Louis XVI

Louis XVI
Louis XVI by Antoine-François Callet
King of France and Navarre
Reign	10 May 1774 – 1 October 1791 (17 years, 144 days)
Coronation	11 June 1774(aged 20)
Predecessor	Louis XV
Successor	Napoleon I as Emperor (Monarchy Abolished)
King of the French
Reign	1 October 1791 – 21 September 1792
Predecessor	Louis XV
Successor	Monarchy abolished
Born	23 August 1754 Palace of Versailles, France
Died	21 January 1793 (aged 38) Paris, France
Burial	21 January 1815 Royal Basilica of Saint Denis, France
Spouse	Marie Antoinette
Issue	Marie Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France Louis XVII of France Princess Sophie
Full name Louis Auguste de France
House	House of Bourbon
Father	Louis, Dauphin of France
Mother	Marie Josèphe of Saxony
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Louis XVI (23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the King of France from 1774 until 1792,^[a] when the monarchy was abolished during the French Revolution. His overthrow and execution ended a monarchy that was over 1,000 years old, although he was not the last French king. He was accused of treason and died in January 1793 By Guilotine.

Louis came from the House of Bourbon. He became the king at the age of 20, after the death of his grandfather Louis XV. Early in his reign, he tried to make France more modern. He stopped the government from using torture and allowed people to be Protestant again. He and his minister Turgot took away some laws on selling grain, which led to high grain prices in years when the harvest was bad. He also supported the Americans in their war for independence from Great Britain. Debts from this war, other war debts and the outdated tax system caused major money problems in France. Louis's plans to solve the problems were blocked by the nobles. The money problems and the new ideas of the Age of Enlightenment caused more people to stop supporting the existing monarchy (the Ancien Régime) and demand change.

In 1789, Louis called the Estates-General (a parliament) to try to solve the problems. As a leader who was weak-willed and did not want to change the country much, he soon disappointed the elected politicians who wanted to reduce the king's powers. Protests against the monarchy became more common, especially among the poorer people of Paris and the middle class. This led to the Storming of the Bastille in July and the Women's March on Versailles in October. These events caused the king to lose control of the country to the National Assembly.

At first, the Assembly did not plan to abolish the monarchy. But the idea became more popular as rebellions and protests broke out across France, more radical politicians started to lead the government, money problems became worse and foreign governments threatened to invade. Louis and his wife Marie Antoinette slowly became unpopular symbols of the Ancien Régime that people wanted to leave behind. Their failed escape from Paris in June 1791 was a disaster. It convinced many people that they were plotting with foreign governments to overthrow the Assembly. He was arrested during a riot in August 1792 and the monarchy was abolished the next month. The government took away his titles, calling him Citizen Louis Capet, taking the surname from Hugh Capet, an early French king. He was put on trial by the National Convention, found guilty of treason, and executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793. He was the only king of France to be executed.
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