Brunswick's famous declaration of
the 25th of July, announcing that the allies would enter France to
restore the royal authority and would visit the Assembly and the city of
Paris with military execution if any further outrage were offered to the
king, heated the republican spirit to fury. It was resolved to strike
the decisive blow on the 10th of August.
Rising of the 10th of August.
On the night of the 9th a new revolutionary Commune took possession of
the hotel de ville, and early on the morning of the 10th the insurgents
assailed the Tuileries. As the preparations of the Jacobins had been
notorious, some measures of defence had been taken. Beside a few
gentlemen in arms and a number of National Guards the palace was
garrisoned by the Swiss Guard, about 950 strong. The disparity of force
was not so great as to make resistance altogether hopeless. But Louis
let himself be persuaded into betraying his own cause and retiring with
his family under the shelter of the Assembly. The National Guards either
dispersed or fraternized with the assailants. The Swiss Guard stood
firm, and, possibly by accident, a fusillade began. The enemy were
gaining ground when the Swiss received an order from the king to cease
firing and withdraw. They were mostly shot down as they were retiring,
and of those who surrendered many were murdered in cold blood next day.
The king and queen spent long hours in a reporter's box while the
Assembly discussed their fate and the fate of the French monarchy.
Little more than a third of the deputies were present and they were
almost all Jacobins. They decreed that Louis should be suspended from
his office and that a convention should be summoned to give France a new
constitution. An executive council was formed by recalling Roland,
Claviere and Servan to office and joining with them Danton as minister
of justice, Lebrun as minister of foreign affairs, and Monge as minister
of marine.
The revolutionary Commune of Paris.
The September massacres.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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