Posted on 02/16/2017 10:02:38 AM PST by Jan_Sobieski
Louis XVI, king of France, arrived in the wrong historical place at the wrong time and soon found himself overwhelmed by events beyond his control. Ascending the throne in 1774, Louis inherited a realm driven nearly bankrupt through the opulence of his predecessors Louis XIV and XV. After donning the crown, things only got worse. The economy spiraled downward (unemployment in Paris in 1788 is estimated at 50%), crops failed, the price of bread and other food soared.
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In 1788, Louis was forced to reinstate France's National Assembly (the Estates-General) which quickly curtailed the king's powers. In July of the following year, the mobs of Paris stormed the hated prison at the Bastille. Feeling that power was shifting to their side, the mob forced the imprisonment of Louis and his family. Louis attempted escape in 1791 but was captured and returned to Paris. In 1792, the newly elected National Convention declared France a republic and brought Louis to trial for crimes against the people.
On January 20, 1793, the National Convention condemned Louis XVI to death, his execution scheduled for the next day. Louis spent that evening saying goodbye to his wife and children. The following day dawned cold and wet. Louis arose at five. At eight o'clock a guard of 1,200 horsemen arrived to escort the former king on a two-hour carriage ride to his place of execution. Accompanying Louis, at his invitation, was a priest, Henry Essex Edgeworth, an Englishman living in France. Edgeworth recorded the event and we join his narrative as he and the fated King enter the carriage to begin their journey...
(Excerpt) Read more at eyewitnesstohistory.com ...
The state sponsored atheism that began with the storming of the Bastille, kicked off a reign of terror that was responsible for the ritual execution of hundreds of thousands of French lives. "The Great Terror" as it is known by the French, was a period of violence and bloodletting that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution. It was marked by mass executions of "enemies of the revolution" (anyone who disagreed with the revolution). Under the guise of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity", the atheists began their utopian experiment by executing the Christian Monarch and Christian clergy that would not worship the new government.
The revolutionaries "Reign of Terror" showed the world that these humanistic idealists were far worst tyrants than the monarchy they had deposed. Their establishment of state-sponsored atheism became the first in a long line of similar movements that affected Soviet Russia, NAZI Germany, Red China, and many other countries around the world.
I remember that day. Good times! We partied like it was 1799, rain and all.
This is old news.
Nothing to lose one’s head over.
I like that site and had forgotten about it. Thanks for posting!
cnn has unnamed high-placed sources in the Trump linking this execution to President Trump and Ivanka’s clothing and jewlerly lines.
Thanks for posting. I’ve placed it in my favorites and will give it closer inspection later tonight.
It was a great day to behead him. Kings don’t go away on their own. And freedom couldn’t happen in a nation with a monarch following the Vatican.
Sorry, that post to Mr Douglas was meant for you.
Louis XVI was the king of France in 1789.
He was worse than Louis XV;
He was worse than Louis XIV;
He was worse than Louis XIII;
He was the worst since Louis I!
You must have gone to a liberal Big 10/Pac 10 Univeristy. The French Monarchy at that time were the most enlightened in all of Continental Europe. The concessions they made for the republic were incredible for the time. By the way, it was not Marie Antoinette who said, “Let them eat cake!” Do you even know who it was?
Learning history from a liberal comedian one way to learn history. Although it is not recommended.
Yeah, I’m sure the Jacobins were a much more enlightened bunch. And an emperor is far less a tyrant than a king.
Yeah, I’m sure the Jacobins were a much more enlightened bunch. And an emperor is far less a tyrant than a king.
Antonia Fraser’s biography of Marie Antoinette gives an overall sympathetic look at these events.
The monarchy was locked in traditions and expectations that I had never considered. One gets the impression, in reading this book, that these two individuals were decent human beings, who, if given a choice, would have chosen not to be royalty.
Louis and Marie were enlightened and exemplary Christans who behaved unusually charitably towards the poor.
Nevertheless, they were the target of numerous false rumors and intrigues, -—”Let them eat cake” being but one example of the fake news of the day-—and once mob rule got the upper hand, they had no choice but to flee for their lives—which in turn only confirmed their guilt, in the minds of the mob.
The specific charges against them, for which they were beheaded, were outrageous fabrications of a sexual nature-—palace orgies and such-—for which the evidence of untruth was abundant.
Exactly! Thank you for your erudite analysis.
By the way, that’s for any monarch. Off with their head if they claim a right to rule. And an enlightened monarch is still crap. It’s someone, standing above you by force, who says they will be kind to you if you obey.
France is better because they threw off the monarchy and the Vatican.
France had a rough time escaping the monarchs, as did all of Europe. But they are better for it.
Anyone who claims that God put them there to rule you has to die. Simple as that. It’s always a scam when disobeying then becomes disobeying God.
They could have abdicated and renounced the throne and created a republic....and got a job.
Well how nice that you approve of the murder of priests and religious during the Reign of Terror, much like ISIS today.
Louis XVI made many concessions which indicated he was headed in exactly that direction, or at the very least, was effecting an eventual phase out of the monarchy, in which kings and queens are ever only figureheads anyway. Their councils and ministers and exchequers hold the real decision-making power.
It was precisely Louis’ conciliation to, and willingness to work with, the republicans, that was perceived as weakness. The opportunity Louis provided for a peaceful evolution toward a democratic republic was seized by blood-lusting opportunists who were themselves greedy for immediate power; many of these firebrands themselves later fell to the guillotine.
Thus their reign of terror was mercifully stopped.
Maybe you could read up on the subject.
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