Step 10 of 20 · Act 2 · What changed
The king's flight
The night trust died
The king's failed flight to Varennes destroyed trust that he accepted the Revolution, pushing France toward a republic.
Between 1789 and 1791, France rebuilt itself as a constitutional monarchyA system in which a king remains head of state but is limited by a constitution and an elected assembly.. Louis XVI remained head of state, but now bound by a constitution and answerable to an elected assembly. On paper, king and Revolution had reached a settlement.
In truth, the king never accepted it. He especially resented the Revolution's reforms of the Church, which he saw as an attack on his faith. Quietly, he came to believe the Revolution had gone too far.
In June 1791 the royal family slipped out of Paris in disguise, riding east toward the frontier. The plan was to reach loyal troops — and, if needed, foreign help — and to face the Revolution from a position of strength. They were recognised and stopped at the town of Varennes, and escorted back to Paris as near-prisoners.
The flight changed everything. Before it, many hoped the king had genuinely joined the new order. He had even left behind a letter denouncing the Revolution — proof of his real feelings. Now trust collapsed. If the king was an enemy of the constitution, many began to ask a once-unthinkable question: did France need a king at all?
What matters here
France had become a constitutional monarchy, but the king's secret flight — and the letter he left denouncing the Revolution — shattered belief that he accepted it, and put the monarchy itself in doubt.
Historical source
Caught before the frontier: the king's flight ends at Varennes — and trust in the monarchy collapses.
The arrest of Louis XVI at Varennes, 21–22 June 1791 — Jean-Louis Prieur, engraved by Berthault, 1791.
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Misconception check
“Louis XVI genuinely accepted and supported the new constitution.”