The French Revolution(1789 – 1799): Causes

(d) The Character of Louis XVI

If France had ever had need of a great king, it was in 1774, on the death of Louis XV, who wore the crown for sixty years in a profligate, irresponsible and extravagant manner.  His successor, Louis XVI was a man of moral behaviour (unlike his queen, Marie Antoinette), a man who took his duties seriously and who was honest, benevolent and religious without being intolerant.  He really wanted to improve the lot of his subjects, and tempered the expenses of his court.  But these virtues were quite overshadowed by the inability of the king, as absolute monarch, to govern a country as large as France, with its enormous social, economic and political problems, problems which, moreover, threatened to come to a head simultaneously.  His serious character defects included, amongst others, a slowness of grasp, indecision and a lack of self confidence, and consequently an inability to pursue a determined course.  He is described by some historians as being weak-willed.

In his fervor to institute reforms, Louis appointed able ministers, such as Turgot, Necker and Calonne.  He had the ability to identify the right people for the right jobs.  However, he failed to support these men when pressure was brought to bear on him by his wife, Marie Antoinette and the nobility.  He was easily influenced by his wife, his family and the court circle which saw its privileges threatened.  He withdrew his support from his ministers at critical moments.  Thus, he only impressed the people more dearly with the need for reform and his inability to bring it about.  His queen, Marie Antoinette of Austria, was highly unpopular.  She was the symbol of the hated Austrian alliance which had, with the seven years war, cost France its colonial empire in India and America.

Marie Antoinette did not understand the French and, possibly more important, she did not understand the needs of the time, and therefore frequently exercised a wrong influence on her husband.  Louis’s closest kinsmen, his two brothers, the count of Province and the count of Artois, and his nephew Philip, the later duke of Orleans who was also known as Philip Egalite, were frivolous and irresponsible.  Together with the queen, they frequently had a detrimental effect on Louis’s decisions.  The Revolution cannot simply be ascribed to the king and his court.  Yet the personalities of the royal pair can be discerned as one of the immediate causes of the Revolution. A strong and able ruler, like Louis XIV could possibly have controlled the course of events and channeled the forces of reforms correctly and safely.