Documents found in a safe in the Tuileries Palace seemed to prove Louis had been working with France’s foreign enemies. He was tried by the Convention and found guilty of treason by a small majority (387 to 334). Louis XVI was executed at the guillotine in January 1793. Nine months later, Marie Antoinette met the same fate. These executions outraged the rest of Europe. Britain, Spain and the Netherlands declared war on France. This crisis would lead to the coming to power of Maximilien Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety.
DID YOU KNOW?
The guillotine was originally invented as a more humane method of execution than hanging, but became a symbol of the brutality of the French Revolution.
Guillotine CHECKPOINT!
1. How did the revolution change the positions of (a) nobles and (b) clergy in France? 2. What were the main points of The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen? 3. Explain the following terms: liberty; equality; fraternity. 4. What was the fl ight to Varennes and what were the results of it? 5. How did other European countries react to the events in France? 6. Why was Louis XVI executed?
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I understand the main reforms of the French Revolution and the events leading to the execution of the king.
TIME TO GO BACK I CAN MOVE FORWARD
Go to page 83 of your Sources and Skills Book for a newspaper report on the execution of Louis XVI.
