Was Louis Responsible For His Own Downfall?

“From the flight to Varennes onwards, Louis was largely responsible for his own downfall and execution”
King Louis XVI of France had a reign full of turmoil and discontent. His popularity steadily declined throughout his rule, finally culminating in his execution in January 1793. However, it is still up to debate as to what factor was most influential in kick-starting the path to his execution – whether he was wholly responsible through his own actions, or if his downfall was caused by the French people or the war of 1792. This essay will cover these three factors, and justify the argument that the consequences of the war were the main influences leading up to the king’s execution.
Louis is generally considered to have been a poor leader,
One important event was the dissolution of the moderate assembly and the introduction of an elected government called the convention. This happened when one of Louis’ palaces was stormed by 20,000 people and he was taken into custody. As the convention was elected, this would probably mean that there would be a larger percentage of representatives from the third estate, as 97% of people belonged to the group and therefore would vote in people they supported. As established, Louis was very unpopular with this estate, and therefore it is likely that the new convention would be biased against the king. This is shown when every single one of 695 deputies found Louis guilty. Many political radicals spoke condemning the king and advocating his overthrowing. Because of this, it was almost a certainty that Louis would be executed no matter what he did, as he was being judged by a group that already didn’t like him, and thus wouldn’t take into account any of his positive actions. While this is significant, the people were mostly biased against Louis for a reason, and therefore much of this could ultimately have been prevented had Louis kept his subjects
The increased number of unemployed people massively strengthened the radical clubs in Paris, creating much of the public’s anger, along with the sharp decline in the economy, which created a food crisis and massively increased inflation. It is possible that the overthrowing of Louis only occurred because the people were angry about the effects of the war. Another important factor is that the Casus Belli for the countries invading France was the restoration of the king to his throne. This would lead to him being seen as the cause of the war and all its consequences, through no fault of his own. The commander of the enemy forces stated that terrible vengeance would be exacted onto the people of Paris if the king was hurt in any way. This understandably made the people very angry, and reinforced the view of Louis being allied with the people that would remove their hard owned liberty. The statement caused immediate riots and demonstrations against the king. This made Louis the perfect scapegoat for all troubles, as well as putting pressure on the convention to execute Louis to please the people. The war was arguably the biggest contributor to the decisions made by the convention and the people, and therefore could be the most important