Mistakes And Misjudgements By Louis XVI Assess The Fall Of Absolute Monarchy Analysis

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Mistakes and misjudgements by Louis XVI explain the downfall of absolute monarchy in 1792 to a certain extent. Source one by Ruth Scurry agrees to a certain extent as it describes Louis mistake of his flight to Varennes. On the other hand sources two and three disagree and blame other factors for downfall of the monarchy such as the economy, war and the republican movement.
To a certain extent, the mistakes and misjudgements of Louis XVI explains the fall of the monarchy in 1792. Ruth Scurry gives the view that Louis’s decision to flee to Varennes was a mistake that contributed to the downfall of the Monarchy saying ‘his reasons for fleeing Paris were tantamount to a confession of guilt’ which suggests that Louis was guilty of abandoning Paris
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Another reason that crown was in a huge amount of debt was the frivolous spending of the queen, Marie Antoinette which angered the public as she was living a lavish lifestyle while they were starving. The war could be viewed as another mistake or misjudgement on Louis behalf which could explain the downfall of constitutional monarchy. Despite saying ‘the physical condition and morale of France, is such that it will be unable to sustain even half a campaign’ meaning he thought France could easily be defeated, he was happy to go along with the clamour for war as he thought it would suit his own ends. He appointed Girondins ministers who were intent on war which shows that, despite believing war would have a negative impact on France. Louis’s wife Marie Antoinette on the other hand was also to blame for the war. She hoped for war as she thought it would restore Louis to his throne if France was defeated and was plotting with …show more content…
In source two, Colin Jones states that ‘the progress of the war contributed to the sense of crisis’ which shows that the war had a significant impact on the lives of people in France in 1792. There was tension growing in Paris with the arrival of the fédérés who came from the provinces. They were militant revolutionaries and republicans whose officers were conservative or royalist. Despite their numbers never reaching above 5000 they were powerful and called for the removal of the king. This shows that war explained the downfall of the monarchy in 1792 because the fédérés were a powerful pressure group who called for the downfall of the monarchy which means more people were likely to come to the conclusion that the monarchy needed to come to an end. Another reason war was to blame for the downfall of the monarchy in 1792 was the ‘Brunswick Manifesto’ which worsened the tension in Paris. It was issued by the commander in chief of the Austro-Prussian armies and said that it would restore the liberty to the king and his family, protect France and set Paris free among other things. It was intended to help the monarchy but had the opposite effect. The French were furious by the foreign intervention and cause many people who were once pro-monarchy to turn against it. A reason the war was to blame for the downfall of the monarchy was because the Brunswick manifesto caused the mayor of Paris to go to the

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