21. The End of the Royal Flight
The heavy carriage that carried the French royal family was slow, and it had to stop for repairs when its traces broke. The royal couple’s disguises were also flimsy, and they were recognized by many along the route. The French royal flight ended at the small town of Varennes, just thirty miles shy of safety. The local postmaster recognized Louis XVI from currency that bore his likeness, and the royal family were arrested and returned to Paris. It was an unmitigated disaster.
Before his flight, the revolutionaries had accepted Louis as a constitutional monarch and took his assurances that he agreed with them at face value. His flight, coupled with the documents that he and Marie Antoinette had left behind that told them what they really thought, changed their minds. Until then, abolition of the monarchy and the declaration of a republic had been a fringe position advocated only by radicals. Now, it quickly gained popularity, and on September 21st, 1792, the monarchy was abolished and the French Republic was declared.
