France was declared bankrupt before the revolution in 1788, due to the involvement in both the seven year war and the American war of independence. After the unsuccessful seven year war, France lost a number of it’s colonies and was left with very heavy debts, which they struggled to repay for the remainder of the 18th century. The involvement in the American war of independence was seen as a way to humiliate France’s long-standing enemy, Great Britain. Louis XVI was convinced by Benjamin Franklin to send financial aid and large quantities of munitions, and in 1778 France openly entered the war against Britain, financed by new loans at high interest, increasing the National debt enormously.
As a king, Louis XVI had absolute power and could have implied any laws or policies that he thought was necessary, but Louis XVI lacked the qualities needed for a king. After the death of his grandfather, Louis XVI became a king at the mere age of 20 and was clearly too young. He inherited the throne of a despot without having a personality of one, thus he was easily influenced and didn’t have the willingness to completely imply his policies to better the lives of his people. This did not fare well with the peasantry, as they saw that Louis XVI was unfit to be king. After the circumstances went from bad to worse, the king summoned the States-general to better the situation in France. But unfortunately the king’s stubborn decision to keep the ancient rule of voting by estates, and the unequal treatment of the members in the third-estate had enraged them, leading to the renaming of the third-estate to the National assembly. As the National assembly declared that they represented the will of the people, and encouraged the nobility and clergy to join them, the king felt threatened and mobilized the army, further enraging the majority of the population of France.
The king’s actions did not only cause the outbreak of the revolution, but also affected it’s course. Firstly after a mob of rioters stormed the Bastille on July 14th, 1789, Louis XVI took no action, making the mob think that they alone have saved the National assembly from destruction. The king’s unwillingness to shed blood, although a good reason, was a mistake, because it granted the mob some control over events. Another way that the king had affected the course of the revolution was by not accepting the National assembly and what it had achieved during it’s existence. If the king would have positively reacted to the creation of the National assembly and it’s goals, then the revolution might have had ended then and there, without so many casualties. Another action of the king that devastated the people was the king’s flight to Varennes. For the people, it seemed that their king is abandoning them, seeking help from another county. By betraying his people’s trust, Louis XVI lost a lot of supporters and what personal regard the people still had for him.
Even though Louis XVI had good intentions for his people and wanted to better their situation by summoning the States-general to find the solution to their problems, his stubbornness and lack of willingness to imply the financial reforms proposed by Turgot and Necker let down both himself and the people of France. Both his actions and policies failed to satisfy the needs and wishes of the citizens.