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.
Unfortunately, he died before experiencing Haiti’s separation from France in 1804. However, along the way of success of both revolutions, a toll occurred on the numerous lives lost. The Reign of Terror in France was created as a way to protect the republic from its internal enemies, but instead 16,000 people were guillotined. Many documents were shown to be describing the execution of the Reign of Terror to be gruesome and wrongful such that J.G. Milligen stated, “The process of execution was also a sad and heartrending spectacle”, in The Revolutionary Tribunal. Milligen continued to describe the vivid scene of the execution, but this was only one event and many others have died in the fall of the Bastille and the attack on the royal palace.
Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638, and ruled as King of France and of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death at the age of 76. He took over the throne a few months before his fifth birthday, but didn't actually assume actual control of the government until his First Minister, Jules Cardinal Mazarin, died in 1661. He was to become King of France after his father, Louis XIII, died of tuberculosis. He achieved the role of king by ways of hereditary monarchy, which is one of the ways to become a ruler, as stated by Machiavelli. Louis XIV is known as the 'The Sun King' and also known as 'Louis the Great.' He ruled over France for seventy-two years, which is the longest reign of any French or any other major European ruler and increased the power and influence of France in Europe, by fighting three major wars. These wars are known as the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg, and the War of the Spanish Succession. Under Louis XIV, France achieved political and military pre-eminence, and also achieved cultural dominance with various cultural figures. He worked to successfully create an absolutist and centralized state.
... 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.
For the first portion of his quote, “one king”, Louis consolidated his power in many ways. France, as well as many other countries throughout the middle ages and early renaissance, had their power balanced between the nobles and the dynastic ruling class, where nobles controlled their individual provinces and the king would have to rely on his nobles to spread his royal decrees. This was highly demonstrated throughout the Holy Roman Empire during the 16th and parts of the 17th century, where the polygot of cultures, religions, and languages lead Charles V to have to rely on the nobles, confederacy, and a decentralization of government to rule. Because of these sacrifices, Charles V never really ruled his country, nor did he achieve any of his goals. He died a white haired old man, giving his domains to his son and brother. Louis XIV actually achieved his goal in a very different way, by defeating the power of the noble class, while strenghening the middle class, or the bourgeois. Louis built an internal beauracracy within France, and believed that a countries power came from it’s unification and military prowess. These beliefs were largely based on the early years of his rule. Louis XIV became king when he was only 5 years old, so his mother. Anne of Austria, and Cardinal Mazarin, rumored to be her lover, ruled in his place as a child. Mazarin was the ideological heir to Richelieu, w...
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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