August 10, 1792

When a Parisian mob stormed the Tuileries Palace, on August 10, 1792, a Swiss guard, of almost a thousand men, was responsible for the protection of the Bourbon King and Queen. The Guard refused to surrender and most of them were killed. This Swiss Guard was a mercenary troup which had served the French royal family for over the past century. The King had written a command for them to stand down, but it did not reach the soldiers in time to prevent the slaughter.

The event, including the subsequent slaughter of some remaining soldiers while they were confined in prison, personifies the translation of enlightenment thought into physical action. The particular shallowness of liberalism, its attendant self-righteousness, was revealed then, and has come to typify a dimension of modernity.

The Swiss who died nobly were memorialized in a statue named The Lion of Lucerne, after the French monarchy regained control.