Louis XVI at Bay: The Tuileries, June 20th, 1792
After the dismissal of popular ministers in 1792, writes M.J. Sydenham, a widespread conviction that the King was bent on thwarting the Revolution led to the invasion of his palace by the Parisian mob.
It is some indication of the explosive character of French political life that its history is marked less by a chronology of years than by the memory of certain particularly momentous “Days.” From July 14th onwards, the great upheaval that we call the French Revolution has many such milestones, and among them the day of June 20th, 1792, has its own peculiar place.
Its great event, the sudden irruption of the populace of Paris into the Tuileries and the prolonged humiliation of Louis XVI in the window embrasure, was soon to be overshadowed by the more decisive armed assault upon the palace that followed on August 10th; but its dramatic nature immediately impressed France and has ever since held historians in thrall.
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