Thenceforth the monarchs, as well as the nobles and clergy, of Europe
saw in the French Revolution only a menace to their political and
social privileges: were it communicated to the lower classes, the
Revolution might work the same havoc throughout the length and breadth
of Europe that it was working in France. The "benevolent despots" had
sincere desires to labor for the welfare of the people; they shuddered
at the thought of what the people themselves would do in laboring for
their own welfare.
[Sidenote: The Holy Roman Emperor the Champion of Opposition to the
Revolution]
Of the monarchs of Europe, several had special reasons for viewing the
progress of the Revolution with misgiving. The Bourbons of Spain and of
the Two Sicilies were united by blood and family compacts with the
ruling dynasty of France: any belittling of the latter's power was
bound to affect disastrously the domestic position and foreign policy
of the former. Then, too, the French queen, Marie Antoinette, was an
Austrian Habsburg.
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