Monday, December 10, 2018

What Happened to France’s Monarchy?

In case anyone was wondering. From Royal Central:
The Revolution’s goal was to abolish the absolute monarchy (called the Ancien Régime), but the Assembly was split on whether France should become a constitutional monarchy or a republic. Ultimately, they settled on a constitutional monarchy with the King only having a representative role. The writing of the First Constitution in 1791, and it stated that there would be one Assembly and that the King would only have a suspensive veto. However, a lot of people were still angry that the King had attempted to flee and raised the point that since he had been suspended from his powers after being arrested in Varennes. He was now deposed and shouldn’t be the King of the new constitutional monarchy. However, despite huge protests, the First Constitution was signed on 3 September 1791, and the National Assembly gave way to the new Legislative Assembly that would share power with the King.
While it seemed like this was the end of the troubles for King Louis XVI and the monarchy, things only got worse from there when foreign monarchies got involved at a time when the French people were trying to assert their sovereignty. It had already started in August 1791 when the King’s brother-in-law, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, King Frederick William II of Prussia, and the King’s brother, Charles-Philippe, Comte d’Artois, issued the Declaration of Pillnitz, declaring their intention to bring the French king in the position “to consolidate the basis of a monarchical government” and that they were preparing their own troops for action. (Read more.)
Share

No comments: