Declaration of Pillnitz

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Declaration of Pillnitz

The Declaration of Pillnitz on August 27, 1791, was a statement issued at the Castle of Pillnitz

Pillnitz

Pillnitz is a city quarter in the east of Dresden, Germany. The best known sight of this quarter is the Japanese-styled chateau. The quarter is situated in the east of Dresden, a rather long way from the inner city....
in Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a States of Germany of Germany. Located in the southeastern part of present-day Germany. It is the tenth-largest German state in area and the sixth largest in population , of Germany's sixteen states....
(south of Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Germany Federal Free state of Saxony. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon triangle metropolitan area....
) by the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II

Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1790 to 1792, King of Hungary, archduke of Austria, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790....
and Frederick William II of Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was, most recently, a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. This state had for centuries substantial influence on Germany and European history....
. Calling on European powers to intervene if Louis XVI of France was threatened, this declaration was intended to serve as a warning to the French revolutionaries not to infringe further on the rights of Louis XVI and to allow his restoration to power.

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The Declaration of Pillnitz on August 27, 1791, was a statement issued at the Castle of Pillnitz

Pillnitz

Saxony

Dresden

Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor

Prussia

French Revolutionary Wars

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states....
. (The Pillnitz Conference itself dealt mainly with the Polish Question

Partitions of Poland

The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth....
and the war of Austria against the Ottoman Empire.)

The declaration stated that Austria would go to war if and only if all the other major European powers would also go to war with France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. Leopold chose this wording so that he would not be forced to go to war; he knew William Pitt

William Pitt

William Pitt is most likely to refer to:* William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham , Prime Minister of Great Britain 1766?1768; often known as William Pitt the Elder...
, prime minister of Great Britain, did not support war with France. Leopold merely issued the declaration to satisfy the French emigres taking refuge in his nation who called for foreign interference in their homeland.

The National Assembly

National Constituent Assembly

The National Constituent Assembly was formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789, during the first stages of the French Revolution. It dissolved on 30 September 1791 and was succeeded by the French Legislative Assembly....
of France misunderstood this document, interpreting it to mean that Leopold was going to declare war; radical Frenchmen who called for war, such as Jacques Pierre Brissot

Jacques Pierre Brissot

Jacques Pierre Brissot , who assumed the name of de Warville, was a leading member of the Girondist movement during the French Revolution....
, gained influence thereafter.