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King Louis XVI

            
             It could be said of Louis XVI that it was his main achievement of his reign was that he allowed the French Revolution to occur. Because of his actions and lack of action, it was his fault that the monarchy in France ended. If he had been the strong leader that was needed at the time he and his wife would have lived and continued the rule of France by the monarchy.
             When Louis first came to power, the monarchy in France was already in debt due to the major borrowing of money by previous rulers. But Louis did not care. He borrowed a great deal more money to help aid the American Revolution against Great Britain, France's main rival. Also Marie Antoinette, Louis" wife, spent much money on dresses and expensive jewelry as well as losing great amounts by gambling with cards. Also Louis commissioned a magnificent palace known as Versailles that is estimated at costing one million current US dollars.
             If Louis was more involved in the politics of France before the main crisis of the revolution hit all might have been saved. But Louis was not a very strong leader. He chose to spend his time hunting or tinkering with locks than to attending to the affairs of politics. If Louis XVI had attended to the affairs of government he would have found out and corrected the problems of France. But as Louis ignored his duties as ruler more people of the Third Estate became angry and started seeking reform.
             The Third Estate had a very hard time staying alive due to high taxes and high prices of food made to pay for the spending of the monarchy. Anger kept building until Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates-General to pay for the debt of the monarchy. The Third Estate delegates, wanting more power for the poorer class demanded reforms be made for the ease of the people. when their demands were not met they broke off and became the National Assembly and decided to make laws and pass reforms in the name of the French people.


Essays Related to King Louis XVI

1. Biography of King Louis XVI

King Louis XVI became heir to the throne and the last Bourbon king of France upon his father's death in 1765. In 1770, he married Austrian archduchess Marie-Antoinette, the daughter of Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. After a slew of governing missteps, Louis XVI brought the French Revolution crashing down upon himself, which led to the monarchy's collapse. Louis XVI will go down in history as one ... of the worst rulers to have been crowned king. In 1765, his father died, making him the immediate heir to the throne of Louis XVI. Louis was uncomfortable with this position, and ...

  • Word Count: 800
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. King Louis XVI

... Paris Tribune: Obituaries A King's Ironic Death: King Louis XVI Yesterday, January 21, 1793 a weak-willed king was killed, made to die by guillotine. King Louis was accused and convicted of treason, or disloyalty; a traitor to France during the French Revolution. King Louis XVI was born into royalty and fame on August 23, 1754. Louis was born of Dauphin Louis and Maria Josepha. Grandson and successor of the late King Louis XV of France, who ... died on May 10, 1774, King Louis XVI ... a happy day for all. A sigh a relief was breathed as soon as the news was spread. Every body came just ...

  • Word Count: 1276
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Louis XVI and the Downfall of the Absolute Monarchy

... demanded the doubling of their representatives as the first and second Estate would always support one another and outvote the third estate. Louis XVI's minister, Necker encouraged Louis to meet the demands of the third Estate, although he agreed to this he didn't make any pronouncement on the voting ... ancient but little used gathering of nobles, clergy and common people. They were excluded from their regular meeting place by King Louis XVI and met instead at a nearby indoor tennis court. Here they pledged themselves to create a written constitution for France. Mirabeau, the leader .....

  • Word Count: 1015
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Napoleon and King Louis

... to school, which were run by The Church. Pupils were taught respect for elders and religion."(Miss Lavelle) Back during the reign of the king, Louis XVI, this is what he felt was right and that others part of the estate system should not be granted the privilege to have an education. ... reform that made it so he could not be taken down from his throne which he made brought it upon himself to be emperor. While King Louis was king he was not able to be taking off his throne no matter the circumstances, except of course a revolution. During that time, elections were non ... the goals of t...

  • Word Count: 1419
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Louix XVI

When I became King of France in 1774, I was only 20 years old. As the years passed, I learned how to rule better. Then I began to make changes. I abolished the age-old practice of feudalism. The calling of the Estates-General was another change in the French government, which I introduced. When the monarchy was abolished, I saw it as something that would help my country. All of my actions were attempts to achieve one goal. I tried to please the French people and prevent the French Revolution. For many centuries, a feudal system had been in use in France. The peasants and serfs were at the bott...

  • Word Count: 657
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Biogrpahy of Marie Antoinette

... and hunting early in the morning, leaving his wife to do as she wished. In 1774, King Louis XV fell ill and passed away, leaving Louis-Auguste to take the French throne as Louis the XVI. Marie Antoinette was now the Queen of France. Marie Antoinette was used to the more informal court ... of France, but was now isolating the nobles as well. Her excesses not only spanned her fashion and beauty, but her home life as well. King Louis gave her a small palace on the grounds of Versailles called Le Petit Trianon. Marie Antoinette also had a small village built, called the Hameau, ... herself. ...

  • Word Count: 2619
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Causes Of French Revl'n

... borrowed money to fight wars and to keep French power alive in Europe. These costs greatly increased the national debt, which was, at the time, already too high. When King Louis XVI came into power, he realized that these problems existed. At first he did not know what to do, until he found a man by the name of Robert Turgot. He eased ... in the courts that voted on these laws were the nobles, called nobles of the robe, and therefore rejected Turgot's reform. After Turgot was rejected, the king fired him from his office. This led Louis XVI to summon the Estates General in 1789. The Est...

  • Word Count: 2218
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: High School

8. French Revolution

... and violent of the rebellions against the state. After the grand yet tragic rule of Louis XIV, the Bourbon kings watched as their power slipped out of their hands like a bar of soap. The Bourbon king Louis XIV, the powerful monarch of the early seventeenth century (1661-1715), had been the ... electoral body representing the three major estates or classes of France, which had not met in over one hundred years, shocked the nation. The king knew that they could grant him the taxing authority he wanted but also knew that he would need to compromise his powers in doing so ... French-Swiss p...

  • Word Count: 4395
  • Approx Pages: 18
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. Financial Crisis During the French Revolution

... War of Independence (1775-1783). This resulted in an ever mounting strain of military expenditure on an inefficient fiscal system, which along with Louis XVI's unwillingness to undertake any serious effort at structural reforms, meant that a crisis was unavoidable. The King's reputation relied on maintaining a strong position among European powers, but France's failing foreign policies continued to cause discontent among noble army ... Second Estates whose loyalty the King needed to maintain.16 By 1789 the debt had reached a figure of around 5,000 million, as the war had "cost more than ...

  • Word Count: 3440
  • Approx Pages: 14
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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