France

The duchess makes numerous comments about the state and fate of the French nation as a whole.

Appears in these Letters:

1789

10 February: Pre-Revolutionary Violence

Although many of the Letters focus on Paris, they also show that the duchess made considerable efforts to stay informed about events elsewhere in the...

14 October: A King Imprisoned? The October Days

On 5-6 October 1789, a Parisian crowd led by thousands of women marched out to demonstrate at Versailles and forced the royal family to relocate to...

1790

29 December: The Duchess Reflects

The duchess takes stock of the Revolution thus far, and considers what it has meant for her and for the country. Her decision to begin this review...

1791

7 November: Life as an Émigré. Part 2

The duchess gives a more positive report of life in Tournai than in her Letter of the previous month, comparing the fear she would have been enduring...

1792

4 September: Revolutionary Massacre: Paris in September 1792

At the start of September 1792 Revolutionary tensions boiled over in the capital in the wake of the fall of the monarchy and news of...