Editing French Revolution (section)

===Varennes and after===
{{Main|Flight to Varennes}}
Held in the [[Tuileries Palace]] under virtual house arrest, Louis XVI was urged by his brother and wife to re-assert his independence by taking refuge with Bouillé, who was based at [[Montmédy]] with 10,000 soldiers considered loyal to the Crown.{{Sfn|Price|2003|p=170}} The royal family left the palace in disguise on the night of 20 June 1791; late the next day, Louis was recognised as he passed through [[Varennes-en-Argonne|Varennes]], arrested and taken back to Paris. The attempted escape had a profound impact on public opinion; since it was clear Louis had been seeking refuge in Austria, the Assembly now demanded oaths of loyalty to the regime and began preparing for war, while fear of 'spies and traitors' became pervasive.{{Sfn|Tackett|2003|p=473}}

[[File:Retour Varennes 1791.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|After the [[Flight to Varennes]]; the royal family are escorted back to Paris]]

Despite calls to replace the monarchy with a republic, Louis retained his position but was generally regarded with acute suspicion and forced to swear allegiance to the constitution. A new decree stated retracting this oath, making war upon the nation, or permitting anyone to do so in his name would be considered abdication. However, radicals led by [[Jacques Pierre Brissot]] prepared a petition demanding his deposition, and on 17 July, an immense crowd gathered in the [[Champ de Mars]] to sign. Led by Lafayette, the National Guard was ordered to "preserve public order" and responded to a barrage of stones by [[Champ de Mars massacre|firing into the crowd]], killing between 13 and 50 people.{{Sfn|Tackett|2004|pp=148–150}}

The massacre badly damaged Lafayette's reputation; the authorities responded by closing radical clubs and newspapers, while their leaders went into exile or hiding, including Marat.{{Sfn|Conner|2012|pp=83–85}} On 27 August, Emperor [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold II]] and King [[Frederick William II of Prussia]] issued the [[Declaration of Pillnitz]] declaring their support for Louis and hinting at an invasion of France on his behalf. In reality, the meeting between Leopold and Frederick was primarily to discuss the [[partitions of Poland]]; the declaration was intended to satisfy Comte d'Artois and other French émigrés, but the threat rallied popular support behind the regime.{{Sfn|Soboul|1975|pp=226–227}}

Based on a motion proposed by Robespierre, existing deputies were barred from [[1791 French legislative election|elections held in September]] for the [[French Legislative Assembly]]. Although Robespierre was one of those excluded, his support in the clubs gave him a political power base not available to Lafayette and Bailly, who resigned respectively as head of the National Guard and the Paris Commune. The new laws were gathered together in the [[French Constitution of 1791|1791 Constitution]], and submitted to Louis XVI, who pledged to defend it "from enemies at home and abroad". On 30 September, the Constituent Assembly was dissolved, and the Legislative Assembly convened the next day.{{Sfn|Lefebvre|1962|p=212}}