The Coming of War

The outbreak of war between France and Austria in April 1792 placed Marie Antoinette in an impossible position. As Queen of France, she was expected to support her adopted country. As an Austrian archduchess and sister of the enemy emperor, she was automatically suspect. Her response—secretly passing French military plans to the Austrians—was treason by any definition.

Her justification, revealed in coded letters, was that Austrian victory would restore legitimate monarchy and save her family. She saw herself not as betraying France but as saving it from revolutionary madness. This reasoning, however sincere, ignored the reality that foreign invasion would likely increase rather than decrease revolutionary violence.

The war went badly for France initially, seeming to validate Marie Antoinette's hopes. But military defeats inflamed rather than dampened revolutionary fervor. Accusations against "the Austrian Committee" supposedly led by the queen proliferated. Every French reverse was blamed on royal treachery. The moderate phase of the revolution was ending, replaced by increasing radicalization.

Within the Tuileries, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Servants reported nighttime meetings where the queen burned papers. Guards noted visitors who seemed more like conspirators than courtiers. The royal family lived in constant fear of poison or assassination. Marie Antoinette aged visibly, her hair turning white at thirty-six.

The festival of June 20, 1792, brought revolution inside the palace walls. A mob invaded the Tuileries, forcing Louis XVI to drink their health and wear a revolutionary cap. Marie Antoinette, separated from the king, faced the crowd with her children. When threatened with pikes, she reportedly said, "I know you have come to kill me. I shall die as becomes the daughter of Maria Theresa." Her courage impressed even enemies, but it couldn't stop the monarchy's dissolution.