Monday, February 13, 2017 King Louis XVI

Absolute Monarch of France, 1774-1789

- Nineteen years old when he acceded to the throne

- Had lots of responsibilities because the government was deeply in debt

- He felt extremely unqualified (with good reason) to resolve to situation - As king, he focused primarily on religious freedom and foreign policy

- He had intellectual ability, but no firmness and decisiveness

- His desire to be loved by his people is evident in the prefaces of many of his edicts that would often explain the nature and good intention of his actions as benefitting the people - Determined to be a good king, so he appointed an experienced advisor named Jean- Frédéric Phélypeaux (comte de Maurepas) who took charge of many important ministerial functions

- Signing of the Edict of Versailles • Granted non-Roman Catholics civil and legal status in France and the legal right to practice their faiths • Did not legally proclaim freedom of religion in France, but was an important step in eliminating religious tensions and officially ended religious persecution

- Because he became unpopular to both the commoners and the aristocracy, he was only able to impose his decisions and reforms for only a very short amount of time, before revoking them

- Louis XVI’s attempts to control the Third Estate resulted in the Tennis Court Oath, the declaration of the National Constituent Assembly, and eventually the Storming of the Bastille

Foreign Policy

- Louis XVI was persuaded by Pierre Beaumarchais in 1776 to send supplies, ammunition, and guns to the rebels secretly, then to sign a formal Treaty of Alliance in early 1778, and later that year go to war with Britain

1 Monday, February 13, 2017 • They wanted to humiliate Britain and recover lost territory - Louis XVI hoped to use the American Revolutionary War as an opportunity to expel the British from India

- He encouraged major voyages of exploration, and in 1785 he appointed La Pérouse to lead a sailing expedition around the world

Revolutionary Constitutional Reign, 1789-1792

- Maxililien Radix de Sainte-Foix (noted financier) headed a secret council of advisers to Louis XVI, which tried to preserve the monarchy • These schemes proved unsuccessful and were exposed later when the armoire de fer was discovered

- Louis XVI’s indecisions fatally weakened negotiations between the Crown and moderate politicians • Louis was nowhere near as reactionary as his brothers and he repeatedly sent messages to them requesting a halt to their attempts to launch counter-coups • Louis was also alienated from the new democratic government both by its negative reaction to the traditional role of the monarch and in its treatment of him and his family

- June 21, 1791 • Louis XVI attempted to flee secretly with his family from Paris to the royalist fortress town of Montmédy • Louis appointed Breteuil to deal with other foreign heads of state in an attempt to bring a counter-revolution • Beyond escape, Louis XVI and the queen hoped to raise an “armed congress” with the help of the émigrés to recapture France - This degree of planning reveals Louis’ political determination; unfortunately, because of this plot he was convicted of high treason • He left a 16-page written manifesto, explaining his rejection of the constitutional system as illegitimate; it was printed in the newspapers • His indecision, many delays, and misunderstanding of France were responsible for the failure of the escape

2 Monday, February 13, 2017 - Within 24 hours, the royal family was arrested at Varennes-en-Argonne after Jean-Baptiste Drouet had given the alert

- Louis and his family were taken back to Paris under tight house arrest • Because of this, everyone realized that war was imminent, and they felt betrayed by Louis XVI, and as a result, Republicanism became a dominating philosophy of the rapidly radicalized French Revolution

- Louis XVI supported the Legislative Assembly declaring war on Austria

- Brunswick Manifesto declared the intent of the Austrians and Prussians to restore the king to his full powers and to treat any person or town who opposed them as rebels to be condemned to death by martial law • Greatly undermined his already highly tenuous position • Taken by many to be the final proof of collusion between the king and foreign powers in a conspiracy against his own country

Imprisonment, Execution and Burial, 1792-1793

- Officially arrested on August 13, 1792, and sent to the Temple (an ancient fortress in Paris that was used as a prison)

- September 21, 1792: The National Assembly declared France to be a Republic and abolished the monarchy

- Two events that led up to the trial for Louis XVI: • After the battle of Valmy on September 22, 1792 - General Domouriez negotiated with the Prussians who evacuated France

- Louis could no longer be considered a hostage or as leverage in negotiations with the invading forces • November 1792 - The armoire de fer incident took place at the Tuileries Palace, when the existence of the hidden safe containing compromising documents and correspondence was revealed by François Gamain • This served to discredit the king - January 15, 1793

3 Monday, February 13, 2017 • Louis was condemned to death by a majority of one vote - January 21, 1793 • Louis XVI was beheaded • Declared himself innocent, praying that his blood would not fall back on France - Buried in mass grave

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