The
Flight to Varennes ( 20/21 June 1791 ) was a significant episode in the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
during which King
Louis XVI of FranceLouis XVI of France ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. Suspended and arrested during the Insurrection of 10 August 1792, he was tried by the National Convention, found guilty of treason, and executed by guillotine on 21...
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
JacobinsThe Jacobin Club was the largest and most powerful political club of the French Revolution. It originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles as a group of Breton deputies to the Estates General of 1789. At the height of its influence, there were thousands of chapters throughout France,...
in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Their destination was the fortress town of
MontmédyMontmédy is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.-Citadel of Montmédy:In 1221 the first castle of Montmédy was built on top of a hill by the Count of Chiny. Montmédy became soon the capital of his territory - later it belonged to Luxembourg, Burgundy, Austria and...
in northeastern France, a
RoyalistMonarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the Monarch.In this system, the Monarch may be the...
stronghold from which the King hoped to initiate a counter-revolution.
The
Flight to Varennes ( 20/21 June 1791 ) was a significant episode in the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
during which King
Louis XVI of FranceLouis XVI of France ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. Suspended and arrested during the Insurrection of 10 August 1792, he was tried by the National Convention, found guilty of treason, and executed by guillotine on 21...
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
JacobinsThe Jacobin Club was the largest and most powerful political club of the French Revolution. It originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles as a group of Breton deputies to the Estates General of 1789. At the height of its influence, there were thousands of chapters throughout France,...
in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Their destination was the fortress town of
MontmédyMontmédy is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.-Citadel of Montmédy:In 1221 the first castle of Montmédy was built on top of a hill by the Count of Chiny. Montmédy became soon the capital of his territory - later it belonged to Luxembourg, Burgundy, Austria and...
in northeastern France, a
RoyalistMonarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the Monarch.In this system, the Monarch may be the...
stronghold from which the King hoped to initiate a counter-revolution. This represented a turning point after which popular hostility towards the
monarchyThe person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch. It was a common form of government in the world during the ancient and medieval times. A Monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged with an individual, who is the head of state, often for life or...
as an institution, as well as towards
Louis XVILouis XVI of France ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. Suspended and arrested during the Insurrection of 10 August 1792, he was tried by the National Convention, found guilty of treason, and executed by guillotine on 21...
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 VersaillesThe Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, the Île-de-France region of France. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles....
to the
TuileriesThe Palais des Tuileries was a royal palace in Paris. It stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed in the upheaval during the suppression of the Paris Commune...
in Paris on October 6, 1789 after
Versailles had been attacked by an angry mobThe March on Versailles, also known as The Bread March of Women, and The Women's March on Versailles, was an event in the French Revolution. Although the National Assembly had taken the Tennis Court Oath and the Bastille had fallen at the hands of the crowd, the poor women of Paris still found that...
. 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 BreteuilLouis Charles Auguste le Tonnelier, baron de Breteuil, baron de Preuilly was a French aristocrat, diplomat, statesman and politician...
. 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 when the king was recognized in the town of
Sainte-MenehouldSainte-Menehould is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France.It was important in the Champagne Riots.The town and its several restaurants pride themselves on serving a local specialty called pied de cochon or pig's trotters....
, by a postmaster named
Jean-Baptiste DrouetJean-Baptiste Drouet , was a French politician of the 1789 Revolution, chiefly noted for the part he played in the arrest of King Louis XVI during the Flight to Varennes.-Early life, Varennes, and in the Convention:...
. The king and his family were eventually arrested in the revolutionary town of
VarennesVarennes-en-Argonne or simply Varennes is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.Population : 691.-Geography:Varennes-en-Argonne lies on the river Aire to the northeast of Sainte-Menehould, near Verdun.-History:...
, not far from their ultimate destination, the heavily fortified royalist citadel of
MontmédyMontmédy is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.-Citadel of Montmédy:In 1221 the first castle of Montmédy was built on top of a hill by the Count of Chiny. Montmédy became soon the capital of his territory - later it belonged to Luxembourg, Burgundy, Austria and...
. 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 arrestIn justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
back at the
Tuileries PalaceThe Palais des Tuileries was a royal palace in Paris. It stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed in the upheaval during the suppression of the Paris Commune...
. From this point forward, the
abolitionDuring the French Revolution, the proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy was a proclamation by the National Convention of France announcing that it had abolished the French monarchy on 21 September 1792.-Prelude:...
of the
monarchyThe person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch. It was a common form of government in the world during the ancient and medieval times. A Monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged with an individual, who is the head of state, often for life or...
and the establishment of a
republicA republic is a form of government in which the head of state is not a monarch and the people have an impact on its government. The word 'republic' is derived from the Latin phrase res publica which can be translated as "a public affair".Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their...
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
GirondinThe Girondists were a political faction in France within the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention during the French Revolution...
faction in the
Legislative AssemblyDuring the French Revolution, the Legislative Assembly was the legislature of France from October 1 1791 to September 1792. It provided the focus of political debate and revolutionary law-making between the periods of the National Constituent Assembly and of the National Convention.-Background:The...
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 AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I....
, Louis rejected the advice of the moderate constitutionalists, led by
Antoine BarnaveAntoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave , was a French politician, and, together with Honoré Mirabeau, one of the most influential orators of the early part of the French Revolution.-In Dauphiné:...
, to fully implement the
Constitution of 1791The short-lived French Constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution of France. One of the basic precepts of the revolution was adopting constitutionality and establishing popular sovereignty, following the steps of the United States of America....
, which he had 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 BrunswickCharles II William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuettel was a sovereign prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and a professional soldier who served as a Generalfeldmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia...
, threatening the destruction of Paris if the safety of the royal family was again endangered, led to
the storming of the TuileriesOn 10 August 1792, during the French Revolution, a mob—with the backing of a new municipal government of Paris that came to be known as the "insurrectionary" Paris Commune—besieged the Tuileries palace. King Louis XVI and the royal family took shelter with the Legislative Assembly. This proved to...
by Parisian radicals on August 10, 1792. This attack led in turn to the suspension of the king's powers by the
Legislative AssemblyDuring the French Revolution, the Legislative Assembly was the legislature of France from October 1 1791 to September 1792. It provided the focus of political debate and revolutionary law-making between the periods of the National Constituent Assembly and of the National Convention.-Background:The...
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,
MirabeauHonoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau was a French writer, popular orator and statesman. During the French Revolution, he was a moderate, favoring a constitutional monarchy built on the model of the United Kingdom...
, 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 RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
had been made with the free consent of the king. Some
RepublicansRepublicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of Republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context. The sometimes contrary definitions are all covered in...
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 ConventionDirectory|Directory]], commencing 2 November 1795. Prominent members of the original Convention included Maximilien Robespierre of the Jacobin Club, Jean-Paul Marat , and Georges Danton of the Cordeliers...
(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.
Primary sources