FREE ESSAY ON REIGN OF LOUIS THE XVI

REIGN OF LOUIS THE XVI

There is great mystery surrounding the death of Louis XVI. Many different events led up to
this. His actions before, during, and after the French Revolution greatly affected his
fate. 
The French Revolution was a very important time period in European history. However, the
situation in France under Louis XVI, was a negative one. France had great financial
problems and it was infested with plagues of all sorts. A lot of the financial problems
were because of the American Revolution, among many other wars. Because so much financial
aid was given to armies in these wars, Louis XVI was forced to raise taxes on much of the
nobility. The financial problems only got worse in the following years because the
government went bankrupt. Much of the blame for this was placed on Louis XVI. He was
described as a weak, stupid, and incapable king. He was often more concerned with his own
affairs than the affairs of his own people. He very rarely did his own work, much of the
time leaving the work up to advisors and ministers. He used much of the people's money
for his own entertainment. He also spent a lot of money on his wife, Marie Antoinette. He
listened to his wife a lot, which may not have been the best idea for him. She convinced
him to ignore the financial problems in France and spend all the money on her. She also
told him to fire some chief advisors, important advisors that probably could have
prevented the French Revolution for ever happening. He never attempted to pay back any of
the debt, he kept spending more money, making the predicament worse. There became
tensions between the social classes, often between nobility and the peasants. Living
conditions were very poor. The nobles had all the right, while the peasants were stepped
on by everybody. Nobles had a say in public affairs, were entitled to a trail at special
courts, and enjoyed financial advantages. They paid the basic tax once a year and that
was it. Peasants and commoners made up 80 percent of the population. They struggled to
survive and were heavily taxed. All the money peasants made went to taxes and bread.
Peasant unemployment resulted in many homeless citizens, emigration, and death. People
became homeless because they could not afford to pay taxes. The crisis of Europe was felt
the most in France. As population increased, inadequate agriculture productivity and bad
harvests came along too. Soon the price of grain was more than the peasants wages. Also,
the standard of living declined. Even though the whole situation was not Louis XVI's
personal fault, the decisions and choices he made, made the situation even worse. During
his reign he made some very poor decisions that could have influenced the end result of
the French Revolution. He was influenced greatly by many people around him. One of these
people was Finance Minister Jauques Necker. Throughout Louis XVI's reign, he was often
helped, supported, and even betrayed by Necker. Necker made a lot of the king's decisions
and persuaded him. He seemed to be on Louis's side but then Necker published an account
of the royal finances, which showed the heavy costs of the privileges and favoritism.
This action did not look good for the monarchy. Necker was soon fired. His wife
influenced him to attend to the interests of Austria and ignore the financial crisis in
France. It was also her idea to fire one of his most trusted advisors who may have been
able to actually prevent the revolution. Her lifestyle and the fact that she was a
foreigner made her very unpopular with the public. In the late 1780's both classes were
unhappy with the financial situation and wanted a change. However, Louis never took
advantage of this situation to create new reforms and gain the support of the people.
Under pressure from nobility and other powers, Louis agreed to meet with the
Estates-General. This provided more controversy and provided a stronger force against the
French monarchy.