Kingdom of France (1791–92) explained

Conventional Long Name:Kingdom of France
Common Name:France
Government Type:Parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Event Start:Constitution adopted
Year Start:1791
Date Start:3 September
Event End:Republic proclaimed
Year End:1792
Date End:21 September
Life Span:1791–1792
Event Pre:Flight to Varennes
Date Pre:20–21 June 1791
Event1:Storming of the Tuileries
Date Event1:10 August 1792
P1:Kingdom of France
Flag P1:Royal Standard of the King of France.svg
S1:French First Republic
Flag S1:Flag of France (1790-1794).svg
Flag:Flag of France
Symbol:Coat of arms of France
Image Map Caption:Kingdom of France, September 1791 – September 1792
Capital:Paris
National Motto:La Nation, la Loi, le Roi
"The Nation, the Law, the King"
National Anthem:Marche Henri IV (1590–1830)

Common Languages:French
Religion:Roman Catholicism
(state religion)
Currency:Assignat
Leader1:Louis XVI
Year Leader1:1791–1792
Title Leader:King of the French
Legislature:Legislative Assembly
Demonym:French
Cabinet Name:Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI
Cabinet Type:Cabinet
Jurisdiction:Kingdom of France
Flag:Flag of France (1790-1794).svg
Flag Border:true
Government Head:King Louis XVI
State Head:King Louis XVI
Members Number:5
Former Members Number:19
Total Number:24
Political Party:Independents, Feuillants, Moderate Jacobins (1792)
Legislature Status:Legislative Assembly
Opposition Party:Jacobins
Opposition Leader:Georges Couthon, Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud and others
Election:1791
Legislature Term:6 September 1791 – 2 September 1792
Successor:Government of the National Convention

The Kingdom of France (the remnant of the preceding absolutist Kingdom of France) was a constitutional monarchy from 3 September 1791 until 21 September 1792, when it was succeeded by the French First Republic.

On 3 September 1791, the National Constituent Assembly forced King Louis XVI to accept the French Constitution of 1791, thus turning the absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy.

After the 10 August 1792 Storming of the Tuileries Palace, the Legislative Assembly on 11 August 1792 suspended this constitutional monarchy.[1] The freshly elected National Convention abolished the monarchy on 21 September 1792, ending 203 years of consecutive Bourbon rule over France.

Background

Since 1789, France had been undergoing a revolution in its government and social orders. A National Assembly declared itself into being and promulgated their intention to provide France with a fair and liberal constitution.[2] Louis XVI moved to Paris in October of that year, but grew to detest Paris, and organised an escape plot in 1791. The plot, known as the Flight to Varennes, ultimately failed to materialise and severely damaged any positive public opinion for the monarchy.[3] Louis XVIi's brothers-in-exile in Koblenz rallied for an invasion of France. Austria and Prussia responded to the royal brothers' appeals and released the Declaration of Pillnitz in August. The declaration stated that Prussia and Austria wished to restore Louis XVI to absolute power but would only attempt to do so with the assistance of the other European powers.[4]

Constitution

Louis XVI was forced to submit to the Constitution of 1791 by the National Assembly in the aftermath of his Flight to Varennes.[5] The Constitution of 1791, which established the Kingdom of the French, was revolutionary in its content. It abolished the nobility of France and declared all men to be equal before the law. Louis XVI had the ability to veto legislation that he did not approve of, as legislation still needed Royal Assent to come into force.[6]

Republic

Louis XVI reluctantly declared war on Austria on 20 April 1792, bowing to the Assembly's wishes. Prussia allied with Austria and therefore France was at war with Prussia as well.[7] The Duke of Brunswick, Commander of the Austrian and Prussian military, issued the Brunswick Manifesto in 1792; it brought about the Storming of the Tuileries on the 10th of August. The manifesto explicitly threatened the people of Paris with dire repercussions if they in any way harmed Louis XVI or his family.[8] The Legislative Assembly was inundated with requests for the monarchy's demise. The President of the National Assembly responded by suspending the monarchy on 11 August, pending the outcome of elections for another assembly.[1] The newly elected National Convention, elected under universal male suffrage, abolished the monarchy on 21 September 1792 and proclaimed a republic.[9] Louis was executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793.

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See also

References

"The French Revolution", Penguin Books, Great Britain, 1982,

Notes and References

  1. Fraser, 454
  2. Hibbert, 63
  3. Hibbert, 130
  4. Hibbert, 143
  5. Jones, 426
  6. http://sourcebook.fsc.edu/history/constitutionof1791.html The Constitution of 1791
  7. Hibbert, 145
  8. Jones, 459
  9. Jones, 462