ON THIS DAY ·
Flight to Varennes
21 Jun 1791 — The royal family fled toward the frontier, but the king was recognized from his face on the new money. Trust in a “citizen king” died overnight.
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The moment in context
The French Revolution began with a government asking how to pay its bills. France had considerable wealth, but noble and Church privileges restricted the taxes the crown could collect, and interest on war debts consumed much of its budget. The harvest failure of 1788 made bread more expensive just as ministers needed new revenue. Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General, which had not met since 1614. Elections and written grievance lists gave millions a way to bring their complaints into a national debate. The search for money had opened a larger question: who spoke for France?
From French Revolution, chapter 3 of The Age of Revolutions, 1775–1848 (JUL 1789).
The place: Flight to Varennes — map and full story →
Teach this in 5 minutes
- Why it happened — The cost of war and credit. France’s long struggle with Britain, followed by its support for American independence, left the crown with heavy debts. Chapter 1 traced a similar…
- The turn — The Bastille, 14 July 1789. The Bastille contained seven prisoners when the crowd attacked it, and about a hundred people died. Its military importance was small, but the…
- What it changed — Sovereignty in the nation. Article 3 put authority in a new place: “The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation”. That claim invited a question beyond…
Then ask the room: Could Louis XVI have saved the monarchy — and when might compromise still have worked? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
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