Royal Finance and Economy

• When was Turgot Controller-General?

  1774-1776
• When was Necker the director general?

  1777-1781
• When was Calonne the controller-general? 1783-1787
• Turgot's proposals were: reduction of pensions, documents of department spending.
• Necker's reforms: Cost cutting, 1781 first budget statement
• Calonne's reforms: general land tax, ended corvee royale removed grain trade control.
• Brienne's policies: repackaged Calonne's , land tax, only very few went through, liked by Marie A.
• Calonne faced opposition due to distrust.
• 2.3 billion livres debt by 1764
• Paine published common sense in 1776.
• Which two wars made the debt problem worse?

  Austrian War and Seven Years War
• Necker released the Compte Rendu, exposed finances and was inaccurate.
• Why the financial reforms failed:

  Turgot- failed as they were greeted by hostility from those whose interests they threatened.

  
  

  Necker- had enemies in farmer-general, courts, nobility + Marie Antoinette.

  Also despite his efforts to reduce expenditure the war of independence meant they spent hugely.

  
  

  Calonne- also greeted by hostility from nobility.
• France declares bankruptcy in

  16th August 1788
• France was 2.8m livres in debt
• Economy was booming due to:

  • Population rise 22m to 27m in 80 years
  • Very prosperous trade, cotton and sugar.
• Economy was weak due to:

  • Struggling food supply
  • Issues with trade, variation with weights and measures
  • Bad harvests between 1785 and 1789.
• Inadvanced banking system with paper money to lower inflation, withdrawn for just coins which there weren't enough of.
• When was Brienne the controller general?

  1787-1788
• Costs from siding with America in the American revolution starting in 1775 and the War of Austrian succession. Louis' inherited debt of 2m rose to 3.3m