Émigré

Émigré

https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/1086/

1086

Those people who chose to or were forced to live outside France between 1789 and 1814. The fall of the Bastille prompted the first wave, led by the King’s brother, the Count of Artois. Over 150,000 nobles, clergy, and commoners became émigrés during the revolutionary era. The King’s brothers established a royalist center at Coblentz, just across the German border, and set up a military force commanded by the Prince of Condé that existed until 1801 with British, Austrian, and Russian support. However, the émigrés spread far and wide in Europe and the Americas. Upon Louis XVI’s execution, the Count of Provence recognized Louis XVI’s son as Louis XVII with himself as regent. When Louis XVII died in 1795, Provence proclaimed himself King as Louis XVIII with financial support from other European powers. The existence of the émigrés was a major cause of the war that began in the spring of 1792. The property of the émigrés was seized and later sold. Under the Directory, a huge number of émigrés returned to France. Bonaparte promulgated a partial amnesty in October 1800, and in April 1802 all but a thousand émigrés were allowed to return. Later, under the Restoration, Louis XVIII paid compensation of 1 billion francs to émigrés who lost property.