During the 18th century, many people started to enjoy the idea of political freedom. They wanted equality among the different classes, and freedom to do what they wanted to do. Many countries rose up in rebellion of the political authorities that they once supported during this time. For example, the American colonies broke away from England. France also went through a turbulent time when the streets ran red with blood. One of the major political powers of France during the 18th century was King Louis XVI. Louis XVI, baptized Louis-Auguste, was born on August 23 in 1754. He was the third son of the dauphin and Marie Josephe of Saxony. He studied history, science, geography, law, Latin and Greek as well as modern languages. However, his tutors did not properly prepare him to rule France. He married Marie Antoinette, an archduchess of Austria, when he was 16 in 1770. After the deaths of his two older brothers, he was next in line for inheriting the throne of France. In 1774 he succeeded Louis XV, his grandfather, and became the King of France. He and Marie Antoinette had four children, but only the oldest two (Madame Royale, 1778, and the Dauphin, 1785) were alive when the French Revolution broke out. When Louis XVI inherited the throne, he also inherited a government deep in debt. By providing their help to the Americans during their revolution, they put themselves on the verge of bankruptcy. In addition to this, the frivolous spending of Marie Antoinette put the country further into debt. Her excessive spending also reflected on her badly, and the monarchy’s already shaky ground started to fall away from beneath them. At that time France, as a society, had deeply engrained privilege that made it very difficult to affect the soci... ... middle of paper ... ...h the monarchy abolished, The Assembly tried King Louis XVI and found him guilty of treason. Along with most of the France’s nobility, he was executed by the guillotine. He died on January 21, 1793, nine months before his wife. King Louis XVI was a man who lived and ruled through a time of turmoil. He inherited a country that was failing, and even though he did not completely save it from the bloodshed that it saw, he did everything within his power to keep all of his subjects from death. He was not a strong enough man to liberate France from the struggles that were present. He was easily swayed to the wants of others around him, but he wanted what was best for his kingdom. Even though he was unfit for rule, he gave all very life for his country. He may have lost France to the ideas inspired by the Enlightenment, but he supported his realm to the end of his days.
Over the course of Louis’ rein, he showed that he was a bad monarch because he abused his power. Ultimately, he made the citizens unhappy. Louis believed that Kings “are born to possess all and command all” and their power should not be questioned. This caused him to make impulsive decisions without thinking of the citizens opinions because they were not supposed to question him. If his power was questioned Louis was quickly able to say that God gave him the power to make decisions therefore they were right.
King Louis XVI was next in line for the throne in 1774 and gladly inherited it from Louis XIV to become the ruler over France. He drastically changed the whole country and put its people through ghastly conditions. There was not a soul left unharmed. In Paris, nearly half of its population in 1788 was unemployed. They produced no crops due to them not growing and had extremely high prices on food. With the whole nation already furious with his doings, he decided to marry Marie Antoinette who was foreign. They decided to blame her for their problems of their economy because they figured that King Louis was letting her make major decisions and control them. Together, Antoinette and Louis had a total of four children. Their oldest child lived to be seventy-three.
Soon after Napoleon lost his power Louis XVII assumed the French throne for the first time since his older brother Louis XVI had been beheaded. Thus marked the end of the French Revolution.
He would keep prisoners at the Bastille for however long he wanted without getting questioned for his behavior, he didn’t possess the qualities of a wise and just leader, and he lacked proper knowledge of how to run the military and the finances of the country. He and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were common criminals who were convicted of many crimes, one of them being high treason against the state. Louis XVI was very hypocritical in his way of ruling the people of France; he claimed to be someone of high values and ethical standards, when in reality he never lived up to those standards and expected everyone to just bow down to
The Sun King, Louis XIV was only four years old when he succeeded his father to the French throne. Often not cared for, he nearly drowned because no one was watching him as he played near a pond. (The Sun King) This began to shape in his young mind, and gave him an early fear of God. Louis was also shaped by the French Civil War. In this, the Paris Parliament rose against the crown.
There were many negative comments and many positive comments about Louis XIV and his court. In Louis XIV’s court, the closer a person was to the king, or the more he did for a person, the more that person likes him. The more distant you were from the king, the more you disliked him.
Prior to the revolution, King Louis XVI was at the top of the ancien régime, the social, economic, and political structure in France, which means he had absolute power. When he received the throne in 1774, it came along with insoluble problems. The people were split into three estates which divided social class. The first estate consisted of 100,000 tax exempt nobles who owned 20% of the land. The second estate consisted of the 300,000 tax exempt clergy who owned 10% of the land.
Louis XIV was an absolute monarch because he developed a strong military, controlled the nobility and used huge sums of money to glorify his power.
... move, defunding any revolts they might plan, and preoccupying their time with petty social matters instead of matters of the state. If Louis’ reign was not supported by the enabling qualities of the Palace of Versailles, his reign would certainly not be as absolute as it was.
During the late 18th century, both France and the British colonies in America experienced wars the opened the eyes of nations. The French Revolution and American Revolution drastically changed political thinking. In the French Revolution, monarchism was abandoned and political power was given to the people until the country became out of control, and a military dictatorship was necessary to regain control of France. In the American Revolution, a new nation was formed as the British colonies tore themselves away from the English monarchy. In the end, both France and the new United States of America moved away from absolute rule by a king or queen and wanted to put the political power in the hands of their people. However, there are many differences as well as similarities along the way to their political reformation.
King Louis XIV's 72 year reign was incredibly influential in shaping French history. King Louis XIV’s childhood was traumatic because of “La Fronde” which was a noble rebellion against the monarchy. This experience taught King Louis XIV to distrust the nobles. It was for this reason that he eventually excluded nobility from the council and surrounded himself with loyal ministers whom he could control. He also separated the aristocracy from the people of France by moving the court to the Palace of Versailles. One of the most notable of King Louis XIV’s decisions was that he refused to appoint another Prime Minister after the death of Prime Minister Mazarin. Every decision, from the declaration of war to the approval of a passport, went through him personally. During his reign as king, France participated in several wars including the War of Devolution, in Anglo-Dutch War, and the War of the Spanish Succession. Another major action he took was the proclamation of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes, imposing religious uniformity through Catholi...
Louis XIV (the fourteenth) was an absolute monarch. He was often called "the Sun King," and ruled over France. He devoted himself to helping France achieve economic, political, and cultural prominence. Many historians believe the phrase "absolute power corrupts absolutely" mirrors Louis' reign. Louis XIV revoked the Edict on Nantes, changing the economy of France in one motion. By creating the city of Versailles and being a major patron of the arts, Louis was very influential on French culture. He made France go almost bankrupt from his costly wars and failures. Louis was very corrupt in his power, and it shown in all he did to change France; he got what he wanted, when he wanted it.
Louis XIV was an ambitious, but inefficient king. Although he was the first modern military power with a large army and advanced training and weaponry, he failed spectacularly in his disastrous wars. The fact that his army was so progressive only accentuates his failures in war and the impact they had. His selfishness blinded him to the domestic affairs that plagued France, and in the end, his wars were a great source of suffering for the people. The nation was already weakened by poor harvests, which meant less food for everyone, and these wars further bankrupted the country not only because they were expensive, but also because France was forced to lose some possessions, which meant higher taxes for the peasants. He would pay whatever the cost may be to satisfy his need for more land and power, even if the price was the wellness of the lives he was supposed to protect. However, Louis was not the only absolute monarch to do this; the English monarchs also did the same. Not only were there foreign rebellions but there was also a civil war, which shows that these absolute monarchs were unfit for the responsibility of being king. Under the regime of most of these leaders, revolts were common, and this obviously portrays the neglect the people felt from
The French citizens were correct in overthrowing the French monarchy because King Louis XVI was a poor leader. One of the qualities that made King Louis XVI a poor leader was that he was not interested in ruling the country. According to the World History Textbook, “He was easily bored with affairs of state and much preferred to spend his time in physical activities.” (Beck Roger, Black Linda, Krieger, Larry, Naylor Phillip, Shabaka Dahia, 653) It is obvious that King Louis XVI was more interested in personal enjoyment then the livelihood of his country. He would rather be noble having fun rather than being a leader making decisions for his country. When King Louis XVI was removed from power, he was given what he wanted, the escape from the affairs of state. Another example why King L...
After the death of his advisor, Colbert, Louis’s reign over France grew weak. He lost control over finances and while he said his main goal was to increase French supremacy, he put France into thirty one years worth of wars.