Louis XVI (23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) is a Bourbon monarch who rules as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793.

Succeeding Louis XV, his unpopular grandfather, Louis XVI is well aware of the growing discontent of the French population against the absolute monarchy.

The first part of his reign is marked by his attempts to reform the kingdom in accordance with the Enlightenment ideals (abolition of torture, abolition of the serfdom, tolerance towards Jews and Protestants, abolition of the Taille etc.).

However, Louis XVI fails to impose his will, as his reforms stumble on the hostility of the nobles.

Louis XVI actively supports the Americans, who are seeking their independence from Great Britain, which is realized in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

The example of the American Revolution and the financial crisis that follows France's involvement in the war are two of the many contributing factors to the French Revolution, which breaks out in 1789.

The French Revolution abolishes the absolute monarchy in France and proclaims a constitutional monarchy in 1791.

While Louis XVI, as a constitutional king, enjoys broad popularity among the population, his indecisiveness and conservatism lead some elements of the people of France eventually to view him as a symbol of the perceived tyranny of the Ancien Régime, and his popularity deteriorates progressively.

His disastrous flight to Varennes seems to justify the rumors that the king ties his hopes of political salvation to the dubious prospects of foreign invasion.

The credibility of the king is deeply undermined and the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic becomes an ever increasing possibility.

In a context of civil and international war, Louis XVI is suspended and arrested as part of the insurrection of 10 August 1792, he is tried by the National Convention, found guilty of high treason, and executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793 as a desacralized French citizen known as "Citoyen Louis Capet", a nickname in reference to Hugh Capet, the founder of the Capetian dynasty – which the revolutionaries interpret as Louis' family name.

In the meantime, the French Republic had been proclaimed the 21 September 1792, bringing to an end more than a thousand years of continuous French monarchy.

Louis XVI is the only King of France ever to be executed.