Ellen Pender
Mrs. Kuiper
Modern European History
December 7, 2018
King Louis XVI’s Execution
King Louis XVI was only nineteen years old when he became the king of France in 1774. France had been ruled by a long line of absolute monarchs for over a thousand years, and this role came with heavy responsibilities and expectations. Louis XVI’s reign would prove to be faught with challenges, as social, political, and economic factors collided to kick off a revolution that would change the world forever, and ultimately bring a bloody end to the ancient French monarchy. Louis XVI cannot be held entirely responsible for the French Revolution, but several factors directly involving the young king certainly contributed to the disliking of the French monarchy from the people. His grandfather, Louis XV, left him with a legacy of debt accumulated from the luxurious lifestyles and expensive wars led by the Bourbon kings who had ruled France before him. As a result, the hungry citizens of France held a great resentment towards the royal family and their lavish life at the palace of Versailles. He strived to be a good king, but these issues made it very difficult. Louis is said to have had poor confidence and to be immature, and these traits made it hard for him to be the king he wanted to be. He was unable to give support to reformers in their efforts to improve the government. His desire to be loved by the people and his inability to speak up, “led the French Revolution crashing down on him”(Louis XVI Biography 1), as in a guillotine crashing down on his neck, after he was found guilty for treason. What events led up to King Louis’ execution and what happened in the trials leading up to his execution?
King Louis was named King of France and Navarre in 1774 which is the official name he used until 1792, when the monarchy was abolished (Mignet). At the beginning of his reign, the young king attempted to appease his subjects by using ideas from the Enlightenment to make reforms in the government. Enlightenment was a time "when people began to recreate almost everything in society, the politics, the institutions and nature itself through critical action ." France had spent much of their treasury helping the Americans fight the British in the Revolutionary War. In 1792, Louis’ titles and honors were taken away by the National Assembly, which had declared France a republic. After the abolition of the monarch, Louis was called either the King of the French or Citoyen Louis Capet, citizen Louis in French. That same year, Louis was arrested and sent to the Temple which is an old fortress in Paris that was also used as a prison. Louis was not arrested for only one thing, but for a bunch of small things that made the National Constituent Assembly suspicious. In July of 1789, Louis fired his financial advisor, Jacques Necker, who had been sympathetic towards the middle classes. After Necker was gone, it was noticed that the number of troops in Paris had increased. The National Constituent Assembly saw the extra troops and riddance of Necker as a threat from the palace to shut them down. In a move to fight back, the National Constituent Assembly stormed the Bastille, a prison and royal fortress in Paris, in hope to take it over and have the ability to fight back against the palace’s troops if needed. A few months later, a mob of women raided, angry with the great food shortages, the palace of Versailles, where the royal family was enjoying their costly lifestyle and tried to kill the queen. The women were taken out of the palace and Louis’ family was moved and kept under close watch in Paris. Two years after the royal family was moved to Paris, they tried to escape. They almost got away, but Louis was recognised and the family had to return to Paris and they remained under close surveillance. A year after this, France was declared a Republic for the first time and the monarchy was no longer. That year, in August, Louis was officially arrested and charged with treason. He was sent to the Temple, which is an old fortress in Paris that was used as a prison, similar to the Bastille. Here, all of his power and his title as king of the French, were taken away. This is when he began to be called “Citizen Louis”, which he was called for the rest of the four months before his execution (Dunn 74). The Girondins, a group of people that were active in the Legislative Assembly and included the famous political activist and theorist Thomas Paine, kept Louis under watch. The Girondins, along with the Members of the Commune formed a group called The Mountain. The Mountain’s members were in the more powerful branches of the National Assembly. They argued over whether or not Louis should be executed immediately, or if he should be able to have a trial. Many of the members had a background in the law and couldn't bring themselves to send Louis to the executioner without a fair trial. It was then voted that Citizen Louis would be tried before the National Convention.
The trial began on December 11, 1792. On the first day, Louis went to the Temple, where the trial was being held, to hear what he was accused of. He was accused of thirty-three different things, all relating to high treason and crimes against France. These accusations were read by the secretary, Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac. He read off every accusation, and after he was done he repeated every accusation again and allowed Louis to comment on each accusation. Some of Louis’ replies to his accusations consisted of; "The idea of counter-revolution never entered my head," (Trapp 65) and "I know nothing of this project." (Trapp 65) During his hearing, he sat in the same arm chair that he sat in when he agreed to the constitution. The next step in the trial was for Louis to find his defense team. He wanted to use the most well known and admired lawyers in France to defend him. First, he asked Gui-Juan-Baptiste Target, who in the past, was a person of power in the National Constituent Assembly, but he was unable, due to Louis said at one point in talking to his defense team that “I am sure they will make me perish. They have the power and the will to do so. That does not matter. Let us concern ourselves with my trial as if I could win, and I will win, since the memory that I will leave will be without stain.” (website). Louis knew he would, in the end, be executed, he knew that the Assembly, although they disagreed on somethings, anonymously wanted him executed. He also knew that even though he used to be the king of France, his power was long gone and that although he had the best lawyers in the country on his side, he was completely powerless against an already decided court.