In what ways were Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette unequal to the positions they inherited?
In what ways were Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette unequal to the positions they inherited?
'L'état, c'est moi.'
The famous words of Louis XIV - the grandfather of Louis XVI - 'I am the state.' These three short words represent the view in which the French monarchy held themselves until the breakout of the revolution.
Before 1789, the government of France was an absolute monarchy. The most important figure in the governing of the country was the King. In 1774 the Louis-Auguste of the Bourbon family succeeded the throne. He had inherited a legacy that had been in place for hundreds of years.
The French monarchs ruled by the principle of 'The Divine Right of Kings', which stated that the monarch was God's representative on earth and therefore answerable only to God. In other words, no one had the right to question his power, as that would equate questioning the authority of God. Prior to the 18th century, religion was the most important influence on most people's lives. Karl Marx once said: 'Religion is the opium of the people.' and, in 18th century France, this was indeed the case. The 'Divine Right of Kings' was heralded from the pulpits, and the people believed it.
However, in the middle of the 18th century, a movement called 'The Enlightenment' hit France. People began to question this 'Divine Right of Kings'. Writers like Voltaire and Montesquieu began to question - much to the rage and horror of the Catholic church - the credibility of the bible and the traditional dogma's of the church. They questioned whether the monarch was really 'ordained by God', and therefore were a threat to the power of the monarchy. A revolutionary spirit was being stirred up in France.
Although Louis was what we call an 'absolute monarch', he was not a despotic ruler - there were some checks on his power. The first was the parlement or French law courts, the most important being the parlement of Paris. The parlements were responsible for registering all new laws, and therefore they believed that their approval was necessary for a law to be passed. Louis, however, was not of the same opinion. The second check on Louis's power was the pays d'états or Provincial governments for border regions like Brittany, areas which had had a long history of independence and expected this to be taken into account when laws were passed.
The main logical argument in favour of an absolute monarchy is that the monarch can make decisions quickly and lead a strong government. This ideal, however, was not realised in the government of Louis XVI.
The Comte de Provence, a brother of Louis XVI, once wrote: 'The weakness and indecision of the King are beyond description.'
This statement may be a little exaggerated, but the Comte did indeed have cause to be critical of his brother.
Louis XVI was a shy, awkward and inexperienced boy when he ascended the throne at the age of ...
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The main logical argument in favour of an absolute monarchy is that the monarch can make decisions quickly and lead a strong government. This ideal, however, was not realised in the government of Louis XVI.
The Comte de Provence, a brother of Louis XVI, once wrote: 'The weakness and indecision of the King are beyond description.'
This statement may be a little exaggerated, but the Comte did indeed have cause to be critical of his brother.
Louis XVI was a shy, awkward and inexperienced boy when he ascended the throne at the age of 19. He lacked confidence, dignity, determination as well as intelligence, all of which are important qualities for an absolute monarch to possess. His years as King did not improve his suitability for the role. Louis was weak and indecisive, and mostly was influenced by his chief minister - the controlleur général and his wife, Marie Antoinette.
In 1770, at the age of 16, Louis married the daughter of the Empress of Austria (Maria Theresa) the fifteen-year-old Marie Antoinette. The marriage was totally devoid of romance, a political treaty arranged by diplomats to seal the alliance between France and Austria.
In order to be popular, Louis and Marie Antoinette needed the respect of the people. However, Louis and Marie Antoinette were an ill-matched pair. The young dauphin was awkward and not very handsome. He had a physical problem which prevented them from consummating their marriage for some years whilst Marie Antoinette was beautiful, vivacious and having been brought up in the liberal court of Vienna, had no time for the strict customs and etiquette at Versailles. Her position demanded that she set a glittering example for the other ladies at court, and be seen as a maternal figure by the people of France, kind, sympathetic, dignified, and a source of inspiration. However, Marie Antoinette's obstinacy and flippancy prevented her from playing the part of this paragon of virtue.
At first, Marie Antoinette's beauty and charm brought her popularity with the people of France, but soon stories about her extravagance and infidelity made her hated amongst them. She refused to wear corsets and stays, looked upon the ceremonies of court with contempt and failed to show many of the members of the court the favour they expected from her. This won her the dislike of the nobility. She became the subject of lewd gossip and speculation among the lower classes. Louis's inability to father a child was also blamed on Marie Antoinette. Rumours circulated about Marie Antoinette having countless lovers right under Louis's nose. Her gambling debts and extravagance earned her the nickname of 'Madame Déficit' and because of her tendency to manipulate Louis to her and her brother (Joseph II of Austria)'s advantage she was often called 'l'Autrichienne' (the Austrian woman).
There is no evidence to prove that any of the slanders against Marie Antoinette were actually true, but this did not prevent the general masses from believing them. Marie Antoinette was indeed fond of expensive dresses and jewellery, and did enjoy gambling (her gambling debts amounted up to half a million livres every year); in a letter, her mother Maria Theresa wrote: "a queen can only degrade herself by this sort of heedless extravagance in difficult times." She did also have favourites, the Swedish diplomat Count Fersen being one of the most famous, but again there is no evidence to suggest that they actually were lovers. And also, it is likely that Marie Antoinette underwent a change of attitude after the birth of her first child, Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte (known as Madame Royale), after seven years of being married to Louis. Marie Antoinette had two more sons by Louis, including an heir to the throne. Marie Antoinette began to wear simpler gowns, gambled less and posed for portraits with her children, hoping to gain the favour of the public. This, however, was to have little effect upon the unforgiving masses.
Although the characteristic flaws of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were to play a major part in their failure to be successful rulers of France, the main cause for their downfall was their disconnection with the working classes in France at the time. Neither Louis nor Marie Antoinette had ever had any experience, or even any knowledge of what life was like for the ordinary man in France. They both stayed within the confines of their luxurious palace at Versailles, hardly ever venturing out of its walls. Marie Antoinette in particular showed her ignorance of 'real life' in France by setting up her own 'jardin anglaise' within the boundaries of Versailles, a small house where she kept cows and delighted to play the part of a milkmaid in silk dresses with silver bowls. Hearing of this, the people of France were enraged that their queen would make such mockery of the hardships they had to contend with every day. It may not have been true that when told their was no bread in Paris, Marie Antoinette said: 'Let them eat cake', but the fact that people believed this was enough.
The outburst of the revolution is very much linked with the economic difficulties in which France found themselves towards the end of the 18th century. France had borrowed heavily to finance the many wars which she had been involved in over the years, the latest one being the American War of Independence in which France fought on the side of the Americans against Britain. Add onto this a succession of bad harvests, causing increasing bread prices coinciding with falling wages and it wasn't long before many people were facing starvation. Meanwhile, Marie Antoinette continued to gamble and spend, nursing the hatred that already existed against her, and Louis did nothing to stop her. Being out of touch with the people, Louis neglected also to do anything about these problems. He left it up to the line of Controller-generals which he dismissed, one after another, after they failed to solve the financial crisis. His incompetence at maintaining the economy was certainly another factor which determined him as an unsuccessful ruler.
Many people criticised Louis for being too 'counter-revolutionary'. Some historians argue that if Louis had been more open to change in the early stages of the revolution, then it would not have gone as far as it did. For example, during the revolt of the middle classes: if he had actually attended the first meeting of the Estates-general and told the country that he was prepared to make some changes, then perhaps he could have placated the people to an extent where they were still prepared to have him as monarch of France. However, the characteristic of most absolute monarchs is their belief in their 'divine right as king'. It is doubtful that any of Louis's predecessors would have been prepared to give up even part of his power. However, the need for change was quite obvious. It would probably have been to Louis's advantage to take action - in some form or another, but Louis, being weak and indecisive, just left the revolution to run its course. His lack of action may very well have been the cause of his death.
In conclusion, the period in which Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lived was one of turbulence and change. The overthrow of the monarchy was more likely to have been caused by the social and economic problems which burdened France at the time, and not entirely by the unsuitability of these two monarchs. The arrival of change was inevitable, however, perhaps if Louis had not been so weak, or if Marie Antoinette had not been so extravagant, they might not have met with such a bad ending.
Ying Wang Staton
30/04/07
