Lafayette assumed supreme
command, and the French prepared for the struggle. Although Leopold had
just died, his policy was followed by his son and successor, the
Emperor Francis II. Francis and Frederick William II of Prussia
speedily collected an army of 80,000 men at Coblenz with which to
invade France. The campaign of 1792 was the first stage in a vast
conflict which was destined to rage throughout Europe for twenty-three
years. It was the beginning of the contest between the forces of
revolution and those of reaction.
Enthusiasm was with the French. They felt they were fighting for a
cause--the cause of liberty, equality, and nationalism. Men put on red
liberty caps, and such as possessed no firearms equipped themselves
with pikes and hastened to the front. Troops coming up from Marseilles
sang in Paris a new hymn of freedom which Rouget de Lisle had just
composed at Strassburg for the French soldiers,--the inspiring
Marseillaise that was to become the national anthem of France. But
enthusiasm was about the only asset that the French possessed.
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