The French Revolution 443 nobles, they had filled the prisons with some three thousand citi : zens. On September 2 and 3 hundreds of these were executed with scarcely a pretense of a trial. The members of the Commune who perpetrated this deed probably hoped to terrify those who might still dream of returning to the old system of government. 771. French Military Successes. Late in August the Prus- sians crossed the French boundary and on September 2 took the fortress of Verdun. It now seemed as if there was nothing to pre- vent their marching upon Paris. The French general, Dumouriez, blocked their advance, however, and without a pitched battle caused the enemy to retreat, for the Prussian and Austrian rulers had little interest in the war. The French now invaded Germany and took several important towns on the Rhine, including May- ence, which gladly opened its gates to them. They also occupied the Austrian Netherlands and Savoy. 772. Execution of the King, January, 1793. Meanwhile the new Convention was puzzled to determine what it was best to do with the king. A considerable party felt that he was guilty of treason in secretly encouraging the foreign powers to come to his aid. He was therefore brought to trial, and when it came to a final vote, he was, by a small majority, condemned to death. He mounted the scaffold on January 21, 1793, with the fortitude of a martyr. 773. France declares War on England, February, 1793. The exultation of the Convention over the conquests which their armies were making encouraged them to offer the assistance of the new republic to any country that wished to establish its free- dom by throwing off the yoke of monarchy. They even suggested a republic to the English people. February i, 1793, France greatly added to her embarrassments by declaring war on Eng- land, a country which proved her most inveterate enemy. 774. French Reverses. The war now began to go against the French. The allies had hitherto been suspicious of one an- other and fearful lest Russia should take advantage of their pre- occupation with France to seize more than her share in the second partition of Poland (665). They now came to an agreement.
