The King Who Lit the Fuse - May 5, 1789
About this episode
This episode discusses the events surrounding King Louis XVI's opening of the Estates-General and its unintended consequences leading to revolution.
On May 5th, 1789, King Louis XVI opened the Estates-General at Versailles, a well-intentioned act that ignited a revolution he never wanted, cost him his life, and released forces that are still reshaping the world. Louis wasn't a tyrant; he was a reformer who tried everything else first and called a meeting as a last resort. But the world of 1789 wasn't the world of 1614, and the gap between what he intended to offer and what the delegates understood themselves to be demanding turned a budget session into the beginning of the modern era. Today's episode is about what happens when institutions can't reform themselves fast enough and what gets released when they finally break open.
More episodes of The Daily History Chronicle
- Japan's Forbidden Peace - May 3, 1947
- America’s Most Dangerous Man - May 2, 1972
- America's Accidental Empire - May 1, 1898
- Left Behind in Saigon - April 30, 1975
- Who Dachau Left Behind - April 29, 1945
- The Man Who Stood Still - April 28, 1967
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