Editing Jacques Necker (section)

=== Second term as Controller-General ===
The Necker family returned to the Paris region, supposing they were present at the wedding of their only daughter [[Germaine de Staël|Germaine]] in January 1786. The impending [[national bankruptcy]] of France caused [[Charles Alexandre de Calonne|Calonne]] to convene an [[Assembly of notables]] under the elimination of [[parlement]]s in order to enforce tax reforms. It had not met since 1626. One could not issue new loans without the Parlements' approval.{{sfn|Aftalion|1990|p=25}} In his speech, Calonne expressed doubts about Necker's statistics in the ''Compte rendu''. According to him, they were false and misleading,<ref name="Felix">{{Cite book |last=Félix |first=Joël |title=The Crisis of the Absolute Monarchy: France from Old Regime to Revolution |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-last=Swann |editor-first=Julian |pages=107–126 |chapter=The Problem with Necker's Compte Rendu au roi (1781) |doi=10.5871/bacad/9780197265383.003.0006 |isbn=978-0-19-726538-3 |editor-last2=Félix |editor-first2=Joël |via=Oxford Academic}}</ref><ref name="Soll">{{Cite journal |last=Soll |first=Jacob |date=2016 |title=From Virtue to Surplus: Jacques Necker's Compte Rendu (1781) and the Origins of Modern Political Discourse |url=https://www.academia.edu/25163810 |journal=Representations |volume=134 |pages=29–63 |doi=10.1525/rep.2016.134.1.29 |via=Academia.edu}}]</ref><!--Necker wanted to show France in a strong financial position when the reality was much worse. He hid the crippling interest payments that France had to make on its massive 520 million livres in loans (largely used to finance the war in America) as a normal expenditure. When he was criticized by his successor [[Calonne]] for the ''Compte rendu'', he made public his "Financial Summary for the King", which appeared to show that France had fought the war in America, paid no new taxes, and still had a massive credit of 10 million livres of revenue.{{clarification needed}}--> as the state revenues had been revised upwards. For Calonne, the French deficit was caused by Necker, who had not raised the taxes. However, Calonne got involved in several financial scandals regarding the "Calonne Company" and was dismissed by the king on 8 April 1787.<ref name="FEIC">[https://docviewer.yandex.com/view/586742941/?*=1RTs2RhBWOX%2F7%2FNv0Sc64lyATH97InVybCI6InlhLWJyb3dzZXI6Ly80RFQxdVhFUFJySlJYbFVGb2V3cnVCQlFMX1JYbDVtNV81Y1NlWFBMbnFGZ1dkazkyallNQkRWZkZIRUtPRjlvX0lfVGRRTzRsdHU2LU5ocWFBYXF2c2xiaXZ2RUMxbTB5RGdaWGVZOWpERFcwekFuTTF3SnlQMmZDVzBBdnNsUy1oNHdnazJkMGRMZkthT09ONVA0QVE9PT9zaWduPS0yU0hMSm5IRFBWdmRENWlfMks4X2NCUkdzbTRfQTMzUGQxVFh0U1hkdnc9IiwidGl0bGUiOiJjb21wYWduaWVfZGVzX2luZGVzLmRvYyIsInVpZCI6IjU4Njc0Mjk0MSIsInl1IjoiODc2MjI0NDA2MTUzNjkyMjc5NyIsIm5vaWZyYW1lIjpmYWxzZSwidHMiOjE1NDQyOTg1MTE3MTN9&page=4 The French East India Company]{{dead link|date=April 2024}}</ref> On 11 April, Necker replied on the charges made by Calonne. Two days later Louis XVI banished Necker by a ''[[lettre de cachet]]'' for his very public exchange of pamphlets.<ref name="Hardman1">{{Cite book |last=Hardman |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r7EODAAAQBAJ |title=The Life of Louis XVI |date=2016 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0300221657 |location=New Haven}}</ref>{{pn|date=April 2024}}<ref name="Fairweather">{{Cite book |last=Fairweather |first=Maria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7TCeBAAAQBAJ |title=Madame de Staël |date=2013 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-1472113306}}</ref>{{pn|date=April 2024}}

After two months, Necker was allowed to return to Paris. Necker published his ''Nouveaux éclaircissement sur le compte rendu''. Also [[Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans]] and his secretary Charles-Louis Ducrest came up with proposals.<ref name="Ducrest">{{Cite web|url=https://data.bnf.fr/fr/12531285/charles-louis_ducrest/|title=Charles-Louis Ducrest (1747–1824)}}</ref> The next minister of finance [[Loménie de Brienne]] resigned within fifteen months. On 24 August 1788; the king allowed him an enormous pension.

<!--Significant deficits through increased spending on the magnificent court in Versailles and costly, foreign policy failures let the debt grow from 67% to 100%.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} By August the state needed 240 million livres and France was effectively bankrupt.<ref name="McPhee">{{Cite book |last=McPhee |first=Peter |title=Liberty or Death: The French Revolution |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2006 |isbn=9780300189933 |location=New Haven |pages=46}}</ref>-->On 25 or 26 August, Necker was called back to office accompanied by fireworks. According to John Hardman, Marie-Antoinette helped to organise Necker's return to power. This time he insisted on the title of [[Controller-General of Finances]] and access to the [[Conseil du Roi|royal council]].{{sfn|Durant|Durant|1967|p=948}}<ref name="Fairweather" /><ref name="Britannica">{{Cite web |last=Goodwin |first=Albert |date=2024-04-05 |title=Jacques Necker |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jacques-Necker |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>
Necker was appointed as [[Chief minister of France]]. <!--The revolution began here, according to J. Hardman--> He revoked the order of 16 August requiring bondholders to accept paper instead of money; government bonds rose 30% on the market.{{sfn|Durant|Durant|1967|p=949}}

On 7 September 1788, Paris was looking at famine, and Necker suspended the exportation of corn, purchased seventy million livres of wheat, and publicly reposted the decree of the King's Council of 23 April 1789 allowing police to inspect granaries and private inventories of grain, but none of these efforts could solve the problem.<ref name="Kropotkin2">{{cite book | title=The Great French Revolution, 1789–1793 | chapter=Chapter 10 | author=Peter Kropotkin | year=1909 | translator=N. F. Dryhurst | quote=The distress in the city, however, increased from day to day. It is true that Necker had taken measures to avert the dangers of a famine. On September 7, 1788, he had suspended the exportation of corn, and he was protecting the importation by bounties; seventy million livres were expended in the purchase of foreign wheat. At the same time he gave widespread publicity to the decree of the King's Council of April 23, 1789, which empowered judges and officers of the police to visit private granaries to make an inventory of the grain, and in case of necessity to send the grain to market. But the carrying out of these orders was confided to the old authorities and-no more need be said! | publisher=New York: Vanguard Printings | url=http://www.revoltlib.com/?id=222}}</ref> In 1788, insurrections broke out in Brittany, and Necker was sacked again. In a letter to [[Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau]], Marie-Antoinette took personal credit for forcing the king's hand on this matter. She believed that Necker would lessen the King's authority and wrote "the moment is pressing. It is very essential that Necker should accept."<ref name="Kropotkin3">{{cite book | title=The Great French Revolution, 1789–1793 | chapter=Chapter 5 | author=Peter Kropotkin | year=1909 | translator=N. F. Dryhurst | quote=At Paris, after the dismissal of the Archbishop of Sens, there were numerous demonstrations. The Pont Neuf was guarded by troops, and several conflicts occurred between them and the people, of whom the leaders were, as Bertrand de Moleville remarks, 'those who later on took part in all the popular movements of the Revolution.' Marie-Antoinette's letter to the Count de Mercy should also be read in this connection. It is dated August 24, 1788, and in it she tells him of her fears, and announces the retirement of the Archbishop of Sens and the steps she had taken to recall Necker; the effect produced on the Court by those riotous crowds can therefore be understood. The Queen foresaw that this recall of Necker would lessen the King's authority; she feared "that they may be compelled to nominate a prime minister," but "the moment is pressing. It is very essential that Necker should accept." Source: J. Feuillet de Conches, Lettres de Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette et Madame Elisabeth (Paris, 1864), vol. i. pp. 214–216. | publisher=New York: Vanguard Printings | url=http://www.revoltlib.com/?id=217}}</ref>