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Student Professor Course Date King Louis XVI execution and aftermath Louis XVI found himself in an awkward historical place at the wrong time and after a short while found himself overcome by events he had no control. The king ascended to the French power in 1774 and from the initial place he was not suited to address the fiscal problems which resulted from his grandfather’s rule (King Louis XV). After he ascended to power, things changed from bad to worse. The French economy continued to worsen (unemployment rates in Paris reached 50% in 1788), the prices of foodstuffs soared, and crops failed. This made French citizens wretched. This was compounded by Louis misfortunes as he married Marie Antoinette, a foreigner from Austria. The hatred of the French citizens, propelled by xenophobia, blamed his wife as the primary source of their problems. Louis and his wife attempted to flee to Austria but were captured, returned to Paris, and compelled to recognize the constitution, which made him powerless. Louis had burned numerous, compromising documents which proved his attempt to flee when trying to cover his tracks (Caiani 12). Following his condemnation to death by a narrow majority, Louis assembled one of the best defense teams, comprising some of the best lawyers in France, the likes of Malesherbes and François Tronchet. The lawyers prepared the defense with skillfulness and conveyed it with energy, despite the risks they posed to their lives as well as careers. De Sèze had limited time to prepare but delivered a profound opening that emphasized on Louis's inviolability, and that the convention was not fit to judge him. The prosecution accused the king of
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