National Constituent Assembly

Also the Execution of King Louis XVI was another important event in the French Revolution. After the National Assembly rebuilt the relationship between church and state, Louis’s advisers warned him that he is in danger. Many people who were pro monarchy, left France because they felt it was not safe anymore. There were some people outside of France that did not support the French Revolution and wanted Louis XVI back to power as the king. Therefore he and his family attempted to escape France and get help from other countries to put him back to power. In June 1791, King Louis XVI and his family tried to escape to Austria. As they approached the border, they got arrested and were returned to Paris. *Before Louis had attempted to escape, the French people did not really hate him, but they just wanted him to support the revolution and have some power. After he tried to escape, the people saw him as a traitor to the country and started to hate him. The hatred started the future attacks on Louis and also caused the monarchy to diminish completely. If this event did not happen, the hatred towards

In this letter, he disapproved of the reduction of his royal powers and personal wealth, which affected his lifestyle and authority. He denounced the Revolution, National Assembly, and its constitution. Copies of the letter circulated in public and revealed to people that “Louis had lied to the French” when he swore an oath “before God and the nation to uphold the constitution” (102). Not only did he leave behind his people but his flight would have led to a civil war between revolutionaries and loyalists aided by foreigners. On top of that, deputies of the National Assembly dealt with the aftermath of a missing king: paranoid Parisians suspecting a conspiracy, people storming the palace, and palace servants being accused of treason. This added to the “profound sense of desertion and betrayal” by a king that people saw as a “good father” (222). Out of disgust, they denounced Louis: calling him all sorts of names, took down portraits of him, and covered “in black the word royal” on signs, buildings, and other public places (110). The “myth of the kingship had been shattered” because nobody knew what to do with Louis at this time (104, 108). Some wanted exile or imprisonment whereas others suggested reinstating him as only a figurehead, and some thought about a “republic without a king” (108). Either way, they no longer

In Timothy Tackett’s When the King Took Flight, it’s explained how Louis XVI’s flight to Varennes resulted in escalating events to happen in the French Revolution that changed and shaped the history of France. In his flight to escape the revolution and upon his capture, he unintentionally created a domino effect that rippled throughout France with consequences that were far from his original plans when attempting to escape the country. This essay will explain how the flight to Varennes radicalized the revolution by further weakening the monarchy and its authority along with its image, that the most significant reaction was that it opened ideas to new forms of government, and that the seeds for this radicalism was already present.

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.

Internal enemies of the French Revolution included Louis XVI as well as his wife, Marie Antoinette. Louis kept a supportive front toward the Revolution yet he remained in contact with Austria (like his Austrian wife), Prussia and Sweden asking for help to restore the Monarchy. When Louis tried to escape with his family and failed, the population began losing faith in their King, something that previously was not the case as he was rather popular. He was returned to Paris as a prisoner and reluctantly agreed to the Civil Constitution. The fact that Louis also greatly opposed the Rights of Man also led to his growing unpopularity.

Grain stores were looted, chateaux were attacked and documents listing peasant obligations were seized and destroyed. The National Assembly realised that it had to act – the mainly bourgeoisie deputies feared for their property following the Great Fear which had spread the peasant rising throughout most of France. Consequently, the National Assembly issues the August Decrees, considered an important start in the process of dismantling the ancien regime. They marked the end of noble power and the privilege of birth, establishing a society instead based upon civil equality. The peasants were satisfied with this new regime as it removed their feudal obligations and thus they gave their support to the revolution in fear that if they did not support the changes, aristocratic privileges and the tithe would return. The support of the peasants had proved to be vital and necessary primarily due to the fact that they had such a huge influence because they made up such a huge amount of the population. The events in Paris had served as a catalyst which sparked the revolt in the countryside and brought about the August Decrees.

One might ask if the 1789 document, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen addressed the needs of all the people of the third estate like its writers claimed was its purpose. The National Assembly of France, which consisted of mostly wealthy bourgeoisies men, wrote the declaration. The remaining members of the third estate, which included the urban poor sans-culottes, therefore did not have much say in what was being addressed to the public. Enlightenment ideas such as popular sovereignty and civic equality, advocated by both the bourgeoisies and sans-culottes, is apparent in the statement. Furthermore, the National Assembly of France addressed the sans-culottes’ need of equality, employment based on talent, and desire for a political reorganization.

What would start as an act to protect people from the abuses of the government, would turn into one of the most oppressive periods of French History, giving it the name: Reign of Terror. King Louis XIV’s expensive and unnecessary war debts and lavish expenditures left his citizens starving and without a platform. In order to solve this, Louis XIV raised taxes, making the very mistake of King George III that led to the American Revolution. The social classes were called to reach a solution, but as always reached a stalemate. Delegates of the Estates General then took for themselves their natural right to dissention, and created the National Assembly. Regarding the right to dissent, the right to one’s own religious views,

Unable to stem the rising tide of revolt, Louis XVI withdrew his loyal troops. He recalled Necker, and then he formally legalized the measures that had been taken by the provisional authorities. Unrest and disorder, known as the Great Fear, stimulated the National Constituent Assembly to action. During the night session of August 4, 1789, the clergy, nobles, and bourgeoisie renounced their privileges; a few days later the assembly passed a law abolishing feudal and manorial prerogatives.

The establishment of the National Assembly that integrated different classes of people into one government signifies the growing public voice in political arena as citizens urged an end to hunger and unfair taxation system. Ever since King XVI summoned the Estates General to tackle the problems of food shortage and economic crisis, the Third Estate, who represented every French except the clergies and the nobles, has been constantly demanding for more voting rights to make people’s hardship known to the king and the other two estates. They thus assembled lists of grievances from citizens throughout France which called for a limit to

Citizens were not permitted to vote as individuals. Instead one vote was given to each of the three estates, the clergy (first), aristocrats (second), and everyone else excluded from the first two, who were most commonly peasants and the working class (third) (Roberts et al. 646). Unsurprisingly, the Third Estate was outvoted and citizens within became furious. They, “…insisted that those who worked [for low wages] and pay taxes were the nation…” (Roberts et al. 646) Shortly afterward, the National Assembly was born and was determined to take France’s future into its own (Belloc, 93).

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.

After reading this book I understand a lot more about the French Revolution. Most of the problems that occurred dealt with the idea of change. Some people like things the way they are, some are afraid of change, and others would like to see something new. Louis XVI wanted things the way they were and be treated as a king is supposed to be treated, and

The published letter of the king’s reasoning for departure also served the public with rage, and, “equally significant for the future of the Revolution was the dramatic change in attitude toward the king…everything was transformed by the king’s flight.” (Tackett, 101) People in the streets of Paris were throwing out their portraits of the royal family and were seeing the king, the one they praised a week ago, as a deserter and conspirator to their newly-formed and praised government. The use of rumor and newspapers by members of The Cordelier Club also helped spread certain radical ideals in which prompted the idea of turning France into a republic, and of dissembling the monarchy and the king altogether. It was this power in the streets of Paris that would soon grow with every day after the king fled, as, “Outside the Legislative Assembly, however, the more radical revolutionaries had managed to hold the loyalty of most of the provincial club network, giving them a powerful propaganda tool.” (Popkin, 58) The National Assembly was still strong in its number of members favorable of this new constitutional monarchy, but it was in the streets and with the people that the actual aspect of the Revolution was shifting. Members of the National Assembly were getting restless

Timothy Tackett’s book When the King Took Flight focuses on arguably the most consequential event in the French Revolution. King Louis XVI and his family’s attempt to escape France would influence an atmosphere of violence that would only continue to worsen. King Louis XVI regretted signing and accepting the Civil Constitution of the Clergy earlier in July 1790. Deciding to flee the country he assumed that through foreign intervention or negotiating he could change parts of the constitution he disagreed with. However he would be recognized and captured in Varennes. The king underestimated the true meaning and appeal of the revolution (87). His misunderstanding of the revolution led the way for the destruction of kingship and the monarchy itself. This decision had given power to the sans-culottes and the idea of a republic. While the kings flight to Varennes had many unintended consequences it serves as a crucial turning point for the revolution.