King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette versus France

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King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were guilty of treason against France before their trial began. The evidence against them was all of the problems France faced in the late 18th century. Being a divine ruler, they thought that Louis XVI should have taken better care of them since he was supposedly “chosen by God” and they looked down on Marie Antoinette for less significant reasons because she was foreign. However, they were treated the same way as criminals. Since both of them lived apart from Paris, where most of the violence of the Revolution broke out, they were unaware of the condition of France. They still lived in luxury and did not consider the poor, desperate times that others were facing. When the violence started to happen more frequently, the people blamed Louis XVI for declaring war on his own country since he could not contain the outbreaks or control his people anymore.

Louis XVI is commonly referred to as an incompetent leader and the Revolution only made his reputation worse. However, most do not consider that he was not trained to be a king since he had two older brothers and his father ahead of him to inherit the throne (Axelrod 1). Unfortunately, they died and Louis XV, the grandfather and current king, had no one else to leave it to. Contrary to popular belief, Louis XVI was very popular at one point because it seemed that he was taking steps to modernize the French economy (Axelrod 1). He knew that something needed to be done to fix France before they became completely bankrupt. Louis XVI was aware that people were suffering and dying from poverty in his country and had made an honest attempt to help them by calling an Estates General to discuss their options.

The biggest crisis that France faced was its ...

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