Editing Flight to Varennes

{{Short description|Attempted escape by the French royal family during the French Revolution}}
[[File:Map to illustrate the Flight to Varennes, H. G. Wells' Outline of History, page 461.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|The route from the [[Tuileries Palace]] to [[Varennes-en-Argonne]] (approximate distance 250 km)]]
The '''Flight to Varennes''' (French: fuite de Varennes) during the night of 20&ndash;21 June 1791 was a significant event in the [[French Revolution]] in which the French royal family—comprising [[Louis XVI]], [[Marie Antoinette]], the Dauphin [[Louis XVII|Louis Charles]], [[Marie Thérèse of France|Marie-Thérèse, Madame Royale]], and [[Élisabeth of France|Madame Élisabeth]]—unsuccessfully attempted to leave [[Paris]] for [[Montmédy]], along with loyal members of their retinue. The King hoped to regain his freedom there, with the protection of royalist troops, as the Revolution was intensifying and the threat to the royal family's safety grew. They reached the small town of [[Varennes-en-Argonne]], where they were stopped and arrested after being recognised at their earlier stop in [[Sainte-Menehould]].

This incident was a turning point after which Parisian hostility towards the monarchy, as well as towards the King and Queen as individuals, became much more pronounced. The King's attempted flight provoked charges of treason that ultimately led to his [[Execution of Louis XVI|execution]] in 1793. The flight failed due to a series of misadventures, delays, misinterpretations, and poor judgments.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Thompson, J. M. (James Matthew) | title=The French Revolution | publication-date=1943 | publisher=Oxford | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/7400914 | access-date=5 April 2017 }}</ref> The King's decisions on a number of matters, including the means and timing of the journey, allowed seemingly small matters to escalate.

The King's flight was traumatic for Paris, inciting reactions ranging from anxiety to violence and panic. Everyone was aware that foreign intervention was imminent. The realisation that the King had effectually repudiated the Revolutionary reforms made up to that point came as a shock to people who had seen him as genuinely supporting the Revolution. [[Republicanism]] quickly evolved from being merely a subject of coffee-house debate to the dominant ideal of Revolutionary leaders.<ref>Timothy Tackett, ''When the King Took Flight'' (2003) p. 222</ref>
[[File:Arrest of Louis XVI and his Family, Varennes, 1791.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Louis XVI and his family, dressed as [[bourgeois]], arrested in Varennes. Painting by [[Thomas Falcon Marshall]] (1854)]]

The King's brother, the comte de Provence, also fled on the same night, by a different route.  He successfully escaped, and spent the French Revolution in exile, later returning as King [[Louis XVIII]].

==Background==
After the [[Women's March on Versailles|march on Versailles in October of 1789]], the royal family was forcibly transferred from the [[Palace of Versailles]] to the [[Tuileries Palace]], where they were placed under virtual house arrest. Until then, Louis XVI had accepted many actions which disrespected his authority, but when the royal family was prevented from leaving the Tuileries to spend Easter at the château de Saint-Cloud in 1791, his lack of freedom became obvious.

==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>

== The flight attempt ==
Louis XVI committed himself and his family to a disastrous escape attempt from the capital to the eastern frontier on 21 June 1791. With the [[Louis XVII|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 the roles of governess and nurse respectively, the King a valet, and the royal children her daughters, the royal family made their escape leaving the Tuileries Palace at about midnight.<ref>Richard Cavendish, page 8, "History Today", June 2016</ref> The escape was largely planned by the Queen's friend, the Swedish [[Axel von Fersen the Younger]], and the [[Louis Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil|baron de Breteuil]], who had garnered support from [[Gustav III|Gustav III, King of Sweden]]. Fersen had urged the use of two light carriages that could have made the 200-mile journey to Montmédy relatively quickly. However, this would have involved the splitting up of the royal family, which Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette rejected, as they had promised to never separate. They decided on the use of a single heavy coach drawn by six horses.<ref name="auto">Richard Cavendish, p. 8, "History Today", June 2016</ref> 
[[File:Arrestation de Louis Capet à Varennes, 22 juin 1791, Musée de la Révolution française - Vizille.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The arrest of Louis XVI and his family. Stamp by [[Jean-Louis Prieur]] ([[Musée de la Révolution française]])]]

== Discovery and arrest ==
[[File:Jean Baptiste Drouet.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Jean-Baptiste Drouet (French revolutionary)|Jean-Baptiste Drouet]], who reported the royal family]]
[[Image:France-500Livres-1790-uni.jpg|thumb|150px|Drouet recognized the King, perhaps due to his profile on an [[assignat]]]]
Due to the cumulative effect of slow progression, time miscalculations, lack of secrecy, and the need to repair broken coach traces,<ref>{{cite book|first=Monro|last=Price|pages=173–175|title=The Fall of the French Monarchy|year=2003|isbn=0-330-48827-9}}</ref> the royal family was thwarted in its escape attempt after leaving Paris. Louis XVI himself chatted with peasants while horses were being changed at [[Fromentières, Marne|Fromentières]] and Marie Antoinette gave silver dishes to a local official at Chaintrix. At [[Châlons-en-Champagne|Châlons]], townspeople reportedly greeted and applauded the royal party. Finally, [[Jean-Baptiste Drouet (French revolutionary)|Jean-Baptiste Drouet]], the postmaster of [[Sainte-Menehould]], recognized the King, perhaps from his portrait printed on an [[assignat]] in his possession.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k40773x/f3.image |title=Récit fait par M. Drouet, maître de poste à Ste Menehould, de la manière dont il a reconnu le Roi, et a été cause de son arrestation à Varennes: honneurs rendus à ce citoyen et à deux de ses camarades |last1=Drouet |first1=Jean-Baptiste |year=1791 |website=Gallica |publisher=Bibliothèque nationale de France |access-date=2014-03-28 |series=Les archives de la Révolution française}}</ref> Seven detachments of cavalry posted along the intended route had been withdrawn or neutralised by suspicious crowds before the royal party had reached them. The King and his family were eventually stopped and arrested in the town of [[Varennes-en-Argonne]], 50 km (31 miles) from their ultimate destination, the fortified royalist citadel of [[Montmédy]].<ref name="auto"/>

Whether Bouillé's army would have been numerous or reliable enough to change the direction of the Revolution and preserve the monarchy can never be known.<ref>{{cite book|first=Monro|last=Price|page=187|title=The Fall of the French Monarchy|year=2003|isbn=0-330-48827-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Christopher J.|last=Tozzi|page=63|title=Nationalizing France's Army|year=2016|publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=9780813938332}}</ref>

== Confinement to the Tuileries Palace ==
[[Image:Duplessi-Bertaux - Arrivee de Louis Seize a Paris.png|thumb|left|Return of the royal family to Paris on 25 June 1791: colored copperplate after a drawing of Jean-Louis Prieur]]
When the royal family finally returned under guard to Paris, the Revolutionary crowd met the royal carriage with uncharacteristic silence, men keeping their hats on as a sign of disrespect. The royal family, already confined to the [[Tuileries Palace]], was only guarded more. From this point forward, the [[Proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy|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 by propaganda following the escape attempt.

After they returned, the National Assembly agreed that the King could remain in power if he agreed to the [[French Constitution of 1791|Constitution]]. However, various factions in Paris like the [[Cordeliers]] and the [[Jacobins]] disagreed, and this led to a protest at the [[Champ de Mars]]; the protest turned violent, resulting in the so-called [[Champ de Mars Massacre]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Lafayette|last = Woodward|first = W.E.}}</ref>

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 [[Girondin]] faction in the [[Legislative Assembly (France)|Legislative Assembly]] in their policy of war with [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]], in the expectation that a French military disaster would pave the way for the restoration of the royal authority. Prompted by Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI rejected the advice of the moderate constitutionalists, led by [[Antoine Barnave]], to fully implement the Constitution of 1791, which he had sworn to maintain. He instead secretly committed himself to a policy of covert counterrevolution.

==Abolition of the monarchy==
The King's failed escape attempt alarmed many other European monarchs, who feared that Revolutionary fervor would spread to their own countries and result in instability outside France. Relations between France and its neighbours, already strained because of the Revolution, deteriorated even further with some foreign ministries calling for war against the revolutionary government.<ref>{{cite book|first=Simon|last=Schama|pages=590–591|title=Citizens. A Chronicle of the French Revolution|year=1989|publisher=Viking |isbn=0-670-81012-6}}</ref>

The outbreak of the [[War of the First Coalition|war with Austria]] in April 1792 and the publication of a [[Brunswick Manifesto|manifesto]] by the [[Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick|Duke of Brunswick]] threatened the destruction of Paris if the safety of the royal family was again endangered. Upon hearing this, Parisian radicals stormed the Tuileries Palace on [[10 August (French Revolution)|10 August 1792]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The French Revolution 1789–1799|last=McPhee|first=Peter|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2002|isbn=0-199-24414-6|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/frenchrevolution00mcph_0/page/96 96]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/frenchrevolution00mcph_0/page/96}}</ref>

This attack led in turn to the suspension of the King's powers by the [[Legislative Assembly (France)|Legislative Assembly]] and the proclamation of the [[First French Republic]] on 21 September. In November, evidence of Louis XVI's 'secret dealings' with the deceased Revolutionary politician, [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau|Mirabeau]], and of his counterrevolutionary intrigues with foreigners was found in a secret iron chest, the ''[[armoire de fer]]'', in the Tuileries.<ref>{{cite book|first=Simon|last=Schama|pages=652|title=Citizens. A Chronicle of the French Revolution|year=1989|publisher=Viking |isbn=0-670-81012-6}}</ref> It was now no longer possible to pretend that the reforms of the French Revolution had been made with the consent of the King. Some [[Republicanism|Republicans]] called for his deposition, others for his trial for alleged treason and intended defection to the enemies of Revolutionary France. On 3 December, it was decided that Louis XVI, who together with his family had been [[Temple (Paris)|imprisoned]] since August, should be brought to [[Trial of Louis XVI|trial]] for treason. He appeared twice, on 11 and 23 December, before the [[National Convention]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Simon|last=Schama|pages=658–660|title=Citizens. A Chronicle of the French Revolution|year=1989|publisher=Viking |isbn=0-670-81012-6}}</ref>

Convicted after an illegal trial, Louis XVI was [[Execution of Louis XVI|guillotined]] on 21 January 1793. Nine months later, Marie Antoinette was also convicted of treason with no evidence, and also guillotined, on 16 October. The late King's son, Louis XVII, died in 1795 at the age of ten after years of neglect.

==References==
<references/>

==Further reading==
* Dunn, Susan. ''The Deaths of Louis XVI: Regicide and the French Political Imagination'' (1994).
* {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=France/History |display=France: ''History'' |volume=10 |pages=854–855 |first=Jean Paul Hippolyte Emmanuel Adhémar |last=Esmein |author-link=Adhémar Esmein}}
* [[Stanley Loomis|Loomis, Stanley]], ''The Fatal Friendship: Marie Antoinette, Count Fersen and the Flight to Varennes'', Avon Books, 1972. {{ISBN|0-931933-33-1}}
* [[Timothy Tackett]], ''When the King Took Flight'', Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003.
* Thompson, J. M. '' The French Revolution'' (1943) 206–27, detailed narrative with explanation of what went wrong 
* ''The article also draws material from the out-of-copyright'' [//www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9602 History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814], by François Mignet (1824), as made available by [[Project Gutenberg]].''

== External links ==
{{wikisourcelang|fr|Déclaration de Louis XVI à tous les Français, à sa sortie de Paris}}
{{Commons category|Flight to Varennes}}
* [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/France/_Texts/CROROY/Fuite_de_Varennes*.html The Flight to Varennes • Memoir by the Duchesse d'Angoulême]

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[[Category:1791 events of the French Revolution]]
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[[Category:Diplomatic crises of the 18th century]]