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Developments, 1789 to 92

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Between 1789 and 1792 France tried to become a constitutional monarchy. The king's escape attempt and war with Europe destroyed that plan.

The Constituent Assembly, 1789 to 91

It reformed France: feudalism abolished, the Declaration of the Rights of Man, new local government, and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790), which put the Church under state control and split Catholics.
The 1791 constitution kept the king but limited his power.

The flight to Varennes, June 1791

Louis and his family tried to escape in disguise but were caught at Varennes.
Many now saw him as a traitor who wanted foreign help to crush the revolution.
Radicals began to call for a republic.

War and the fall of the monarchy

The Legislative Assembly (1791 to 92) contained the Girondins (who pushed for war) and the more radical Jacobins.
In April 1792 France declared war on Austria, and Prussia joined.
The sans-culottes, ordinary working people of Paris, grew powerful.
In August 1792 crowds stormed the Tuileries palace; the king was suspended and a National Convention was elected, which declared France a republic in September 1792.
Worked example

Explain why the flight to Varennes damaged the monarchy.

  1. Louis had promised to accept the new constitution.
  2. Trying to escape suggested he wanted to return with foreign armies.
  3. So trust in him collapsed and calls for a republic grew.

Answer: It made the king look like a traitor, boosting support for a republic.

Key idea

The Constituent Assembly reformed France and created a constitutional monarchy, but the Civil Constitution of the Clergy divided Catholics. The flight to Varennes (1791) destroyed trust in Louis. War with Austria and Prussia (1792) and the sans-culottes led to the August 1792 coup and the National Convention.

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