War and overthrow of the monarchy 1792 ~ 1793 Flashcards
What was the Declaration of Pillnitz?
27 August 1791
- gesture of support for Louis XVI issued by Austria and Prussia
- not a real threat to any action
- in France, Constituent Assembly and newspapers did not gaf
What support was there for war?
1) monarchy:
in a letter to her brother, Marie hoped for France’s defeat in war to lead to Louis XVI recovering his powers
2) army commanders (e.g Lafayette):
increase prestige as general
3) radicals, republican Brissot and his supporters the Brissotins:
- war would force the king to reveal his true sympathies
- rouse enthusiasm for the revolution
- extend revolutionary ideals abroad
- French army would have support of foreign repressed subjects
What opposition was there for war?
1) Robespierre:
- believed European powers only meant to intimidate, not invade
- did not believe foreigners would support French invaders (“No one loves armed missionaries”)
- became unpopular and isolated
Describe the timeline of war for France within this period of time
20 April 1792, France declared war on Austria
July 1792, Prussia declared war on France
11 July 1792, decree ‘la patrie en danger’ issued, calling Frenchmen to fight
20 September 1792, France won Battle of Valmy
19 November 1792, issued Decree of Fraternity
January 1793, passed a decree annexing France’s national frontiers (e.g. Rhine, Alps)
1 February 1793, France declared war on Britain and Netherlands
1 March 1793, France declared war on Spain
Describe the military crisis
1) French army not well prepared:
- over half officers emigrated
- revolutionary propaganda destroyed military discipline
- new recruits poorly trained
- whole units deserted during the first few attacks
2) Rumours blaming treason, Marie Antoinette sent details of French military plans to the Austrians
3) the decree caused federes demanding that passive citizens be eligible for Sectional Assemblies and National Guard
What laws did Louis XVI veto?
Legislative Assembly passed 3 laws:
1) deportation of refractory priests
2) disbandment of the King’s Guard
3) set up a federes camp (soldiers from the provinces)
What is the result of Louis XVI’s vetoes?
- 20 June 1792, leaders of the Paris Sections hold an armed demonstration, National Guards join, storm the Tuileries
- Louis XVI wore the cap of liberty and toasted the revolution
- shows the weakness of the king’s position and the growing power of the Paris Sections
What is significant about the Paris Sections?
it became the power base of the sans-culottes, their leaders come from the Cordeliers
What did the federes and other radicals (including Robespierre) want in 1792?
- abandon the constitution of 1791
- overthrow the monarchy
- establish the National Convention, deputies elected by universal male suffrage (every man over a certain age can vote)
- purge of royalist department authorities
Describe August of 1792 chronologically
1) On 1 August, Brunswick Manifesto published, causing offense and the radicalisation of many constitutional monarchists and royalists
2) On 3 August, Legislative Assembly refuses demands to depose the king and put Lafayette on trial
3) On 9 August, sans-culottes took over the Hotel de Ville and set up a revolutionary commune
4) On 10 August, in the morning, Louis XVI sought refuge in the Legislative Assembly to protect his family.
Later in the day, several thousand National Guards and 2000 federes marched on the Tuileries. National Guards defending the Tuileries joined the crowd. Swiss Guards opened fire, and federes shot grapeshot, killing 600 of the Swiss.
The crowd stormed the Assembly, forcing it to hand over the king, imprisoning him in the Temple.
The revolutionary Commune had power over Paris, but in the rest of France, only the Assembly’s authority was recognised.
What was the position of the Legislative Assembly after the 10 August journee?
- passed laws the Commune demanded, including:
1) refractory priests to be deported
2) abolition of all feudal dues WITHOUT COMPENSATION, ending the feudal system to win over the peasants
3) permitted house to house searches for arms and suspects
4) divorce legalised, registration of life events became the responsibility of the state instead of the Church
- Legislative Assembly dissolved, replaced with the National Convention on 20 September 1792, establishing a Republic.
Describe the National Convention
- in the elections to the Convention in September 1792, all men over the age of 21 could vote
- the results were distorted because anyone in Paris who showed royalist sympathies were disenfranchised (removed of the right to vote)
left: Montagnards (Jacobins)
right: Girondins
centre: Plains
- Jacobins versus Girondins because whoever wins the Plain becomes majority
What factors led to Louis XVI’s execution?
1) armoire de fer found from ransacking Tuileries Palace after the August 10 journee
2) Marat’s proposal that a decision should be reached by appel nominal (each deputy required to publicly declare his standing on Louis XVI’s guilt or innocence) to root out traitors in the Convention
When was Louis XVI executed?
21 January 1793
Describe the September Massacre
- 17 August 1792, Lafayette fled to Austria in hopes of travelling to America
- beginning of September 1792, Prussian capture of the fortress Verdun near Paris
- overcrowded prisons contained nobles and refractory priests who were suspected counter-revolutionaries, but majority were common criminals
- Marat spread rumours that the prisoners were conspiring with Prussia to hand Paris over
- sans-culottes murdered a lot of prisoners
- as a result, most deputies from the provinces shifted support to the Girondins
Describe the Battle of Valmy
20 September 1792, French troops won the Battle of Valmy against Prussia and ended the September massacres
What is the Decree of Fraternity?
- France offering support to those in any foreign land who wish to revolt and gain liberty
- politicians attracted to the prospect of extending revolutionary ideas to other states
- Brissot believed that all the monarchies in Europe had to be overthrown for France to be safe
Describe the situation of French armies occupying foreign land
- Church lands confiscated, tithes and feudal dues abolished, which alienated a lot of the population
- French armies’ expenses paid for by local people
overall, not welcomed abroad
Describe the Vendee Rebellion
- 11 March 1793, huge rising in Vendee, mostly peasants, though led by nobles
- peasants paying more land tax than they did in the ancien regime since 1789
- Vendee was a deeply Catholic area, containing many refractory priests
- sale of Church lands were unpopular because bourgeoisie who purchased them often raised rents
- peasants looked up to nobles as leaders, many nobles are monarchist, so a rising that may just be resentment also became counter-revolutionary
- local officials, constitutional priests and National Guards were massacred in the rising of Vendee
- 30,000 troops were withdrawn to deal with the rising, though it was not seen as a serious threat to the revolutionary government in Paris
What economic problem was created by the war?
more assignats were printed to fund the war, decreasing its value and causing food shortage (again bruh) because no one wanted to sell their goods for worthless money
- caused widespread riots against grain stores
- sans-culottes demanding price control
What ultimately saved Paris from being captured in summer of 1793?
the lack of unity among French enemies, they did not co-ordinate their plans of attack
How did France gain an advantage in the war?
- levée en masse eventually increased their soldiers to 1 million men
- church bells melted down to forge weapons and armour
- women and children made uniforms
- the elderly encouraged the young to fight for their country
