Arianna Paulin Mr. Bonnet World History II, French Revolution 27th of October, 2017 Through His Actions and Policies, To What Extent was King Louis the XVI Responsible for the French Revolution? Introduction Paragraph Between the years of 1785 and 1793, the French society was on the verge of collapsing. There was poverty and famine roaming the streets, making it nearly impossible to survive given the ridiculously high and unjust taxing system. King Louis XVI, who was the ruler at the time, was a main contributor to these problems that led France to its downfall. The country had a massive lack of resources and food, which led King Louis XVI to borrow more money than he could afford, thus putting the country in immense debt.
This showed Europe that the French were capable of revolting and they were not afraid to stand up for what they believed. They demonstrated pure democracy by abolishing the 3 estates and assuming power for the people. These two points are miniscule compared to death, destruction, and economic failures that the Revolution brought. The French Revolution was mostly a failure because of the ineffective execution of reforms and unnecessary massacre of lives. However it was a minor success because of the socialistic ideologies that were given birth to during the Revolution, which helped reform France into what it is today.
His extravagances, unsuccessful war campaigns and the amount of money spent on the Versailles caused the deficit of the country to extremely high. Despite this, his powerful and influential nature may have prevented a revolt by preventing powerful nobles from being influenced by the lower class to revolt against the king. Based on this information, it is shown that King Louis May have been an influential person and ruler, he did many things that damaged France’s economy and increased its
The war began in 1337 after Charles IV, the king of France, died without producing a male heir and many questioned who would become France’s next leader. Charles had said before his death that his cousin, Philip of Valois, another frenchman, should become king after his death. Unfortunately for Philip, Charles’ sister, Isabella, whose son, Edward III, was the king of England, believed that Edward should become king of France as well. Philip was recognized as king, despite that Isabella’s line of descent was more directly related to Charles IV. This conflict set off a period of war between England and France.
“We would have all such offenders so cut off: and we give express charge, that in our marches through the country, there be nothing compelled from the villages, nothing taken but paid for, none of the French upbraided or abused in disdainful language; for when lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the soonest winner,” said King Henry as he and his army marched through France. The former King of England died and his son, King Henry V took his place as rightful ruler of the land. The French send an ambassador to taunt the new king. In return, and with some advice from his advisers, the new King Henry declares war on France. Along the journey to France, Henry shows maturity through each decision he makes.
France’s Louis XIV’s reign lasted for 72 year. This is longer than that of any other European sovereign. During this time, he brought forward, absolute monarchy. He also established France as a dominant power in Europe, and ushered in a golden age of art and literature. Although his reign had some negative aspects, overall he benefitted France.
France not only had different conflicts with Great Britain directly but assisted with different British opponents, including the United States. According to Colley, the shear fear of France taking over different parts of the world caused the British to colonize lands that were not even Christian for the empire. In her words Protestantism for the British became, “a unifying and distinguishing bond [like] never before. (18)” Nationalism in Britain only became stronger with the Seven Years War. Support for the war had been, “remarkably and deceptively unanimous (103)” to the point where Scotland had some men recruited.
By 1824 King Louis XVIII was succeeded by his Brother Charles X whom also assumed absolute power and created new laws restricting the rights of the citizens. He attempted to overthrow the parliament when elections didn 't end in his favor, rid the citizens of the right to vote and rejected Frances constitution. It was these actions that caused Frances initial revolution in 1830, the people demanded more rights and made it so that Charles X would be the last Monarch with absolute power. However, 18 years later many of Frances citizens were still terribly unhappy with their government King Louis Philippe was extremely corrupt, many people were still unable to vote, a major recession made it so that many citizens were barely able to eat. Despite all of this, the revolution of 1848 in France didn 't gain much traction until King Louis Philippe refused to expand the industrial and baking franchises.
Ultimately, the revolution and its effects allowed Napoleon Bonaparte to take control of France, beginning the Napoleonic era. Economic uncertainty, the emergence of new ideologies as well as environmental problems are the primary reasons for the French Revolution. Following several foreign wars initiated by the King,
Did the Sans Culottes change the course of the French Revolution? The French Revolution was one of the biggest occurrences in France. The French Revolution was a very hectic time in France. There are many reasons why. The Sans Culottes were the greatest reason why because they changed the course of the revolution.