A growing number of the French citizenry had absorbed the ideas of "equality" and "freedom of the individual" as presented by Voltaire, Denis Diderot,Turgot, and other philosophers and social theorists of the Enlightenment. The American Revolution demonstrated that it was plausible for Enlightenment ideas about how a government should be organized could actually be put into practice.Some American diplomats, like Benjamin Franklin andThomas Jefferson, had lived in Paris where they consorted freely with members of the French intellectual class. Furthermore, contact between American revolutionaries and the French troops who served as anti-British mercenaries in North America helped spread revolutionary ideals to the French people. After a time, many of the French began to attack the undemocratic nature of their own government, push for freedom of speech, challenge the Roman Catholic Church, and decry the prerogatives of the nobles.
France had played a
deciding role in the American Revolutionary War, (1775-1783) sending its navy
and troops to aid the rebelling colonists. During this time there was much
contact between the Americans and the French, and revolutionary ideals spread
between the groups
Influence of the English and the American Revolutions
The Bloodless or Glorious
Revolution had a deep
influence on the French philosophers. It inspired them to active political and
economic reforms. TheAmerican Revolution had a greater influence on them. They
felt that if the Americans could revolt and overthrow the government of
England, they should also revolt and overthrow the corrupt and autocratic
government of Louis XVI. The French had been led by Lafayette in the American Revolution and were so
highly influenced by it that Arthur Young remarked, "The American
Revolution has laid the foundation for another in France, if the government
does not take care of itself."
NECKER :
In October 1776 Necker was made finance minister of France, though with the title only of director of the treasury, which, however, he changed in 1777 for that of director-general of the finances. He did great good in regulating the finances by attempting to divide the taille or poll tax more equally, by abolishing the "vingtième d'industrie", and establishing monts de piété (establishments for loaning money on security). But his greatest financial measures were his attempt to fund the French debt and his establishment of annuities under the guarantee of the state. The operation of funding was too difficult to be suddenly accomplished, and Necker rather pointed out the right line to be followed than completed the operation. In all this be treated French finance rather as a banker than as a profound political economist, and thus fell far short of Turgot, who was the very greatest economist of his day. Politically he did not do much to stave off the coming Revolution, and his establishment of provincial assemblies was only a timid application of Turgot's great scheme for the administrative reorganization of France. In 1781 he published his famous Compte rendu, in which he drew the balance sheet of France, and was dismissed from his office. Yet his dismissal was not really due to his book, but to the influence of Marie Antoinette, whose schemes for benefiting the duc de Guines he had thwarted. In 1788 the country, which had at the bidding of the literary guests of Madame Necker come to believe that Necker was the only minister who could "stop the deficit", as they said, demanded Necker's recall, and in September 1788 he became once more director-general of the finances. Throughout the momentous months which followed the biography of Necker is part of the history of the French Revolution. Necker put a stop to the rebellion in Dauphiné by legalizing its assembly, and then set to work to arrange for the summons of the states general. Throughout the early months of 1789 he was regarded as the savior of France, but his conduct at the meeting of the states general showed that he regarded it merely as an assembly which should grant money, not organize reforms. But as he had advised the calling of the states general and the double representation of the third estate, and then permitted the orders to
deliberate
and vote in common, he was regarded as the cause of the Revolution by the
court, and on July 11 was ordered to leave France at once.TURGOT :
In 1761 Turgot was appointed by Louis XV as intendant of the isolated and impoverished district of Limoges. For the thirteen years to follow, he used his intendancy as a laboratory for testing many of his economic theories. In an attempt to oppose tax abuse and injustice, he established a civil service to oversee matters relating to taxation, the first task being the revision of outdated records throughout the district. He subsequently enlisted the cooperation of the parish priests, who were to assume shortly numerous administrative duties. Turgot supported new agricultural methods, introduced new crops, sought to develop industry, and promoted as much free trade as it was possible. In order to improve communication within the district and with neighboring provinces, he built roads and improved navigation. At the local level, his reforms were welcomed by many with great relief and appreciation. Well aware of the burdens that fell entirely upon the peasantry, he abolished the compulsory military service known as the milice, and furthermore eliminated the corvées, which required peasants to perform mandatory labour such as road building and billeting troops stationed throughout the district. He also instituted a fund for public assistance to which various segments of the population contributed, established charitable committees and workshops, and did what he could to reduce the effects of the famine of 1770. However, in the face of strong local opposition from the privileged classes and the restrictions imposed by the ancien régime, his reforms could only be achieved on a modest scale, but he was nonetheless widely acclaimed for his efforts, especially by the philosophes.
As a result of Turgot’s growing reputation in the district of
Limoges, he was appointed by Louis XVI to the naval administration in 1774, and
two months later he was named contrôleur
général (minister of finance)
in Maurepas’s cabinet. Turgot immediately proceeded to introduce an extensive
system of reform whose aim was to reduce government expenditures and augment
public revenues without imposing new taxes. His motto was “No bankruptcy, no
increase in taxes, no borrowing”. In 1774, his edict restoring the free
circulation of grain within France antagonized the grain speculators. This
edict was unfortunately followed by a disastrous crop failure, which resulted
in bread riots that had to be repressed by force. In 1776, he introduced an
ambitious program of reform, which later became known as the Six Edicts. Two of
these edicts are worthy of special note. The one proclaimed the partial
suppression of the guilds in an effort to destroy the old trade monopolies and
to introduce the concept of free enterprise. The other sought the elimination
of the corvée by proposing instead that all
landowners be taxed. Turgot added to the edicts the enforcement of the
strictest control in public spending, which was not well received by the court.
In short order, he lost much of his popularity. The clergy, who had long opposed
Turgot for his tolerant religious views, were joined by the nobles, and then by
Marie Antoinette, angered by Turgot’s refusal to grant favours to her protégés.
In May 1776, Turgot was forced to resign. He retired to a life of study and
died of gout in 1781.
It is difficult to assess the validity of the belief held by some
historians that the French Revolution might have been avoided if Turgot’s
reforms had succeeded. His admirers praise his liberal thought and his attempts
at reform. His critics, on the other hand, portray him as an intransigent
doctrinarian, far too zealous in carrying out his reforms, or as an abstract
thinker, far too removed from the reality of daily life and social strictures
in France. Still, it is imperative to view Turgot’s administrative and
political decision making within the context of the ancien régime. Although Turgot
is now remembered as an important eighteenth-century economist and
pre-revolutionary reformist minister of finance, his extensive writings reveal
an extraordinary thinker whose wide interests ranged from natural sciences and
poetry to language formation and social progress.
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