It was on 20 September 1792 at Valmy that the history of the
French Revolution became European history. Although many who
deplore the dates-and-battles approach to history and deny the
impact of specific events on world affairs, a battle can transcend
the historical moment much like a moral rampart and suddenly
alter the direction of human history. Before Valmy, revolutionary
France was an isolated and besieged country intent on defending
its individuality. After Valmy, France turned aggressive and belli-
cose and, for the next twenty-three years, attempted to impose
itself and its political regime on the rest of Europe.

There is no continuity between these two moments. On 20 April
1792, the legislative Assembly refused Francis II's ultimatum and,
in a moment of Gallic defiance, declared war on Austria. The
deputies hoped that Prussia, whose troops were committed in
Poland, would remain neutral, but they badly misjudged Berlin.
The first clashes took place in France, at Quiévrain and Tournai,
and ended in defeat for the "army of lawyers," as the Prussian
general Bischoffswerder contemptuously described the French
troops. Invaded and with its very existence threatened, France hid
behind a sudden burst of revolutionary fury. The Assembly de-
clared the nation "in danger" and ordered the recruitment of four
hundred fifty thousand men. Later, after a second invasion, a gen-
eral draft was instituted. The army was democratized: gone were

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