Louis XVILouis XVI (Louis Auguste; lwi sɛːz; 23 August 1754 - 21 January 1793), sometimes known as The Last, was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir-apparent of King Louis XV), and Maria Josepha of Saxony, Louis became the new Dauphin when his father died in 1765. On his grandfather's death on 10 May 1774, he became King of France and Navarre, reigning until 4 September 1791, when he received the title of King of the French, reigning as king until the monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792.
French DirectoryThe Directory (also called Directorate, le Directoire) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 26 October 1795 (4 Brumaire an IV) until 10 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and replaced by the Consulate. Directoire is the name of the final four years of the French Revolution. Mainstream historiography also uses the term in reference to the period from the dissolution of the National Convention on 26 October 1795 to Napoleon's coup d’état.
LegitimistsThe Legitimists (Légitimistes) are royalists who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession to the French crown of the descendants of the eldest branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They reject the claim of the July Monarchy of 1830–1848 which placed Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans, head of the Orléans cadet branch of the Bourbon dynasty, on the throne until he too was dethroned and driven with his family into exile.
OrléanistOrléanist (Orléaniste) was a 19th-century French political label originally used by those who supported a constitutional monarchy expressed by the House of Orléans. Due to the radical political changes that occurred during that century in France, three different phases of Orléanism can be identified: The "pure" Orléanism: constituted by those who supported the constitutional reign of Louis Philippe I (18301848) after the 1830 July Revolution, and who showed liberal and moderate ideas.
