Editing Gabelle (section)

{{Short description|Salt tax in France}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Ancien Régime}}
The '''''gabelle''''' ({{IPA|fr|ɡabɛl}}) was a very unpopular French [[salt tax]] that was established during the mid-14th century and lasted, with brief lapses and revisions, until 1946. The term ''gabelle'' is derived from the [[Italian language|Italian]] ''gabella'' (a duty), itself originating from the [[Arabic]] word {{lang|ar|قَبِلَ}} ({{Transliteration|ar|qabila}}, "he received").

In France, the ''gabelle'' was originally an indirect tax that was applied to agricultural and industrial commodities, such as bed sheets, wheat, spices, and wine. From the 14th century onward, the ''gabelle'' was limited and solely referred to the French crown's taxation of salt.

Because the ''gabelle'' affected all French citizens (for use in cooking, for preserving food, for making cheese, and for raising livestock) and propagated extreme regional disparities in salt prices, the salt tax stood as one of the most hated and grossly unequal forms of revenue generation in the country's history.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Gabelle|volume=11|page=379}}</ref> Repealed in 1790 by the National Assembly in the midst of the [[French Revolution]], the ''gabelle'' was reinstated by [[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]] in 1806. It was briefly terminated and reinstated again during the [[French Second Republic]] and ultimately abolished in 1945 following France's liberation from Nazi Germany.<ref>{{cite journal | first= Jean | last = Chazelas | title = La suppression de la gabelle du sel en 1945 | journal = Le rôle du sel dans l'histoire: Travaux préparés sous la direction de Michel Mollat | publisher = Presses universitaires de France | year = 1968 | pages = 263–65 | oclc = 14501767 }}</ref>