How did King Louis XVI hurt his people?

Answer 1

He didn't. King Louis XVI and his wife Queen Marie Antoinette lost their monarchical power during the French Revolution. They inherited an enormous state debt (by Louis XIV and Louis XV). Also, Louis XVI was indecisive and not firm enough to rule.

Radical financial reforms by Turgot and Malesherbes angered the nobles and were blocked by the parlements who insisted that the King did not have the legal right to levy new taxes. So Turgot was dismissed in 1776 and Malesherbes resigned in 1776 to be replaced by Jacques Necker. Necker supported the American Revolution, and proceeded with a policy of taking out large international loans instead of raising taxes. When this policy failed miserably, Louis dismissed him, and replaced him in 1783 with Charles Alexandre de Calonne, who increased public spending to 'buy' the country's way out of debt. Again this failed, so Louis convoked the Assembly of Notables in 1787 to discuss a revolutionary new fiscal reform proposed by Calonne. When the nobles were told the extent of the debt, they were shocked into rejecting the plan. This negative turn of events signaled to Louis that he had lost the ability to rule as an absolute monarch, and he fell into depression. The French didn't want to be ruled by monarchs anymore, but wanted to become a republic without "tyrannizing" monarchs that they thought spend all their tax money and wanted equality, and also no more nobility with all their benefits and privileges. The revolutionists captured King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, held them prisoners and eventually had them beheaded by a guillotine.

Answer 2

Best Answer - Chosen by AskerLouis the XIV is also called "the Sun King." He was known for opulent tastes in everything and spent the state monies recklessly on many very beautiful and expensive projects, and on his personal desires. One of those projects was the palace of Versailles, which is one of the largest-and most beautiful-palaces in the whole world. It cost many fortunes to build.

Naturally, as the state coffers became empty from his wild spending, he had to raise taxes on everything to ruinous levels across the entire country. That was what caused a lot of suffering, because after paying those high taxes, many of the French people just did not have enough left to live on themselves. Many of them were starving, just because of those unreasonably high taxes.

Answer 3

He sent money to America instead of spending it on the French public who were suffering and hungry. He sent the money even though they were on high debt.

(My opinion: He wasn't a bad leader, he was just in a hard time)