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FEAR OF SPIES IN REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE

41

ESCAPE FROM PARIS

From the summer of 1789, King Louis XVI

and his wife Marie-Antoinette and family

were held under house arrest in the

Tuileries Palace in Paris. By the summer

of 1791, growing hostility towards the

monarchy from the new republican

government encouraged Louis to flee

from Paris to the royalist stronghold at

Montmédy on the Belgian border. The

secret escape was well planned, and in

the early hours of June 21, the royal family

climbed into a coach and slipped past their

guards. Louis, who knew nothing of France

outside Paris, believed the countryside

supported the monarchy, and once clear

of Paris he foolishly began to reveal his

true identity. News of this was reported

to the authorities, who arrested the royal

family at Varennes. Louis was returned to

prison to await his eventual execution.

Right: Georges

Danton was the

first president of

the Committee

for Public Safety.

Like many of the

revolutionary leaders,

he was himself

later guillotined.

Far right: Maximilien

Robespierre, who

denounced Danton.

“THE PEOPLE ASKS ONLY

FOR WHAT IS NECESSARY,

IT WANTS JUSTICE AND

PEACE; THE RICH ASPIRE

TO EVERYTHING, THEY WANT

TO INVADE AND DOMINATE.”

Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer

and revolutionary leader

SPREADING THE REVOLUTION

The French armies won a series of military victories

in 1792–93, which encouraged republican leaders to

make a summons for revolution throughout Europe.

Their call was met favorably in many quarters.

Fearful for their own futures, European monarchs

instituted measures to snuff out seditious activity.

In Britain, developments in France led to the

formation of the Aliens Office in December 1793,

responsible for internal security and intelligence

gathering abroad. Under the leadership of

William Wickham, the agents of the Aliens Office

penetrated many of the revolutionary groups,

including the radical London Corresponding

Society, but it turned out there was insufficient

treasonable activity for successful prosecutions.

Abroad, the Aliens Office provided support

for the many émigré groups who promised to

unseat the revolutionary government. Working

from a base in Switzerland, Wickham held high

hopes for their actions but despite generous

British financial aid— known as the “cavalry

of St. George”—the plots came to nothing.

The revolution remained secure.