Source+B

**Source B** **Marie Antoinette writing to her brother Joseph II of Austria (24 April 1788). This letter describes the attitude and actions of the nobles in the p**//**arlements**//**.** We are about to make great changes in the //parlements//. For several months the King’s orders and replies have displayed unswerving consistency and firmness of principle. The //parlements// are stunned and worried but persist nonetheless with troublemaking resolutions and protests. The idea is to confine them to act as judges and to create another assembly that will have the right to register taxes and general laws for the kingdom. It is very annoying to be obliged to institute changes of this nature, but it is clear that any delay would reduce the resources for preserving and consolidating the King’s authority.

Keerthana (11)

Source B disagrees with the fact that the French Revolution was due to deteriorating economic conditions and that it was due to political conflicts. Due to economic problems in France, King Louis of France had proposed taxes on the second estate to the chagrin and protests of the nobles from the second estate. This fact can be noted through the fact that Marie Antoinette wrote that “troublemaking resolutions and protests” persisted due to the King’s firm decisions to change some of the laws of the second estate. These protests were so overwhelming to the extent, as Queen Marie mentioned that the King had to create “another assembly that will have the right to register taxes and general laws for the kingdom.” Through this statement, it can be seen that the nobles that so much power over the King’s decision that the King had to call another assembly to overthrow their disagreeable decision. Furthermore, in Source B, Queen Marie also acknowledges the fact that any delay in this decision would “reduce the resources for preserving and consolidating the King’s authority”. Through this statement, it can be clearly seen that the nobles had so much power to the extent that they could question the King’s authority. This essentially proves that if the nobles disagreed with any of the King’s decisions and reforms, they could overthrow the decision and King himself. This can be further supported by Source A where the Parliament President threatened that if the kind were to continue “to make use of your absolute power, we would continue to protest with firmness and respect, against such practices which would be both disastrous and illegal.” This shows the fact that the Parliament opposed the King’ decision to impose taxes on the second estate and also that the parliament detested the King’s absolute power. This is further strengthened by my contextual knowledge, through which I know that the nobles detested the King’s absolute monarchy and disagreed with many of his decisions like imposing taxes on the second estate. This led to many political conflicts between the King and the nobles, through which many of the noble’s desire to overthrow the King grew and eventually lead to the French Revolution. Hence, Source B is very reliable and displays the fact that the French Revolution was mainly caused by political  problems between the nobles and the King rather than economic problems. 
 * Kitty (12)**

Source B agrees with the given hypothesis to a large extent. What can be inferred from Source B is that France was facing Economic problems at the time and therefore the poverty-stricken people were provoked to cause a revolution to bring themselves out of this plight. There was already deteriorating resources in France and this coupled with the aristrocracy’s elitist behaviour and the fact that they did not have to pay taxes added on to the burden of the third estate. ‘The parlements [were] stunned and worried’ by the King’s firmness and ruthlessness in his ruling. They backlashed with their ‘troublemaking resolutions and protests.’ From the way Marie Antoinette describes the lack of resources, it can be inferred that there was a deteriorating economic scene in France at that time, and the people caused a revolution to bring themselves out of the deplorable situation.


 * Cara (3)**

Source B contradicts the view that the French Revolution was due solely to deteriorating economic conditions. Although Source B references the economic policy of taxing the nobility and clergy, it points to political unrest among the nobility as the main cause of the monarchy’s downfall. Cross-referencing Source A, Antoinette says that the parlements, which largely consist of the nobility, are protesting the king’s decision to tax the nobility and clergy by introducing “troublemaking resolutions and protests”. From contextual knowledge, the political system of France was extremely disparate and bureaucratic, and although the King had so-called ‘absolute’ power, the nobility was able to sway him to a large extent. Hence, France’s political atmosphere was strained, which certainly affected the nobility, and even to some extent the Third Estate’s perception of Louis.

Furthermore, Source B corroborates the idea that the monarchy was power-hungry and wished to keep themselves in power through “preserving and consolidating the King’s authority”. Ostensibly, the nobility and even the bourgeoisie would have objections to Louis’s absolute reign.


 * Nicole (21)**

Source B does not agree with the hypothesis that the French Revolution was due to only deteriorating economic conditions. It must be acknowledged that Source B does reflect the deteriorating economic conditions of France at that point in time to a certain extent, such as from the fact that the king was in the midst of attempting to pass taxes through the //parlements,// who are in turn 'stunned and worried', but Source B mostly reflects the political upheaval and chaos of the period caused the French Revolution through the insistence of the monarchy to keep its power absolute, instead of transferring a portion of it onto the parliament to allow for a form of democracy. Instead, the monarchy instituted changes to 'preserve and consolidate the King's authority' as the supreme ruler of a France which was quickly buckling under the strains of economic problems and political unrest- a fact known from contextual knowledge of the period prior to the French Revolution. Source B illustrates the idea that it was the King's (lack of) authority which eventually led to his downfall through his various attempts to retain his authority and legitimacy as ruler of France and the subsequent political unrest it caused, a fact which can be cross-referenced with Source A where the King is warned by the Parlement President that if despite the appeals, arguments and views of the Parlement, the King were still to feel obliged to make use of his absolute power, 'we would continue to protest with firmness and respect, against such practices which would be both disastrous and illegal.'. The fact that Marie Antoinette describes the proposed changes to strip the parlements of any power it might have once had as 'great' also reflects the ignorance of the monarchy towards the already-strained political and social atmosphere in France, another factor that led in the birth of the French revolution and their downfall. Given that the source is taken from a first-hand account of Marie Antoinette, it can be said that it is valid and usable as it is a primary source from the time period, but it is not reliable as a source which provides information on the exact situation of the economic situation in France at that time, hence the source is unable to support the hypothesis that it was solely the deteriorating economic conditions which led to the French Revolution.