August 10, 1792 (French Revolution)

The August 10, 1792, (French Revolution) was the day when the revolutionary mob, supported by the Paris Commune, attacked the Tuileries Palace, forcing Louis XVI and the royal family to take shelter with the Legislative Assembly, during the French Revolution.

The August 10, 1792, attack on the Tuileries palace was an important historical event, because it marked the effective end of the monarchy. Six weeks later, the National Convention would abolish the monarchy as their members would establish the First French Republic. The day before August 10, the insurgents had forced open the arsenal and had seized the weapons and gunpowder there. Then they began to advance in several columns toward the Tuileries.

In early August, 1792, the Legislative Assembly was deadlocked, unable to decide what to do about the King, the Constitution, the ongoing Revolutionary Wars, and above all about the political uprisings in Paris. On August 4, the most radical Parisian section, called the section of the 300, had issued an ultimatum to the Legislative Assembly, threatening an uprising if no action was taken by midnight August 9.

On the appointed evening, the alarm sounded from the bell tower and a crowd gathered before the City Hall and headed toward the Tuileries Palace. As the King’s bodyguards prepared to defend him, the King recognized that it would be more prudent to flee. He and his family escaped through a secret passage and placed themselves under the protection of the Legislative Assembly, which arrested him. Meanwhile, the Swiss Guards were attacked and defeated by the armed mob, as those who fell prisoners were executed.