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two major political events that affected France leading up to the French Revolution

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1763: After French and Indian War, French expelled from North America and being reduced to its key colonies in the Caribbean

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1776: France aided America in the War of Independence from Britain

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its actions in 1781 were crucial to the American colonists because the French navy effectively blockaded Chesapeake Bay where major British forces were and forced their surrender

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victory at last against its British rivals has enormous costs

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the cost of the war per year was about twice the revenue that the French government would take in taxes

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creates a major financial crisis for the French monarchy

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Louis XVI takes action

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1787 Meeting of the Assembly of Notables

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failed: don't want to pay more takes on property, for instance

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1787 Parliament of Paris refuses to register royal reforms

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17888 Lamoignon fails to reduce power of parliament

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nobles were of the opinion that Louis XVI was trying to undermine ancient rights

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1788: Journée des Tuiles in Grenoble

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royal troops marching to the city are pelted by roofing tiles

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Louis XVI decides that trying to force the noble courts to reform is not going to work

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therefore, Louis calls a meeting of the Estates General

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a body that hasn't met in 175 years, a meeting of the three orders: clergy, nobility, and commons

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it is only an advisory body, but a move that electrifies public opinion

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1788: Louis XVI decrees that representatives for the Third Estate will be double that of the other two estates

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focuses public debate on this question

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when they gather, will the three estates meet individually or together

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whether or not there will be one common assembly or not, electrifies opinion

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it's not about the king anymore, "it has become a war between the third estate and the other two orders"

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rural cultures

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a world that is oral rather than written

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early 1789:

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the king makes it plain:

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every community is to draw up a "cahiers de doléances" (list of grievances)

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representatives will take these to Versailles to inform the king

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for the first time in history, common people are not only allowed to voice their opinion, but they were required to do so

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example: Erceville,

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the people of Erceville, or at least the male heads of household gather in a meeting place near the church and write down, or at least have a literate man write down, their grievances

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mostly grievances about taxation

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they want the Estates General to become a permanent feature of public life in France

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March 1789

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elections of the Estates General take place

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these gatherings are tumultuous affairs

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many peasants assumed and believed that because the king asked them to send him their grievances, that he was going to act on them