the tragedy of louis xvi
TRANSCRIPT
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The Tragedy of Louis XVI
hough he hesitated at first, King Louis XVI at last signed the Declaration, for he had little choice. In
approving a document that made the people, not the king, the supreme authority in France, Louis XVI
was simply recognizing what had come to passa reality he was powerless to change and that would
be dangerous for him to resist.
TBut even though the king signed the Declaration, in his heart he opposed it. Louis XVI was not a tyrant.He was not greedy for power. He truly wanted to better the lives of his people. Yet Louis believed that as king ofFrance, he had been given authority from God, and no one could take that from him. He had agreed to the limitsplaced on his authority because he felt he must, to keep his throne. But in doing so, he saw himself as giving in
to force. He thus did not think he was
bound to keep to the agreements he had
made, if he were once again free.
Those immediately surrounding
him encouraged the kings secretopposition to the revolutionespecially
Queen Marie Antoinette. The queen
believed firmly in the absolute authority
of kingsshe was, after all, the daughter
of Maria Theresia and sister to the
reigning Holy Roman Emperor, Josef II.
In the years before the revolution, the
queen had gained a good deal of influence over her husband. This was unfortunate, for Marie Antoinette was
unpopular with the French people and, more important, she was not a wise adviser.
The king basically had no say in the debates over the
constitution the Assembly was drawing up for France. It was clear
he would not be removed from office, for the French people were
very attached to their king. He was the king father for many; for
nearly all, he was a necessary part of the government. Only a few
French intellectuals entertained ideas of a kingless France. For most
of the French, France was unthinkable without the king.
Although France would keep her king, it was unclear how much
power the Assembly would let him have. One of the fiercest debates
in the Assembly was over the kings vetothe power he would have
to block laws passed by the Assembly. Some, like Mirabeau, thought the king should have an absolute veto
that is, the power to block any law passed by the Assemblybut the Assembly on September 11, 1789, granted
the king only a suspensive veto. He could veto a law only twice; if the Assembly passed it a third time, the king
was powerless to block it.
With only a suspensive veto, the king had little say over the laws. Even so, as the chief executive of the
The women's march on Versailles, October 5, 1789
suspensive veto: by giving a veto
(Latin, meaning I refuse) to a bill, a
king or head of government refuses to
sign it into law. A suspensive veto is the
power only to delay the process of a
bill becoming a law. If, after a certain
number of times, a head of
government refuses to sign a bill, it
becomes law anyhow.
2011 Catholic Textbook Project
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state, he still controlled the regular military. Louis, however, was uncertain how faithful his French soldiers were
to him. Without his French regiments, he would have to rely on his foreign mercenaries; but the last time he did
that, Paris rebelled and the Bastille fell. The king was thus unwilling to risk a military action against the
Assembly.
So it was probably not to overthrow the Assembly, but merely to protect his palace, that in September
Louis ordered mercenary troops from the Flanders garrisons to come to Versailles.
On the night of October 1, 1789, officers
of the French Guard hosted a supper at
Versailles to welcome the officers of the
Flanders garrison. The officers ate heartily and
toasted one another with glasses filled with
wine. The queen was present, and royalist songs
were sung. This was the extent of the event; but
when the news of it reached Paris, the crowds
were stung to anger. While the people starved,
the kings soldiers feasted! And why did the
king bring soldiers to Versailles, anyhow? Was it
to crush the Assembly, to end the revolution?
Armed with sticks and clubs and
shouting, Bread! a mob of women and men
(some dressed as women) marched the 12 miles from Paris to Versailles on the night of October 5, 1789. Behind
them, at a distance, Lafayette followed with the National Guard. Upon reaching Versailles, the mob surrounded
the palace; but the bayonets of the royal troops held them off until Lafayette and his Guard could take over the
defense of the palace. Assaults by the mob continued through the night, and some broke into the palace, killing
several members of the queens guard. By morning, the king agreed to surrender to the mob and, with it, leave
Versailles for Paris.
The next day witnessed a strange spectaclethe royal family packed into an ornate carriage traveling
along the road to Paris, guarded by troops of the National Guard and surrounded by a swarming, jubilant mob
of the poor of Paris. We have the baker and the bakers wife and the little cook-boy, they cried. Now we shall
have the bread! The people were joyful not only from hopes of bread to fill their empty stomachs but because
the king, their father, was returning to his capital, Paris. For over 100 years, the French kings had been at
Versailles and so were strangers to their people. The return of the king awakened hopes that the king father
would once more be one with his children.
It was a false hope. The Assembly would soon turn the king entirely against the revolution. Meanwhile,
as a prisoner at the Tuileries, his palace in Paris, the king would despair of ever overthrowing the rebellion by
his own power alone. The desperate Louis, fearful for his life and that of his family, fell completely under the
sway of Queen Marie Antoinette, whose plots for the safety of the court and the royal family would forever
besmirch the honor and dignity of the royal house in the eyes of all France.
Lafayette kisses Marie Antoinette's hand as she and the royal family,
horrified, watch the women of Paris rioting before Versailles.