THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

THESIS

• Kings Louis XIV, XV, and XVI where responsible for the French Revolution.

THE ECONOMIC STATUS

• France had been in a bad way economically for years
• This was due primarily to wars and frivolous spending of the monarch
• Attempts to remedy this were fruitless

KING LOUIS XIV

• Popular and liked in earlier years
• He built Versailles, plunging France into foreign debt
• Versailles construction claimed the lives of many
• Later in life he became very religious turning to Christianity
• Most of his life he pursued the Huguenots, a Protestant group

KING LOUIS XIV CONT.

• Later in life he put in place the Edict of Fontainebleau
• The Edict stated that all Protestant churches were to be demolished
• This caused some Protestants to leave France in search of religious freedom
• It also caused a split in the people of France religiously

WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION

• In his final acts he entered France in the war
• The people of France questioned his motives
• It was an attempt to insure his grandson would become king instead of to better his country
• The king died in his palace just days before his 77th birthday

KING LOUIS XV

• King during the seven years war
• France was seen a weak during this war
• France lost a lot of territory to its rival Britain in the Americas
• Louis XV was also involved in the War of Austrian succession
• This war was very expensive for France and created territorial disputes with Britain

KING LOUIS XV CONT.

• The king tried to make reforms later
• His attempts were to little to late

KING LOUIS XVI

• Last king of France before revolution
• He was not confident or really interested in ruling
• Wife was generally disliked by France
• Tried to tax estates separately to help economy
• Because of his tax reforms a meeting of the estates generals was called

KING LOUIS XVI CONT.

• The misrepresentation of the third estate led to the creation of the a National Assembly
• The king tried to dismiss them but was forced to acknowledge them
• France is experiencing severe food shortages
• The king and queen were rumored to be hoarding grain in the palace of Versailles
• The palace was stormed and the king and queen were forced to return to Paris showing the kings weakness

KING LOUIS XVI CONT. 2

• The king was also forced to sign the Declaration of the Rights of Man an Citizen
• After returning to Paris the king feared the worst and tried to escape and was caught in the countryside
• After returning to Paris the king was put on trial for treason and was convicted
• Per usual he was put to death because of this
• After the death of King Louis XVI the French Revolution was fully underway