French society in 1789

A difficult context

A difficult and disappointing reign

Louis XVI was only 20 years old when he succeeded his grandfather. He finds himself in a difficult situation:

• financial mess
• revolts of the privileged class led by the nobility of parliaments.
• discrediting the crown:Louis XV was buried at night to avoid hostilities. However, on May 10, 1774, the kingdom enthusiastically welcomed the new reign.

But Louis XVI is not the man for the job. Despite good intentions, this gentle and affectionate man cruelly lacked the courage to support the reforms of his ministers and stand up to the privileged. His only passions are hunting and locksmithing. He declared to Malesherbes one day:“How happy you are! Why can't I also leave my place! » . Very quickly the spendthrift and frivolous Marie-Antoinette attracts the hatred of the people. Rarely has a sovereign been so hated. For many she remained “the Austrian”. She is partly compromised by the necklace affair. As for the king's brothers, they are of no help to him:

• The Count of Provence (future Louis XVIII) was drawn to philosophy.
• The Count of Artois (future Charles X) remains rooted in repressive positions.

The Necklace Affair

This scandal contributed to discrediting the queen in the eyes of the French. Originally, Cardinal de Rohan sought the favors of Marie-Antoinette. He will be the victim of a plot by a group of crooks. They arranged for him to meet the queen at night, but in the evening the cardinal, who thought he had met the queen, had in fact met a look-alike. He was later persuaded that the queen wanted a river of diamonds worth £1,600,000. The cardinal made the intermediary and bought it from the jewelers. The crooks took it and sold the diamonds. At the time of payment the jewelers turned against the queen. The scandal was now public and the people sided with Rohan who became a victim of the queen's machinations.

An unequal society

In 1789, France was made up of 26 million inhabitants, but the different social classes were divided unequally:

• Nobility has 400,000 people; we distinguish the high nobility, which is made up of families close to the throne, and the lesser nobility, represented by less fortunate gentlemen and the nobility of dress who form the magistracy (administrative tasks).
• Clergy is dissociated into the high clergy made up of bishops, cardinals and abbots and the lower clergy who shared the way of life and the aspirations of the people. The clergy is made up of approximately 120,000 people.
• The Third Estate represents 98% of the French population. This is the active and laborious part of the country. Itself breaks down into several groups:
  • The bourgeoisie . It is made up of industrialists, bankers, merchants, lawyers, teachers or doctors... This class holds the country's economy in hand and provides the administrative staff. However, she was excluded from high political office.
  • Little town people . The workers, the small craftsmen without forgetting the poor unemployed people who live in difficult conditions.
  • The peasantry . This is the most important and numerous part. Even if there are differences between the owner and the agricultural worker, all are in league against feudal privileges (chore, seigniorial taxes, hunting rights...).

The bourgeoisie that will take the lead of the Revolution can count on the starving peasants and the people of the suburbs.

Royal politics and administration

• Domestic policy. The regime has kept the heritage of Louis XIV and the absolute monarchy. The king's power is limitless. He can appoint and dismiss his ministers and controls all members of the central government. Despite the centralization of power, there are nevertheless distinctions in the administration of the provinces which keep a majority of particularities specific to certain regions, cities or tribunates. All this contributes to the disorder and instability of the French administration.
• The foreign policy of Louis XVI. It is marked by the American war. A few French volunteers were sent alongside the American insurgents from 1777 (La Fayette), then the royal expeditionary force was officially invested from 1779 (Rochambeau). France's ambition is to weaken England and recover territories lost during the Seven Years' War. The fleet and the French admirals (from Grasse) covered themselves with glory and defeated the English squadrons on all the seas of the globe. In 1781, the Battle of Yorktown was decisive, and in 1783, the Treaty of Versailles recognized American independence. France recovers St Pierre and Miquelon and Senegal...

Louis XVI in coronation robes

Taxes

The nobles pay only low taxes but are exempted from the size. This is the heaviest tax, it levies almost 53% of income, but this rate can worsen in this period of budgetary debt. Indirect taxes such as the salt tax or the tithe in favor of the clergy are enough to overwhelm the subjects of the kingdom. In addition, the Church does not pay taxes, and many members of the clergy embezzle the money of the faithful and the kingdom for their personal good. The participation of France in the American war (2 billion pounds) aggravates the debt of the Public Treasury and the deficit grows.

French tax law

• Aids :Royal indirect taxes, relating mainly to beverages (but also to oils and soaps, papers, playing cards, etc.) In 1789, Necker withdrew them and put them under management.
• The banalities :Seigneurial right by which certain lords could prescribe the paying and obligatory use of the mill, the oven or the press (known as banal). The banality of the mill was among the heaviest and most hated seigniorial rights.
• The casual :Royalty collected by the Clergy, on the occasion of baptisms, marriages and burials.
• The cens :Royalty due annually to the lord, for the lands exploited on his lordship.
• The champart :Royalty due to the lord by his censitaires, consisting of a portion of the harvest (on average one sheaf out of ten).
• Tithing :Main royalty due to the clergy and representing the largest portion of their income. Several types of tithes were distinguished according to their purpose:large tithes (on wheat and wine), small tithes or green tithes (on other cereals, vegetables, etc.), carnage or carnage tithes (on sheep, pigs or barnyard animals), old tithes, new tithes.
• The salt tax :royal consumption tax on salt, generalized in the 14th century.
• Mining :duty levied by the King, a lord or a municipality on grain and other goods sold at fairs and markets.
• Size :It appears in the 15th century, different in the pays d'oil and the pays d'oc. It became for three and a half centuries the basis of the personal taxation of the Ancien Régime.
• Pollitation :Created in 1695, it is based on a division of property into twenty-two classes, each class being taxed according to a different rate.
• The tenth tax :It is a deduction from the income of all properties (property income, movable income, income from liberal professions, income from industry). The tenth will be replaced by the twentieth, which will be a permanent tax.

The Duke of Orléans and the Freemasons

The Orleans branch begins with the birth of Philippe, brother of Louis XIV. His family is very influential in the kingdom. His son Philippe II of Orléans is the Regent until the majority of Louis XV. The Duke of Orleans, at the time of the Revolution, was very rich, and was a partisan of the new ideas of his century. He is the cousin of Louis XVI with whom he will not stop opposing, aspiring to accede to the Crown. Deputy for the Mountain under the name of Philippe Égalité, he voted for the death of the king. His son Louis-Philippe will be King of the French in 1830. But above all, the Duke of Orléans is the Grand Master of Freemasonry. This movement, very present in New England, animated the American Revolution (Franklin and Washington are part of it). This very famous school cultivates the ideal of fraternity and solidarity by practicing symbolic rites. Republican ideas and positivist philosophy revived this tendency created by builder masons in the 8th century. On the eve of the Revolution, this movement was very widespread in the aristocratic environment where people worked to help the elderly and to create hospitals. Mirabeau, La Fayette, Joseph Bonaparte and Marshals Ney and Macdonald are famous Frenchmen who will adopt his ideas.

The kingdom in crisis

The Age of Enlightenment is coming to an end and the people desire the end of absolute monarchy and feudal order. The Third Estate no longer supports privileges and heavy taxes. Twenty-five million French people support a small privileged minority through their work. The inequality of birth, of social condition and the inequality in front of the tax and the justice contribute to reinforce the discontent of the people. The reforms put in place by the various ministers have failed. Turgot, Necker, Calonne then Loménie de Brienne tried to reduce the privileges granted to some, but came up against the upper middle class which retained its influence over the kingdom. The crisis grew and the two assemblies of notables (made up of members of the three orders) which met in 1787 and 1788 failed. The popular masses are gathering, they are demanding the opening of the Estates General. To satisfy public wishes, Louis XVI gave in and the convocation of the Estates General was scheduled for the beginning of May 1789 in Versailles.

July harvest

Towards a big change

The Estates General

The assemblies of the states are, under the Old regime, political assemblies which are held to deliberate questions of public interest. They are composed of deputies sent by the three orders. A distinction was made between the Estates General, representing the entire kingdom and several provinces (provinces of langue d'oïl or oc), and the Estates Provincial, formed only by the delegates of a single province. The Estates General were convened for the first time in 1302 by Philippe IV le Bel. He relies on them to settle his disputes with the pope. The assemblies of the states have never been periodic (contrary to the English Parliament). They meet only in times of crisis. The king fixes the place and the date of the assembly and takes into account or not the presented proposals. The Estates General were commonly met during the Hundred Years War (defeat of Crécy, captivity of Jean II le Bon...). They have not been summoned since 1614, when Richelieu asserted royal absolutism.

Everyone's interests

At the announcement of the convocation of the Estates General, each order prepares to defend its point of view in the face of the crisis affecting the country.

• Nobility who has tax advantages mainly wants to keep his influence on the trade at sea or on the big industries, it also reserves the functions in the army, the navy or the policy. Thus, the nobility especially wishes to maintain this dominant position in society. The noblesse de robe (magistrates) who are attached to the ideas of the century also hope to retain their prerogatives. The small rural nobility made up of gentlemen wanted to increase their rights and privileges because they lived in the misery of the people.
• In 1789, the Clergy has lost its luster, there are of course honorable dignitaries but there are relatively shocking prelates. It is very likely that some of them do not even believe in God. Most of the lesser abbots and lower clergy priests despise their leaders and wish to be given more importance.
• The bourgeoisie is the engine of cities, it represents the dynamism of France.
  • The traders found in the markets. They have children who apply for positions as lawyers or doctors.
  • The commercial bourgeoisie. It has extended to global affairs.
  • The business bourgeoisie. It is made up of bankers and industrialists.

The bourgeoisie will constitute the majority of the revolutionary deputies. They can read and write and agree that the kingdom is stagnating. They hope to gain prominence in the social world alongside their political influence.

• The peasants no longer suffer from the great famines of the Middle Ages, but there are still food shortages due to the archaism of agriculture even if France brings back invigorating crops. The peasants wish to free themselves from the feudal yoke and acquire ownership of the land which is granted to a steward of the lord, retained at court. The peasants are attached to the religion but do not support the tithe just like the other taxes.
• The people of the cities established around craftsmen, shopkeepers or beggars suffered from cold and hunger during the winter of 1788-89. Harvests were poor and wages fell.

The third estate bearing the weight of the privileges of the nobility and the clergy

The will to change the kingdom

Shortly after the announcement of the opening of the states, Louis XVI announced regional elections to appoint the deputies who would represent each order. At the same time, the king expressed his wish to reform the state, to establish equality before the tax and to make the convocation of the states periodic. The people show their enthusiasm when Louis XVI announces that the number of deputies of the Tiers will be doubled for a fairer representation of the three orders (the Tiers represent approximately 98% of the population). However, not a peasant or craftsman will be invited to the deputation. The deputies of the third are bankers, industrialists or rural owners.

The notebooks of grievances

"His Majesty desires that, even in the most remote lands of his kingdom, and in the most modest dwellings, everyone be given the means of sending him their wishes and recommendations. » In his own way, Louis XVI began, wisely, to take the pulse of the country. Even in the most isolated parishes of France, the writing of grievances and recommendations for the country was carefully undertaken. Assembled and summarized, they will become “the Notebooks of Grievances” that the deputies from each region take with them to Versailles during the meeting of the States. In these 60,000 notebooks, we remain faithful to the king but we demand to limit his power, we demand equality before taxes, before justice and a new constitution guaranteeing individual freedoms. Each order offers its own recommendations; the clergy denounced the influence of Rome in France, the nobility complained of royal absolutism, and the Third Estate demanded the right to hunt, the abolition of the tithe or even that of feudal rights. All are ready and preparing to intervene when in May 1789, the states meet.

The pamphlet of Sieyes

Abbé Sieyès is one of the deputies of the Third Estate. He attends all the events of the Revolution. He partly drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. He plays an important role in the Management Board. Sieyès also favored Napoleon's coup d'etat in 1799. In 1789, he wrote this famous pamphlet:- What is the Third Estate? All. - What has happened so far in the political order? Nothing. - What is he asking? To become something there.

What is the third state ? [Abbot E. Siéyès] 1789