Louis XVI made the decision in 1783 to appoint Calonne as Controller-General in an effort to arrest the economic disaster and approved Calonne's 'Plan to improve the finances of the nation' in 1786.
With the nation spiralling towards bankruptcy,
His wife's alleged (and actual) profligacy also added to the belief that France's royal family had little regard for the poverty endured by their subjects. The public awareness of royal expense was never more apparent. While this document revealed that the royal expenses accounted for only 6.1% of national expenses, it was more than public works (2.9%) and charities (1.7%) combined. Louis's injudicious decision to allow Jacques Necker in February 1781 to complete a 'Compte de Rendu a Roi' (a Complete Account to the King) publically outlined the extent of national and royal expenses. With his wife, Marie-Antoinette, he indulged in the excess that privileged Bourbon kings had enjoyed for centuries. It was widely recognised that Louis was not emotionally suited to command, Christopher Hibbert exemplifies this when he attests that Louis made the following pathetic query of a retiring minister, 'Why can't I resign too?'Īlongside his personal inadequacies, Louis XVI was surrounded by the trappings of royal largesse that distanced him from his subjects. Yet Louis was described as a 'laughing stock' at Versailles, and Georges Lefebvre claimed 'he did not have enough intelligence to run the country properly'. These preconditions that sowed the seeds for the French Revolution may never have germinated had King Louis been prepared to exercise his dynastic power. Notwithstanding the 1200 million livres debt incurred by King Louis XVI's own decision to involve France in the American War of Independence. France yearned for massive internal restructuring of its society, government, and economic system following the ravages of extravagant spending and the expense of war inflicted by its Kings. As one member of the Paris Parlement stated, 'timidity and mistrust of himself are at the centre of his character', indeed Louis's indecision and timorousness made him a significant cause of the Revolution. While these obstacles would have been a blight for any king, Louis XVI was so fundamentally unsuited to leadership that his character exacerbated the already dangerous situation that he inherited. He also inherited a country sorely lacking in equality, in terms of finance and opportunity, and with an enormous national debt. Having succeeded two strong, influential Kings, Louis XVI inherited a nation in 1774 used to firm governance. Additionally, the King's initial authoritarian response to calls for a constitution and a National Assembly and his subsequent dismissal of popular finance minister Jacques Necker provided part of the basis for mass popular protests in Paris, eventually culminating in the storming of the Bastille in July 1789. King Louis XVI's weak character and incompetency when it came to political decision-making, his failure to satisfy the political and material grievances of his people and the public perception of royal distance and largesse against a backdrop of unprecedented financial and political crisis generated demands for political reform from 1774-1789.