Answer the two questions
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Lect13f17France.pptxLecture 13 France
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Taxation in Europe
Domain states and tax states
Starting around 1500 there was a large increase in tax revenues and the size of armies in Spain, France, Austrian Empire, England
Kings consolidated territories (easier for defense)
Kings hired mercenaries from at home and other countries
Contrast with China, which went directly to conscription of mass armies by 200 BCE
Revenues used mainly for military (90%)
France
French state was built up from a base around Paris that was the property of the royal family; these provinces were ruled directly by the king; other provinces were added over time but were allowed to retain their own inherited rules; let’s call these the core provinces and the peripheral provinces
In general the provinces had Estates, composed of the three orders: clergy, nobility, and commoners, or the first, second, and third estates
The provincial Estates gained privileges for themselves, with different rules for different provinces, especially in the more recently acquired peripheral provinces
France
There was also an Estates General, representing the whole country; it failed to restrain the king in the 1440s as France was driving England out of France; the Estates General was last called together in 1614 and again failed; not called again until 1789
After 1500 French kings continued to bargain with provincial estates (now called parlements); elites at provincial and local levels bargained for tax exemptions; these elites came to include wealthy businessmen as well as aristocrats and clergy; the tax burden fell on non-elites
French kings’ desire for revenue exceeded tax revenues; they resorted to borrowing from financial centers in Italy, Switzerland, Germany
France
Lenders borrowed on the promise of future tax receipts; kings at times failed to pay, and renegotiated the loans
Kings turned to the sale of offices; office holder was entitled to receive part or all of the revenue from a particular tax in a particular location
In early 1600s king offered to make some offices hereditary in return for a fee (the paulette); this venal office holding spread; system of office holding and taxation became very complex, with special privileges for individuals, some of whom were aristocrats, others merely wealthy
France
Kings’ credibility was low among foreign lenders; kings resorted to demanding loans from office holders, who after all had a stake in the system; this is called “inside finance”
Administrative centralization; kings appointed officials to go into the provinces and supervise the collection of taxes; they served at the pleasure of the king’s finance minister and were independent of local elites and venal office holders; these royal officials were called intendants; typically a recently ennobled man, with an assistant who was a commoner
France
Thirty Years War 1618-48 was very costly for France; heavy taxation and large accumulated debt; the new king attempted to maintain the heavy taxation; this provoked a rebellion of the aristocracy, called the Fronde, lasting from 1648 to 1653, when it was crushed militarily by the king’s forces
Further administrative centralization after 1653; more intendants appointed; towns and municipalities lost their autonomy; towns had elected their magistrates before 1650
France
Taxation became more uniform across regions of the country under this administrative centralization; the parlements generally lost power to resist taxes, but the aristocracy was exempt from most taxes
Seigneurial courts retained jurisdiction; peasants squeezed by multiple obligations
France
The aristocracy was drawn to reside in Paris and attend the court; their social privileges were reinforced; they were not involved in agricultural production
None of the social classes had much cohesion and ability to act collectively; aristocrats gained special favors from the kings; the bourgeoisie gained individual offices and exemptions
The leaders of the Fronde were not executed (contrast with China); peasant rebels in other rebellions were treated harshly
France
As 18th century progressed, French economy expanded and bourgeoisie grew more numerous and wealthy
Intellectual changes: Enlightenment questioned traditional rights, including divine right of kings; the idea spread that humans were equal and privileges based on birth were illegitimate
Protestants had acquired certain rights in 1598, but these were revoked in 1685; many Huguenots left for the Netherlands, but many remained, subject to discrimination
France
The political and social regime was supported by multiple vested interests that put obstacles in the way of reform
Through the 18th century France battled with England, mainly over acquiring and holding territories (colonies) in India, the Caribbean (sugar plantations), North America
Fiscal crisis in France from 1770s on; vested interests, especially the Parlement of Paris, resisted a more uniform set of taxes that would include the aristocracy
France
The main point is the failure of the provincial estates and the Estates General to maintain their rights to approve taxation; up until the explosion of the French Revolution, the king was able to go around these bodies; they never established the principle of Parliamentary supremacy
Why not? See Fukuyama’s explanation, pp 349-54
