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Estates General Convene at Versailles - May 1789

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Estates General Convene at Versailles - May 1789

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In May of 1789, King Louis XVI called a meeting with the Estates General to attempt to raise taxes due to the decreasing financial state of the country. This is due to the consistent spending of money he and his predecessors did not have. This was the only way Louis could dig himself out of the economic ditch he had dug without impacting his excessive lifestyle.

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National Assembly Is Established - June 1789

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National Assembly Is Established - June 1789

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Once the upper middle class of the Third Estate realized that with the system currently in place they would be unable to enact any kind of change they decided to establish the National Assembly. After the Assembly has been established they decided to take the Oath of the Tennis Court and vowed to not leave until a formal declaration had been composed.

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The Storming of the Bastille - July 1789

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The Storming of the Bastille - July 1789

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The less civilized classes of the Third Estate felt the need to rise up and fight against the government similarly to the upper-middle class but they decided to do so with brute force rather than a formal declaration. While Sans-culottes decided to storm the Bastille, the peasants working in the fields started attacking and murdering the land owners with shovels. This was known as the Great Fear and spread aggressively through the countryside.

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National Assembly Issue a Declaration - August 1789

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National Assembly Issue a Declaration - August 1789

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Through the summer of 1789 the upper-middle class were able to draft and finalize the Declaration of the Rights of Man. The declaration was heavily inspired by the Declaration of Independence. The declaration called for a more equal society where the opinions of the general public had much more impact and people were not punished for their opinion.

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On the morning of October 5, 1789 a riot insured over the excessively high price of bread in a Parisian marketplace. The march began in Paris though the women made their way down to the Palace of Versailles and through means of persuasion and force they were able to have their request fulfilled and King Louis XVI, along with the royal family, returned to Paris.

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The royal family was eventually held accountable for their actions as they were arrested in 1891 following the royal family's failed attempt to escape to Montmédy. This act really showed how weak and desperate the royal family was and was a major turning point in the way that they were received by the general public of France. What followed after the Flight to Varennes was mass hysteria, this was due to the mixed emotions the people of France were feeling, some hated the royal family for this, others felt unsafe in their own homes due to the continuous violence committed right outside their homes.

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The Declaration of Pillnitz, Austria Declared War - August 1791

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The Declaration of Pillnitz, Austria Declared War - August 1791

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The declaration of Pillnitz was created to try and get the European powers that surrounded France on the side of King Louis XVI rather than the French general public. This ended up doing quite the opposite as many countries saw this as a weakness in France's government. Not only was the weak state of the government evident to the citizens living in France but many of their enemies knew too and sensing weakness Austria declared war on France aiming to gain political power.

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Constitutional Monarchy - September 1791

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Constitutional Monarchy - September 1791

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Thanks to the greatly increasing pressure on King Louis XVI the absolutist Kingdom of France was disbanded and reformed into the constitutional monarchy that was the Kingdom of France. While this was a successful form of government for a short period of time, it wouldn't last.

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Louis XVI Is Taken Prisoner - August 1792

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Louis XVI Is Taken Prisoner - August 1792

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By this point the vast majority of the French population had had enough of Louis XVI antics. Attempting to raise taxes for your own personal gain rather than to support the country is one thing but attempting to escape those who you are meant to help and protect is another. This finally resulted in the imprisonment of King Louis XVI by a mob of Parisians.

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A major change finally occurred on September 22, 1792 where the French monarchy was abolished. All of the times that the French monarchs had ignored their citizens and used their power for their own personal gain rather than helping others had added up and tensions had gotten to a boiling point. Major change was needed and soon it came as the French monarchy was abolished and the First Republic was introduced giving the vast majority of power to the people.

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Once the government had been reformed Louis XVI refused to give up his power to the new republic. This led to him being charged with treason, a federal crime punishable by execution. Feeling a good sense of national pride and power and in some ways arrogance after moving on from the harsh and unfair ruling of King Louis XVI decides to declare was on the Netherlands, Spain, and Britain.

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Tensions Rise in the National Convention - May 1793

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Tensions Rise in the National Convention - May 1793

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Even though France had moved past the unfair ruling of King Louis XVI, things weren't all well. The new French government was made up of two conflicting parties the Montagnards and the Girondins. On one hand the Montagnards wanted to help out the poorer people that populated the most of France whilst the Girondins wanted to keep the power amongst the upper-middle class.

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Robespierre established the Public Safety Committee whose goal was to defend the nation from enemies whether they were inside or outside of the country. Robespierre disagreed with the ideals of the Girondins and due to his high authority in the Public Safety Committee he was able to get them all arrested under the notion that they were a threat to the republic. This is what also lead to them being executed.

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During this time France's new government was very fragile and everybody knew it. This led to many of the political leaders who were deemed "suspicious" being executed publicly in France. While this was a time of mass victories on the military front, the core of the country was still very much struggling as the people in power were extremely paranoid of the old monarchy returning to power making their decades long fight for a people's country worth nothing.

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Napoleon's Rise to Power and Eventual Fall - 1799 - May 1821

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Napoleon's Rise to Power and Eventual Fall - 1799 - May 1821

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In 1799 after very tumultuous time in France a prominent military leader by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte, who had been praised for his unmatched military tactics, had begun to win over the public of France like no one man had done ever. Once he officially came into power he was always hungry for more, this greed led to his exile two separate times. While he is regarded as one of the greatest military leaders ever, his time as the Emperor of France is often looked down upon. He died in 1821 due to stomach cancer.

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I picked this source to learn about the Flight to Varennes because it gave a lot of context, not just of the event itself, but why it happened and what happened because of it.

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22.4.4: Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette's Attempts to Escape

The Flight to Varennes, or the royal family's unsuccessful escape from Paris during the night of June 20-21, 1791, undermined the credibility of the king as a constitutional monarch and eventually led to the escalation of the crisis and the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Learning Objective

Analyze the consequences of the royal family's attempted escapes

Key Points

Following the Women's March on Versailles, the royal family was forced to return to Paris. They remained virtual prisoners in the Tuileries, the official residence of the king. Louis XVI became emotionally paralyzed, leaving most important decisions to the queen. At her insistence, Louis committed himself and his family to a disastrous attempt of escape from the capital to the eastern frontier on June 21, 1791.

Due to the cumulative effect of a host of errors that in and of themselves would not have condemned the mission to failure, the royal family was thwarted in its escape after Jean-Baptiste Drouet, the postmaster of Sainte-Menehould, recognized the king from his portrait. The king and his family were eventually arrested in the town of Varennes, 31 miles from their ultimate destination, the heavily fortified royalist citadel of Montmédy.

The intended goal of the unsuccessful flight was to provide the king with greater freedom of action and personal security than was possible in Paris. At Montmédy, General François Claude de Bouillé concentrated a force of 10,000 regulars of the old royal army who were still considered loyal to the monarchy. The long-term political objectives of the royal couple and their closest advisers remain unclear.

The credibility of the king as a constitutional monarch had been seriously undermined. However, on July 15, 1791 the National Constituent Assembly agreed that he could be restored to power if he agreed to the constitution, although some factions opposed the proposal. The decision led to the Champ de Mars Massacre two days later.

From the autumn of 1791 on, the king tied his hopes of political salvation to the dubious prospects of foreign intervention. Prompted by Marie Antoinette, Louis rejected the advice of the moderate constitutionalists, led by Antoine Barnave, to fully implement the Constitution of 1791 he had sworn to maintain.

The outbreak of the war with Austria in April 1792 and the publication of the Brunswick Manifesto 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. Some republicans called for the king's deposition, others for his trial for alleged treason and intended defection to the enemies of the French nation. Convicted, Louis was sent to the guillotine on January 21, 1793. Nine months later, Marie Antoinette was also convicted of treason and beheaded on October 16.

Key Terms

Flight to Varennes

An unsuccessful attempt to escape Paris by King Louis XVI of France, his wife Marie Antoinette, and their immediate family during the night of June 20-21, 1791 to initiate a counter-revolution at the head of loyal troops under royalist officers concentrated at Montmédy near the frontier. They escaped only as far as the small town of Varennes, where they were arrested after having been recognized at their previous stop in Sainte-Menehould.

Brunswick Manifesto

A proclamation issued on July 25, 1792, by Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, commander of the Allied Army (principally Austrian and Prussian) to the population of Paris during the War of the First Coalition. It threatened that if the French royal family were harmed, then French civilians would be harmed. It was a measure intended to intimidate Paris, but instead, it helped further spur the increasingly radical French Revolution.

Champ de Mars Massacre

A massacre that took place on July 17, 1791, in Paris in the midst of the French Revolution. Two days earlier, the National Constituent Assembly issued a decree that Louis XVI would remain king under a constitutional monarchy. This decision came after King Louis XVI and his family unsuccessfully tried to flee France in the Flight to Varennes the month before. Later that day, leaders of the republicans in France rallied against this decision, eventually leading royalist Lafayette to order the massacre.

March on Versailles

A march on October 5, 1789, during the French Revolution among women in the marketplaces of Paris who were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. Their demonstrations quickly became intertwined with the activities of revolutionaries, who were seeking liberal political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France. The market women and their various allies grew into a crowd of thousands. Encouraged by revolutionary agitators, they ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched to the Palace of Versailles.

Following the Women's March on Versailles, the royal family was forced to return to Paris. Louis XVI attempted to work within the framework of his limited powers but won little support. He and the royal family remained virtual prisoners in the Tuileries, a royal and imperial palace in Paris that served as the residence of most French monarchs. For the next two years, the palace remained the official residence of the king.

Louis XVI became emotionally paralyzed, leaving most important decisions to the queen. Prodded by the queen, Louis committed the family to a disastrous escape attempt 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 pretending to be a governess, the king's sister, Madame Élisabeth a nurse, the king a valet, and the royal children the alleged baroness' daughters, the royal family made their escape leaving the Tuileries around midnight. The escape was largely planned by the queen's favorite, the Swedish Count Axel von Fersenand the Baron de Breteuil, who had garnered support from Swedish King Gustavus III. Fersen had urged the use of two light carriages, which would have made the 200-mile journey to Montmédy relatively quickly. However this would have involved splitting up the royal family and Louis and Marie-Antoinette decided on the use of a heavy, conspicuous coach drawn by six horses.

Due to the cumulative effect of a host of errors, which in and of themselves would not have condemned the mission to failure, the royal family was thwarted in its escape after Jean-Baptiste Drouet, the postmaster of Sainte-Menehould, recognized the king from his portrait. The king and his family were eventually arrested in the town of Varennes, 31 miles from their ultimate destination, the heavily fortified royalist citadel of Montmédy.

The Question of Goals

The intended goal of the unsuccessful flight was to provide the king with greater freedom of action and personal security than was possible in Paris. At Montmédy, General François Claude de Bouillé concentrated a force of 10,000 regulars of the old royal army who were still considered loyal to the monarchy. The long-term political objectives of the royal couple and their closest advisers remain unclear. A detailed document entitled Declaration to the French People prepared by Louis for presentation to the National Assembly and left behind in the Tuileries indicates that his personal goal was a return to the concessions and compromises contained in the declaration of the Third Estate in June 1789, immediately prior to the outbreak of violence in Paris and the storming of the Bastille. Private correspondence from Marie Antoinette takes a more reactionary line of restoration of the old monarchy without concessions, although referring to pardons for all but the revolutionary leadership and the city of Paris.

When the royal family finally returned under guard to Paris, the revolutionary crowd met the royal carriage with uncharacteristic silence and the royal family was again confined to 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. However, on July 15, 1791, the National Constituent Assembly agreed that the king could be restored to power if he agreed to the constitution, although some factions opposed the proposal.

Later that day, Jacques Pierre Brissot, editor and main writer of Le Patriote français and president of the Comité des Recherches of Paris, drew up a petition demanding the removal of the king. A crowd of 50,000 people gathered at the Champ de Mars on July 17 to sign the petition, and about 6,000 had already signed. But earlier that day, two suspicious people hidigg at the Champ de Mars were hanged by those who found them. Jean Sylvain Bailly, the mayor of Paris, used this incident to declare martial law. The Marquis de Lafayette and the National Guard, which was under his command, were temporarily able to disperse the crowd but even more people returned later that afternoon. Lafayette again tried to disperse the crowd, who in response threw stones at the National Guard. After firing unsuccessful warning shots, the National Guard opened fire directly on the crowd, an event known as the Champ de Mars Massacre.The exact numbers of dead and wounded are unknown; estimates range from 12 to 50 dead.

From the autumn of 1791 on, the king tied his hopes of political salvation to the dubious prospects of foreign intervention. Prompted by Marie Antoinette, Louis rejected the advice of the moderate constitutionalists, led by Antoine Barnave, to fully implement the Constitution of 1791 he had sworn to maintain. He instead secretly committed himself to covert counter-revolution. At the same time, the king's failed escape attempt alarmed many other European monarchs, who feared that the revolutionary fervor would spread to their countries and result in instability outside France. Relations between France and its neighbors, already strained because of the revolution, deteriorated even further, with some foreign ministries calling for war against the revolutionary government.

The outbreak of the war with Austria in April 1792 and the publication of the Brunswick Manifesto 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 dealings with the deceased revolutionary politician Mirabeau and of his counterrevolutionary intrigues with foreigners was found in a secret iron chest 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 nation. On December 3, it was decided that Louis XVI, who together with his family had been imprisoned since August, should be brought to trial for treason. He appeared twice before the National Convention. Convicted, Louis was sent to the guillotine on January 21, 1793. Nine months later, Marie Antoinette was also convicted of treason and beheaded on October 16.

Attributions

Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette's Attempts to Escape

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The Flight to Varennes, or the royal family's unsuccessful escape from Paris during the night of June 20-21, 1791, undermined the credibility of the king as a constitutional monarch and eventually led to the escalation of the crisis and the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

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I thought that this video was pretty informative and concise because it didn't include unnecessary information. I did think that in some areas it was a little too vague and could've offered a little more information.