The Uprising of June 20, i'/<)2 9 



ternal affairs of France-" and the weak policy of the existing 

 ministry, led the assem'bly to force a Girondist ministry upon the 

 king, March 12, 1792. The following month, April 20, the as- 

 sembly, on the proposition of the king acting on the advice of the 

 new ministry, declared war against Austria.^^ The responsibility 

 of this war, however, can not be charged to the new ministry but 

 to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the king of Prussia and the 

 king of Hungary. 22 fj-jg \iyaa gladly accepted the situation as it 

 offered him a possible means of cooperation with foreign states 

 and would thus enable him to realize his plan of dictating to 

 France under the protection of foreign armies. He continued 

 his secret negotiations with Prussia and Austria and had no seri- 

 ous intention of repelling the Prussian invasion while Marie 

 Antoinette even counted the days that must pass before the arrival 

 of the enemy in Paris.-^ 



The situation was a most serious one for France. The treason 

 of the king was suspected by the assembly and it was realized 

 that the country and the constitution must be saved in spite of 

 him. Vigorous measures were necessary and the Girondins intro- 

 duced them into the assembly. The increasing disorder in the 

 provinces, instigated by the priests who had not taken the oath to 

 the constitution, led to the passage of a decree against the non- 

 juring clergy. May 27, 1792. The continued suspicion as to the 

 king's good faith in the defensive operations of the war and the 



" Vivenot, Quellen siir Geschichte der dentschen Kaiserpolitik Oester- 

 reichs, I, 433; Klinckowstrom, Le comte de Fersen et la cour de France, 

 11, 226, Dispatch of Caraman to Breteuil, April 10, 1792. 



" Clapham, Causes of the War of 1792, chap. VIII, IX. 



^ Flammermont, Negociations secretes, 23, 28, 30; Mellie, Les sections 

 de Paris pendant la revolution frangaise, 104. 



^ Clapham, Causes of the IVar of 1792, chap. X ; Aulard, Histoire polit- 

 ique de la revolution frangaise, 185; Sorel, L'Eiirope et la revolution fran- 

 gaise, II, 436; Klinckowstrom, Le comte de Fersen et la cour de France, 

 II, 242, Fersen to Marie Antoinette, April 24, 1792; 286, Fersen to Marie 

 Antoinette, June 2, 1792; 298, Fersen to Marie Antoinette, June 11, 1792; 

 318, Marie Antoinette to Fersen, July 6, 1792; Arneth, Marie Antoinette, 

 Joseph II und Leopold II, 266, Mercy to the Queen, July 9, 1792; Flam- 

 mermont, Negociations secretes, 29-30, Breteuil to Schulembourg July 4, 

 1792 and July 14, 1792, 



205 



