1789Louis XVI and Artois Secretly Seek Foreign Intervention

October 12: Louis XVI secretly writes to king Charles IV of ...
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Year
1789
1790
1791

✉️ Louis XVI and Artois Secretly Seek Foreign Intervention

October 12: Louis XVI secretly writes to king Charles IV of Spain, complaining of mistreatment. The Count of Artois secretly writes to Joseph II of Austria requesting a military intervention in France.
Louis XVI and Artois Secretly Seek Foreign Intervention (1789)
Louis XVICount of ArtoisRoyal CorrespondenceForeign InterventionSecret NegotiationsMonarchyCounter-RevolutionCharles IV of SpainJoseph II of Austria

🇫🇷 King Louis XVI in Paris, Nobility Emigration Begins

July 17: The King visits Paris, where he is welcomed at the Hôtel de Ville by Bailly and Lafayette, and wears the tricolor cockade. Sensing what is ahead, several prominent members of the nobility, including the Count of Artois, the Prince de Condé, the Duke of Enghien, the Baron de Breteuil, the Duke of Broglie, the Duke of Polignac and his wife become the first of a wave of émigrés to leave France.
MonarchyParisEmigrationTricolorNational AssemblyLouis XVINobilityCounter-RevolutionFrench Revolution

✉️ Louis XVI's Letter Denounces French Clergy's New Status to Spanish Cousin

October 6: Louis XVI writes his cousin, Charles IV of Spain, to express his hostility to the new status of the French clergy.
Louis XVI's Letter Denounces French Clergy's New Status to Spanish Cousin (1790)
Louis XVIClergyChurchRevolutionFranceSpainRoyal CorrespondenceCounter-RevolutionReligious Conflict

✉️ Louis XVI Appeals to Prussian King for Military Intervention

December 3: Louis XVI writes to King Frederick William II of Prussia asking for a military intervention by European monarchs to restore his authority.
Louis XVI Appeals to Prussian King for Military Intervention (1790)
French MonarchyLouis XVIPrussiaForeign InterventionCounter-RevolutionRoyal CorrespondenceEuropean PowersDiplomacyRevolutionary Crisis

✉️ Louis XVI Appeals to Prussia for Military Intervention

December 3: The King writes a secret letter to Frederick William II of Prussia, urging him to intervene militarily in France "to prevent the evil which is happening here before it overtakes the other states of Europe.
Louis XVI Appeals to Prussia for Military Intervention (1791)
French RevolutionLouis XVIPrussiaMilitary InterventionForeign PowersRoyal CorrespondenceSecret LetterCounter-RevolutionWar PreparationsDiplomacy

👑 Louis XVI's Brothers Reject Return, Citing King's Captivity

December 3: Louis XVI's brothers, (the counts of Provence and Artois) refuse to return to France, citing "the moral and physical captivity in which the King is being held."
French RevolutionRoyal FamilyEmigrationCounter-RevolutionLouis XVIProvenceArtoisPolitical OppositionMonarchyExile