Turgot: A Prophet of Reforms

Anne Robert Jacques Turgot was one of the greatest men of the 18th century and maybe of the century to follow. His attempts at reform during the latter half of the 18th century were unparalleled for their ingenuity during this period. However Turgot was a little too far ahead of his time and many of his concepts were received with skepticism and contempt by the ruling elites and monarchy of the time. It is easy to believe that had Turgot not been dismissed as controller-general of finances in 1776; France would have avoided revolution and survived prosperously into the 19th century. Turgot's reforms focused principally on the unjust taxation and treatment of the third estate during the Ancien Regime. The most controversial of these were "the six edicts" which sought to reform the old institutions of France from the ground up. Included in the edicts were reforms of the corvées, the burden on the peasants for transportation and maintenance; as well Turgot proposed limitation of the power of the guilds and tax farmers who were a major source of corruption during the period. …