Newspaper about Louis XVI execution

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King Louis XVI execution and aftermath
Louis XVI found himself in an awkward historical place at the wrong time and after a short while found himself overcome by events he had no control. The king ascended to the French power in 1774 and from the initial place he was not suited to address the fiscal problems which resulted from his grandfather’s rule (King Louis XV). After he ascended to power, things changed from bad to worse. The French economy continued to worsen (unemployment rates in Paris reached 50% in 1788), the prices of foodstuffs soared, and crops failed. This made French citizens wretched. This was compounded by Louis misfortunes as he married Marie Antoinette, a foreigner from Austria. The hatred of the French citizens, propelled by xenophobia, blamed his wife as the primary source of their problems. Louis and his wife attempted to flee to Austria but were captured, returned to Paris, and compelled to recognize the constitution, which made him powerless. Louis had burned numerous, compromising documents which proved his attempt to flee when trying to cover his tracks (Caiani 12).
Following his condemnation to death by a narrow majority, Louis assembled one of the best defense teams, comprising some of the best lawyers in France, the likes of Malesherbes and François Tronchet. The lawyers prepared the defense with skillfulness and conveyed it with energy, despite the risks they posed to their lives as well as careers. De Sèze had limited time to prepare but delivered a profound opening that emphasized on Louis’s inviolability, and that the convention was not fit to judge him.

The prosecution accused the king of numerous charges. He established his tyranny to destroy the freedom of France; ordered the military to march against the nationals, corruption, used the government money to live a lavish life and when he wanted to flee to Austria. Finally, he colluded in counter-revolutions despite his oath. Whereas Louis’s defense argued ingeniously, his own testimony was not convincing. The convention deputies ultimately voted in favor of his guilt (693 to none).
The convention concluded King Louis’s XVI death warrant on the 20th of January and commanded for his killing within 24 hours. After the verdict, Louis begged to stay for three days, to say a word of farewell to his family, and to appear in the presence of God but was granted only a day. The former king awoke early the following day, received mass, and boarded a carriage that took him to Paris, through a circuitous route. Royalists scheme to rescue the king didn’t succeed as soldiers filled the road. The carriage arrived at the region of execution (the Place de la Révolution) at 10 am. Over 100,000 people attended the execution; thus numerous reports of the king’s execution is existent (Caiani 19).
Louis’s execution resonated around the world. There was a scornful response in Britain. The London press portrayed the king’s guillotining as a pointless act of regicide. Whereas the vicious sans-culottes cheered (the newspaper states), honest nationals could not withhold their sincere sorrow and mourned in silence. Britain ejected French ambassador four days after the king’s death. Catherine the Great (Russian express) ended diplomatic affairs with France, whilst the rulers of Prussia and Austria mandated for a significant intensification of military action against radical France. The reaction in the US was more nonaggressive than other nations. American grieved Louis’s execution, but not the death of his kingdom. The perspective of Robespierre was to put Louis in treason, but he supported his execution. Marat at first attacked the King as well as his ministries, but his target shifted as rebellion advanced and radicalized.

Work cited
Caiani, Ambrogio. “Louis XVI And The French Revolution, 1789-1792.” Google Books, 2012, https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fJ7HDVkezMoC&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=King+Louis+XVI+trial&ots=9Z_Tear6zv&sig=6PfGRgSDLmAxnWXz-lPnY_FWXdg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=King%20Louis%20XVI%20trial&f=false.