Jacques Necker French statesman Country: France

1. Biography of Jacques Necker
2. Ministerial Positions and Financial Reforms
3. Resignation and Return to Geneva
4. The French Revolution and Necker's Resignation

Biography of Jacques Necker

Jacques Necker was a French statesman born in Geneva, where his father, a native of Brandenburg, was a professor. In 1750, he moved to Paris, where he amassed a huge fortune through banking operations during the reign of Choiseul. His house became a meeting point for the educated and noble people of society. As the resident minister of his hometown, he developed closer relations with the French government, often lending them money.

Ministerial Positions and Financial Reforms

In his work "Essai sur la législation et le commerce des grains" (Paris, 1775), Necker expressed views close to mercantilism, causing a sensation. In June 1776, he was appointed as an advisor in the finance department, and a year later, he became its head. However, he was not granted the title of Controller-General due to being a Protestant. Necker cleverly covered the expenses of the American war with loans, without making significant changes. Eventually, when loans became impossible, he returned to the principles of thrift and the reforms proposed by Turgot, which led to his conflict with the court and privileged classes.

Resignation and Return to Geneva

After publishing his work "Compte rendu au roi" (Paris, 1781), in which he provided the nation with a report on the state of finances, Necker was forced to resign. He returned to Geneva, where he purchased the estate of Coppet and published the treatise "De l'administration des finances". In 1787, he returned to Paris but was soon expelled. In the summer of 1788, Louis XVI was forced to appoint Necker once again as the head of the finance department. By this time, the decision to convene the Estates-General had already been made, but Necker failed to control the movement. Despite the opposition of the nobility, he insisted that the Third Estate be summoned in double the numbers of the higher estates. However, he lacked the courage to establish universal suffrage instead of voting by estate, resulting in a conflict between the classes.

The French Revolution and Necker's Resignation

When the court, on June 23, 1789, attempted to annul the decision of the Third Estate, which declared itself the National Assembly, by convening a royal session, Necker refused to attend. As a result, the king dismissed him and ordered him to leave France immediately. The news of Necker's resignation sparked the uprising of July 12-14 (see the French Revolution), and the king was forced to call him back. However, when the National Assembly rejected his plan for a new loan and accepted Mirabeau's proposal to issue assignats, Necker resigned (1790) and returned to Coppet, where he passed away. Necker's daughter, Anne Louise Germaine de Staël, became a well-known French writer.