ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the sequence of events that led from reform to revolution. It explains why reform from above failed to win sufficient support in the country at large, and how this failure helped to unleash forces that would cause the ancien régime to fall to pieces within a short space of time. After two decades of stop–go reform efforts, it is clear that by 1783 Louis XVI’s most senior officials were keenly aware of the gravity of the situation facing the country. The window of opportunity to carry out meaningful reform would not remain open for very much longer – if only because the third vingtième tax was scheduled to expire in 1787, the year in which the contract for the collection of indirect taxes was also due for renewal. The movement of troops was the step that acknowledged the failure of reform from above and pitched France into a revolution.
