BATTLE OF VALMY
FRANCE, 20 SEPTEMBER 1792
On 14 July 1789, Parisians fed up with the French monarchy’s obstruction of reforms had stormed the Bastille, the oppressive fortress of the monarch, King Louis XVI. It was the first outbreak of violence in what would become one of the bloodiest revolutions in modern European history. The turbulence within France compelled 6,000 officers of the French Royal Army to leave the country. Once outside France, the emigres plotted with sympathetic foreign powers to stamp out the fires of revolution.
Idealistic men throughout France responded to the Assembly’s call for volunteers. Prussian King Frederick William II and Austrian King Leopold II agreed between themselves that the best course of action was to invade France, crush the revolutionaries and restore Louis. They formally announced a military alliance in February 1792 that led to the formation of the First Coalition. Two months later, France declared war on Austria. Prussia, Austria and Savoy positioned forces alongside France’s eastern border, where they were joined by the émigrés.
The coalition chose the Duke of Brunswick to lead the Austro-Prussian invasion force. A nephew of Frederick the Great, Brunswick was a cautious commander who believed in fighting a war by manoeuvre rather than sluggish battles.
