On this day in 1792 the Tuileries Palace in Paris was stormed by the French national guard who defeated the Swiss guards protecting the French king, Louis XVI. It was a pivotal moment for the French revolution and would lead to the abolishment of the monarchy and foundation of the French republic. 

Most people don't know about this event, but they do remember another 'storming' from their history classes; the storming of the Bastille on the 14th of July 1789. So what happened in the three years between both stormings? Didn't they start a republic and behead the king? Yes, they did, but after 1792. 

The period 1789-1792 is filled with chaos, power struggles and passionate debates to answer the question: what now? The king had no absolute power anymore, the 'ancien regime' was abolished and the national assembly decided what the new France would look like, but could not agree on that. On the right side of the parliament a group of people argued for the end of the revolution, the group on the left wanted to end the monarchy and the group in the middle argued for a constitutional monarchy. This is where the meaning of left wing and right wing originated.

Eventually, the left and right wing made a compromise and France became a constitutional monarchy. Louis XVI remained King of France, although he was shortly stripped of this title when he tried to escape France in 1791, had little power and was distrusted. 

By the end of 1791 and in 1792 France was at war with Austria, Prussia and minor nations who demanded that Louis would be restored as absolute king. The Duke of Brunswick issued a manifesto proclaiming that if the royal family would be harmed, the French population would also be harmed. This threat was counterproductive and enraged the revolutionaries who stormed the Tuileries Palace. The king was stripped of his powers when victory was secured and put in prison. The French republic was proclaimed some weeks later and France entered a new phase in the revolution which would remain chaotic until a talented general seized power in 1799: Napoleon Bonaparte.  

Originally posted on Instagram on August 10, 2021