Liberty, Equality and Taxation: Wine in the French Revolution

Abstract

This article analyzes the debate surrounding indirect taxes on wine during the French Revolution. These taxes produced much revenue for the state, but were also the target of much popular fury. Once the Revolution began in July 1789 the places where they were collected became the focus of sustained attacks and social protest. The revolutionaries debated how to reform these taxes, but were finally pushed to abolish them by popular pressure in 1791. This process is analyzed and the complex nature of the revolutionary dynamic in which the state and popular classes interacted to shape the goals, direction and outcome(s) of the French Revolution is highlighted. By using the revolutionary rhetoric of liberty and equality, petitioners and key legislators called for the indirect taxes on wine to be abolished. By exploring the discourse around wine and taxes, it is apparent that issues of consumption, equity and the social role of alcohol played a part in the new government's formation of fiscal policy. It is also clear that moderately priced wine was a tangible outcome of the French Revolution and symbolic of its ideals.

Taxation, State Formation, and Governmentality: The Historical Development of Alcohol Excise Duties in England and Wales

“…10.It might be added that opposition to alcohol excise duties in Britain seems to have lacked the scale and level of violence and/or disorder that was seen in other countries at certain points in time. The US Whisky Rebellion of 1791 (Gifford 1997; Yelvington 1997) and the role of opposition to wine taxes in the French Revolution (Plack 2012) are apposite examples here.…”