S. N. S. College, Jehanabad

S. N. S. COLLEGE, JEHANABAD (A Constituent unit of Magadh University, Bodh Gaya) DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY KEY-NOTES FRENCH REVOLUTION (Background-2) FOR B.A. PART – II BY KRITI SINGH ANAND, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPTT. OF HISTORY, 1 S.N. SINHA COLLEGE, JEHANABAD FRENCH REVOLUTION BACKGROUND OF THE REVOLUTION Objective: 1. To understand the social and economic conditions in France which ultimately led to the Revolution of 1789. 1. Social Conditions: The social conditions in France on the eve of the French Revolution of 1789 were antiquated, irrational and oppressive. The French society was based upon the principle of inequality. The French society of around 25 million people was divided into three classes also known as the estates. The clergy constituted the first estate, the nobility, the second estate and the commoners, the third estate. 1.a. Privileges of the Clergy and the Nobility: The clergy and the nobility comprised one percent of the total population of France on the eve of the French Revolution of 1789. These two estates being the privileged classes: (1) owned most of the land in France; (2) collected special feudal and church dues from the commoners; (3) were exempted from most of the taxes; (4) were the friends and ministers of the King; and (5) were granted special favours while administering the law. The clergy of the Roman Catholic Church was rich and powerful. The higher clergy consisted of the archbishops, bishops and the abbots. They lived luxuriously in their palaces and monasteries. The Church owned nearly a fifth of the land in France. The Church land yielded a large amount of revenue. In addition, the clergy collected tithes (One-tenth of the total produce) on agricultural products. A large part of the Church income went to the higher 2 clergy numbering around five to six thousand. Many of the higher clergy resided at the Royal Court. On the other hand, the large number of the lower clergy, who did the real work were deprived of many of the privileges enjoyed by the higher clergy. While the higher clergy belonged to the nobility, the lower clergy usually came from the third estate. The nobility of France occupied a peculiar position in the French society. It was no longer the landed nobility of the feudal days; neither were they nobility of office. They merely claimed their position by virtue of their birth and enjoyed certain privileges. They were called the ̳Grand Nobles‘. About a thousand of them lived at Versailles as courtiers. The country nobles lived on their estates in the provinces. The new nobles were not nobles of birth but men from the middle class who had grown rich and purchased the privileges of the nobility of the birth. They were known as the ̳nobility of the robe‘. The nobles had lost all political power. They either entered the army or the church. Important public offices like ambassadors were reserved for them. A majority of the nobles had no lands and derived their income from their old feudal rights. They were exempted from the bulk of the taxes. The nobility as a whole enjoyed one special privilege which was a serious and unnecessary injury to the peasants. That was the exclusive right of hunting, which was the chief pastime and sport of the nobles. Although the game destroyed their crops, the peasants were required not to disturb the game and thus, suffer the loss of their crops for the pleasure of the nobles. 1.b. Underprivileged Commoners: Below the two privileged classes (clergy and nobility) were the underprivileged commoners known as the third estate. The third estate was subdivided into the bourgeoisie (middle class), the artisans and the peasants. The bourgeois comprised lawyers, physicians, teachers, merchants, bankers, manufacturers and men of literature. Many of them were rich, intelligent, energetic, educated and well to do. This class especially resented the existing political and social conditions in France. Belonging to the third estate, but beneath the bourgeois were the artisans living in towns and cities. They were comparatively a smaller class as the industrial life in France was not yet highly developed. These artisans were usually organized in guilds. The peasants formed the majority of the third estate. France was an agricultural country. Thus, more than ninety per cent of the population was peasants. About a million of the peasants were serfs. The rest were free men, but they were all 3 discontented against the existing system of the government and social organization. The burden of the society was on their shoulders. Nearly the entire revenue of the government was raised from the third estate. The peasants paid nearly 55% in taxes of what they produced or earned. The peasants paid taxes to the state, tithes to the Church, and feudal dues to the nobles. The peasants paid tolls to the nobles for the use of the roads and bridges in their estates. The peasants were forced to use the flour mill, oven and winepress of the nobles and paid for the service. The peasants also paid indirect taxes like the gabelle (salt tax). The abuse connected with the administration of the salt-tax was the most glaring and scandalous. The salt-tax collectors called gabellous were the most hated by the French people. In France, each family was required by law to buy annually a specific amount of salt for household use. The price of the salt was very high in northern and central provinces and less in others. As a result many individuals turned into smugglers bringing in salt from the provinces where the rate of the salt was cheaper. Under these circumstances the gabellous used to make house to house searches and harass the people for hoarding of the salt. Besides the salt tax, the commoners had to pay the excise duty, taille (property tax), customs duties, etc. The feudal dues include corvee (forced labour) of two or three days and contribution in kind. The French peasants, suppressed, oppressed and depressed were discontented about their existing condition. They were on the verge of starvation. A large number of the peasants who knew nothing of he statecraft and who were ignorant of the destructive and subversive theories of Voltaire and Rousseau were quite aware of the necessity of reforms by the hard circumstances of their miserable lives. They felt that the feudal dues should be abolished, and that the excessive taxes of the state should be reduced. Thus, the third estate desired a change in the government, society and economic conditions. The large and growing middle class and some of the nobility and the working class had absorbed the ideology of equality and freedom of the individual. 2. Economic Conditions: Among the direct causes of the French Revolution was a massive financial crisis caused by the enormous debt, government‘s lavish spending and the antiquated system of taxation, which brought little money to the national treasury. The existing tax system had placed the greatest tax burden on the shoulders of the third estate and virtually ignored the first two estates of their responsibilities. Successive attempts at reforming the system proved fruitless in the face of opposition from the clergy and the nobility. 4 2. a. Bankruptcy of the French Government: The French government faced bankruptcy of the worst type. Since 1614, the French monarchy had operated without summoning the legislature of France known as the Estates General. The successive Kings used to manage their fiscal affairs by increasing the burden of the ancient and unequal system of taxes, by borrowing money, and sometimes by selling noble titles and other privileges. However, noble titleholders were exempted from further taxes. On the eve of the Revolution, France was deeply in debt and was on the brink of bankruptcy. Extravagant expenditures by Louis XIV on luxuries such as the construction and maintenance of the magnificent palace of Versailles, the social extravaganza of the royal court during the reign of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI and the luxurious taste of Marie Antoinette, queen of Louis XVI were compounded by heavy expenditure on the Seven Years War (1756- 63) and the American War of Independence (1776-83). The empty national treasury was the spark that set the French Revolution of 1789 in motion. While the French peasants were starving and dying, the royal court and the clergy and the nobles were having festivities and banquets. The French government mishandles the national economy. It had no regular budget. It wasted money without proper planning and the national debt went on increasing. 2. b. Heavy Taxes: Unlike the trading nations, France could not rely solely on tariffs to generate income. While average tax rates were higher in Britain, the burden on the common people was greater in France. Taxation in France relied on a system of internal tariffs separating the regions in France, which prevented a unified market from developing in the country. Taxes, such as the extremely unpopular gabelle were contracted out to private collectors who were permitted to collect far more than what the government demanded. This system led to an arbitrary and unequal collection of many of the consumption taxes in France. Further, the royal and feudal (signorial) taxes were collected in the form of compulsory labour (corvee). The system of taxation in France excluded the nobles and the clergy from having to pay taxes. The tax burden was thus, borne by the peasants, wage earners and the professional and business classes. These groups were also cut off from most positions of power in the regime causing a great deal of unrest among them. Many public officials had to buy their positions from the King.

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