King+Louis+XVI

King Louis XVI By Jonathan Lohman

Louis XVI was the King of France. Louis was born on August 23, 1754 in Versailles France, with the birth name of Louis-Auguste de France and was also known as Louis Carpet. He was King of France from 1774 until 1792. He was beheaded on January 21, 1793. He was only 39 years old when he died. Louis was known as causing the French Revolution and the last Bourbon king to wear the French crown. Louis became king when he was 20 years old. In the early years of his reign King Louis did a pretty good job. During the American Revolution he gave financial and military aid to the colonies that helped them gain independence from Great Britain, however because of this and not raising taxes Louis contributed to the nearly bankrupted country he inherited. During his reign as king the economy failed, the crops died out, and the cost of food rose greatly but he didn’t do anything about it and continued to live a very rich lifestyle. All of this led to the French Revolution. The French Revolution is considered to be the beginning of change in Europe from being an absolute monarchy and the hierarchical system to the new world order of liberty, equality, and fraternity. This was made possible because of Louis XVI poor reign as king. July 14 is called Bastille Day where French people still celebrate the start of the French Revolution. King Louis XVI could have been a great king if he only had more experience and knew how to rule a country. One could only imagine what Europe would be like today if King Louis XVI was a better king.