Louis problems were considerable at this point from a financial point of view. However, the public reaction to his repeated attempts were not favourable. Ideas of ‘Enlightenment’ by writers such as Rousseau and Voltaire had expanded all over Paris, a city with a very literate, condensed population. Due to events like the American war for Independence, it appeared acceptable to question the monarch’s power. Furthermore, Louis had seemed to support constitutional government by supporting the colonists. Tracts like ‘What is the third estate?’ attacked the Ancien regime whereby the third estate paid the taxes but got no representation in offices. Equally, pamphlets like ‘The rights of man’ by Tom Paine, demanded equality for all. Louis, by his high handedness had opened up a can of worms. Riots and demonstrations happened all over Paris during his attempts to force the new taxation measures through. Parlements were argued to be defending the rights of the people against the despotism of the king. This was a real problem for Louis - the first clash of interests. The nobles and some Bourgeoisie argued his power needed to be curbed, and ministerial despotism ended. This culminated in the revolt of the nobles.
The revolt of the nobles was a direct response to Louis’ domineering and underhanded methods of trying to force through the taxation legislature. Over the months between August 1787 and August 1788, meetings, centred around the regional parlements occurred. The clergy (1st estate) supported these riots by the 2nd estate, against Louis’ royal authority, by ‘gifting’ the king a quarter of the dans gratuit it usually paid. The result of the riots and of the lack of taxation, made worse by the bad harvests of 1786 & 1787 (reduced income) lead to bankruptcy. Payments from the treasury were suspended & Brienne resigned, recommending the recall of Necker.
Necker returned, and called a meeting of the estates general for May 1789. Apart from some arguments about the correct representation & voting procedure, it achieved little. Louis himself lost opportunity twice to endear himself to the general public, who were at this time very ready to accept that it was ministerial problems that plagued France and not him. The first opportunity was to decide the number of representatives, with a clear balance in favour of the third estate. This would have given an equal representation to the third estate & the 1st and 2nd estates. Not only would this have been an excellent political gesture, suggesting that he understood the plight of his subjects, but it would also have made his proposals more likely to gain support - the third estate were more likely to vote for taxation for the nobles than the nobles themselves. The second point I shall discuss later.
However, Louis did manage some PR strengthening, via the Cahiers de Doleances, which allowed the third estate to list their grievances throughout France, which were complied into a single volume. As Louis had spoken “(the estates general was convened) so that every kind of abuse be reformed.” This caused public support for monarch to rise, imminent change being so desperately needed in 1789. By spring 1789, 88% of a Parisian worker’s wage was spent on bread alone. Moreover, living quality continued to declined into the summer, as money to spend on manufactured goods evaporated. For instance, during 1789, Paris’ textile production fell by 50%. This lead not only to unemployment and starvation, but even more emphasis being placed on the Estates General & the supposed champions of the third estate, Necker and the king. During the Reveillon riots, which were sparked by suggestions by the wallpaper manufacturer that costs were too high due to the wages of its workers, the rioters chanted “long live M. Necker” and “long live the king.”
The meeting of the estates general, a mere week after the Reveillon riots, was received with adulation by the Parisian bourgeoisie. The 1st and 2nd estate, although reluctant to abolish privilege, were ready to accept change. A third of the nobles and two thirds of the church voted that they pay taxes, many no doubt struck by the suffering placed in front of them in the Cahiers de Doleances, as much for Louis’ financial straits. There was a split, however, between those nobles who were affected by the ideas of enlightenment and those from provincial areas. Further points were raised about the inefficiencies of the Ancien regime, while many agreed that merit should qualify for high office rather than birth alone. The third estate wanted various additional modifications to this. Abolition of feudal dues was demanded, financial equality throughout France and various agricultural/trade changes. Some wrangling occurred, but it seemed that a resolution might be reached. All estates shared considerable common ground in that they demanded no taxation without representation (i.e. regular estates generals) freedom of the press, and abolition of various royal abuses such as Lettre de Cachet. (the opposite of Habeas Corpus - the right to a free trial).
The Estates General found its common ground and tried to agree on solutions, but seven weeks vanished merely on voting procedure over the resolutions themselves. The king did nothing. Feeling estranged from proceedings, having his authority questioned, his actions dissected, and in the middle of it, his eldest son and heir died. Whatever the motives of Louis, he failed at this critical juncture. He lost the impetus of change, his authority unused. The third estate, lead by Sieyes and Mirabeau left the estates general and formed their own debating hall. When the 1st estate (the clergy) joined them, Louis’ authority was eroded, and Louis finally came to his senses. After consultation with Necker, Louis agreed to offer a proposal to three estates as a royal address, even offering voting by head on all issues concerned. This he decided to issue on the 23rd June. Necker and the king failed to inform the various parties of this decision. When the third estate arrived to its meeting hall to find it was locked and guarded in preparation for the royal session, they then jumped to the conclusion that this was an attempt by the king to dissolve them, with the troops guarding the building there to intimidate them. They resolved on a nearby tennis court to “never abandon the assembly (national assembly in contravention of the estates general) and go on meeting until the constitution of the realm is set up.”
Louis viewed this as a personal attack. He had been about to make considerable concessions in the favour of the third estate, destroying his own authority in the process. Louis continued with the royal session, and did make some reduced concessions. He agreed to no taxation without consent, abolition of the lettres de cachet, freedom of the press and abolition of customs duties (Gabelle and Corvee). However, he denied the existence of the National assembly, and declared it void, together with any resolutions that it decided. He then ordered the convention to disperse to their separate meeting halls, and while the nobles and the clergy filed out, the assembly refused to go. The result was that the following day, 147 clergy attached themselves to the assembly, and the day after that, 47 nobles including Louis brother, the Duc d’Orleans. Demonstrations broke out all over the capital. Louis then reacted to this by calling up troops to prevent mass disorder. Whether the excuse that they were needed to quell riots is correct or not, the assembly doubted his intentions, as did the Sans Culottes.
From the end of June, events accelerated at a starting pace. Bread prices continued to rise, while of mass unemployment, and an atmosphere with troops imposing almost martial law caused a situation whereby thousands of workers would flood onto the streets with very little provocation. The provocation came from Louis. He dismissed Necker, frustrated at the ‘suggestions’ which he would have done well to heed. This was a considerable error on Louis part, and the result was a disaster. A group of people, who have later been allocated the collective noun ‘sans culottes’ (meaning without breeches) trusted Necker, and disorder on the streets grew. The appearance of German cavalry to enforce order changed the situation from bad to worse, word passing that the assembly would be abolished by force. The Sans Culottes began to arm themselves, and with bread prices rising daily, order began to break down. Royal troops were forced off the streets or turned and joined the anarchists. During the period 12-14th June, forty of fifty four customs posts were destroyed around Paris, by which point Louis can be considered to have lost control.
The final spark came when a mob of some 8,000 Sans Culottes seized muskets and 20 cannon from the Hotel des Invalides, a retirement home for soldiers and a weapons cache. There was a shortage of ammunition, and thus the crowd made its way to the ancient fortress of the Bastille. A parley was accepted and the governor of the prison invited them to lunch. Unfortunately, the crowd outside ‘worried’ for their safety, presuming them to be either imprisoned or awaiting execution. The Bastille was stormed, and as a result Louis’ royal troops pulled out of Paris.
Thus, revolution occurred. Louis had, through a mixture of financial necessity, gone against the wills of an enlightened population pervaded by poverty. Equally, although the king had made some form of concessions, he failed to make them far enough reaching, and due to the time spent on trivial procedure, the estates general was a failure. He had in the Cahiers de Doleances, suggested that changes of magnitude would be in order, but they were not evident. Louis compounded his problems by using excessive numbers of troops which threatened the Parisian population, while his continued taxation of staples like bread caused prices to continue to rise to the point whereby Ancien regime was toppled. However, Louis position was unfortunate despite this in many respects. He tried refined methods of passing the taxation methods which would safeguard his realm, but found them lacking. He did not know that the barracking of increased taxation might lead to revolution. Louis attempted clear reform, calling an estates general not only for his own reasons, but to air the grievances of the third estate. Louis showed wisdom when offering the third estate a larger vote due to their multitude of numbers. If the estates general had been allowed to run its course, Louis not forced to act, despite being in the depths of mourning, events may have been different. Had Louis or Necker informed the different parties that there would be a royal session in the meeting hall, rather than just locking and barring the doors, events might have been different. Had he given orders to lower the taxes on grain, so that the bread prices fell, he would not have been toppled. In fact, this could have been a temporary measure, calculated to gain support from the people, who hitherto chanted his name in the streets. By doing this he would have demolished support by the Sans Culottes for the National assembly, and he would have been able to pass his taxation methods, fighting it out all summer if necessary. Such action would have cost him nothing - the treasury was already insolvent, thus debtors would merely have been forced to wait for their money. However, Louis lacked the skill or understanding for this. He was an able statesman, and as I indicated, were just one of a list of possibilities have changed, Louis would have continued as an unchallenged monarch, possibly with slightly fewer opportunities to abuse the civil liberties of his citizens.
Thus in 1789, Louis position was bad, but not yet perilous. He may have threatened to disperse the assembly, he may have sacked his chief minister, but he was a monarch still. Throughout the 1780’s Louis had lived a lavish lifestyle, yet no-one from the Sans Culottes denied that he should exist. His wife, Marie Antoinette, the aptly named “Madame deficit” herself, although hated, was never in physical danger from the mob. Louis had, since his reign began, spent circa 35 million livres per annum on his court costs. While this was only 7% of his total annual revenue, it was an existence far from those of his subjects as to be farcical. What lead, then to the demise of Louis and his family from a monarch who retained his crown, albeit missing some powers, and lacking in public support, to the Louis that mounted the steps to the guillotine?
The year of 1789 progressed to the August Decrees and the announcement of the Rights of man, modelled broadly on article 14 of the United States constitution. These join measures at a stroke changed the face of France. Feudal rights were rescinded, and a new taxation system adopted with equal rights for all. Furthermore, it damaged Louis’ authority was greatly damaged by the creation and evolution of the National assembly, which made his ministers accountable, his decisions questionable, and his vetoes limited to a suspension of any scheme for four years. However, Louis, strongly influenced by his wife, tried to avoid the implementation of such a proposal. Had time been available, or Louis’ bodyguard been more tactful in its partying, no doubt a compromise could have been reached. However, in October 1789, 7,000 women and 20,000 national guard marched against the kings bodyguard, who had supposedly mocked and trampled on the revolutionary cockade, on their return from Flanders to Versailles. This well armed and well organised mass forced the proposals to be accepted by Louis, and resulted in the deaths of several of his bodyguards.
Much work in the 1790-91 time period was upon the new constitution. Louis retained his position as monarch, but as a constitutional one, rather than an absolute ruler. Equally, while trying to sort out the financial mess, the assemblies attempt at keeping taxes the same until 1791 were defeated. The Gabelle (salt taxation) was withdrawn in March 1790, along with most other indirect taxes. The assembly found a way of raising funds that Louis could never have considered. The confiscation and sale not only of émigrés property, but also the sale of valuable church land. Despite massive disquiet for the new ecclesiastical system, especially from areas of the South and the Vendee, as well as from the clergy themselves (only 7 from 160 bishops took the oath of servitude to the convention) Louis was unable (feasibly) to either halt or postpone proceedings. The king, unsure of how to react to being controlled by an organisation outside his control, or even live in Versailles as opposed to Paris. Louis, in a vain attempt to re-negotiate the constitution when in a stronger position, arranged to flee Paris. Once again, events outside his control conspired against him. The coach that was chosen to complete the escape was so luxurious and ostentatious that it was bound to raise suspicions, while its weight prevented a speedy flight to the Austrian boarder. Details of the escape were excellent, and the royal family were not missed till morning. However, Louis luck ran out at Varennes, where the coach wheel broke, the resulting delay being the difference between success and failure.
Louis arrived back in Paris to a silent reception. The authorities threatened that “anyone who applauds the king will be beaten, anyone who insults him will be hanged.” Louis had, in effect cooked his own bacon. A movement began in the assembly for his trial, members from the more radical Jacobin and Cordeliers Clubs in particular demanding his removal from power. However, this was not Louis last gasp, as he still held support from various vestiges. When a demonstration was organised by the Cordeliers club at the Champs de Mars, Lafayette first declared martial law, then ordered the national guard to fire on the rioters, killing about 50. More radical elements of the assembly fled into hiding, most notably Danton and Marat. This victory was not only one for the moderate Feuillant Club, but also for the king, whose position was strengthened greatly by this.
The 1791 constitution came into effect in September of that year. The king retained some powers, his right for hereditary office and the right to appoint ministers. However, the assembly curbed his powers yet more, his veto no longer even suspensive on constitutional matters or finance. Equally, foreign policy was removed from his hands and placed into the hands of the assembly. The position of the king once again appeared outwardly stable. Louis had, in effect a stay of execution. However, once more events conspired against him. Robespierre persuaded the assembly to pass a self denying ordinance. This, in effect prevented any one person from serving more than two years in the assembly. However, it also weakened the moderates, who lost many seats, especially those of the sympathetic nobles.
Louis watched proceedings but was not satisfied to endure his existence. The assembly, much more radical after the 1791 elections brought about the issue of émigrés property rights. They argued that since they had abandoned France, and thus should lose incomes from France. Louis, of course, recognised that these nobles outside France were his main supporters, and did all he could to prevent their property being seized. Eventually he vetoed the proposal, in late November that year. This made him even more unpopular, with the Bourgeoisie influenced assembly, many of whom owned Assignats, paper currency retrievable on assets sold by the state. (land from church sale or land confiscated by the state from nobles).
The final short term reason for Louis’ family execution is the 1792 war that came about due to various reasons. The king wanted war, hopefully so that the revolutionary armies mettle was tested and found lacking. If this had been the case he would have been able to press for his influences to be enlarged. Equally, the state wanted war because it would mean that revolutionaries inside France would be exposed, and those outside France would be defeated. Naturally, the army and it commanders wanted war.
The results of the war were disastrous, not just to France. Defeated French armies lost the last powerful supporter Louis had left: Lafayette, who defected to the Austrians. Furthermore, when the assembly passed laws to set up a camp for 20,000 Federes from the provinces to protect the capital, Louis vetoed it, (partially due to the same bill disbanding his King’s Guard). When he sacked his war ministers, Louis seemed to be damaging French interests, and this caused the second Journee of Paris. The Cordeliers club organised a demonstration for the 20th June, when 8,000 demonstrators demanded Louis pass the bills and reinstate his ministers. Louis refused to give in. However, the state ignored his veto, and simply continued with their resolution, later issuing the ‘patrie en danger’ which effectively meant the king was no longer required in the decision making process. The result of Louis determination to stick to his principles was the bloodbath that occurred on the 9th August. 22,000 Sans Culottes and Federes marched to the Tuileries and opened fire on the king’s Swiss guards. Around 600 guards were killed and some 400 Sans Culottes. That evening the king was suspended from office and imprisoned awaiting trial. Four months later, he walked to his death.
Overall, the King’s downfall was due to a variety of reasons. Long term reasons lead to medium term problems, and all of these were at some point recoverable. Louis was, I believe, a fair statesman, and more than once was unlucky the way his cards fell. The build up of public discontent for the monarchy and the unbending principles of Louis, lead to the short term pressures, most of which were unavoidable. These lead mainly to Louis downfall. Had Louis not gone to war, had not he tried to prevent the seizure of the émigrés property, he might have survived. More by luck than accident however, the revolutionary forces gained momentum through the time period of 1789-93. Louis could not prevent this, but the fleeing of the moderate Feuillant club meant that the trial he attended was a forgone conclusion, and thus his life was forfeit. Equally, as time had passed, the Sans Culottes had brought their power to bear. When in 1788-89 the revolution was primarily a Bourgeoisie and noble movement for devolved power, by 1793, the Sans Culottes controlled proceedings. The revolution came full circle however, as Robespierre and many others who had demanded the king’s death were also to be decapitated by the blade of the guillotine.
