1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,480 Speaker 1: Hey, history fans, here's a rerun for today, brought to 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: you by Tracy V. Wilson. Welcome to this Day in 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 1: History Class from how Stuff Works dot Com and from 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: the desk of Stuff you Missed in History Class. It's 5 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: the show where we explore the past one day at 6 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: a time with a quick look at what happened today 7 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:25,320 Speaker 1: in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Christopher Haciotas, 8 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: sitting in this week for your regular host, Tracy V. Wilson. 9 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: It's December eleven, and in one of the most pivotal 10 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 1: moments of the French Revolution, King Louis the sixteenth was 11 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: indicted for high treason and crimes on this day in 12 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: sevent The man who had become France's final king before 13 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: the French Revolution was born August seventeen fifty four as 14 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: Louis August. He was his parents seventh pregnancy, but the 15 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,520 Speaker 1: first child to survive to adulthood. Louis August was born 16 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: during the reign of his grandfather Louis, who is also 17 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: known as Louis the Beloved and ruled France for nearly 18 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: six decades. Now lou fifteenth, Louis the sixteenth predecessor died 19 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: of smallpox in May of seventeen seventy four. Normally, Louis 20 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,119 Speaker 1: August's father would have assumed the throne, but he had 21 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: died of tuberculosis nine years earlier, So in seventeen seventy four, 22 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:15,959 Speaker 1: Louis August became Louis the sixteenth, King of France. I 23 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: know it's a lot of Louis Louise, but we can 24 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,399 Speaker 1: keep track now. Louis the sixteenth was nineteen years old 25 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 1: at the time, and he was already married to Murray 26 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: Antoinette of Austria. They'd been married for about four years 27 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: at that point. Louis the sixteenth we'll just call him 28 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: Louis from now on. Louis started his reign with an 29 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: eye towards values that came out of the era of Enlightenment. 30 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: Greater freedom of the press, religious tolerance, and scientific inquiry, 31 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: among other endeavors. Eliminating certain land taxes, increasing acceptance of 32 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: non Catholic Christians, abolishing serfdom, supporting the American Revolution, and 33 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: even deregulating grain markets. These were all undertaken by Louis. 34 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: Some were resisted and shot down by nobility, while other 35 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: reforms were successful, it says last two, though that would 36 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: prove to be pivotal. Deregulation of markets in France led 37 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: to wild fluctuations in price. The common people struggle to 38 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: afford bread or even the grain to make their own, 39 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: and a number of riots broke out in seventeen seventy five. 40 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: That was a series of events often called the Bread 41 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,079 Speaker 1: War in supporting the American Revolution. The following year put 42 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 1: France into serious debt, and the ensuing financial crisis was 43 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: compounded by a byzantine system of taxation. The next decade 44 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: saw an erosion of the monarchy's credibility, and people came 45 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: to view Louis and his wife Marie Antoinette as figures 46 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: of not just an outdated system of governance, but one 47 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,639 Speaker 1: ignorant to the plight of the common people. Violence, civil unrest, 48 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:37,239 Speaker 1: and political turmoil became more prevalent, and Louis became increasingly 49 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: irrelevant when it came to actual governance, and gained a 50 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: reputation for being indecisive, unskilled, a political maneuvering, and just 51 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: generally being out of touch with the realities of the 52 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: day and the need for policy compromise. So in July 53 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: fourteenth seventeen eighty nine, a group of revolutionaries stormed the Bastile, 54 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: which was a political prison in Paris, though it only 55 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: held seven prisoners. At the time, the Bastial was viewed 56 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: as symbolic of the monarchy's rule. Now here's a side note. 57 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: You may hear that Louise journal for that day, July fourteenth, 58 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty nine, held only a single word nothing, which 59 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: a lot of people say signifies how out of touch 60 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: he was. That journal was actually just a hunting journal 61 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: or a hunting log, so it's not really indicative of 62 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,839 Speaker 1: where Louis head was at. And anyway, at the time, 63 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: Louis was at the Palace of Versailles, outside of Paris, 64 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: and he only learned of the storming of the Bastial 65 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: the following morning. So following these events, Louis was forced 66 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: to accept the dissolution of the monarchy as it existed, 67 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 1: and a constitutional monarchy was established. But after a failed 68 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: assassination attempt on Marie Antoinette, Louis and his family relocated 69 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: from Versailles outside of the city to the Tuilerie Palace, 70 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: which is right in the heart of the city, and 71 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: the intent there was to be closer to the people. 72 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: Now in seventee, Louis tried to secretly flee the city 73 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: in response to what he considered indignities and restraints placed 74 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: upon him and his family by the constitutional government. He 75 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: was being treated he felt away a monarch should never 76 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: be treated. On his way out of town, though, Louis 77 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: left behind a political manifesto which outlined his dissatisfaction with 78 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: the constitutional system, he considered it illegitimate. This manifesto was 79 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: published in newspapers, though, making his true feelings public, and 80 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: just four days after leaving Paris, Louis and his family 81 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: were identified. He was recognized because his face was on 82 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: the national currency, and he was arrested and returned to Paris. 83 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:25,480 Speaker 1: At this point, Louis lost all credibility even with those 84 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: who had stood by him, and he was viewed as 85 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,279 Speaker 1: more loyal to foreign governments rather than to his own people. 86 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: Later that summer, on August tenth of seventeen ninety two, 87 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,040 Speaker 1: the people of Paris had had enough. A group marched 88 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: on the Tuileries Palace and the royal family again fled, 89 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: taking shelter with the legislative Assembly. Louis the sixteenth was 90 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: found and arrested a few days later and eventually taken 91 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: to the Parisian prison known as the Temple. While he 92 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:54,360 Speaker 1: was in prison there, the government officially abolished the constitutional monarchy, 93 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: declared a republic, and stripped Louis of all his titles 94 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,280 Speaker 1: and honors. So for the last few months of his life, 95 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: Louis the sixteenth was known as Citizen Louis Cape. That's 96 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: the name that would have been his ancestral surname, Citizen 97 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: Louis Cape. His trial before the National Convention began on 98 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: December three, more than a week after the trial started, 99 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: bringing us to today, den Louis was brought out of 100 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: the Temple and before the Assembly formally indicted. Now there 101 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 1: were thirty three charges in total. These ranged from ordering 102 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:28,280 Speaker 1: the army to march on the citizens of Paris, to 103 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: attempting to flee the city, and from ignoring counter revolutions 104 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: to defanging the navy and ignoring foreign threats, particularly from 105 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,280 Speaker 1: Austria where Marie Antoinette was from the final of these 106 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:43,599 Speaker 1: thirty three charges, you caused the blood of Frenchmen to flow. Louis, 107 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 1: through his defense team, responded to his individual charges on 108 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:51,719 Speaker 1: December generally demanding proof, claiming he wasn't involved in certain decisions, 109 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 1: saying he knew nothing of the claims, or to borrow 110 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: more contemporary political phrase, passing the buck to his ministers 111 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: and their decisions. Louise lawyer Raymonde Says argued the former 112 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,160 Speaker 1: king's case for three hours straight that day, and it 113 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: wasn't until three weeks later that Louis the sixteenth was 114 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: convicted overwhelmingly of colluding with foreign powers. Now seven and 115 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: twenty one voters were tasked with choosing his punishment. There 116 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: were four options, including life, imprisonment, or banishment from France, 117 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: but on January three hundred and sixty one of the 118 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: voters exactly plus one vote, sentenced Louis to death, and 119 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,040 Speaker 1: on the very next day, citizen Louis Cape was executed 120 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,479 Speaker 1: by guillotine. The beheading took place in the Place de 121 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: la Revolution, an open square where the revolutionary government conducted 122 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: the majority of its public executions. It's the same spot 123 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: where Robespierre, Olympe de Gouge, and Marie Antoinette, who followed 124 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: her husband to the guillotine eight months later, were executed. 125 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: The plaza went through a series of name changes and 126 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,119 Speaker 1: took the names of both Louis the fifteenth and Louis 127 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: the sixteenth, but in eighteen thirty returned to its original 128 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,720 Speaker 1: name of Place de la Concorde. Today, located along the 129 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: banks of the Sin, you'll find the Place de la 130 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: Concord full of obelisks and fountains. To learn more about this, 131 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: listen to the November eight episode of Stuff You Missed 132 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: in History Class called How the French Revolution Worked, or 133 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: scroll back on your podcast and find the November tewcond 134 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,520 Speaker 1: episode of this very podcast, which is the day Marie 135 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: Antoinette was born. Thanks to Casey Pegruman Chandler Mays for 136 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: their audio work on this show, you can subscribe to 137 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class on Apple Podcasts, the I 138 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, or wherever else you like to find 139 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 1: your podcasts, and uh, stick around because tomorrow we're going 140 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: to learn about a disastrous explosion.