The Manifesto, issued on July 25, 1792, bears the name of the Duke of Brunswick, a prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and a commander of the Coalition’s army. This proclamation aimed to frighten the French with threats of total destruction and military courts in case they resisted the invading troops or tried to harm the French king. However, the Duke was not an author of the document; he only signed it with significant hesitation. Later, Brunswick openly expressed his regrets about doing so. The document was drafted by émigrés Geoffroy de Limon and Pellenc, assisted by a royalist journalist and propagandist, Jacques Mallet du Pan, dispatched by the French king. Louis XVI and the royal family were fully aware of the process of drafting the Manifesto. Although the manifesto was issued on July 25, it reached Paris three days later and was read out in the Assembly on August 1.
The author claims to express the will of two monarchs, the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Prussia. The main accusations directed towards the French revolutionaries included their illegitimate usurpation of power in the country and numerous violations of the freedom of the French king and his family. In addition, the manifesto mentions the deprivation of the German princes and Elsase and Lorraine of their rights and possessions by the French government. Brunswick claims that the main goal of the Allies was to reestablish the legitimate order in France by restoring Louis XVI to his full power. He states that those French inhabitants who will submit to the Allied forces and the French king will be fully protected. However, if the French people, both civilians and soldiers, resist the Allied troops, they will be treated as rebels and thus face harsh punishment. Moreover, Brunswick threatens to inflict an “ever-memorable vengeance” on Paris if the royal family is attacked in any way.
The Brunswick Manifesto has often been regarded as a breaking point of this period of the Revolution and of the war, being the final push for the people to storm the Tuileries and overthrow the king on August 10. However, while some historians consider the Manifesto’s role to be critical, others point out that its importance was, in fact, much less significant. As Elizabeth Cross argues, the response to the manifesto in French society was quite varied and nuanced. First of all, it is not reasonable to ascribe the decisive role in overthrowing the monarchy to the Manifesto alone. A number of events had already taken place to inspire the anti-monarchical sentiments.
In 1792, the French defeats on the battlefield against the Coalition forces caused great fear of foreign invasion and suspicions that the king, his family, and the cabinet were conspiring against the revolution. These suspicions were fueled by the fact that the royal family had family connections with the coalition and the French émigré. Girondins particularly advocated that the court was betraying the nation and that there was a need to eliminate it to solve France’s problems. In Paris, the situation was further destabilized by the arrival of the fédérés, military volunteers from the provinces who went to Paris to celebrate the anniversary of the taking of the Bastille and, after that, had to depart to the frontline. The fédérés mostly supported the radical views about the treacherous nature of the French court. Eventually, they declared they would stay there to fight the internal enemy.
As Cross points out, the Manifesto did not provoke a major public response. It is apparent from Mallet du Pan’s comments that this document caused little sensation. When it reached Paris, most newspapers did not publish extensive writings about it.
Still, some discussions about the document are quite interesting. Some doubted its authenticity and dismissed it as unlawful because it so sharply contradicted the accepted laws of war. It is especially notable that the revolutionaries, especially the left wing, ridiculed the Manifesto for its absurd demands. Still, it is worth mentioning that among the left wing of the revolutionaries, there were reactions that acknowledged a certain threat. It was not so much about the fear of the foreign invasion, but they turned their attention to the enemies inside France – the royal court and counter-revolutionaries.
As part of this course, the Brunswick Manifesto fits into the topic of fear in a time of uncertainty. Indeed, in this case, it is particularly interesting considering the document’s intention and the actual reaction to it. Moreover, it provides a glimpse into how a provocation from the outside can influence an already charged situation inside the country. The document can be included in the discussion of conventions of war and the appearance of the idea of total war. In addition, this also tackles the topic of the creation and perception of an internal and external enemy.
