A History of Modern Europe - From the Renaissance to the Present

456 Ch. 12 • The French Revolution

oppose the Revolution. In a world in which

symbols played a crucial political role, sans­

culottes could be identified by the Phrygian

cap, a symbol of freedom drawn from the

Roman Republic—close-fitting, red in

color, with a tricolor emblem—in contrast

to the three-cornered hat that had been

worn by urban social elites. The language

of the sans-culottes also quickly indicated

who they were; they called everyone “citi­

zen” and used the familiar (tu and never

vous)y egalitarian form of address. The po­

litical ideal of the sans-culottes was that

popular sovereignty had to be practiced

every day in direct democracy, in revolu­

tionary clubs and in the sections.

King Louis XVI wearing the

Phrygian cap. The Flight to Varennes

Fearing the growing violence of the Revolu­
tion and counting on the support of the other monarchs of Europe, Louis
XVI and his family tried to flee France in June 1791. The king’s goal was to
throw his support behind the foreign enemies of the Revolution and return
to France to revoke the concessions that he had made. Apprehended by the
National Guard in Varennes, the royal family was prevented from continu­
ing their journey into exile and freedom.
The king’s attempt to flee turned public sentiment further against him,
and strengthened support for a republic. The day after his flight, the
Cordeliers Club called for the establishment of a republic, but the major­
ity of the Assembly feared civil war. On July 17, 1791, at the Champ-de­
Mars in Paris, people came to sign (or put their “X” on) a petition resting
on the “Altar of the Fatherland” that called on the National Assembly to
replace the king “by all constitutional means.” The National Guard
opened fire, killing fifty people. Badly, the moderate mayor of Paris, and
Lafayette, the commander of the National Guard in Paris, declared mar­
tial law. However, even Louis XVI’s formal acceptance of the constitution
on September 14, 1791, could not stem the popular tide against the
monarchy.

War and the Second Revolution

The Revolution now entered a new, more radical phase. The king’s flight
seriously weakened the constitutional monarchists within the Assembly.