1789 – 1791
The French Revolution
In May 1789 King Louis XVI summons the Estates General to Versailles to deal with a financial crisis of the crown. It is the first meeting of the assembly since 1614. The deputies of the Third Estate, the commoners, break away and on 17 June declare themselves the National Assembly. On 14 July a crowd in Paris storms the Bastille, a royal fortress and prison, after four hours of fighting.
The storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789, watercolour by Jean-Pierre Houël, 1789Wikimedia Commons, Jean-Pierre Houël, Public domain (Prise de la Bastille.jpg)
The Assembly abolishes feudalism, takes control of the Catholic Church in France and on 26 August 1789 publishes the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Many nobles leave the country. These émigrés gather in the Austrian Netherlands and the small German states and call on the monarchs of Europe to intervene.
On the night of 20 to 21 June 1791 the royal family tries to escape from Paris to the fortress of Montmédy near the eastern frontier, where royalist troops are waiting. The king is recognised on the way and stopped at Varennes, and the family is brought back to Paris. After the flight, the idea of a republic spreads quickly among the leaders of the Revolution.
The royal family brought back to Paris on 25 June 1791 after the flight to Varennes, coloured engraving of the timeWikimedia Commons, unknown author, Public domain (Retour Varennes 1791.jpg)
On 27 August 1791 Emperor Leopold II, the queen’s brother, and King Frederick William II of Prussia issue the Declaration of Pillnitz in support of Louis XVI. It commits Austria to act only if all the other great powers join, a condition Leopold chooses so that he is not forced into war. In Paris the declaration is read as a threat. Louis accepts the new constitution in September, and on 1 October the Legislative Assembly meets.
The meeting of the monarchs at Pillnitz in August 1791, painting by Johann Heinrich Schmidt, 1791Wikimedia Commons, Johann Heinrich Schmidt, Public domain (Pillnitzer Deklaration.jpg)
Sources
- William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution (1990).
- Simon Schama, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (1989).
- Timothy Tackett, When the King Took Flight (2004).
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