20 avr. 1792 - Legislative Assembly Declares War on Austria

Description:

The National Constituent Assembly closes in September 1791. It gives way to the Legislative assembly plagued by political division, although all branches advocated for republicanism.

The Jacobin's, a radical republican party, was gaining power. They drew from enlightenment language and the works of Rousseau. Most favored a republic of civic virtue. They would use any means to uphold equality among men, popular sovereignty, and reasonable taxation.

Girondists, moderate Jacobins, took power in the assembly. They condemned the emigrees, the aristocrats who had been fleeing France, and threatened them with the loss of their property. Their methods for reform were met with resistance by the King.

Girondists finally declare war on Austria, who were related to and supported the monarchy. They believed that this would protect the revolution from domestic enemies and divert the public's support onto defeating foreign oppressors.

The King also supported the war because he thought that it would increase the hold of the old regime and that the french would lose.

The war really just fully radicalized French politics, lead to the second revolution, and served to overthrow the constitutional monarchy for a fully fledged republic.

For instance, when Prussia threatened to annihilate Paris if the royal family was harmed, the monarchy lost more public trust.

By removing monarchical power and putting into the hands of the furious masses and functionalists, volatility was inevitable.

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