King Louis Xvi And Marie example essay topic

Marie Antoinette: The Player Queen John Garber Palache (c) 1929 Longman's, Green & Co. Marie Antoinette, born Maria Antonia in Vienna, Austria, was the youngest and favorite daughter of Emperor Francis I and Maria Theresa. They were the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire. Marie was brought up in the hope that she might one day be queen of France.

She married the French dauphin in 1770. Four years later, he became King Louis XVI, and Marie became queen. The young queen was lively and extravagant. The stiff formalities of court life bored her, so she amused herself with such pleasures as fancy balls, theatricals, and gambling. Marie lacked a good education and cared very little for serious affairs. She did not hesitate to urge the dismissal of the able ministers of France whose efforts to reduce royal spending threatened her pleasures.

Louis XVI gave her the chateau called the Petit Trianon, where the queen and her friends amused themselves. Tragedy struck Marie twice in 1789. Her eldest son died, and the French Revolution started. Her weak-willed husband lost control of the nation. She tried to stiffen his will, but her stubborn opposition to the revolutionary changes only made people angrier. The king, partly on Marie's advice, assembled troops around Versailles twice in 1789.

Both times violence followed, and royal authority became weaker. The second time, early in October 1789, a hungry and desperate Parisian crowd marched to Versailles and forced the royal family to move to the Tuileries palace in Paris. From then on, Louis and Marie were virtual prisoners. The rulers might have been able to rally the nation in support of a constitutional monarchy like that of England, had they followed the advice of moderate statesmen, such as the Comte de Mirabeau. Instead, Marie Antoinette plotted for military aid from the rulers of Europe, especially from her brother, Leopold II of Austria. She refused to make any concessions at all to the revolutionists.

Finally, Marie influenced Louis to flee from Paris on the night of June 20, 1791. The royal family set out in disguise by carriage for the eastern frontier of France. Nevertheless, an alert patriot recognized the king from his picture on French paper money. The king and queen were halted at Varennes and returned under guard to Paris. Their flights made the people distrust their rulers even more.

However, Louis promised to accept a new constitution that limited his powers. Marie now worked to get aid from abroad, and, when war with Austria and Prussia came in 1792, she passed military secrets on to the enemy. The people suspected such treason. On Aug. 10, 1792, they threw the royal family into prison, ending the monarchy. Louis XVI died on the guillotine on Jan. 21, 1793. After bravely enduring imprisonment, Marie Antoinette, called Widow Capet by the revolutionists, was tried for treason.

She died on the guillotine on Oct. 16, 1793. I learned that Marie Antoinette had a lover, a proved lover as compared to the many she was assumed to have had, (therefore the "Austrian whore" title and other complimentary names, such as "L'Autrichienne", the Austrian bitch) named Fers en. He was a handsome Swede that she had completely fallen in love with, completely blind to the fact that he had mistresses and children galore. I also had clarification of the causes of the revolution, the dislike of the bourgeoisie for the traditional roles of the nobles and the respect the other social classes granted them. The bourgeoisie were denied these privileges although they were, oftentimes, richer than the nobles. These brought about the "nobility of the robe", which the "nobility of the sword" attempted to stop.

I learned these from this novel, as well as the fact that Marie Antoinette gained an interest in politics that she did not have before. "She (Marie) astonished the ambassador by asserting that foreigners had no right to choose French ministers. France did not hear that she took this stand, but, if it had heard it would not have believed" (Palache 122). I also learned that there were many more persons involved than simply the large names, such as the Comte de Mirabeau and the Marquis de Lafayette.

These people, such as Lome nie de Brienne, the president of the Notables, the leaders of the church and state who had been called together. In addition, I learned the reason that Marie Antoinette disliked Lafayette so much: he wished to curtail her expenses, her partying, and she wished to keep her lavish lifestyle. I learned that Marie had lost two of the things that mattered most in her life: her firstborn son and daughter. Her daughter died in 1787, the death of her son happened in 1789, the year the revolution started. An interesting myth was also included in this book. One night, Marie Antoinette saw four candles burning in her room.

All three were mysteriously extinguished; there was no breeze, no significant air movement. She whispered, "If the fourth follows it, I am doomed" (Palache 134). Then the fourth went out, foreshadowing the destruction of the remaining four members of the royal family. Once again I viewed the incompetence of Louis XVI, King of France. The fall of the Bastille was mainly his fault for attempting to assert his authority, proclaim his will before the first and second Estates and the absent, unwelcome Third Estate-turned-National Assembly. He thus irritated his people and caused the strong, impregnable fortress of the Bastille to crumble.

On July 14, the revolutionists surrounded the Bastille in order to seize gunpowder that was stored there. Troops fired on the menacing crowd. However, the people stormed into the fortress, overpowered the troops, and killed the prison's governor. The following day, the people started to tear down the Bastille.

Marie Antoinette did not help the cause of a constitutional monarchy, either. She would not go visit with the people of Paris, which irritated the people. They believed her to be haughty and cruel, holding bread from the people. When the monarchy could not give back the bread that they supposedly had taken away, the French people were even further angered. All this stress was beginning to take its toll on the beautiful queen.

She was getting older; she was about thirty-five, but her hair was beginning to turn gray and worry lines were beginning to form on her face (Palache 231). At Paris, she stated, "I do not dare appear at a palace window for there I am met instantly by insulting yells; and if I look into the garden I am sure to see a dreadful sight, a hideous atrocity. What a place and what a people!" (Palache 230). Her friend, the Princess de Lamb alle, was beheaded and her head placed on a pike and raised up to the balcony for show with the cry of "If the Austrian woman does not show herself we " ll climb her Tower, make her kiss the face of her dead friend" (Palache 264).

Marie Antoinette plotted for military aid from the rulers of Europe, especially from her brother, Leopold II of Austria. Marie influenced Louis to flee from Paris on the night of June 20, 1791. But an alert patriot recognized the king from his picture on French paper money. Their flight made the people distrust their rulers even more. Her condition gradually declined until her husband's death and the imprisonment of her, her sister and her remaining two children. When Marie's son was taken away from her, she lost all hope of the absolute monarchial government being revived.

She slid into a state of depression, periodically being questioned and finally being officially tried for crimes against the republic. Finally, she was beheaded on October 16th, at seven o'clock. Her bones were tossed onto a nameless grave that was re-opened 21 years later, when her and Louis' remains were exhumed. People still jeered at the royalty, still held no love or respect for the solemn pomp that was supposed to have existed (Palache 314-315).

The two pathetic royals could command no dignity even in death (Palache 315). I would not recommend this book to any except the fiercest Marie Antoinette / French Revolution fanatics. It goes far too in-depth for any sane person to care. Every ball that Marie attended, every game she liked to play during the golden age of Versailles is chronicled in this novel. It's nearly as if Mr. Palache was a lover of Marie's in a former life, but a bitter one. He seems to gloat over her faults as much as he drones on dreamily about her beauty; he is either a sadistic, insane old man or he is a victim of the Great Depression, spouting off random information simply for the sake of hearing himself speak and for the sake of feeding himself and his family.

There is a way of telling historical information in an interesting fashion, but Mr. Palache apparently has not mastered this art. The only useful purpose that this novel has served is to give a good representation of how Marie Antoinette's physical appearance deteriorated as time and stress took its toll, and this was none of Mr. Palache's doing. I beg the reader to refrain from wasting their time on this feeble excuse for an interesting book. Marie Antoinette: Beautiful French queen, born in Austria, that was very frivolous and wasteful of resources, predominantly money.

The love the French felt for her when she was the Dauphine faded away and re-emerged as bitter hate. Marie Antoinette plotted for military aid from the rulers of Europe, especially from her brother, Leopold II of Austria, which made her a traitor in the eyes of her people. After being deprived of her family and her luxuries she was guillotined on Oct. 16, 1793. Louis XVI: King of France until he was overthrown by the French Revolution in 1792.

When he became king, he made Robert Turgot minister of finance. He met opposition when he tried to abolish some of the privileges of the nobles and higher clergy, and Louis dismissed him in 1776. He then turned to Jacques Necker and promised to support him. But the new minister ran into opposition from the queen and certain nobles when he tried to make reforms.

He was forced to resign in 1781. Conditions grew steadily worse when the people grew to lack any respect for their monarchs and used violence against them. When Marie Antoinette influenced him to attempt to flee, the people distrusted them more and finally, Louis was guillotined on Jan. 21, 1793. Louis XVII: A son of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, was regarded as king of France by supporters of the French monarchy for two years during the French Revolution. His full name was Louis-Charles de France. Louis-Charles was born at Versailles, France.

He became dauphin of France at the age of 4, after his older brother died at the start of the French Revolution. In August 1792, Paris revolutionaries overthrew the monarchy and imprisoned the boy and his family. Following the execution of his father and mother, he was proclaimed Louis XVII by an uncle. Although gravely ill, Louis spent most of the last months of his life in solitary confinement, under filthy and degrading conditions. He was buried in an unmarked grave.

Marquis de Lafayette: French soldier and statesman. As commander of the new National Guard, Lafayette was one of the most powerful men in France from 1789 to 1791. Marie Antoinette and her court resented Lafayette. As radicalism spread, Lafayette found it necessary to suppress crowd violence. By the summer of 1791, his popularity had gone. He found himself hated by the people, the former nobles, and the court.

As the military front collapsed, he unsuccessfully tried to suppress the rising tide of Jacobin radicalism at home. However, the king and queen would not accept Lafayette's help, and the troops that he tried to turn on the Paris mob would not follow his orders. He fled as a traitor. Comte de Mirabeau: French statesman, orator, and leader of the French Revolution.

His powerful and eloquent speaking style made him the most forceful enemy of the French royal court. Mirabeau wanted the French government to consist of both a monarch and an elected assembly, like the constitutional monarchy of Britain. His political beliefs were sincere. However, Mirabeau was always in debt and had a disgraceful personal life. As a result, neither King Louis XVI of France nor the revolutionaries fully trusted him. Mirabeau was a founder and an active member of the Jacobin Club.

In 1791, he was elected president of the National Assembly. Mirabeau urged the king to accept the many reforms adopted by the Assembly and to take his place as a constitutional monarch. Georges-Jacques Danton: Great leader of the French Revolution. He helped turn the government of France from a monarchy into a republic and was also partly responsible for the Reign of Terror. By the end of 1793, Danton believed the need for such bloody measures had passed. He felt the Convention should relax its rule and end most political executions.

Robespierre opposed this easing of policy. Fearing that Danton's popularity would weaken the authority of the revolutionary government, the Committee of Public Safety ordered his arrest. The Revolutionary Tribunal, a court that Danton had helped create, ignored his eloquent defense and condemned him to death. Danton was guillotined on April 5, 1794.

Maximilien Robespierre: In August 1792, the people of Paris took custody of King Louis XVI and his family and imprisoned them. Soon afterward, Robespierre was elected to the National Convention, a national assembly established to take over the government of France. The Convention declared that France was a republic, placed King Louis XVI on trial, and sentenced him to death as a traitor. Robespierre then led an attack in the Convention against moderate deputies known as the Girondists.

He and his followers expelled the Girondists in June 1793 and took control of the Convention. In July 1793, Robespierre was elected to the Committee of Public Safety, the Convention's governing body. He stressed the republic's need for a single center of opinion and viewed disagreement with the committee's policies as treachery. His speeches justified the Reign of Terror to defend and "purify" the revolution. By the end of July 1794, about 17,000 rebels and suspected "enemies of the republic" had been executed.

On July 26, 1794, Robespierre seemed to call for an end to the use of terror, but he also threatened unnamed deputies. The next day, a group of his opponents persuaded the Convention to order his arrest. The Convention sentenced him to die on the guillotine. He was executed on July 28, 1794..