Everything about The Flight To Varennes totally explained
The
Flight to Varennes (
June 20-
21,
1791) was a significant episode in the
French Revolution during which King
Louis XVI of France and his immediate family were unsuccessful in their attempt to escape, disguised as the servants of a Russian baroness, from the radical agitation of the
Jacobins in
Paris. Their destination was the fortress town of
Montmédy in northeastern France, a
Royalist stronghold from which the King hoped to initiate a
counter-revolution. This represented a turning point after which popular hostility towards the
monarchy as an institution, as well as towards
Louis XVI and
Marie Antoinette as individuals, became more pronounced. They were only able to make it as far as
Varennes.
Attempt to flee Paris
Louis XVI's indecision on how to deal with revolutionary demands was one of the causes of the forcible transfer of the royal family from the
Palace of Versailles to the
Tuileries in Paris on
October 6,
1789 after
Versailles had been attacked by an angry mob. Thenceforward the king seems to have become emotionally paralyzed, leaving most important decisions to the politically untrained queen to make on her own. Prodded by the queen, Louis committed himself and his family to a disastrous attempt to escape from the capital to the eastern frontier on
June 21,
1791. With the dauphin's governess, the
Marquise de Tourzel taking on the role of a Russian baroness, the queen and the king's sister
Madame Élisabeth playing her maids, the king her butler, and the royal children her daughters, the royal family made their escape. The escape was largely planned by
Count Axel von Fersen and the
Baron de Breteuil. Due to the cumulative effect of a host of errors which in and of themselves wouldn't have condemned the mission to failure, the royal family was thwarted in its escape when the king was recognized in the revolutionary town of
Varennes, not far from its ultimate destination, the heavily fortified royalist citadel of
Montmédy. One rumor suggests that the king was recognized because his face appeared on French assignats (or banknotes), though this story's validity is contested.
Consequences
When the royal family finally returned under guard to Paris, the revolutionary crowd met the royal carriage with uncharacteristic silence. The royal family was immediately placed under
house arrest back at the
Tuileries Palace. From this point forward, the abolition of the
monarchy and the establishment of a
republic became an ever increasing possibility. The credibility of the king as a constitutional monarch had been seriously undermined by the escape attempt.
From the autumn of 1791 on, the king tied his hopes of political salvation to the dubious prospects of foreign intervention. At the same time, he encouraged the
Girondin faction in the
Legislative Assembly in their policy of war with Austria, in the expectation that a French military disaster would pave the way for the restoration of his royal authority. Prompted by
Marie Antoinette, Louis rejected the advice of the moderate constitutionalists, led by
Antoine Barnave, to fully implement the
Constitution of 1791, which he'd sworn to maintain, and committed himself instead to a policy of covert counter-revolution.
The outbreak of the war with Austria in April 1792 and the publication of a
manifesto by the Austrian commander,
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, threatening the destruction of Paris if the safety of the royal family was again endangered, led to
the storming of the Tuileries by Parisian radicals on
August 10,
1792. This attack led in turn to the suspension of the king's powers by the
Legislative Assembly and the proclamation of the
First French Republic on
September 21. In November, proof of Louis XVI's secret dealings with the deceased revolutionary politician,
Mirabeau, and of his counterrevolutionary intrigues with foreigners was found in a secret cupboard in the Tuileries. It was now no longer possible to pretend that the reforms of the
French Revolution had been made with the free consent of the king. Some
Republicans called for his deposition, others for his trial for alleged treason and intended defection to the enemies of the French people. On December 3 it was decided that Louis, who together with his family had been imprisoned since August, should be brought to trial for treason. He himself appeared twice before the
National Convention (December 11 and 23).
Convicted, Louis was guillotined on
January 21,
1793. Later, Marie Antoinette was also convicted of treason and beheaded nine months after her husband on
October 16.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Flight To Varennes'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://flight_to_varennes.totallyexplained.com">Flight to Varennes Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
