A week later the powerful fortress of Longwy fell so quickly that Vergniaud declared it to "have been handed over to the enemy." By the end of the month the Prussians were at Verdun, the last fortress barring the road to Paris. In the capital, there was a well-justified belief that Verdun would offer no more than a token resistance. The war, which had appeared to bring the triumph of the Revolution, now seemed likely to lead it to disaster. On 2 September the alarm gun was fired and drums beat the citizens to their Sections again. The walls of Paris were plastered with recruiting posters whose opening sentence, "To arms, citizens, the enemy is at our gates!" was taken literally by many readers. In the Assembly, Danton concluded the most famous of all his speeches: "De l’audace, encore de l’audace, toujours de l’audace, et la France est sauvée!" (Audacity, and yet more audacity, and always audacity, and France will be saved!) Once more the sans-culottes responded and in the next three weeks, 20,000 marched from Paris for the defence of the Revolution. References Sources External links The document by which the National Assembly formally deposed Louis XVI and called for the Convention, translated into English. 1792 events of the French Revolution 18th-century rebellions 18th century in Paris Louis XVI French cannibals Incidents of cannibalism Massacres in France Insurgencies in Paris