Declaration of Pillnitz

Background. Since the French Revolution of 1789, Leopold had grown increasingly concerned about the safety of his sister Marie Antoinette and her family, yet he felt that intervention in French affairs would only increase their danger. After Louis XVI and his family fled Paris in the Flight to Varennes in June 1791, the king was apprehended, returned to Paris, and kept under armed guard.

Issuance of the Declaration. On 27 August 1791, Leopold II and Frederick William II issued a five-sentence statement at Pillnitz Castle near Dresden in Saxony. It declared the joint support of the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia for King Louis XVI of France against the French Revolution, and stated that Austria would go to war only if all other major European powers also went to war with France.

Motives and Context. Leopold issued the declaration only to satisfy French émigrés who had taken refuge in his country and were calling for foreign interference in their homeland. Earlier, on 6 July 1791, he had issued the Padua Circular calling on Europe's sovereigns to join him in demanding Louis' freedom. The Pillnitz Conference itself dealt mainly with the Polish Question and Austria's war against the Ottoman Empire.

Reception in France. The National Assembly of France interpreted the declaration as a threat by Austria and Prussia against the revolution, which radicalised French revolutionaries and increased tensions. Radical Frenchmen favouring war, such as Jacques Pierre Brissot, used the declaration as a pretext to gain influence and declare war on 20 April 1792.