Privilege and the Politics of Taxation in Eighteenth-Century France
Liberté, Egalité, Fiscalité

This book, first published in 2000, offers a lucid interpretation of the Ancien Régime and the origins of the French Revolution.

Michael Kwass (Author)

9780521771498, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 February 2000

372 pages, 6 b/w illus. 4 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.67 kg

"...a compelling study of the ways in which tax reform undermined the old regime and helped to create the republican political culture of the Revolution." H-FRANCE

Privilege and the Politics of Taxation in Eighteenth-Century France, first published in 2000, offers a lucid interpretation of the Ancien Régime and the origins of the French Revolution. It examines what was arguably the most ambitious project of the eighteenth-century French monarchy: the attempt to impose direct taxes on formerly tax-exempt privileged elites. Connecting the social history of the state to the study of political culture, Michael Kwass describes how the crown refashioned its institutions and ideology to impose new forms of taxation on the privileged. Drawing on impressive primary research from national and provincial archives, Kwass demonstrates that the levy of these taxes, which struck elites with some force, not only altered the relationship between monarchy and social hierarchy, but also transformed political language and attitudes in the decades before the French Revolution. Privilege and the Politics of Taxation in Eighteenth-Century France sheds light on French history during this crucial period.

List of illustrations
List of figures
List of tables
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction: why taxes?
Part I. Reassessing Privilege: 1. The economy of privilege and the challenge of universal taxation
2. A kingdom of taxpayers
Part II. The Politics of Taxation and the Language of Dispute: 3. Petitioning for 'justice': tax disputes in the administrative sphere
4. Taking 'liberty' to the public: tax disputes in the institutional sphere
5. Taxation, Enlightenment and the printed word: debate in the literary sphere
Part III. From Resistance to Revolution: 6. Turning taxpayers into citizens: reform, revolution and the birth of modern political representation
Conclusion: liberté, égalité, fiscalité
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], European history [HBJD]