Question

What compelled Louis XVI to raise taxes in France?

Answer 1

Instructions:

The answer to this question can be broken into 3 parts:

1. Maintenance of an extravagant court (1 mark)
2. Wars and Economic crisis (1 mark)
3. Debt trap because of lenders (1 mark)

Solution:

• Maintenance of and extravagant Court: France under various kings had an extravagant court at the Palace of Versailles.
• Wars and Economic Crisis: Long drawn wars already put a lot of pressure on the royal coffers. Which was followed by helping the thirteen American colonies to gain independence. This put France under a deep financial crisis.
• Debt Trap: Lenders who gave the state credit, now began to charge 10 per cent interest on loans. So the French government was obliged to spend an increasing percentage of its budget on interest payments alone.

Because of these reasons, Louis XVI decided to increase taxes.