Book contents
- The Making of a Fiscal-Military State in Post-Revolutionary France
- New Studies in European History
- The Making of a Fiscal-Military State in Post-Revolutionary France
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 The Nineteenth-Century French State and Its Rivals
- Chapter 2 The Revolutionary Quest for Fiscal Stability, 1789–1799
- Chapter 3 Developing a Post-Revolutionary Fiscal Politics, 1799–1814
- Chapter 4 Recasting the Fiscal-Military System, 1814–1821
- Chapter 5 The Resurgence of French Power, 1821–1830
- Chapter 6 The 1830 Revolution and the Limits of Fiscal Reform
- Chapter 7 The Ascent of the Interventionist Orleanist State, 1830–1848
- Chapter 8 The Rise and Fall of Austerity, 1848–1856
- Chapter 9 Reaching the Limits of the Fiscal-Military System, 1856–1871
- Chapter 10 The Triumph of the Notables
- References
- Index
Chapter 2 - The Revolutionary Quest for Fiscal Stability, 1789–1799
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 August 2022
- The Making of a Fiscal-Military State in Post-Revolutionary France
- New Studies in European History
- The Making of a Fiscal-Military State in Post-Revolutionary France
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 The Nineteenth-Century French State and Its Rivals
- Chapter 2 The Revolutionary Quest for Fiscal Stability, 1789–1799
- Chapter 3 Developing a Post-Revolutionary Fiscal Politics, 1799–1814
- Chapter 4 Recasting the Fiscal-Military System, 1814–1821
- Chapter 5 The Resurgence of French Power, 1821–1830
- Chapter 6 The 1830 Revolution and the Limits of Fiscal Reform
- Chapter 7 The Ascent of the Interventionist Orleanist State, 1830–1848
- Chapter 8 The Rise and Fall of Austerity, 1848–1856
- Chapter 9 Reaching the Limits of the Fiscal-Military System, 1856–1871
- Chapter 10 The Triumph of the Notables
- References
- Index
Summary
With the collapse of the ancien régime following a fiscal crisis, the Revolutionaries of the 1790s sought to design a more equitable tax system, based on direct taxes; most indirect taxes were abolished. These new taxes, though, proved insufficient to meet France’s needs, particularly given the collapse of public credit due to political instability. Committed to honouring the debt incurred by the ancien régime, and facing the mounting expenses of a major European war after 1792, the Revolutionary governments failed to stabilise the fiscal situation. Instead, they were pushed to compensate for insufficient tax receipts by levying forced loans, imposing price controls and printing money, which produced hyperinflation by the mid-1790s. These drastic measures, and their failure to resolve the fiscal problems of the 1790s, did much to discredit the Revolutionary regimes, and consequently facilitated the emergence of post-revolutionary politics under Napoleon.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022