France declares war on Austria (the War of the First Coalition)

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Resources

The National Assembly, led by the Girondin faction and encouraged by Louis XVI, declares war on Austria which is threatening to attack France on the pretext of supporting Marie Antoinette, an Austrian princess, and in order to restore the monarchy to the throne. The army was in a poor state, officers having fled abroad. The value of the new currency, the

assignats

was falling steeply. The situation came to a head in the summer of 1792 as the monarchists hoped for a restoration and the king dismissed his Girondin ministers. The Assembly responded by calling up the national guard from provincial cites. The Duke of Brunwswick responded with a decree threatening the Parisians with mass executions, inflaming public opinion.

118 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "France declares war on Austria (the War of the First Coalition)". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 January 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4250, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4250 France declares war on Austria (the War of the First Coalition) 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.