When the King Took Flight Essay

In June 1791, King Louis XVI and his family snuck out of Paris during the night, hoping to escape from the French Revolution and its violence. He planned to escape the country and return with foreign assistance to reclaim control of France, but the people of Varennes stopped and detained him until authorities arrived and sent him back to Paris. Louis’ attempted escape, in addition to the letter he left behind denouncing the Revolution, “profoundly influenced the political and social climate of France” (223). His escape outraged many people and left the administration in shambles, and this caused tensions to break out. To control the situation, the people of France quickly organized

While even prior to King Louis XVI flight, the monarchy’s power was already waning. However, upon being forcibly sent back to Paris after the flight, this action further damaged the monarchy by losing the trust and respect of the populace and many factions within the National Assembly. After the knowledge that Louis XVI had willing fled by his own accord had spread through the newspaper presses, many people expressed a severe revulsion and disgust for the monarch and many began to vilify his name, including removing artistic depictions of him from homes and public shops—many of which these images were tossed into the gutter (Tackett, 104). The degree to which the people loss faith and trust in their fatherly monarch figure weakened the image and

The French revolution was a very rough patch of history where people had a struggle to live because of the struggle to find food. Louis the sixteenths note described France as, “authority ignored, personal property violated, people’s safety everywhere in danger, crimes remaining unpunished, and a complete anarchy established above the law”. King louis did his very best to make the peoples actions seem absurd in order to hopefully make them reconsider what they had done, however, it would have very little effect on their actions. Finally, the note concludes by King louis the sixteenth offering himself back to the people as a king. The note quotes, “Come back to your king; he will always be your father, your best friend.”

During the French revolution, French citizens went against absolute monarchy and the feudal system that was antiquated. They were influenced by Enlightenment ideas such as inalienable rights and popular sovereignty. Louis XVI was the ruler at the time; he believed that his power was given to him by God, thus making him think his ruling was right despite people’s opinion. The citizens of France especially the 3rd estate disliked the king for treating them poorly. Eventually the Jacobins convicted Louis XVI to death by a guillotine for treason after finding a large iron box holding Louis XVI’s secret correspondence with foreign monarchs. The beheading of King Louis XVI was justified because he took people’s rights away and made people follow his inadequate rules and biased judgments based on status. Furthermore, if he were to be left alive it would have posed a threat to the security and stability of France.

King Louis XVI loved his country, even if it was in ruins which he was trying to fix, and even though unfortunately he was not the strongest ruler that does not mean King Louis XVI committed treason against France. He was wrongly persecuted for something he did not commit, treason is the crime of trying to overthrow your country's government or of helping your country's enemies during war, not fleeing from an unsafe home. King Louis XVI was innocent of treason because he actively tried to fix problems in the country, even though sometimes the outcomes of his solutions weren't perfect. He was a significant monarch with the way he affected the French Revolution as a

King Louis XVI believed the revolutionary changes he detested “had been provoked by a few radicals in the National Assembly and their demagogic control of Parisian ‘rabble’ (87).” As thousand flocked to see the kings caravan return to Paris it became evident he had misinterpreted the true influence of the revolution. Many of his loyal subjects rejected the notion removing their hats upon his arrival, a snub to the king and his royal family. Previously under the king’s regime the general public had considered him

The French Revolution was also a result of the discontentment of the social structure in France. King Louis and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were very unpopular among the French because they did not care about their subjects.

How can one separate a mere normal man from a king? And which is more important between men with a passion from a man with a selfish desire? King Louis XVI was an example of a king unfit to rule. We will discuss King Louis’s early life, his reign as king, and the role he played in the French revolution.

On the night 20/21st June 1791 Louis attempted to flee from the Tuileries Palace in Paris for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons that Louis wanted to flee was because he felt as if he was being kept as a prisoner there which led him to fear for his own safety. Since the October days when the crowd stormed the Versailles palace and brought the royal family into Paris Louis had felt like he was a prisoner of the crowds as his freedom did become reduced. Furthermore, in Easter of 1791 Louis and his family had been prevented from leaving Paris in order to visit Saint Cloud, a visit that they took annually. This prevention made Louis feel like even more of a prisoner as he was being held against his will, which highlighted the power that the sans-culottes crowd had as they had stopped him, and the power that he was losing as he

Towards the end of his reign, Louis began to lose much of the mystique and influence he had previously held, as his lack of financial resources and inability to adequately tax the nobility began to catch up to him. Document 6, a letter from French nobleman Francois Fenelon, criticizes Louis for his reckless warfare, warning, “God will one day lift the veil that covers your eyes… you will become a Christian only through humiliation.” As an educated nobleman, Fenelon likely held resentment towards the crown for its subjugation of his class. Additionally, Louis’ frequent, frivolous war campaigns caused great struggle in France as the nation struggled to supply the efforts; even Louis, by the end of his life, stated that “I have gone to war too lightly and pursued it for vanity’s sake.” However, regardless of the fact that sustained warfare drove France into debt and ruin, Louis’ ability to go to war based off of nothing more than his own will is even more evidence that supports his power as an absolute ruler, whether or not Fenelon agrees with his policy.

There were many causes and events leading up to the French Revolution in 1789. Before the Revolution, France had been involved in many expensive wars, especially the American War of Independence, causing financial difficulties and debts which were increased through the expensive upkeep of the Royal Family and their courts. At this time the Age of Enlightenment was occurring and new ideas, challenging the Ancien Regime and the Absolute right to rule, were emerging. The monarch of the time, King Louis XVI, was a weak monarch who was incapable of making decisions and sticking to them. King Louis XIV was also incapable of using his powers in a way to spark fear and gain control of those under his power. As a

Of all of the mistakes king Louis XVI made, whether it be not taxing the rich, his frivolous spending and just overall weakness, I think the worst mistake he made was trying to flee the country. With the country already on edge from the revolution and the fact that the people who hated you the most and you screwed over the most were the ones in charge,it kind of seemed like a bad time to flee the country.

Some people think that King Louis XIV did more harm to France than good. They cite his lack of moderation in managing his money. They also point out that Louis denied religious liberties to the Protestants of France and tightened control over his Roman Catholic subjects by revoking the Edict of Nantes. They also claim Louis’ war efforts were very costly and drained the treasury of France. Some say his arrogance, including his emblem of the “Sun King”, turned “his” people away from him. They think that Louis only cared about himself and what he wanted and didn’t think about future France.

Many think he left France worse off than it started because of the way he left the treasury. It was thought that he spent the money only on himself, leaving the peasants with no money. It is also said that he spent the money on building his residences (Versailles and Marly) and supporting his luxurious lifestyle. Another argument brought up is how he was so egotistical. One reason for his being egotistical was the fact that he was thought of as “God Given” because the court was hoping that Louis XIII would have a child before he died. People talk about how he compared himself to the sun. As ruler Louis, thought of himself as the sun, which meant he was the center of the kingdom and his subjects rotated around him. Some see this as incredibly egotistical and thought that made him less of a ruler. One aspect of his being the sun was the fact that his bedroom was placed in the middle of the castle; he was always center of attention, as the sun would be. The other reason people think he was a negative influence on France was the fact that as soon as the last Prime minister died, Louis made himself the ruler. He decided to make all the decisions by himself, with no help. Some think this was a bad idea because he had no previous ruling experience by himself. These same people were angered when Louis re-established Catholicism, nullifying the Edict of Nantes. Some of the people of

Before the French Revolution Louis XVI was in power, but in due time his old regime of absolute monarchy was brought down. Some people were in favor of this revolution wanting equality and some were not. One person who was in favor of this desire for equality and change was