Fall of Toulon: The Royal Navy and the Royalist Last Stand Against the French Revolution

The British-led attempt to overthrow the French revolution is a cautionary tale for all attempts at 'regime change'. In the summer of 1793 the surviving French Royalists surrendered the great naval base at Toulon to the British, intending this to be the springboard for a full-scale counter-revolution. A multi-national taskforce led by the British landed in the city. But the Royalists' hopes were dashed: the revolutionaries reacted with great speed and violence. Instead of striking into France, the Royalists and their foreign allies were besieged in Toulon. Among the republican forces was a young artillery officer who was soon makes a name for himself, Napoleon Bonaparte. The Allied forces botched their withdrawal, a chaotic flight that made the last days of Saigon look orderly. Only a fraction of the Royalists escaped with the ships, thousands were massacred in the fall of the city or faced the guillotine afterwards.