ABSTRACT
Early in August 1792 Parisians learnt of a manifesto issued by the commander-in-chief of the Prussian armies, the Duke of Brunswick. Its language provoked both anger and resolve, threatening as it did summary justice on the people of Paris and the destruction of their city if Louis and his family were further harmed or threatened. The threat added to the popular conviction that Louis and Marie-Antoinette were complicit in the defeats being suffered by the army. Declaration of the Duke of Brunswick to the Inhabitants of France
… His Majesty the King of Prussia with His Imperial Majesty, through the ties of a close and defensive alliance, and himself a preponderant member of the Germanic body, could thus not refrain from going to the aid of his ally and of his co-State; and it is under this double relationship that he takes up the defence of this monarch and of Germany.
To these major interests is joined yet another equally important goal, and one which is close to the heart of the two sovereigns, that is, to have the anarchy within France cease, to stop the attacks being made on the throne and the altar, to re-establish legal power, to return to the king the safety and freedom of which he is deprived, and to place him in a position to exercise the legitimate authority which is his due.
Convinced that the healthy part of the French nation abhors the excesses of a faction that subjugates it, and that the majority of the population waits impatiently for the moment of aid to openly declare themselves against the odious enterprises of their oppressors, His Majesty the emperor and His Majesty the king of Prussia call on them and invite them to return without delay to the voice of reason and justice, of order and peace. It is with this in view, that I the undersigned, commander general in chief of the two armies, declare: …
That the inhabitants of the towns, market towns and villages who dare to defend themselves against the troops of Their Imperial and Royal Majesties, and to shoot at them, either in the open countryside, or through the windows, doorways and openings of their homes, will be punished immediately, according to the severity of the law of war, or their homes demolished or burned down. On the other hand, all the inhabitants of the said towns, market towns and villages who hasten to submit themselves to their king, by opening their doors to the troops of Their Majesties, will forthwith be under their immediate safeguard; their persons, their goods, their effects will be under the protection of the law, and the general safety of all and each of them will be provided for.
The city of Paris and all its inhabitants, without distinction, will be obliged to submit themselves, immediately and without delay, to the king, to give this prince full and complete freedom, and to guarantee for him, as well as for all royal personages, the inviolability and the respect which the right of nature and of men obliges from subjects towards sovereigns; Their Imperial and Royal Majesties make personally responsible for all events, to be punished militarily, without hope of pardon, all members of the National Assembly, of the district, of the municipality, and of the National Guard of Paris, the justices of the peace and all others whose business it is; their said Majesties declare moreover, on their honour and word as emperor and king, that if the Château of the Tuileries is taken by force or insulted, that if the least violence is done to it, the least outrage to Their Majesties the king, the queen and the royal family, if their safety, their preservation and their freedom are not immediately provided for, they will wreak an exemplary and for ever memorable vengeance, by delivering up the city of Paris to a military execution, and total destruction, and the rebels guilty of assassinations to the execution that they have earned. On the contrary, Their Imperial and Royal Majesties promise the inhabitants of the city of Paris to use their good offices with His most Christian Majesty, to obtain a pardon for their wrongs and their errors, and to take the most energetic measures to ensure their person and their goods, if they obey the above injunction promptly and exactly.
Source: Gazette nationale ou le Moniteur universel, no. 216, 3 August 1792, vol. 13, p. 305–6.https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781032618814/e9ac31eb-0a68-4fdc-b417-e6e5b1e67c6c/content/fig9_Unfig_001.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>