The French Revolution was born at the convergence of a debt crisis in France coupled with a monarchy that lost touch with its subjects. King Louis was born to privilege and had assumed the throne with no meaningful experience.The French King Louis XVI came to power at the age of 20 in 1774. When he came to power, France was deeply in debt as the result of the Seven Years War and the French support for the American Revolution. The French debt consumed half of the country's budget.  Having a debt service as a significant part of a European country's budget was common in the 1700s and that practice continues today. King Louis had an able and experienced administrator in Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, who attempted to push through financial reforms aimed at making tax collection more efficient. The landowners or parlements had rejected the taxes and insisted that the monarchy had no right to assess new taxes. Louis replaced Turgot with Jacques Necker as director-general of finances and...(Read Full Post)