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Editor says, what if the Bourbons had made it to safety? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the March 2011 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1791, concealed in a small, unobtrustive coach the Royal Family escape from revolutionary Paris and with the solitary exception of a terrifying near discovery in the small border town of Sainte-Menehould arrive safely at the fortress of Montmédy in northeastern France. From this Royalist stronghold King Louis XVI of France appealled to his fellow European Monarchs for support.
Flight of the Bourbons
By Ed and Jackie SpeelIt was the turning point that marked the start of a military campaign to restore Bourbon rule and also the end to the fiction that the Royal Family supported the populist movement. Made possible only by a new steely resolve exhibited by the King ever since he was forced to support his finance ministers and compel the Estates to start paying taxes.
The escape was largely planned by Count Axel von Fersen and the Baron de Breteuil. However Marie Antoinette almost scuppered the plan with pre-conditions, firstly that the Royal Family travel together (reluctantly accepted) and that they bring an insanely large amount of possessions with them (rejected). Had they done so, the Bourbons would have required a large coach that would surely have given the game away.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Varennes, Bourbon, French Revolution, Louis XVI, Monarchy. Editor says, in authoring this article we explore an idea from guest historian Jackie Speel.
Wikipedia reports ~ The escape was largely planned by Count Axel von Fersen and the Baron de Breteuil. Due to the cumulative effect of a host of errors which in and of themselves would not have condemned the mission to failure, the royal family was thwarted in its escape when the king was recognized in the town of Sainte-Menehould, by a postmaster named Jean-Baptiste Drouet. The king and his family were eventually arrested in the revolutionary town of Varennes, 30 miles (50 km) from their ultimate destination, the heavily fortified royalist citadel of Montmedy. One rumor suggests that the king was recognized because his face appeared on French assignats, though this story's validity is contested.
~ Much like Nick Romanov a century and change later, I seriously doubt a living Louis XVI would have been as useful to the Revolution's opponents as he matyrdom was.
~ This could have been pulled off. As I understand it, in OTL part of what screwed them was their huge coach, as well as stopping for lunch and the king being recognized. That said, I'd guess that growing up in the hothouse atmosphere of Versailles wouldn't exactly engender sound common sense. And Louis XVI growing a spine and pair of balls would have been a game-changer all by itself.
~ Might just be early enough to keep the Revolution from turning into a French Civil War. If the Bourbons had tarried with their army of Royalists, the Republicans might've had enough dug in to hold onto at least part of France, giving Napoleon another fateful chance at clout.
~ I refer readers to "If It Had Happened Otherwise" and the story "If Drouet's Cart Had Stuck." Short-term restoration was followed by longterm disaster for France and Britain alike.Napoleon appears as an obscure artillery Colonel,French military attache in London.
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
