The Financial Crisi of the French Revolution - 3441 Words

How Serious Was The Pre-Revolutionary Financial Crisis Between 1786-88, And How Significant Was The Clash Between The Notables And Calonne In Failing To Solve It? On the twentieth of august 1786 Charles Alexandre de Calonne, comptroller-general of the royal finances, informed King Louis XVI that the state was on the verge of a financial meltdown. Whilst not having exact details to the financial figures to show the full extent of the problem, it is never the less recognized that France was in serious financial difficulty. What then did Calonne propose to sort this financial mess out? How was he to convince the King and the Notables that France was in financial danger and to give backing to his solutions? This essay will†¦show more content†¦Calonne raised approximately over 420 million livres from 1783-87. Yet he could hardly go on borrowing for short term investments when clearly what was needed were long term plans to help France recover. What was then the comptroller-general to do in sorting out this dire financial situation? Especially when so many options were closed to him. Calonne himself even stated to Louis: I shall easily show that it is impossible to tax further, ruinous to be always borrowing and not enough to confine ourselves to economical reformsÂ… the only effective remedy to take, the only true means of managing finally to put the finances truly in order, must consist in revivifying the entire State by recasting all that is vicious in the constitution.2 Put simply, Calonne had come to realize that the financial problems of France were so extraordinary, that they were beyond financial problems. What Calonne proposed to do was to rework the entire state: all institutions had to be revamped in order to save France from her financial crisis. He believed that the state needed comprehensive organization Ââ€" as a result he felt it necessary to reform the economy, the government and possibly society in France. Calonne states in his document to Loius: The disparity, the disaccord, the incoherence of the different parts of the monarchy is theShow MoreRelatedWilliam Sewell Ideology And Social Revolutions Summary935 Words   |  4 PagesIn his piece, â€Å"Ideologies and Social Revolutions†, William Sewell Jr. makes an argument that the 1789 revolution in France has as much to do about ideology than anything. Sewell makes his argument by looking at two central ideologies, the corporate monarchial and the Enlightenment ideologies. These two competing ideologies were key to the reasons behind the French Revolution. Before looking into the competing ideologies in the French Revolutions, Sewell first defines what an ideology is. IdeologyRead MoreEffects Of Nationalism In The French Revolution1501 Words   |  7 Pagesfor a nation were shared a language and history†. In case of France, the nationalism force was very effective and inevitable during the French revolution 1789. 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