THE HISTORY OF WAR

Two causes, more than any other, exacerbated the already unstable state of the monarchy in 1790. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which sought to turn the Church into a department of state, was the primary source of one severe dispute; the other was the impact of the emigres, or the increasing number of people who left France and encouraged other countries to use force to put an end to the revolution. The shift from revolution to war was brought about by the religious division and the problems with international relations. In the end, this elevated the French Revolution to a significant moment in both French and European history.

Oddly enough, there wasn't much opposition to the initial detrimental adjustments made to the Church's position. The Gallican Church willingly renounced its corporate existence, its ability to levy taxes, and its autonomy on August 4, 1789. In February 1790, some monastic orders were disbanded with the approval of the Assembly's senior clergy. Plans to transfer church property and do away with tithes were both approved with little opposition. The more advantageous modifications of 1790 were the ones that sparked strong opposition. Instead of attempting to keep the Church and the state apart, they sought to fill all ecclesiastical offices through public election and subjugate the Church's structure to the wishes of the state. The French Church was to become an independent entity from the Papacy, and its clergy was to be appointed as state employees. The King approved these modifications, which were then enacted on August 24. They caused such dissent within the Church that the Assembly mandated that all clergy holding office take an oath promising to support the new Church constitution. The Pope denounced the Civil Constitution and other Revolutionary political reforms in March and April 1791, and half of the lower clergy and all but seven of the bishops declined to sign this pledge. From that point on, the Church split into opposing and incompatible groups. French relations with the Holy See were severed in May.

Furthermore, powerful and significant counter-revolutionary forces were already positioned against the Revolution by the end of 1790 in Brussels, Coblenz, and Turin. An army of emigrants was established in the Rhineland in 1791. The Committed "Artois" set up shop in Coblenz, and emigrant agents traveled over France convincing additional family members to follow their relatives into exile and get ready for France's freedom.

The whole episode surrounding the King's escape to Varennes in June 1791 demonstrated the movement's effect on the monarchy's standing. Louis had given up on his initial plans to weather the storm at home, his moral qualms over having approved the Civil Constitution of the Clergy had become stronger, and the Queen insisted that at this point, only outside help could bring him back to power. Up until the King publicly embraced the counter-revolution and parted with the Revolution, outside involvement could scarcely be expected. By the spring of 1791, at last, he was convinced he had to leave the nation. Louis and Marie Antoinette fled from Paris late on June 20th, 2022, using the form of a governess and valet, and made their way to the fortress of Montmedy, which is close to the Luxembourg border. The trip was a whole book of errors in judgment and mishaps. At Varennes, the runaways were apprehended and apprehended again; they were returned to Paris amidst eerily silent crowds. Now that the royal family was practically imprisoned, it was possible to view them as little more than possible national traitors who were ready to join foreign armies and exiles in opposition to the Revolution. Officers in the royal army then began to desert in large numbers. The Assembly's Girondins, a faction that was becoming more and more pro-war, grew significantly stronger. The Revolution's adversaries might now be depicted as the enemies of France.

The former National Assembly was superseded by the Legislative Assembly in October 1791, as per the new constitution. It ordered the property of the emigrants to be sequestrated two weeks after it proclaimed in January 1792 that Leopold II, the Habsburg Emperor of Austria, would be invited to declare whether or not he would renounce every treaty aimed at undermining the sovereignty, independence, and security of the French nation. This was a demand made on both the emigrants and Europe. Embarrassed in his diplomatic dealings with Russian Catherine II, Leopold was prepared to make concessions. But on March 1st, he passed away. The man who succeeded him, his son Francis II, was less intellectual and more influenced by advisors who supported absolutism and militarism. On April 20, 1792, the Legislative Assembly declared war in the just defense of a free people against the wrongful aggression of a king after he refused the French ultimatum.

In accordance with the Prussian agreement with Austria, King Frederick William's army immediately readied itself for active duty. Piedmont's Victor Amadeus of Savoy joined Austria and Prussia. Both the British government and Catherine of Russia remained silent for a while as she worked hard to acquire territory in Poland. The French Revolutionary Army and an army of French exiles, backed by a coalition of three neighboring monarchies, engaged in combat in the first battle.

The effects of both revolution and war intertwined from the spring of 1792 until Napoleon's ascent. The emigrants' and the court's schemes, the Girondins' war cry in the Assembly, the revolutionaries' aggressive self-confidence, the King's disgrace, and Prussia's diplomacy were among the direct causes of the conflict. But the root cause was more profound. In more contemporary parlance, it was the question of whether two social structures founded on diametrically opposed ideologies could coexist harmoniously. France had abolished feudalism within her own borders, demolished the pretenses of royal absolutism, and established new institutions based on the values of individual liberty, equality, and popular sovereignty. Among France, the old establishments had been toppled, but among her European neighbors they persisted. The Revolution was gaining traction, weakening the authority of other kings and subtly casting doubt on the continued existence of absolutism, feudalism, and serfdom worldwide. The established order could not ignore the revolutionary aspirations due to their dynamic nature. As a result, Austria, Prussia, Britain, the Netherlands, and Spain build the First Coalition of 1793.

The opposing manifestos released by each side made this unstoppable battle clear. In the carefully worded suggestion to employ, under certain conditions, "effective means for enabling the King of France full freedom to set up a monarchical government in conformity with his rights and the welfare of the nation," the Austrian and Prussian rulers hinted at joint armed intervention in August 1791, expressing the hope that the powers would consult about Louis XVI's position. In France, this sparked intense resentment. After the war had started, almost a year later, the Duke of Brunswick, who was leading the Austro-Prussian forces, released his renowned proclamation from Coblenz, stating unequivocally that his armies were entering France to put an end to chaos and restore the king's legitimate power. He made sure the revolutionaries would fight to the death by threatening to hold the delegates' and Paris officials' lives forfeit for any harm that might come to the royal family. The revolutionary manifesto of November 1792 was the follow-up to the Brunswick declaration of July 27, in which the French, in the midst of their early successes over Prussia and Austria, promised "brotherhood and assistance" to all peoples who shared their desire to express their freedom. The Assembly gave warning to Europe in December that France will impose revolutionary social policies throughout the continent. They said that the dissolution of feudal ties and the seizure of clergy and aristocratic property would follow the occupation of any area by French forces.

The ideological standoff became evident. The ancient and new orders were at odds with one another, fighting it out to the death for all of Europe. That was how it appeared to men in the winter of 1792, at least. The Irishman Edmund Burke's powerfully eloquent Reflections on the Revolution in France, which offered all opponents of the Revolution a counter-revolutionary philosophy and one of the most convincing defenses of traditionalism ever written, predicted anarchy and dictatorship as the result of such a revolution, issued the loudest call to conservatism in 1790. The French Revolution had evolved into a European war and not the more traditional, familiar kind fought between kings over territory, but a more recent ideological conflict between peoples and rulers over the dissolution of antiquated institutions and the realization of aspirations for a new European society. In other words, European war now equated to European revolution.