the First and Second Estates. Louis XIV also wanted to
rationalize the French tax system, because the state often
had problems financing its frequent wars, its large standing
army, and the King’s own luxurious retinue, consumption,
and palaces. Its inability to tax even the minor nobility put
severe limits on its revenues.
Though there had been little economic growth, by the
time Louis XVI came to power in 1774, there had
nevertheless been large changes in society. Moreover, the
earlier fiscal problems had turned into a fiscal crisis, and
the Seven Years’ War with the British between 1756 and
1763, in which France lost Canada, had been particularly
costly. A number of significant figures attempted to balance
the royal budget by restructuring the debt and increasing
taxes; among them were Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, one
of the most famous economists of the time; Jacques
Necker, who would also play an important role after the
revolution; and Charles Alexandre de Calonne. But none
succeeded. Calonne, as part of his strategy, persuaded
Louis XVI to summon the Assembly of Notables. The king
and his advisers expected the Assembly to endorse his
reforms much in the same way as Charles I expected the
English Parliament to simply agree to pay for an army to
fight the Scottish when he called it in 1640. The Assembly
took an unexpected step and decreed that only a
representative body, the Estates-General, could endorse
such reforms.
The Estates-General was a very different body from the
Assembly of Notables. While the latter consisted of the
nobility and was largely handpicked by the Crown from
among major aristocrats, the former included
representatives from all three estates. It had last been
convened in 1614. When the Estates-General gathered in
1789 in Versailles, it became immediately clear that no
agreement could be reached. There were irreconcilable
differences, as the Third Estate saw this as its chance to
increase its political power and wanted to have more votes
in the Estates-General, which the nobility and the clergy
steadfastly opposed. The meeting ended on May 5, 1789,
without any resolution, except the decision to convene a
more powerful body, the National Assembly, deepening the
political crisis. The Third Estate, particularly the merchants,