Explain why the assembling of the Estates General in 1789 led to the

overthrow of Louis XVI.

I. Introduction
a. There is no doubt that the overthrow of Louis XVI, the last king of
France, was a major milestone for the liberation of France
b. One could indeed say that the assembling of the Estates General
in 1789 led to the overthrow of Louis XVI
c. Evidence points:
i. Estates General caused creation of National Assembly
ii.National Assembly (and constitutional monarchy) caused
Louis XVI to reach out to leaders of other countries for
help, attempt to escape
iii.Insurrection of August 10th, 1792
d. Must create a chain of events – each event follows logically from
the previous
II. Evidence 1 – National Assembly
a. Estates General was called to assembly on May 4th, 1789
i. People were beginning to lose hope in Louis XVI, so he
thought it would be a good idea to call the Estates General
ii.Each Estate was given one vote, so first two Estates could
outvote Third Estate – many angered
b. Louis XVI treated Third Estate badly
i. Representatives refused to show credentials – created five-
week deadlock
ii.Eventually, they showed credentials as representatives “of
the entire nation”
c. Declared National Assembly of France – June 17th, 1789
d. Tennis Court Oath – June 20th, 1789
i. When meeting room was barred, delegates met on tennis
court and swore not to separate until a constitution was
created
e. “With this act, the monarchy unwittingly signed its own death
warrant”
III. Evidence 2 – Help from other countries, escape attempt
a. Presence and support for National Assembly forced Louis XVI to
collaborate and sign new laws and documents against his will
b. As early as 1790, Louis XVI considered asking help from Prussian
and Austrian leaders to strengthen his own hand and quell
revolutionaries
 c. Girondin leaders wanted war – believed a war would end in a new
Girondin government
d. Leopold II (Marie Antoinette’s brother) sympathized with
monarchy
i. He and Prussian king Frederick William created Declaration
of Pillnitz – French affairs were interest of all Europe and
the two nations would intervene if necessary (August 27th,
1791)
e. Fact that royal family had tried to escape to Austria on June 20th,
1791, made the people view Louis XVI as a traitor
f. War went badly for France – more people thought Louis XVI was
conspiring against France – Louis XVI’s reputation and image was
the worst it had ever been
IV. Evidence 3 – Insurrection of August 10th, 1792
a. Peak of uneasiness about Louis XVI’s integrity came when
Prussian duke of Brunswick published a manifesto (August 3rd,
1792)
i. Declared intention of allies to restore Louis XVI to full
power, and to destroy Paris if any harm came to royal
family
b. Night of August 9th-10th – alarm bell sounded, carefully organized
crowds (organized by radical leaders) laid siege to Tuileries
i. Louis XVI lost heart and ordered Swiss Guard to put down
arms, but they were slaughtered anyway
ii.Legislative assembly ordered his powers suspended and
imprisoned royal family
c. If this was not enough to constitute the overthrow of Louis XVI,
the National Convention formally abolished monarchy
(September 21st, 1792)
V. Opposing Viewpoints
a. Some might argue that the demise of Louis XVI was inevitable,
and the assembly of the Estates General had no effect
i. If Estates General had not met, there would have been
very little opportunity for the Third Estate to declare
anything similar to the National Assembly
ii.If nothing drastic had happened to the monarchy in the
past few decades, nothing was likely to have happened
then
iii.If there was no governing body in place, absolute
monarchy would have continued
VI. Conclusion
a. Overthrow of Louis XVI had a significant impact on France – no
more monarchy, the beginning of representative democracy
b. Ironically, Louis XVI brought about his own demise by calling the
Estates General
c. If Estates General had not met and Louis XVI had remained in
power, the course of the FR would have been much different, and
almost certainly much less significant in history