The Fall of the Monarchy: 10 August 1792

On 10 August 1792 an insurrection overthrew the French monarchy. Organised by the sections of Paris and the newly formed insurrectionary Commune, armed sans-culottes and provincial volunteers attacked the Tuileries Palace. The royal family took refuge with the Legislative Assembly, but fighting broke out with the Swiss Guards defending the palace, and hundreds were killed on both sides, including many guards after the fighting ended.

Under pressure, the Assembly suspended the king, who was imprisoned with his family in the Temple tower, and called elections for a National Convention by near-universal male suffrage. This 'second revolution' ended the constitutional monarchy and gave new power to the Paris Commune and the sans-culottes. Historians debate whether it was a popular uprising defending the Revolution against betrayal or a seizure of power by an armed minority; it had elements of both.