France's Involvement In The Seven Years War

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The source and initiation of the France’s financial issues began after their involvement in the Seven Years War from 1756-83. The money used to support this war caused a deep financial exhaustion for France. Following many predecessors, in October 1776, Jacques Necker was appointed Director of Treasury. He was determined not to increase taxes and in attempt to follow that notion, Necker financed the French’s involvement in the American was almost entirely by loans. Although he kept his word and did not implement any new taxation, he increased the French deficit by astonishing numbers. In his borrowing, Necker raised an estimated amount of 522 million in loans. Necker released a falsified budget sheet, the compte rendu au roi to ease tensions …show more content…

With a more pragmatic perspective than his predecessor, Calonne soon discovered, however, that major reforms were necessary to save France from bankruptcy. He arranged an assembly of key figures throughout the French community, such as clergymen, nobles, and very few non-nobles in hopes of having them agree upon and help setup is plans of financial reformation. In August 1786 he submitted to King Louis XVI a far-reaching plan of reform that involved increasing the taxation of the privileged noble and clerical orders through a proportional tax on land. This taxation would be directed toward landowners and the majorities among these landowners were wealthy clergymen and nobles who felt this proposal to be out order. The Notables refused to agree with Calonne’s suggested reforms, and some members grew hostile towards Calonne, blaming him for the nation’s problems. Instead of relieving financial tensions and easing the minds of the people, Calonne’s proposals caused uproar and chaos, and after accumulating a negative reputation so quickly, he was eventually replaced by Étienne Charles de Brienne, a French churchman, finance minister of Louis XVI, and member of Assembly of Notables. After examining the situation he came to similar conclusions as his predecessor, calling for taxation reform. Brienne suggested a land tax on the privileged orders and called for increased taxation contributions from the church. The Paris Parliament along with many other clergy and nobles rejected this notion and demanded the Estates General be assembled in order to propose alternative solutions for financial reformation. In May of 1789, the Estates General was called upon by Louis XVI in an effort to gather ideas from the differing social groups and propose possible solutions for France’s financial crisis. This assembly was