France, History Of, Loss of control

By August 1786 even Necker's successor, the frivolous if intelligent Charles-Alexandre de Calonne (1734–1802), had concluded that the French state was coming to a dead end. Although the crown had assured the moneymen that it would not default on the debt, as indeed it could not have done without alienating thousands of its natural supporters, Calonne found that he could no longer raise