Pacte de Famine

The collective mentality surrounding the belief then served as a tool for the French to make sense of the political environment.

At times, "bad grain" was blamed for making citizens ill.[3] From 1715 to 1774, Louis XV was the ruling King of France.

During his short time in office, Turgot established free trade in grain, worked to rectify the financial situation in France, focused on industry and agriculture, and wanted to reform the system so that feudal privileges no longer existed.

[4] In 18th century France, the role of police involved far more than simply upholding the law but also held responsibility over many systems in society, even street sweeping.

Once the guild system was transformed, police, to gain back a sense of control, made it difficult for business owners to obtain licenses by making applicants prove themselves "moral and solvent".

The guilds' members argued that the shift would lead to a more corporate system that would cause people to lose their sense of social identity and that chaos and instability would result.

[6] All tiers of society, including the poor, the police and the members of government, felt that the disruption of the grain and flour was done not for their sake but to satisfy the agendas of interest groups that were looking to make more money.

[6] There were documented efforts to deal with the grain shortage problems, such as increasing shipments from external sources, but belief in the famine plot remained.

[6] The period's disorder proved to be so great that the economic experiment was stopped, and Turgot ended his career as the Minister of Finances in 1776.

[6] France survived those food shortages, and a new era of industrialisation eventually emerged in the prelude and the aftermath of the Revolution of 1789.