The Flight to Varennes

Louis XVI's attempted escape (June 20-21, 1791) marked the monarchy's fatal rupture with revolution. The elaborate plan—fleeing to Montmédy near the Austrian border to lead counter-revolutionary forces—revealed the king's true sentiments. His capture at Varennes by local patriots demonstrated royal isolation. The humiliating return to Paris through hostile crowds showed monarchy's captivity rather than partnership with revolution.

The flight's consequences destroyed constitutional monarchy's legitimacy. How could French trust a king who fled his kingdom? His declaration left behind denouncing revolutionary acts he had sanctioned revealed consistent duplicity. Republican movements, previously marginal, gained support. The Champ de Mars massacre (July 17), when National Guard fired on republicans petitioning for the king's deposition, showed revolution dividing between constitutional monarchists and emerging republicans.

The Assembly's fiction that the king had been "kidnapped" fooled no one but maintained constitutional forms. The revised constitution, presented to Louis after Varennes, strengthened legislative power while maintaining monarchy. The king's acceptance (September 1791) convinced few of his sincerity. Marie Antoinette's secret correspondence with Austria planning invasion confirmed royal treachery. Constitutional monarchy continued formally while real legitimacy evaporated.