The 18th century France was not the best place to govern. There were economic crisis, tensions between estates, explosion of new ideas (aka. The Enlightenment) and bankruptcy of the Crown. Undoubtedly, these factors undermined the stability of the French society. The monarch’s expenses were incredibly huge and caused the monarch extremely unpopular. Louis XVI, the leader of the country, the decision maker, the King, did not do a particularly great job in solving these problems. In fact, his poor leadership perturbed some of these problems and precipitated the outbreak of revolution.
Louis XVI was definitely the most important man in the country. France during the ancien regime was ruled by absolute monarchy. Although there were limitations such as the …show more content…
Louis XVI, however, was not as decisive and strong, which limited him from solving the country’s problem. His weakness was shown when the parlement and the public (especially the first and second estates) did not accept the reforms proposed by the controller general and himself. Turogt, Necker, Calonne and Brienne were all dismissed by the King after they failed to propose a reform. This made him looked weak and easily influenced by the parlement and public opinion, which contributed to the failure of reform attempts, and did not save his country from the outbreak of revolution. Furthermore, the relationship between him and the parlement were like antagonists rather than colleagues. It stopped him from ruling and proposing reforms effectively, which might have saved his country and himself from revolution. The most significant event of this problem was the dismissal of the Paris parlement. Since Brienne’s reform was refused by the parlement due to the need of summon of Estates-General, Louis was angry and exiled the whole parlement to Troyes on 15th August 1787. This led to the revolt of the Nobles in 1788, which ostensibly aimed to support the parlements, and actually protecting themselves from being
Louis XVI was definitely the most important man in the country. France during the ancien regime was ruled by absolute monarchy. Although there were limitations such as the …show more content…
Louis XVI, however, was not as decisive and strong, which limited him from solving the country’s problem. His weakness was shown when the parlement and the public (especially the first and second estates) did not accept the reforms proposed by the controller general and himself. Turogt, Necker, Calonne and Brienne were all dismissed by the King after they failed to propose a reform. This made him looked weak and easily influenced by the parlement and public opinion, which contributed to the failure of reform attempts, and did not save his country from the outbreak of revolution. Furthermore, the relationship between him and the parlement were like antagonists rather than colleagues. It stopped him from ruling and proposing reforms effectively, which might have saved his country and himself from revolution. The most significant event of this problem was the dismissal of the Paris parlement. Since Brienne’s reform was refused by the parlement due to the need of summon of Estates-General, Louis was angry and exiled the whole parlement to Troyes on 15th August 1787. This led to the revolt of the Nobles in 1788, which ostensibly aimed to support the parlements, and actually protecting themselves from being