Louis << LOO ee or lwee >> XVIII (1755-1824) was a king of France known as “the Restoration King” because his reign restored the monarchy after the French Revolution (1789-1799).
Louis XVIII was born in Versailles, France, on Nov. 17, 1755. He was a younger brother of King Louis XVI. As the Count of Provence, he fled from France in 1791. That year, he set up a court in Koblenz, in what is now Germany, and issued proclamations against the revolution. His actions helped enrage the French people against King Louis XVI and led to the king’s execution. When King Louis XVII died in 1795, the count assumed the title of king. While Napoleon Bonaparte was in power (1799-1814), Louis lived in several countries in Europe. He spent the later years of his exile in the United Kingdom.
In 1814, after Napoleon was defeated, the allied powers allowed Louis to take the throne. He promised to rule as a constitutional monarch. In 1815, during the “Hundred Days” of Napoleon’s return, Louis was driven from his throne. But he was restored after the Battle of Waterloo. Louis proclaimed a liberal constitution and sincerely followed moderate policies in his rule. He tried to follow a middle course between the liberals and the reactionaries, who wanted to wipe out all the changes made by the French Revolution. He died on Sept. 16, 1824.
