The life of royalty during a period of great upheaval loses its luster and majesty. The monarch, who only yesterday was an all-powerful ruler, turns into a person in constant danger. The obedience of the subjects is replaced by rage and readiness to get even with God’s anointed for all grievances.
"No, Your Majesty, this is a revolution"
King Louis XVI of France, who took the throne in 1774, could not even imagine that the absolute monarchy, which he considered unshakable, would collapse in just a few years.
When the rebel Parisians stormed the Bastille in 1789, the king exclaimed: “But this is a riot!” “No, Your Majesty, this is a revolution,” one of those close to him corrected the monarch.
The revolutionaries did not formally seek the removal of Louis XVI from power. But every day the king lost his powers. The king did not show the will to actively resist; he was overcome by apathy. At the same time, those close to him believed that he needed to leave Paris, get to the territory where strong monarchist sentiments still remained, and lead the fight against the revolution.
This, however, was not easy to do. The royal family was in the Tuileries Palace in Paris under the protection of the National Guard, led by Gilbert Lafayette. On the one hand, Lafayette acted as the guarantor of the integrity of Louis XVI and his family, and on the other, he controlled all their movements. Thus, the status of the king and his relatives could be defined as “captivity with privileges.”
Failed escape
In September 1790, the king's entourage managed to convince him to begin preparations for his escape. The idea was to get to the Montmédy fortress, where Marquis de Bouyer, commander of the troops of Meuse, Saar and Moselle, loyal to the royal family.
On the night of June 21, 1791, the royal family secretly left the Tuileries Palace, accompanied by three bodyguards. The king was dressed as a page, but his appearance was too recognizable for Louis to remain incognito.
In the city of Saint-Menou, the king was noticed by the postmaster Jean-Baptiste Drouet. Drouet was not one hundred percent sure, and he followed the carriage moving to the city of Varennes.
According to the plan of the conspirators, a detachment of hussars was to wait for the king in Varenna, which was entrusted with the mission of accompanying the king.
Varennes is divided into two parts by the river, and the hussars were stationed in its eastern part, while the carriage with the fugitives arrived on the evening of June 21 in the western part. While those accompanying Louis XVI were trying to understand the situation, Drouet arrived in the city and raised the alarm. Local units of the National Guard blocked the bridge connecting the two parts of the city, preventing the hussars from coming to the aid of the king. The fugitives were detained by sending a messenger to Paris with a message. The hussars also sent a messenger demanding assistance. An hour before the forces loyal to the king approached Varennes, the monarch and his family had already been taken back to Paris.
Secrets of the iron cabinet
The flight of Louis XVI significantly worsened his situation. Although he was not deposed, accusations of treason and demands to bring the monarch to justice were heard more and more often. Moreover, the king himself gave reasons for this, increasingly refusing to approve the decisions of the revolutionary parliament. The king hoped for an intervention that would help him defeat the revolutionaries.
On August 10, 1792, the National Guard and revolutionary federates stormed the Tuileries Palace. The Legislative Assembly was replaced by the National Convention, which proclaimed France a republic on September 21, 1792.
The question of the trial of the king arose almost immediately - the verdict imposed on the monarch would give legitimacy to the events of August 10.
Louis was imprisoned with his family in the Temple fortress and accused of plotting against the freedom of the nation and a number of attacks on the security of the state.
In November 1792, during a search, an iron cabinet with documents was discovered. According to the prosecution, the documents contained in it showed that Louis XVI maintained relations with emigrants, conducted secret negotiations with foreign monarchs, and plotted and carried out bribery of moderate revolutionary leaders.
"Guilty of malicious intent against freedom and security"
On December 10, 1792, the trial of the king began in the National Convention. The monarch stood firm and denied all the charges brought against him, but few doubted that Louis XVI would be found guilty.
The main question was what punishment the court would impose on him.
The voting procedure took place from January 15 to January 19, 1789. Each member of the National Convention had to give a reasoned answer to four questions: about the guilt of citizen Louis Capet (as the revolutionaries called the king), about the need to submit the issue of punishing the king to a national referendum, about the death penalty for the king and about the possibility of pardoning the king.
On January 16, voting began on the death penalty. There was no unity among the deputies, and no one undertook to predict its outcome. As a result, of the 721 deputies who took part in the vote, 387 were in favor of the death penalty, 334 were against.
The king's last chance came with the pardon vote, which took place on January 18. 310 votes were cast for the pardon, 380 were against. Thus, King Louis XVI was sentenced to death. The execution of the sentence was scheduled for January 21, 1793.
Louis XVI's farewell to his family before his execution. Reproduction of the painting.
The King's Last Hours
Witnesses reported that, having learned about the verdict, the king asked to bring him a volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica with a description of the execution Charles I. Having received it, he plunged into reading.
On the evening of January 20, Louis XVI was allowed to say goodbye to his family. After this, the king talked with the priest until two o’clock in the morning, and then went to bed.
At five o'clock in the morning he was woken up, he cleaned himself up with the help of the valet, spoke again with the priest, who then celebrated mass.
At eight o'clock in the morning, the condemned man handed over his will to the members of the municipality, asked the priest for his last blessing, and, accompanied by security officers, went to the carriage that was supposed to take him to the place of execution.
The scaffold on Revolution Square was surrounded by an armed crowd. Leaning on the priest, Louis climbed the steps to the devastating weapon of the French Revolution - the guillotine.
The executioner's assistants wanted to take off his clothes, but the king refused their services and took off his brown camisole himself, leaving him in a white flannel vest, gray trousers and white stockings.
Why was the severed head shown to the crowd?
The monarch was to be executed Charles-Henri Sanson, a representative of a dynasty of executioners who began his career during Louis XV.
A dispute arose between the experienced executioner and the monarch. Sanson, who quickly mastered the new execution weapon, approached all procedures scrupulously. The condemned man had to have his hands tied and then tied to a board. Louis considered this a new insult and refused to comply.
Sanson was not eager to use force, but he had no time for persuasion, and six assistants were ready to tie up Louis. The situation was saved by the priest, who persuaded the king to accept this test with dignity.
“Do what you want,” said the king, and addressed the crowd: “I die innocent, I forgive my enemies and pray that my blood will be shed for the benefit of the people of France and satisfy God’s wrath!”
Sanson's assistants, who had already tied the condemned man's hands, deftly and quickly placed him on the board and tied him to it.
To the sound of drums, the head of the former ruler of France was under the knife of the guillotine. Charles-Henri Sanson put it into action. Louis XVI lost his head as a cheering crowd shouted: “Long live the revolution!”
A moment later, the executioner's assistant raised the severed head and showed it to the crowd. Then it was believed that an instantly severed head continued to live for about five seconds, and during these moments it was raised so that the executed person could see the audience rejoicing and laughing at him.
The executioner sleeps peacefully
The king's body was buried in a common grave, covered with a layer of quicklime. In October 1793, the husband shared the same fate Queen Marie Antoinette. Following the royals, many ardent figures of the revolution ascended to the scaffold, including the main supporter of the death penalty, the monarch Maximilian Robespierre.
The executioner Charles Henri Sanson, who executed them all and carried out 2,918 executions in total, retired and died of natural causes in 1806 at the age of 67. They say that I once met the famous executioner Napoleon, who at one time almost became Sanson’s “client”. Bonaparte asked whether the man who sent so many people to that council could sleep peacefully. “If kings, dictators and emperors sleep peacefully, why shouldn’t the executioner sleep peacefully?” Sanson shrugged.
Louis XVI visits a peasant family.
But the King was too young. He clearly lacked experience, he was well disposed towards people and could not imagine the full extent of the Masonic danger that reigned in his environment. Almost all the famous ministers of the King, some of whom, for the first time in the history of the country, were not representatives of the highest nobility, such as the famous Comptroller General Turgot or Necker, called by the monarch to work for the benefit of France, were secret Freemasons. They carried out the orders of their elder brothers first and only last - the will of the King.
During the reign of Louis XVI, a lot was done for the prosperity of the country. Finances were streamlined, the standard of living of the people was raised, many taxes were abolished, and the so-called “menmortables” were freed (from the French words “le main morte” - “dead hand” - a category of feudal-dependent peasants, distinguished by the greatest degree of personal unfreedom). Extrajudicial arrests were abolished, when, by secret order of the king, a person without any guilt could be thrown into the Bastille for any period of time, torture was prohibited, military schools were built for the impoverished nobility, as well as schools for blind children of all classes. New higher educational institutions were created, the first fire service in France was created, new types of weapons were introduced into the army (especially artillery), and the plight of the Jewish population, which before Louis XVI was obliged to pay a quitrent “for being Jewish,” was eased.
In 1785, by decree of the King, the famous expedition of J.-F. was equipped and sent. de La Perouse.
France's international prestige was restored. Louis XVI sharply changed his predecessor's policy towards Russia. If Louis XV literally hated Russia and dreamed of “driving it into the Asian steppes,” for which, by the way, he actively helped the Pugachev rebellion with weapons and money, then Louis XVI, on the contrary, saw Russia as an ally. After the King’s personal letter to Empress Catherine the Great, relations between the two countries reach a new level. In 1781, Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich visited Paris with Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna. The distinguished guests arrived incognito under the name of the Count and Countess of the North. They were given the warmest welcome by the royal couple. It is noteworthy that marble busts of Catherine II and Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich decorated the office of Louis XVI in his office in the Petit Trianon Palace.
Now let's say a few words about Louis XVI as a statesman. As a sovereign, Louis XVI was strikingly different from his predecessors. The furnishings of his chambers spoke a lot about the character of the King. In his rooms were hung drawings of canals dug on his orders, and a collection of geographical maps and globes was kept, many of which were skillfully made by the King himself. Nearby there was a carpentry room, in which, in addition to a lathe, there were many different tools. The library, located on the floor above, contained all the books published during his reign. Next was a large library, where publications and manuscripts were kept that had belonged to previous kings since the time of Francis I. In two separate adjacent rooms there were many other interesting books collected by him.
Louis XVI worked 12 hours a day. The King had a wonderful memory. He stored countless names and place names in his head. The numbers and their meanings were imprinted in his memory with amazing clarity. Justice and honesty were the inalienable virtues of the King.
The king was distinguished by a piety rare for those times. A wonderful family man, father of three children, Louis XVI sincerely loved his wife all his life, who, however, had only a moral influence on him.
The king loved simple food and practically did not drink alcoholic beverages.
Louis XVI never argued, but always stuck to his decision. This gave his enemies and superficial people the opportunity to talk about his weak character and lack of will. But they were mistaken or deliberately slandered: the King was a strong-willed, but reserved and delicate person.
For a long time, the name of King Louis XVI was popular and loved among the people. This, of course, could not but worry those who sought to overthrow the French monarchy. Taking advantage of the deep contradictions within the country, the defection of most of the French nobility and high clergy, secret societies begin to wage war against the King. A campaign of slander and defamation of the royal name begins. Moreover, at first, given the popularity of Louis XVI among the people, the Freemasons seek to discredit the name of the Queen. This was done with the help of French courtiers, including royal princes. Stefan Zweig wrote: “All the idle court bastards were interested in one question: with whom is the queen deceiving her husband? Precisely because there is essentially nothing to talk about, the queen’s honor turns out to be the subject of frivolous gossip. Gossip is transformed into songs, lampoons, pamphlets, and pornographic poems. First, the ladies of the court hide these obscene poems in their fans, then they boldly fly out of the palace, they are printed, and distributed among the people. And when revolutionary propaganda begins, Jacobin journalists do not have long to look for arguments to present Marie Antoinette as the embodiment of depravity, to show her as a shameless criminal.”.
The enemies of the throne meanly play on the Austrian origin of the Queen: “Autrichienne”, they call the Queen (i.e. “Austrian”), but at the same time they put the emphasis on the last syllable (in French “chienne” means “bitch”). Gradually, slander against the Queen does its job: people begin to hate her. This hatred could not help but spread to the King. Of course, not everyone succumbs to Masonic slander. There is still great reverence for the royal name in the village. But the capital, major cities and, most importantly, the Court become enemies of their Monarch. Apostates, libertines, thieves and liars cannot forgive the King for his religiosity, piety, decency and sincerity. The king was not like his “loyal” nobility, he was an “enemy of progress”, under which the ambitious plans of various princes and dukes were often hidden. They enthusiastically joined Masonic lodges, where they were told about their importance, indispensability and wisdom. Like butterflies, the French aristocrats flew to the Masonic fire, unaware of their fate. A striking example of this is the King’s cousin, Duke Philippe of Orleans, nicknamed “Philippe d’Egallité” (“Philip of Equality”). An active participant in the Masonic lodges, a friend of Voltaire and Robespierre, who played a prominent role in the overthrow of the monarchy, he would vote for execution of his relative and sovereign, and a year later the knife of the Jacobin guillotine will cut off his own head. It is noteworthy that Louis XVI, sentenced to death, upon learning that Philip voted for his execution, will say: "Cousin? What harm did I do to him? However, unfortunate! I would never want to trade places with him. May God forgive him".
The scope of the article does not allow us to describe in detail how the so-called “Great French Revolution” was prepared and carried out, the most shameful and bloody page of French history, which, contrary to common sense, is still the main state triumph of modern France. Let’s just say that as a result of the rebellion prepared by the Masonic lodges in Paris on July 14, 1789, when the Bastille was taken and destroyed (this “main royal prison,” this “gloomy symbol of royal tyranny” - the Bastille, in which at that time the prisoners were 4 criminals), the French kingdom ceased to exist in its former form. The King was asked to sign the Constitution and renounce the title of King of France and Navarre. Louis XVI, who initially moved his troops to Paris, was abandoned by everyone and was forced to yield to the demands of the rebels: from now on he became a constitutional sovereign and received the title of “King of the French.” Louis XVI took this step because he understood: if he refused it, France would drown in a sea of blood. The victorious Freemasonry did not fail to demonstrate its power to Louis XVI: when the King left the Assembly after signing the Constitution, the winners standing on both sides of the stairs crossed their swords over the King’s head: as a sign of the triumph of Masonic power.
The king decided to use his rights given to him under the new Constitution to minimize the evil that triumphed with the revolutionaries. Louis XVI was especially concerned about the peasants and village priests. “If I’m not there, they, the poor, will have a very bad time,” he said. In this he foresaw the future: the main blow of the Jacobin terror, in addition to the aristocrats, would fall on the peasants and village curates. Using the right of veto, the King did everything to prevent anti-church and anti-people laws. Sometimes he succeeded, sometimes he didn’t. But, despite the conditions of constant humiliation and evil antics on the part of the revolutionary authorities, despite the fact that he was virtually alone with them, the King waged his war with the victorious revolutionaries. At the same time, he strictly adhered to the letter of the law established by the revolutionary regime itself. And this regime, seeing its own powerlessness, began to violate its own laws. Each time Louis XVI protested these facts of lawlessness. This aroused the ire of revolutionary radicals.
"Louis,- said one of them, - he himself provokes us to declare him a prisoner of the Tuileries.”.
Louis XVI in the Temple.
Meanwhile, the leaders of secret societies have long been striving to eliminate the King. After all, he is still not only alive, but also formally at the head of the state. A new campaign is beginning in France to accuse the King of “counter-revolution”. The goal of this campaign was the overthrow and murder of Louis XVI. A. Sobul wrote at the beginning of 1791: “Reconciliation between royal power and the revolutionary nation has become impossible”.
The removal of the King was necessary for the Masonic authorities also because the revolutionary government was preparing for war with Prussia and Austria, which threatened to oppose them. At the same time, the revolutionaries were well aware that the commanders of the Austrian and Prussian armies, relatives of the Austrian emperor and the Prussian king, belonged to the same lodges as themselves. There was a chance to spread the revolution to neighboring countries. France is engulfed in a hysterical epidemic of the “threat of intervention.” The revolutionaries talk about the threat of invasion by “aristocrats” looming over the country and assure the people that the main goal of this intervention is to restore the absolute power of Louis XVI. The king finds himself in the Parisian royal residence of the Tuileries virtually as a prisoner. It is increasingly becoming a screen for the revolution. His every move was watched, with spies from among the National Guard officers following on his heels. The King's chief jailer was the Marquis of Lafayette. When Louis XVI went to Versailles in the spring of 1791 to participate in the Easter service, the people, persuaded by the revolutionaries, did not allow him to pass, and Louis XVI was forced to return to Paris. A situation has established itself in the country, which was well characterized by Abbot Raynal, close to the King: "A king without power and an uncontrolled people".
However, not everyone in France at that time sought to destroy the monarchy. Even among the revolutionary victors there was a heated discussion about this. But the radicals increasingly gained the upper hand in these disputes. Under these conditions, people loyal to the King offer Louis XVI to save himself and his family, leave Paris and return to the country only after the overthrow of the revolutionary government. Louis XVI agreed, not wanting to cover up the crimes of the revolutionaries with his name. On June 20, 1791, with the help of loyal officers, the royal family left the Tuileries.
Where was the King going to go? Until now, the official version is the one composed by the revolutionaries: Louis allegedly wanted to go to Austria to join the Habsburgs to lead an intervention against revolutionary France. However, in reality the King's goals were different. Leaving Paris, Louis XVI left "Proclamation of the King to all Frenchmen on the occasion of his departure from Paris". In this proclamation, Louis XVI explained the reasons for his departure. He wrote that he had become a prisoner of the Assembly, that he could not make decisions that he did not consider good for his people, and he could not calmly see how the kingdom was being destroyed and religion was being mocked. The Assembly itself, the King wrote, is not free; the tone in it is set by various clubs of radicals who seek to seize power and establish their dominance over the country. "French people,- asked the King, - is this what you wanted? The King's next thought clearly demonstrates how deeply he understood his destiny as God's Anointed. "The King's inability to contain evil forces him to seek safety." That is, Louis XVI understands that, thanks to his anointing, he is keeping France from final destruction. That is why he must do everything to avoid his death. But this did not mean that the King was going to sit in safety. At the end of the proclamation, Louis XVI calls on his people: “We need to put an end to the evil and return all its rights to the royal power. Return to your King, he is always your friend.". That is, Louis XVI called on the French people to rally around their King and thereby regain true freedom. As we will see, the majority of the French people did not want to heed the call of Louis XVI.
The royal family did not manage to travel far. On June 21, 1791, an employee of the postal station in the city of Varen recognized the King, who was traveling incognito. The royal family was returned to Paris. The people betrayed their monarch to revolutionary fanatics. The days of royal power were numbered. The last straw that overwhelmed the Jacobins' hatred of the King was his “veto” on the entry of Jacobin ministers into the government. In April 1792, the Jacobins staged a coup d'etat, captured the Tuileries and arrested the royal family. She was imprisoned in the former residence of the Templars - in the Temple Tower. In Paris, monstrous murders of people loyal to the monarchy were organized, all power passed into the hands of the Jacobin Convention. France was declared a republic.
From this moment the reign of King Louis XVI ends and his martyrdom begins. If before his departure from Paris the King believed that it was his duty to save himself in the name of France, now he realized that he must die in the name of saving France. Meanwhile, evil did not hide its triumph. Everything that happened to the royal family in the Temple bore the imprint of revenge. First of all, the revolutionaries began to call Louis XVI differently. Now he was called "Louis Capet". The question arises: why “Capet” if Louis XVI was from the Bourbon dynasty? The answer to this question is simple: secret forces took revenge not on Louis XVI personally or even on the Bourbons, but on their ancestors, the Capetians, a representative of one of whose branches, Philip IV, put an end to the Templars and their master Jacques de Molay.
In the Temple, the royal family was divided; the King and Queen could only see each other during lunch and dinner. Several loyal aristocrats and servants followed the royal family to the Temple. Most of them would soon be taken away from the Temple by the Jacobins and killed. The crowd will bring the head of the court lady Marquise de Lamballe on a peak to the windows of the Temple, shouting threats against Marie Antoinette.
A walk along the fortress walls of the Temple was allowed once a day, but then it was completely banned. All the windows and loopholes were covered with high iron shutters, so that the royal family could not see what was happening outside the castle, just as the people could not observe the imprisoned royal family. The king could not be left alone for a minute. A security guard was always with him. When Louis XVI asked that his little son, whom he loved very much, live in the room with him, he was told that this was possible, but in this case the child would not see his mother. Naturally, Louis XVI was forced to refuse his request. True, he was allowed to give lessons to the little Dauphin, but there was always a spy who rudely interrupted the King, prevented him from reading books to the child, and smoked, blowing smoke towards the monarch. During the entire period of imprisonment, no one heard a single reproach from Louis XVI against anyone; he never became indignant or complained. The king prayed a lot, spending several hours before the crucifixion.
Meanwhile, he was doomed. Satanists from the Jacobin environment sought at all costs to kill the King. On December 11, 1792, the trial of “Louis Capet” began at the Convention. To give this court a veneer of legitimacy, the King was given the right to have lawyers. However, the King defended himself so skillfully that the tribunal was unable to prove any of his charges. On all counts, the King should have been acquitted, but on January 16, by a majority vote, the deputies of the Convention sentenced the King to death. It is interesting that many deputies, even some Jacobins, were going to vote against the execution of the King, but during the voting they received a conditional Masonic signal to vote for the execution and did not dare to disobey it. The king calmly listened to the verdict and declared his innocence. Louis XVI was sent to the Temple, where he awaited execution. At this time, he writes his will, which is a stunning example of a Christian attitude towards death and submission to the Will of God. Here is the essence of this document in a condensed form: “In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! I give my soul to the Lord, my Creator. I pray to accept it from Our merciful Lord Jesus Christ, who redeemed us sinners with His Sacrifice, the first of whom I am. I die in the bosom of our Holy Mother Church, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman, I believe in all her Sacraments and Shrines. I ask the Lord to forgive me all my sins. I forgive with all my heart all my enemies and ask God to forgive them too. I commit my wife, my children, my sister and my brothers to God. I pray that God will be especially merciful to my wife, children and sister who have suffered with me for so long. I bequeath to my son, if he has the misfortune of being a king, to take care of the welfare of his subjects, to forget all hatred and not to think about revenge. I declare before Almighty God that I have not committed any of the crimes with which I am accused. Signed: Louis".
On January 20, the King said goodbye to his family, whom he had not seen for more than a month. Louis XVI informed the Queen for the first time that he would be executed tomorrow. It was a terrible sight, which even the jailers recalled with shudder. Then the King retired to his room. The Convention allowed the priest to be with the King during his last hours. The condemned King spent almost the whole night in prayer and confession. In the morning, he refused to say goodbye to his wife, sister and children for the last time. "Tell the Queen,- he asked the abbot, - to my beloved children and my sister, that I promised to meet them in the morning, but I want to avoid the suffering of this terrible separation; how much does it cost me to leave and not say goodbye to them?.
Early in the morning, Louis XVI was taken to the scaffold. He never saw his family, and he was not destined to know that a year later, by order of the Convention, the Queen would be killed, and the little Dauphin would be killed in the Temple.
The scaffold was built on Place Louis XV, renamed Place de la Concorde. "People's Power" forbade the people to take to the streets while the carriage with the King was traveling through the streets of Paris. The National Guard was everywhere. However, no one tried to violate this order. No one except a small group of four officers armed with swords, who tried to force their way to the cart shouting “Long live the King!” Nobody responded to this call. The officers were captured and then executed.
Poster depicting the severed head of the King
The Place de la Concorde was filled with National Guardsmen and crowds sympathizing with the Jacobins. Louis XVI climbed onto the platform on which the guillotine was installed. He forbade tying his hands. Approaching the edge of the platform, he addressed the crowd in a loud, firm voice: “I die innocent. I pray to God that my blood will not fall on France.". The drums drowned out his speech. A minute later, King Louis XVI was beheaded. The representative of the Convention took the severed head of the King and waved it three times towards the crowd: "The French people,- a guttural voice sounded, - I baptize you in the name of the revolution and Jacob!”. The blood of the Martyr King fell on the head of the French people.
Evil did not and does not hide the meaning of the murder of King Louis XVI. The modern heirs of the Jacobins write directly about this: “The Republic draws its strength from the rite of black magic, which was the execution of Louis XVI”, says Freemason E. Zola.
And here is the opinion of another prominent Mason-sociologist E. Morin: "Beheading of Louis XVI, he writes, had no moral or legal basis, but it was necessary and, moreover, inevitable, in order to replace the Divine royal rights with human rights.”.
The execution of Louis XVI was a curse on the French people. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, he had to endure severe suffering, endure bloody experiments on himself, suffer millions of victims and gradually lose his characteristic national traits, increasingly falling into the slavery of various usurpers.
LOUIS XVI(1754–1793) – King of France (1774–1791, from 1791 bore the title “King of the French,” which he was deprived of in 1792). Born on August 23, 1754 in Versailles, the grandson of Louis XV, from childhood he was committed to religion, was distinguished by an indecisive character, showed no interest in the humanities, was interested in geography and plumbing, and was famous for his passion for food.
His character intertwined opposite traits: timidity and stubbornness. He was convinced of the divine origin of his power. His marriage to Marie Antunette, an Austrian princess, meant the rapprochement of two dynasties - the Bourbons and the Habsburgs, which had been at odds for a long time. In the first years of Louis's reign, public opinion in the country was in favor of the king. Even the excessively luxurious image of the queen was forgiven. The king sought to get the country out of the difficult situation in which France found itself in the last years of the reign of Louis XV. But the attempt to carry out the necessary reforms failed. The decisive minister, philosopher and economist Turgot, and his successor, the banker Necker, were dismissed by the king. The court nobility and nobility did not want any changes. The queen was the support of the aristocrats; it was on her initiative that people were appointed who meekly fulfilled all the whims of the court.
Foreign policy was also controversial. During the American Revolution, France helped the rebellious States: Lafayette, Washington's assistant, was recognized as a hero in France. And in 1786 France concluded an agreement with England that was extremely unfavorable for the development of French industry. French industrialists were outraged. In 1788, a financial crisis broke out, accompanied by an unprecedented crop failure, famine and popular riots. The Estates General, a collection of representatives of the three estates, could not contain the approach of the revolution. Representatives of the third estate refused to obey the king and declared themselves the highest legislative assembly of the country. The king was quickly losing control of the situation. On July 14, 1789, Parisians took the Bastille, the main prison of France, by storm. This meant the first victory of the revolution. August 26, 1789 was adopted Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which the king was forced to sign in October. Revolutionary Paris became his residence. The only hope for the court was the victorious intervention of foreign monarchies. An attempt by the king and his family to flee the country failed. Louis XVI was detained on June 21, 1791 in Varenna and returned to Paris in disgrace. In the spring of 1792, troops of Austria and Prussia invaded French territory.
France declared war on these powers. The patriotic movement increased the revolutionary intensity in the country. The Legislative Assembly no longer enjoyed authority; there were many monarchists there. Austria and Prussia did not hide their plans to strangle the revolution. The commander of the combined forces, the Duke of Brunswick, declared that he would destroy Paris if even one hair fell from Louis’s head. These words caused a storm of anger in France. On August 10, at the call of the Parisian sections, armed citizens moved towards the royal palace, guarded by Swiss mercenaries. At the beginning of the battle, the Swiss were able to hold off the assault, but the king ordered a ceasefire and withdrew under the protection of the Legislative Assembly.
But the revolutionary authorities of Paris arrested Louis XVI with their power and imprisoned him in the Temple Castle. The Legislative Assembly was replaced by the National Convention, elected by universal suffrage.
On September 21, the Convention began to work and one of the first things in its work was to bring Louis XVI to trial. The king reacted unusually calmly to the attempts of the commissars of the Paris commune to treat him as a prisoner. This lack of initiative and indecisive man showed great restraint when it came to his personal destiny. At the trial, the king completely denied all counts of the indictment. The king's trial was the scene of a struggle between radical revolutionaries and moderate members of the Convention.
A majority, albeit a small one, voted for the execution. On January 20, the Convention decided to execute Louis XVI. On the same day, the verdict was announced to the king. The guillotine awaited him on the Place de la Revolution in Paris. He reacted calmly to the verdict and wrote a letter to the Minister of Justice asking him to be allowed a final meeting with his family. In the evening he said goodbye to his family. Then he returned to prison, where he spent part of the night confessing his sins to his confessor. And then I slept for several hours.
Even revolutionary newspapers were forced to write that the king on the scaffold showed more firmness than on the throne. He himself went up to the place of execution and took off his coat. On January 21, 1793, he was beheaded by guillotine on the Place de la Revolution in Paris. Most historians believe that this man, being very decent in his personal life, showed himself to be a weak-willed and irresponsible politician in political life.
Anatoly Kaplan
Versailles
Paris
Maria Teresa of France (Madame Royale)
Louis XVII
After the overthrow, the republican authorities stripped Louis XVI of the title of king and gave him the surname Capet (French. Capet), after his ancestor Hugo Capet, founder of the Capetian dynasty (of which the Bourbon dynasty is a branch).
Characteristic. Beginning of reign
Coronation portrait of Louis XVI
He was a man of a kind heart, but of insignificant intelligence and indecisive character. Louis XV did not like him for his negative attitude towards the courtly way of life and contempt for DuBarry and kept him away from state affairs. The education given to Louis by the Duke of Vauguyon gave him little practical and theoretical knowledge. He showed the greatest inclination towards physical activities, especially plumbing and hunting. Despite the depravity of the court around him, he retained the purity of morals, was distinguished by great honesty, simplicity of manners and hatred of luxury. With the kindest feelings, he ascended the throne with the desire to work for the benefit of the people and to eliminate existing abuses, but he did not know how to boldly move forward towards a consciously intended goal. He submitted to the influence of those around him, sometimes aunts, sometimes brothers, sometimes ministers, sometimes the queen (Marie Antoinette), canceled decisions made, and did not complete the reforms he had begun.
Turgot's reforms
The rumor about his honesty and good intentions aroused the most optimistic hopes among the people. Indeed, Louis’s first action was to remove DuBarry and the previous ministers, but his choice of first minister was unsuccessful: Maurepas, an old courtier, reluctantly followed the path of reform and at the first opportunity turned away from it.
Louis XVI gives alms to poor peasants.
The feudal duty of 40 million, droit de joyeux avènement, was abolished, sinecures were destroyed, and court expenses were reduced. Such talented patriots as Turgot and Malesherbes were placed at the head of the department. The first, simultaneously with a number of financial reforms - uniform distribution of taxes, extension of the land tax to privileged classes, redemption of feudal dues, introduction of freedom of grain trade, abolition of internal customs, workshops, trade monopolies - undertook transformations in all sectors of people's life, in which Malzerbe helped him , abolishing lettres de cachet, establishing freedom of conscience, etc.
But the nobility, parliament and clergy rebelled against the pioneers of new ideas, holding tightly to their rights and privileges. Turgot fell, although the king spoke of him like this: “Only I and Turgot love the people.” With his characteristic indecisiveness, Louis wanted to mitigate the abuses, but not to eradicate them. When he was persuaded to abolish serfdom in his domains, he, “respecting property,” refused to extend this abolition to the lands of the lords, and when Turgot presented him with a draft for the abolition of privileges, he wrote in the margins of it: “what a crime was committed by the nobles, the provincial states and parliaments to destroy their rights." After Turgot's removal, real anarchy reigned in finances. To correct them, Necker, Sh.-A. were successively called upon. Calonne and Lomenie de Brienne, but in the absence of a definite plan of action, the ministers could not achieve any definite results, but took either a step forward or a step back, either fought with the privileged classes and stood for reforms, or yielded to the ruling classes and acted in the spirit of Louis XIV .
Counter-reforms
The first manifestation of the reaction was the city regulations, which allowed the promotion to officers only of nobles who had proven the antiquity of their nobility (4 generations). Access to the highest judicial positions was closed to persons of the third estate. The nobility made every effort to free itself from paying not only the taxes created by Turgot, but also those that were established in the city. It prevailed in a dispute with farmers over dîmes insolites - the distribution of church tithes to potatoes, sown grass, etc. Priests were forbidden to gather without the permission of their superiors, that is, those against whom they sought protection from the state. The same reaction was noticed in feudal relations: the lords restored their feudal rights, presented new documents, which were taken into account. The revival of feudalism was evident even in the royal domains. Trust in royal power weakened. Meanwhile, France's participation in the North American War increased the desire for political freedom.
Financial crisis and convening of the Estates General
Finances were increasingly in disarray: loans could not cover the deficit, which reached 198 million livres a year, partly due to mismanagement of finances, partly due to the extravagance of the queen and the generous gifts that the king, under pressure from others, lavished on the princes and courtiers. The government felt that it was unable to cope with the difficulties and saw the need to turn to the public for help. An attempt was made to reform regional and local self-government: the power of intendants was limited, part of it was transferred to provincial assemblies while maintaining class differences - but they were introduced only in some places, as an experiment, and the reform did not satisfy anyone. A meeting of notables was convened, which agreed to the establishment of a general land tax and stamp duty, the abolition of road duties, etc. Parliament refused to register these decrees, boldly pointing out the extravagance of the court and the queen and for the first time demanding the convening of the Estates General. The king, in a lit de justice, forced Parliament to register the edicts and exiled him to Troyes, but then promised to convene the Estates General in five years if Parliament approved a loan to cover expenses during this time. Parliament refused. Then the king ordered the arrest of several of its members and issued an edict on January 8, which abolished parliaments and established in their place a cours plénières of princes, peers and senior courtiers, judicial and military officials. This outraged the whole country: Brienne had to leave his post, and Necker was appointed in his place again. Parliament was restored. The new meeting of notables came to nothing; then the Estates General was finally convened.
From the Estates General to the National Assembly. The beginning of the revolution
The Estates General met on May 5 at Versailles. In all cahiers (see State ranks) a radical transformation of the old order of things was required. Next in line was, first of all, the question of whether the States should retain their old, class form. The Third Estate resolved it in the sense of a break with the past, declaring itself a National Assembly on June 17 and inviting other estates to unite on this basis. Louis, succumbing to the admonitions of the aristocracy, became queen. meeting on June 23 ordered the restoration of the old order and voting by estate. The National Assembly refused to obey, and the king himself was forced to ask the nobility and clergy to unite with the third estate. Constantly hesitating, Louis took the side of the people, then the side of the courtiers, coming up with them always unsuccessful plans for coups d'etat. On July 11, he dismissed Necker, which greatly outraged the people. The concentration of 30,000 troops near Paris only added fuel to the fire: on July 14, an uprising broke out in Paris, the Bastille was taken by the people. In vain did Marshal Broglie persuade the monarch to become the head of the troops and retire to Lorraine. The king, fearing civil war, went on foot to the National Assembly on July 15 and declared that he and the nation were one and that the troops would be removed. On July 17, he went to Paris, approved the establishment of a national guard, and returned accompanied by a jubilant crowd. On September 18, he approved the assembly's decree on the destruction of the remnants of feudalism. After the mutiny of October 5 and 6, he moved to Paris and fell into complete apathy; power and influence increasingly passed to the constituent assembly. In reality, he no longer reigned, but was present, amazed and alarmed, as events changed, sometimes adapting to the new order, sometimes reacting against them in the form of secret appeals for help to foreign powers.
Attempted escape. Constitutional monarch
Louis and his entire family secretly left in a carriage towards the eastern border on the night of June 21. It is worth noting that the escape was prepared and carried out by the Swedish nobleman Hans Axel von Fersen, who was madly in love with the king’s wife, Marie Antoinette. In Varenna, Drouet, the son of the caretaker of one of the post stations, saw in the carriage window the profile of the king, whose image was minted on coins and was well known to everyone, and raised the alarm. The king and queen were detained and returned to Paris under escort. They were met by the deathly silence of the people crowded in the streets. On September 14, 1791, Louis took the oath of the new constitution, but continued to negotiate with emigrants and foreign powers, even when he officially threatened them through his Girondin ministry, and on April 22, with tears in his eyes, he declared war on Austria. Louis's refusal to sanction the decree of the assembly against emigrants and rebel priests and the removal of the patriotic ministry imposed on him caused a movement on June 20, 1792, and his proven relations with foreign states and emigrants led to the uprising on August 10 and the overthrow of the monarchy (September 21).
Arrest and execution
Execution of Louis XVI
Louis was imprisoned with his family in the Temple and accused of plotting against the freedom of the nation and a number of attempts against the security of the state. On January 11, the trial of the king in the Convention began. Louis behaved with great dignity and, not content with the speeches of his chosen defenders, he himself defended himself against the charges brought against him, referring to the rights given to him by the constitution. On January 20, he was sentenced to death by a majority of 383 votes to 310. Louis listened to the verdict with great calm and on January 21 ascended the scaffold. His last words on the scaffold were: “I die innocent, I am innocent of the crimes of which I am accused. I am telling you this from the scaffold, preparing to appear before God. And I forgive everyone who is responsible for my death."
World political consequences of the execution of Louis XVI
Immediately upon receiving news of the execution of Louis XVI, the French envoy was removed from London. On February 1, 1793, ten days after the execution of Louis XVI, the French Convention responded by declaring war on England and the Netherlands, and on March 7 - on Spain.
Notes
Literature
- Soulavie, “Mémoires du règne de L. XVI” (P., 1801);
- Bournisseaux, “Hist. de L. XVI" (P., 1829);
- Tocqueville, “Coup d’oeil sur le règne de L. XVI” (P., 1850);
- Droz, “Hist. du règne de L. XVI" (P., 1839-1842, 2nd ed. 1858);
- Jobez, "La France sous L. XVI" (1877 et seq.);
- Semichon, “Les réformes sous L. XVI” (P.);
- Amy-Cherest, “La chute de l’ancien régime” (P., 1884 et seq.);
- Gertanner, “Schilderung des häusslichen Lebens, des Characters und der Regierung L. XVI” (B., 1793);
- Barrière, “La cour et la ville sous L. XIV, XV et XVI” (P., 1829);
- Cléry, "Journal de la captivité" (L., 1798);
- Nicolardot, "Journal de L. XVI" (1873).
| Capetian 987-1328 |
| 987 | 996 | 1031 | 1060 | 1108 | 1137 | 1180 | 1223 | 1226 | |||||||||
| Hugo Capet | Robert II | Henry I | Philip I | Louis VI | Louis VII | Philip II | Louis VIII | ||||||||||
| 1328 | 1350 | 1364 | 1380 | 1422 | 1461 | 1483 | 1498 | ||||||||
| Philip VI | John II | Charles V | Charles VI | Charles VII | Louis XI | Charles VIII | |||||||||
| 1498 | 1515 | 1547 | 1559 | 1560 | 1574 | 1589 | |||||||
| Louis XII | Francis I | Henry II | Francis II | Charles IX | Henry III | ||||||||
| Bourbons 1589-1792 |
| 1589 | 1610 | 1643 | 1715 | 1774 | 1792 | ||||||
| Henry IV | Louis XIII | Louis XIV | Louis XV | Louis XVI | |||||||
| 1792 | 1804 | 1814 | 1824 | 1830 | 1848 | 1852 | 1870 | ||||||||
| - | |||||||||||||||
King Louis XVI was born on August 23, 1754. Then he received the title of Duke of Berry. His father was the Dauphin (heir to the Presetol) Louis Ferdinand, who in turn was the son of Louis XV.
Childhood
As a child, the child was the second of seven children in the family. His older brother was his namesake, who died at the age of 9 in 1761. While Louis grew up in his shadow, his parents did not notice him. He was fond of hunting, which he often went on with his reigning grandfather. After his father died of tuberculosis in 1765, the title of Dauphin passed to the 11-year-old child. His hasty training began in order to prepare him for the throne, which he was now supposed to inherit from his grandfather.
Heir
In 1770, the future Louis XVI, who was 15 years old, married Marie Antoinette. She was the Dauphin's maternal cousin, and was also the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. The French public was hostile to the marriage, since the country had recently entered into an alliance with the Austrian monarch and suffered a shameful defeat in the Seven Years' War (1756 - 1763). Then many colonies in North America were lost, given to Great Britain. The crowned couple could not have offspring for a long time, which is why sarcastic pamphlets even appeared in France, touching on the topic of Louis’ health. However, from 1778 to 1786, 4 children were born (2 sons and 2 daughters).
The growing heir was very different in character from his domineering grandfather. The young man was shy, quiet, modest and did not fit into the then royal court at all.
Reforms
In 1774, Louis XV died and a new king, Louis XVI, was installed on the throne. The monarch sympathized with the ideas of the Enlightenment, which is why he immediately dismissed many of the odious ministers and advisers of the previous reign, who were reactionary. In particular, Madame DuBarry, the chancellor, etc., were excommunicated from the court. Reforms began aimed at abandoning feudalism, and royal expenses for the encirclement were significantly reduced. All these changes were requested by French society, which wanted civil liberties and an end to the dominance of the authorities.
Transformations in the financial sector received the greatest response. Turgot was appointed controller general in this regard, who in the future was firmly associated with the reforms. He proposed redistributing taxes and increasing taxes from the upper wealthy strata of society. Internal customs posts that robbed traders were abolished, and monopolies were destroyed. The sale of bread became free, which greatly facilitated the existence of the peasant class, who had the least means of living. In 1774, local parliaments were restored, which performed the functions of judicial and representative bodies.
Conservative resistance
Among the common people, all these ideas were received with enthusiasm. But the upper strata of French society resisted the innovations initiated by King Louis XVI. The nobility and clergy did not want to lose their own privileges. There were demands to take the position away from Turgot, who was the main inspirer of change. Louis XVI had an insecure character and therefore yielded to the nobility. Turgot was removed, and complete anarchy began in finance. The new ministers and managers could not do anything about the growing hole in the budget, but only took out new loans from creditors. The debts were associated with lower tax revenues. In addition, trade within the country could not switch to new tracks immediately, which is why an economic crisis began in the cities, associated, among other things, with a shortage of bread.
Compromise
Against this background, in the 80s, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette tried to maneuver in the changing conditions of French society. The first manifestations of counter-reforms began, aimed at smoothing out the radical changes left after Turgot.
The positions of officers and judges again became closed to the third estate. The feudal lords regained the position when they paid lower taxes. All this caused unrest in society. Everyone was dissatisfied: the nobles because of the king’s uncertainty, the townspeople because of the difficult economic situation, and the peasants because the reforms that had begun were curtailed.
At this time, France took part in the Revolutionary War, which was unfolding in North America. The rebel colonies received support from Louis XVI. The operation to weaken Great Britain required being on the same side as the revolutionaries. This was completely unusual for absolute monarchs, one of whom was still Louis XVI. A brief biography of the king suggests that the king’s policies displeased his “colleagues” - the rulers of Austria, Russia, etc.
At the same time, numerous French officers who fought in America returned home as completely different people. The old order of their homeland, where feudalism still triumphed, was alien to them. Across the ocean, they felt what freedom was. The most famous officer from this layer was Gilbert Lafayette.
Financial crisis
The second half of the 80s was marked by new financial problems throughout the state. The half-measures taken by the king and his ministers did not suit anyone because of their ineffectiveness. A new measure was the convening of parliament, where a reformed tax was to be introduced. It was initiated by Louis XVI. Photos of paintings with his image show us a smartly dressed monarch, while a crisis was brewing in the state. Of course, this turned many against the king. Parliament refused to introduce new taxes, after which it was dispersed and some of its members were arrested. This outraged almost all residents of the country. As a compromise, it was decided to convene the Estates General.
Estates General
The first meeting of the new representative body took place in 1789. Within it there were several opposing groups representing different social strata. Specifically, the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly and invited the nobility and clergy to join the new faction. This was an attempt on the power of the monarch, which was considered given by God. Breaking with the accepted traditions that had existed in the kingdom for many centuries meant that the National Assembly positioned itself as the voice of the people.
Since the Third Estate had a majority in the Estates General, it blocked the king's decrees to restore the old order. This meant that Louis now faced a choice: forcefully dissolve the Estates General or submit to their decisions. The monarch once again showed his desire for compromise and himself advised the clergy and nobility to join the coalition. He became a constitutional ruler.
Insurrection
This turn of events outraged the conservative part of French society, which was still large and influential. The inconsistent Louis began to listen to the dukes and nobles, who demanded that troops be sent to Paris and the initiators of radical reforms dismissed. That was done.
After this, the inhabitants of Paris openly stopped obeying the king and rebelled. On July 14, 1789, the Bastille, a prison and symbol of absolutism, was captured. Some officials and nobles were killed. The most serious-minded began to form detachments that served to defend the successes of the Revolution. Faced with a new threat, Louis again made concessions, recalling troops from Paris and coming to the National Council.
At the Head of the Revolution
After the victory of the Revolution, radical reforms began. First of all, it was destroyed that had existed in France since the Middle Ages. At the same time, with each passing month, the king lost his influence on what was happening around him. Power was slipping from his hands. All state institutions were paralyzed both in the capital and in the provinces. One of the consequences of this change was the disappearance of bread from Paris. The mob living in the city, in a rage, tried to besiege the castle of Versailles, where Louis had his residence.
The rebels demanded that the king move to Paris from the suburbs. In the capital, the monarch became a virtual hostage to the revolutionaries. Gradually, supporters of the republic grew in their circles.
The royal family was also uneasy. Louis XVI, the monarch's children and his inner circle became increasingly dependent on Marie Antoinette, who was strongly opposed to the revolutionaries. She urged her husband to turn to the help of foreign rulers, who were also frightened by the rampant freethinkers in France.
Flight of the King
Due to the fact that the king remained in Paris, the actions of the revolutionaries received a legal connotation. At Versailles they decided to escape Louis XVI. He wanted to become the head of anti-revolutionary forces or go abroad, from where he could try to lead loyal soldiers. In 1791, everyone left Paris incognito, but was identified in Varennes and detained.
To save his life, Louis declared that he fully supported radical changes in the country. At this time, France was already preparing in full for an open conflict with European monarchies, who feared an attack on the old order on the continent. In 1792, Louis, practically on a powder keg, declared war on Austria.
However, the campaign went wrong from the very beginning. Austrian units invaded France and were already near Paris. Anarchy began in the city, and new rebels captured the royal palace. Louis and his family were sent to prison. On 21 September 1792 he was officially stripped of his royal title and became an ordinary citizen with the surname Capet. The First Republic was declared in France.
Trial and execution
The prisoner's precarious position was finally undermined when a secret safe containing secret letters and documents was found in his former castle. It followed from them that the royal family was intriguing against the Revolution, in particular turning to foreign rulers for help. At this time, the radicals were just waiting for a reason to finally get rid of Louis.
Therefore, the trial and interrogations at the Convention began. The former king was charged with violating national security. The Convention decided that the defendant deserved to die. took place on January 21, 1793. When he found himself on the scaffold, his last words were the question of the fate of the expedition of Jean-François de La Perouse. Marie Antoinette was beheaded a few months later, in October.
The execution of the king led to the fact that European monarchs finally united against the Republic. The news of Louis's death caused the declaration of war on England, Spain and the Netherlands. A little later, Russia joined the coalition.
Loading...
