Editing Flight to Varennes (section)

==Objectives of flight==
[[File:Déclaration autographe de Louis XVI adressée aux Français à sa sortie de Paris le 20 juin 1791. 1 sur 27 - Archives Nationales - AE-II-1218.jpg|thumb|Declaration to the French People (June 1791)]]
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.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Voices of the French Revolution|publisher=Harpercollins|year=1988|isbn=0881623385|editor-last=Cobb|editor-first=Richard|pages=114|editor-last2=Jones|editor-first2=Colin}}</ref> At Montmédy, General [[François Claude de Bouillé|François Claude Amour, marquis de Bouillé]], had concentrated a force of 10.000 regulars of the old [[French Royal Army|Royal Army]] who were considered to still be loyal to the monarchy.<ref>{{cite book|first=Monro|last=Price|page=170|title=The Fall of the French Monarchy|year=2003|isbn=0-330-48827-9}}</ref> Bouillé himself had shown energy in suppressing a serious mutiny in [[Nancy affair|Nancy]] in 1790. The troops under his command included two [[Swiss mercenaries|Swiss]] and four German mercenary regiments who were perceived as being more reliable in a time of general political unrest.<ref>{{cite book|first=Christopher J.|last=Tozzi|pages=62–63|title=Nationalizing France's Army|year=2016|publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=9780813938332}}</ref> In a letter drafted for presentation to the [[Tagsatzung]] at Zurich, the royalist [[Louis Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil|baron de Breteuil]] stated that '"His Majesty desires to have such imposing forces at his disposition, that even the most audacious rebels will have no other option than to submit'. The court expectation was that 'numerous faithful subjects of all classes' would then rally to demand the restoration of the rights of the throne and that order would be restored without the need for civil war or foreign invasion.<ref>{{cite book|first=Monro|last=Price|pages=176–77|title=The Fall of the French Monarchy|year=2003|isbn=0-330-48827-9}}</ref>

The long-term political objectives of the royal couple and their closest advisors remain unclear. A detailed document entitled Declaration to the French People,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bahrnoproducts.com/PDF/Declaration%20to%20the%20French%20People%20by%20Louis%20XVI.pdf |title=Declaration to the French People}}</ref> prepared by Louis XVI for presentation to the [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Constituent Assembly]] and left behind in the Tuileries indicates that his personal goal was a return to the legal revolution of the summer of 1789; he no longer rejected the [[Abolition of feudalism in France|abolition of orders]], as in his Declaration of June 23, 1789, and he accepted civil equality.<ref>{{cite news |last1=De Saint Victor |first1=Jacques |title=Le testament politique de Louis XVI retrouvé |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2009/05/20/01016-20090520ARTFIG00025-le-testament-politique-de-louis-xvi-retrouve-.php |access-date=26 November 2023 |agency=Le Figaro |date=20 May 2009}}</ref> Private correspondence from Marie Antoinette takes a more reactionary line looking to a restoration of the old monarchy without concessions; though referring to pardons for all but the Revolutionary leadership and the city of Paris 'if it does not return to its old order'.<ref>{{cite book|first=Monro|last=Price|pages=193–94|title=The Fall of the French Monarchy|year=2003|isbn=0-330-48827-9}}</ref>