Demonstration of 20 June 1792
| The Demonstration of 20 June 1792 | |||||
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| Part of the French Revolution | |||||
 Le Peuple pénètre dans le Château des Tuileries Pierre-Gabriel Berthault, 1800 |
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The Demonstration of 20 June 1792 (French: Journée du 20 juin 1792) was the last peaceful attempt made by the people of Paris to persuade King Louis XVI of France to abandon his current policy and attempt to follow what they believed to be a more empathetic approach to governing. The demonstration occurred during the French Revolution. Its objectives were to convince the government to enforce the Legislative Assembly's, rulings, defend France against foreign invasion, and preserve the spirit of the French Constitution of 1791. The demonstrators hoped that the king would withdraw his veto and recall the Girondin ministers.
The Demonstration was the last phase of the unsuccessful attempt to establish a constitutional monarchy in France. After the Insurrection of 10 August 1792, the monarchy fell.
Under the Girondin ministry, on 20 April 1792, King Louis XVI convinced the Legislative Assembly to declare war against Austria. The resulting war, which would last almost continuously until 1815 and shake the very foundations of Europe, put new life into the revolutionary movement in France. The monarchy was its first victim.
Of even greater consequence was a major economic crisis. As it struck France's towns, it again set the masses in motion. The crisis was caused by inflation rather than scarcity as past crises, as the currency in circulation had increased by 600 million since October of 1792. With continued depreciation of the assignat, the exchange rate fell even more rapidly. By March of 1793, French money once worth British ₤100 would buy only ₤50 worth of goods in Paris. The flood of paper notes, misused by speculators, aggravated unrest.
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