Fall of the Monarchy

In August the National Assembly wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man, a statement claiming for the people certain basic liberties that the government could not deny. It was the first step in a two-year process of writing a constitution. In the Assembly various political factions formed; these included the Jacobins, who wanted to greatly increase the power of the third estate, and moderates, led by the Comte de Mirabeau, who favored a limited, constitutional monarchy.

Rumors that the king was plotting against the people caused a Paris mob to march against Versailles on October 5, 1789. The royal family was forced to move into Paris. The court and the Assembly established themselves in the Tuileries palace. Influenced by the many political clubs that had become common in the city, the Assembly became more radical. The king was deprived of all power, and church property was confiscated.

Marie Antoinette, whose brother was Holy Roman Emperor and the ruler of Austria, urged Louis to leave France and seek foreign assistance. Mirabeau, however, counseled the king to remain and support the revolution. In April, 1791, Mirabeau died. In June the king and queen tried to leave the country. They were halted and brought back to Paris. Louis accepted the new constitution limiting his authority. The National Assembly was dissolved, and was replaced by a new body, the Legislative Assembly, which convened in October.

Other European rulers considered the French Revolution a menace to the established order throughout Europe and were urged by exiled French nobles to take action. Early in 1792 the Austrian army was moved to the French border, leading France to declare war on Austria in April. Although Louis XVI had accepted the revolutionaries' actions, foreign rulers considered him a helpless pawn and a victim of the revolution. Prussia allied with Austria against the revolutionary government, and the Prussian commander threatened to destroy Paris if the king were harmed.

The Paris mob, led by Georges Danton, an extremist who wanted the monarchy abolished, reacted angrily to the Prussian threat. Suspecting a secret agreement between the king and the foreign rulers, the mob stormed the Tuileries and took the royal family prisoner. The Assembly called for a national convention to create a new government. Throughout France royalists were imprisoned. Encouraged by the Paris Commune and Jean Paul Marat, a radical journalist, mobs stormed the jails and massacred thousands of royalist prisoners.

In September, 1792, the National Convention met. The monarchy was abolished and the First Republic of France was established. The king was brought to trial on charges of treason and convicted; he was guillotined in January, 1793.