August 10, 1792.

Source:mfr 89.66

Source: Cornell 4606.17.6

August 10, 1792 was an incredibly important date in the history of the French Revolution. Following the Women’s March on Versailles in 1789, as well as other events, the royal family was forced to return to Paris. On August 10, a large crowd began to form outside of the Tuileries Palace, the crowd was angry and armed. This can be seen in both of the images above. In both images, the crowd is armed and is storming the palace, smoke can be seen showing that a battle is currently underway and that weapons are being fired. Before violence broke out, the King and the royal family were evacuated to take refuge inside of the National Assembly. The angry crowd began to storm the palace and fought with the Swiss guard stationed in the interior of the palace. The assault resulted in approximately 1,000 total casualties. This battle served to cement the overthrow of the monarchy and ensured the creation of a republic. Six months after the taking of the Tuileries Palace, the monarch was formally ended by the new National Convention.

This event is also present in Assassin’s Creed Unity and it portrays the event accurately with only a few exceptions. About midway through the game, Arno is tasked with retrieving letters from the King written to the leader of the Assassin Brotherhood. Arno makes his way to the palace where the player can see a massive crowd that has formed outside of the palace, the crowd is armed and restless. Chants of “Long live the nation” and “Long live the revolution” can be heard from the crowd. Arno sneaks inside and retrieves the letters and meets Napoleon Bonaparte. Soon after this meeting the battle erupts as the revolutionaries storm the palace and attack everyone present inside. The battle was of course exaggerated a little bit in order to make it more entertaining to the player, the game portrays it as being far more violent than historical texts would lead one to believe. The building itself in the game looks identical to the representation of the palace in the pictures above. Gameplay footage of this event has been provided below.