, like Emmanuel Sieyès' What is the Third Estate?, had a major influence on the political attitudes of France's common class.

The Second Estate headed into the Estates-General hopeful of asserting their political influence but they did not count on the determination of the Third Estate. The 'aristocratic revolution' that forced the convocation of the Estates-General was about to give way to a 'bourgeois revolution' that would conceive a national assembly.

A historian's view:
"As assembly of notables was an expanded version of the king's council. Several times each year, whenever the king needed to cast a wider net in search of information... he would enlarge his council with personalities chosen... for their 'zeal' and their 'devotion', their 'fidelity' to the sovereign... Such an assembly was not an abbreviated version of the Estates-General."
Roland Mousnier

1. The Assembly of Notables, a council containing 144-147 influential nobles and clergymen, met twice in the 1780s after being summoned by the king on the advice of his ministers.

2. The first Assembly of Notables met at Versailles between February and May 1788. It was summoned on the advice of finance minister Calonne, who hoped to gain endorsement for his fiscal and taxation reforms.

3. Comprised of members of the First and Second Estates who were hostile to Calonne and his methods, this Assembly of Notables rejected the proposed reforms. Calonne was dismissed by the king soon after.

4. Calonne's replacement, Brienne, placed a similar set of reforms before the Assembly of Notables and parlements. He was able to push through some reforms, however, a land tax with no exemptions was blocked.

5. The second Assembly of Notables, summoned in November 1788, ruled that the Estates-General should use the same voting procedures (voting by order) used by the previous Estates-General in 1614. This decision was unpopular with the Third Estate and generated a great deal of political rhetoric and literature.

Citation information
Title: "The Assembly of Notables"
Authors: Jennifer Llewellyn, Steve Thompson
Publisher: Alpha History
URL: https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/assembly-of-notables/
Date published: September 16, 2020
Date accessed: July 27, 2022
Copyright: The content on this page may not be republished without our express permission. For more information on usage, please refer to our Terms of Use.

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The Assembly of Notables was a council of advisors, summoned by Louis XVI's ministers in the 1780s to provide guidance on fiscal reform and the Estates General. The Assembly of Notables was initially called to override opposition to fiscal reforms within the parlements.

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The Day of the Tiles was an event that took place in the French town of Grenoble on 7 June 1788. It was one of the first disturbances which preceded the French Revolution.

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On 21 July, the Assembly of Vizille occurred as a result of a meeting of various representatives in Grenoble. Its purpose was to discuss the events of The Day of the Tiles which occured on the month before.

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In 1788,there was major disaster, which very wet spring and freak hailstones in many areas in July resulted in a very poor harvest, which was particularly disastrous for peasants.

A severe winter in the same year resulted in famine and widespread starvation in the countryside. Rising prices in Paris brought bread riots.

France also declared bankruptcy.

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Summoned by King Louis 16 in may 1789. First estate: clergy
Second estate: nobility Third estate: everyone else

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On 20 June the members of the French third estate took the Tennis Court Oath in the tennis court for the use of the Versailles palace. Their vow "not to separate and to reassemble wherever necessary until the Constitution of the kingdom is established". This become a pivotal event of the french revolution

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After Jacques Necker was dismissed by King Louis XVI for the second time, The Parisians responded by storming toward the Bastille fortress on July 14, 1789, to secure gunpowder and weapons. The troops at Bastille resisted for a few hours before they surrendered to the mob. The fall of the Bastille, a symbol of power and the monarchy’s dictatorial rule, is considered by some as the start of the French Revolution. It resulted in King Louis XVI withdrawing the royal troops from the French capital and recalling finance minister Jacques Necker. Due to the significance of this event, July 14 is celebrated as the national day of France.

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- The entire feudal system was abolished on 4&11 August.
- It abolished both the Manorialism of the Second Estate and the tithes gathered by the First Estate.
- There are several successes such as the equality of legal punishment, admission of all to public office, abolition of venality in office, and freedom of worship.

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1789, Declaration of the rights of man and the citizen

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1789, Declaration of the rights of man and the citizen

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​​On 26th August 1789, the Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a charter of human liberties, containing the principles that inspired the French Revolution. The basic principle of the Declaration was that all “men are born and remain free and equal in rights”. Its 17 articles served as the preamble to the Constitution.

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Bad harvests caused prices to increase therefore many people were hungry and restless.

On 5th October 1789, a large crowd of protesters, mostly women, began to assemble at Parisian markets. After getting unsatisfactory responses from city officials, the women marched from Paris to the Palace of Versailles, then stormed the palace, killing several guards and demanded the king to “live among the people”. Louis XVI ultimately conceded to their demands and agreed to go to Paris with the mob. The royal family in Paris was placed under the “protection” of the National Guards, thus legitimizing the National Assembly.