When The King Took Flight Essay

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.

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

On the morning of January 21, 1793, an innocent man was executed in front of his entire country, by means of the guillotine. That man was King Louis XVI. King Louis XVI, who was married to Queen Marie Antoinette, was the King of France during the beginning stages of the French Revolution. Which took place throughout 1788, and up until King Louis XVI was charged with treason, in 1792. Before the French Revolution really started, France was divided by a strict class system and there were three estates. The third estate were restless and angry with the government. To do something about their complaints, they soon created the National Assembly at the Tennis Court Oath and the well known, violent, events of the French Revolution soon came to being. King Louis XVI was innocent of committing treason against France, because he showed throughout his rulership of the country

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.

Louis would make the nobles do many embarrassing things, such as dress him, and even take out his chamber pot after going to the bathroom. Nobles would also be honored to see the king wake up in the morning, and watch him eat, things that had never been seen done by nobles for any other leader in history. By making the nobles do things like this, it made them feel less highly about themselves, less powerful, and less likely to try to overthrow him.

Clearly, the significant silences and the stunning absences throughout Morrison's texts become profoundly political as well as stylistically crucial. Morrison describes her own work as containing "holes and spaces so the reader can come into it" (Tate 125), testament to her rejection of theories that privilege j the author over the reader. Morrison disdains such hierarchies in which the reader as participant in the text is ignored: "My writing expects, demands participatory reading, and I think that is what literature is supposed to do. It's not just about telling the story; it's about involving the reader ... we (you, the reader, and I, the author) come together to make this book, to feel this

King Louis ruling, usually seen as, “absolute. He ruled by the divine right theory which held that he had received his power to govern from God and was therefore responsible to God alone”(Document C). He broke tradition and ruled without advisors or a court. Having the king feel as if he did not need any help to rule was not good for the population. Himself, being a monarch led to neglect toward the Third Estate.Meaning he did not fix the Estate’s needs, making them feel angry. Once the Third Estate had felt as if they had enough, they wrote a list of complaints, in which they stated “That the king be forced to reform the abuses and tyranny [of his rule]”(Document F). The Third Estate felt abused by the laws and or rules set against them by the king.The majority of the population did not see the king as a king, in fact they called his actions within in his rule as acts of tyranny. If the people of the country do not like or agree with their rulers they are not going to want to have them with absolute power. This was another major cause of the French

On April 1792, France declared war on Austria. France was easily defeated and this aroused suspicions of traitors. "The Assembly ordered every soldier in Paris to the frontier, put a watch on all foreigners, and decided that priests who refused to take an oath of loyalty should be expelled..." (Brooman, 1992, p.39) The King disagreed with the order given, which angered the citizens. They also discovered that Louis purposely weakened the army of France because he didn't support the revolutionary war effort and wanted protection. (Gilbert, 1992, p.39-40) Louis indeed was not a good leader of a country. "He was not capable of leading a country in crisis." (Gilbert, 1995, p.7) People even came to think he was a traitor of the country.

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

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

With King Louis XVI making the bad decisions, acknowledgement was to be done to fix corruption in government. As said in document A, "The representatives of the French people believed that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole causes of public calamities and the corruption of the government." King Louis was a poor absolute monarch during the 1780's (document B) juggling France's unfair tax system and poverty (background essay). This relates back to representatives of the French people's beliefs of a corrupted government. Seen throughout the Reign of Terror, the reign of Robespierre, and King Louis XVI reign, corruption of government is through ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man (document B). Although power has been taken advantaged of through absolute monarchs, they have changed history for better. Without their abuse of power, the Reign of Terror wouldn't have ended and solved the problems France was facing.

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