21 January 1793: the execution of King Louis XVI

On 21 January 1793, following a short trial, King Louis XVI was executed in Paris.

In the summer of 1792, the French National Assembly had deposed Louis XVI. But for many deputies, radical republicans, it was not enough. The political death of Louis XVI was only a first step. His bodily death had to seal the fate of the monarchy in France, once and for all. "Louis must die because the nation must live."

There would be no turning point...