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

Superior Essays
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
…show more content…
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

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Reign Of Terror Dbq Essay

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This argues that the Reign of Terror was necessary to rescue France from invasion. The Austrians invaded because Queen Marie Antoinette was killed because she was convicted by the Revolutionary Tribunal of high treason, and executed by guillotine on the Place de la Révolution on October 16, 1793. Queen Marie Antoinette was also the daughter of Leopold II, who was the king of Austria. There is no doubt the Reign of terror had many negative impacts on society, however it was essential for France’s survival.…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Reign Of Terror DBQ

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The French revolution lasted 18 months and during this time an estimate of 20,000 people were killed. The revolution overthrew the monarchy and unleashed global conflict in the processes. Austria and Prussia were slightly afraid of the revolution spreading to their country so they become allies with each other and easily invaded France. (Doc B). This was only the beginning of the Reign of Terror.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An absolute monarchy could only be successful under the leadership of an extraordinary ruler who had complete power over his people. An absolute monarch should be able to overachieve the abundance of obstacles placed in front of him. King Louis XIV was able to obtain much of his prodigious power by creating a new, modernized army. Louis was an exceptional mastermind at trade and he had dramatically increased France’s revenue. These actions allowed him to have the unique ability to create such a powerful army.…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the first things Louis did when he was reigning was decrease the power of the nobility. He did this so he could watch over the nobles and so he could keep an eye on the people to make sure he had complete power. Louis would not share any of his power. He wanted everyone, especially the upper class men that had more authority than others, that he had no aim or intention to share his power (Mckay 469-470). If Louis would have let the nobles and the upper class have any say or help guide him, they would expect to obtain some of his power, which Louis was not about to do.…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    No man appeared less like a king than King Louis XVI. He wasn’t a confident man, and it’s shown that through the choices he made and almost all of them were persuaded by Marie Antoinette, his wife. He didn’t believe that he could do it so he didn’t actually attempt to do it at any point during his reign. The price of bread and flour were going up drastically. The new king was expected to do something about the debt so that the people of France wouldn’t die of starvation.…

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    France in the mid 17th century was quite hectic. At the time, King Louis XIII was in power and basically running the country into the ground. To start, he was ruling with the help of his closest advisors and Cardinal Richelieu which, in effect, gave some of his power away. Along with that, Louis XIII was in continuous violent religious discords with the Huguenots (Biography.com Editors. " Louis XIII Biography").…

    • 1717 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Louis XIV: The Sun King

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages

    It almost caused France to become bankrupt. Louis was forced to negotiate a compromise treaty whereby his grandson would become king of Spain but he had to agree that he and his heirs would never combine the Spanish crown with that of…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The French Revolution had many causes for its occurrence including, but not limited to, their leader, unfair treatment of the estates, and poor living conditions of the lower class. This led the people to revolt and made life even more chaotic for the residents of France. Their government, an absolute monarchy, gave King Louis XVI the right to do whatever he wanted for the “well-being” of France. As explained in Document 1, “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.” This means that the king had complete control over the power and finance of France and often used it to only benefit himself.…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Leading up to what is known today as the Reign of Terror, where thousands of people lost their lives. The idea of an end to a continuous French Monarchy was monumental because it sets out for different systems of government to be established. It also was a direction to what we have today, freedom and equality amongst…

    • 1395 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    French Revolution Dbq

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages

    There were many causes and effects during the French Revolution. One cause was “Louis XVI had full control of everything.” and “He levied taxes and spent the people’s money as he saw fit.” ( document 1). This led to “The third estate throwing Louis XVI off of power” King Louis had control of everything and every one because he was an absolute ruler and absolute rulers had divine rights (power comes from god).Nobody wanted to question god so they left…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Louis was able to make the exporting a lot cheaper and bring in much revenue through his importing. This made Louis very powerful and soon enough his became the absolute ruler of France. In addition, Louis centrialed France’s government, this was mainly done by the Palace of Versailles which was the central part housed by the French government. Although, this Palace was highly expensive it made Louis a stronger and definitely a more powerful ruler. This house gave Louis the power to make the nobles his servants.…

    • 1608 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Louis XIV was one of the most memorable rules France has ever had, he was able to accomplish an absolutist rule with a bureaucracy and the development of mercantilism. Under the Rule of Anne, Louis XIV mother, France was in chaos. The opposition to his power had demanded the formation of a parliament and creation of national constitution. When Anne had refused revolt broke out across France.…

    • 854 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Compare American and French revolution, and then determine if the American and French Revolution share the same fundamental ideological ideals? Both the American Revolution and French Revolution were developed around the enlightenment ideals (liberty, freedom etc.) that understood the idea of natural rights and equality. However with these revolutions based on such ideological ideas, it becomes clear compare them, that people involved in these revolutions felt the need to be free from oppressive and dictatorial rule of the monarchs and therefore live independent from such dictatorial forces.…

    • 1671 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I take the view that absolutist rulers had more of a negative effect than a positive effect on their countries. The allowance of the unregulated and unrestricted power within the government led to countries meeting social, political, and economical downfall. Louis XIV of France has been regarded traditionally as the best example of the practice of absolute monarchy in the seventeenth century. He had faults which included his desire for glory, increased royal power, and military power and this resulted in war. Louis XIV left France impoverished and surrounded by enemies, along with causing major losses of life and capital spent from the wars he waged by the end of his life.…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Charles V's Failure Essay

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages

    An example of a reason as to why Charles V thought that he had failed at the end of his reign may have been the growth of Protestant Lutheranism in Germany. This growth led to distrust between Charles the Emperor of much of the Catholic world and German princes who had turned to Protestantism as the alternative to Catholicism. A clear criticism of Charles can be seen in the writing of William Robertson, ‘To check the growth of these evils (Protestantism) , and to punish such as had impiously contributed to the spread of them, the emperor, having long and without success made trial of gentler remedies,’ Robertson suggests that Charles and his approach to the growth of protestant belief may have contributed to its popularity and that it was…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays