Suspension of the King
10th Aug 1792
King Louis XVI was suspended as a result of the second journee to the Tuileries.
Invasion of France
19th Aug 1792
Lafayette fled to Austria and France was invaded by Coalition troops led by the Duke of Brunswick.
Royalist Riots
22nd Aug 1792
Royalist riots broke out across France in areas such as Brittany, La Vendee and Dauphine. Demonstrating that there was not a united France which was crucial in a time of war.
September massacres
Sep 1792
The September Massacres were a wave of killings in Paris (2nd-7th Sep 1792) and other cities during the French Revolution. There was fear that whilst the National Guardsmen were fighting the Coalition, inmates of the city’s prisons, who were thought to be royalist sympathisers, would rise up against the Revolution and attack Paris from within. Those who were left to fight in the war had little experience, there was a lack of trust in them which was amplified by their losses. With the abandonment of Lafayette, many people lost faith in their side and a conspiracy of a royalist army forming caused the September Massacres. Nost of the prisoners were being held on crimes like petty theft, thus, were innocent against who the sans-culottes perceived them to be. Some were put on trial, but it was summary justice (mob justice).
1,200-1,400 prisoners, by the 6th, were executed.
233 of those executed were refractory priests
Meeting of the National Convention
20th Sep 1792
These elections were held just after the September massacres, where all male citizens could vote (no active or passive). The Girondins tried to exploit the massacres by emphasising a need for stability but this had the opposite effect in Paris- due to their hostility towards the sans-culottes and the Commune.
The widening of the electorate had very little impact as the vote turnout was so low- fear of being labelled a traitor? Only people who actually wanted the radicals voted. Robespierre, Marat, Danton and Desmoulins were all elected. 83/749 deputies had been in the National Constituent Assembly, including Robespierre. Convention also contained a new radical element- some genuinely ordinary people has been elected eg. Louis Legendre who was a butcher.
Effects of these elections: abolishment of the monarchy, republic proclaimed. The monarchists were disenfranchised (made passive so couldn't vote)
Vote turnout very low
Robespierre, Marat, Danton and Desmoulins were elected
Jacobins became known as Montagnards
749 seat convention, with 250 uncommitted deputies forming the ‘Plain’
Convention Jacobin and Girondin dominated
¼ Jacobin and ⅕ Girondin
50% of 749 were lawyers
Victory at Valmy
20th Sep 1792
The Battle of Valmy was the first French win of the war as slowly the army had been reforming itself (organising itself, becoming unified in purpose). This was a clash of willpower- the French were fighting for freedom/revolution so motivated to win at all cost to save the revolution. The Prussians were fighting for their King- no real incentive. Valmy saves the revolution but then the revolutionaries turn their attention to the King.
100 people died on each side
Battle only lasted 1 day
Fédérés, National Guards and revolutionaries vs Prussians
1st example of battle influenced by ideologies in Europe
Monarchy is abolished and France becomes a republic
21st and 22nd Sep 1792
The Convention declared the abolishment of the monarchy on the 21st September and proclaimed France a republic the next day. Robespierre had been encouraging a republic for a while as he deemed it was necessary for the revolution to live.
21st- abolishment of the monarchy
22nd- France proclaimed a republic
22nd- 1st day of the French Revolutionary calendar
Armoire de fer
Dec 1792
Mirabeau had sent letters to the King, providing information about the revolution because he still wanted a constitutional monarch. However, as Mirabeau was a hero of the early revolution; ‘letters to my constituents’, the Tennis Court Oath, and famously stood up at the Assembly and said “we will not move but for the force of bassinets”, this destroyed Mirabeau’s memory and sealed the fate of the king.
King’s trial and execution
Jan 1793
The Convention needed to decide what to do with Louis. The Jacobins wanted a trial to look fair/just, the opposite of absolutism. They spent from 1st Nov -17th Jan debating this, and read out their verdict on the 20th Jan (The trial took place on 11th December and was arguably a trial of the monarchy, not just Louis). Within 24hrs, Louis was executed.
Trial: Robespierre and the Jacobins wanted him executed. Stop him being a figurehead for counter-revolutionaries, therefore he was always a threat.The Girondins feared this would increase unease and provoke civil war. Difference in opinion hence long debating time. Louis defended himself at his trial under the rules of the constitutional monarchy, to show the convention they had undermined previous revolutionaries. The Convention acted as his judge and jury controversial as could be argued to be invalid/sham trial. Louis supposedly approached his death with dignity and grace, before being executed by Sanson. Killing Louis further divided the revolution, increasing the violence. It also intensified the war, as Britain joined the war due to the threat to their monarchy, which globalised the war.
Trial 11th December
Verdict read out on 20th Jan
Louis executed on 21st
693 votes to none on if Louis was guilty (unanimous)
Death sentence very close 387-334, 49 deputies abstained from this vote
Rode in a carriage from the Temple to the Place de la Révolution (formerly called Place de Louis XV)
Accompanied in the carriage by Henry Essex Edgeworth- english priest
Executed by Charles-Henri Sanson
Executed him as Citizen Louis Capet, not King Louis XVI
Over 100,000 people attended the execution
French declaration of war on Britain and the United Provinces
Feb 1793
The foreground for the inclusion of Britain and the United Provinces in the war was the issuement of ‘the edict of fraternity’ by the French Republic on the 19th of Nov 1792. This created the ideological war (pitts republicanism and absolutism abroad). These ideological expansions of war fall under the ‘War of the First Coalition’. In 1793 the war went global; due to the British slave trade intrest and the intervention of William Pitts (Pitts Gold; to fund the emigres to form a counter revolution), the British blockaded the French to prevent trade. Alongside these developments inflation rose and due to the cost of war this became an increasingly larger problem. The peasants in Brittany (chouans) were rising up against the revolutionaries.
Creation of Revolutionary Tribunal and watch committees
Formation of CPS and representants-en-mission
March 1793
April 1793
To combat the aforementioned developments a new committee with Seiyes, Danton, Thomas Paine and Concordet were put in charge of the internal and external conflict. This committee was called the CGS (committee of general security). The Revolutionary Tribunal combatted counter-revolutionaries and was the main instrument of enacting Terror.
Created in April and reformed by Robespierre in July, the CPS (Committee of Public Safety) was a 12 man committee formed to monitor and speed up the work of the ministers by executing executive authority.
“Terror is the order of the day”
Danton, Robespierre
CPS; 12 men
First Law of Maximum
4th May 1793
Fixed grain prices. (Don’t use this example for economic or governmental intervention; a far stronger example for all themes this event is applicable to is the Law of General Maximum)
Expulsions of Girondins federalist revolts
2nd June 1793
On the 26th of May Robespierre came down on the side of the sans-culottes when he invited ‘the people to place themselves in insurrection against corrupt Girondin deputies. On the 31st of May a rising began which spread rapidly when news of the overthrow of the Jacobins in Lyon reached Paris on the 1st of June. Then on the 2nd of June 80,000 National Guardsmen surrounded the \convention and directed their cannon at it. They demanded the expulsion of the Girondins from the Assembly and a maximum price imposed for all essential goods. When deputies tried to leave they were forced back. For the first time armed forces were being used against an elected assembly.To avoid a massacre or a seizure of power by the revolutionary commune, the Convention agreed to arrest 29 Girondin deputies and 2 ministers.
80,000 National Guardsmen
29 deputies and 2 ministers were arrested
Assassination of Marat
July 1793
Following the purge of the Girondins a young royalist, Charlotte Corday, assassinated Marat in the vain belief that it would end the revolution.
Charlotte Corday
Levee en masse
23rd Aug 1793
This marked the appearance of total war. It stated that until the enemies of France were expelled from the Republic, then all Frenchmen were in a state of permanent requisition for the army. Nearly half a million conscripts; unmarried men between the ages of 18 and 25. They had to be fed, armed and trained. Thus, all resources of the nation were put at the government's disposal.
Sans-culottes’ journée
5th Sep 1793
On the 4th of Sep a crowd surrounded the Hotel de Ville to demand bread and higher wages. The following day (5th), urged on by Roux, it marched on the Convention, forcing it to accept a series of radical measures. The Sections imposed the proclamation ‘Terror as the order of the day’. The Convention immediately authorised the formation of the armee revolutionnaire consisting mainly of sans-culottes. The purpose being to confront counter-revolutionary activity and organise the defence of the Republic.
In total 56 other unauthorised armies were set up in the provinces between Sep-Dec 1793, and were used in ⅔ of the departments.
Law of suspects
17th Sep 1793
The Law of Suspects was a decree passed by the French National Convention on 17th September 1793, during the French Revolution. Some historians consider this decree the start of the Reign of Terror; they argue that the decree marked a significant weakening of individual freedoms that led to "revolutionary paranoia" that swept the nation The law ordered the arrest of all avowed enemies and suspected enemies of the Revolution, and specifically aimed at unsubmissive former nobles, émigrés, officials removed or suspended from office, officers suspected of treason, and hoarders of goods. The following year, the decree was expanded and became more strict. Implementation of the law and arrests were entrusted to oversight committees, and not to the legal authorities. The decree also introduced the maxim that subjects had to prove their innocence, which was later extended by the Law of 22 Prairial (10th June 1794). The Law of Suspects, actually a decree rather than a law, was based on a proposal by Philippe-Antoine Merlin de Douai and Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès, approved by the National Convention of the French First Republic. It supplemented an earlier law of 10 March 1793, which created the revolutionary tribunals but contained a much narrower definition of suspects.
‘Revolutionary paranoia’
Law of General Maximum
29th Sep 1793
The Law of the General Maximum was instituted on 29th September 1793, setting price limits to attempt to ensure the continued supply of food to the French capital. It was enacted as an extension of the Law of Suspects of 17 September, and succeeded the Law of the Maximum of 4th May 1793, which served a similar purpose. The General Maximum's economic impact was largely negative, as its efforts at price control led to an overall decrease in food supply and prolonged famines in parts of the country. The British blockade was driving inflation, thus, This was an attempt to regulate food supplies in France by imposing strict price controls. It was made chiefly to satisfy and placate the sans culottes who were starving, as the peasants in areas of federalist revolts couldn’t harvest. The policy proved disastrous, causing food production and availability to fall even further.
The law set forth uniform price ceilings on grain, flour, meat, oil, onions, soap, firewood, leather, and paper; their sales were regulated a third over the maximum price set in 1790
The policy contradicted the attitude of Laissez Faire, which the National Convention had originally settled upon in August of 1789 with the purpose of decentralising power; now a distant thought
Declaration of revolutionary government
Oct 1793
This is a combination of the Laws declared surrounding this time. The most significant one being the Law of Frimaire which is also known as the ‘Law of Revolutionary Government’. This is a pivotal point in the consequences of Terror policy.
Law of Frimaire
4th Dec 1793
On December 4th, 1793, a law was passed, taking as its name the date in the Revolutionary Calendar: 14 Frimaire. This law was designed to give the Committee of Public Safety even more control over the whole of France by providing a structured 'chain of authority' under the revolutionary government and to keep everything highly centralised. It stopped representatives-en-mission from taking 'action' without the authority of the committee. This was an attempt to bring order to the Reign of Terror and make the representatives more accountable, especially following the events in Lyon in October 1793. Events in Nantes were even cruller: during this period, anyone arrested and jailed for not consistently supporting the Revolution, or suspected of being a royalist sympathiser, especially Catholic priests and nuns, was cast into the river Loire and drowned on the orders of Jean- Baptiste Carrier, the representative-on-mission. Before the drownings ceased, innocent families with women and children died in what Carrier himself called "the national bathtub". . The Committee was now the supreme executive and nobody further down the chain was supposed to alter the decrees in any way, including the deputies on a mission who became increasingly sidelined as local district and commune bodies took over the job of applying the law. In effect, the law of 14 Frimaire aimed to institute a uniform administration with no resistance, the opposite of that to the constitution of 1791. It marked the end of the first phase of the terror, a 'chaotic' regime, and an end to the campaigning of the revolutionary armies who first came under central control and were then closed on March 27th, 1794. Meanwhile, factional infighting in Paris saw more groups go to the guillotine and sansculotte power began to wane, partly as a result of exhaustion, partly because of the success of their measures (there was little left to agitate for) and partly as a purging of the Paris Commune took hold.
Jacques-Nicolas Billaud-Varenne proposed the law
The drownings at Nantes were a series of mass executions by drowning during the Reign of Terror in Nantes, France, that occurred between November 1793 and February 1794.
More than 4 thousand people were drowned in Nantes
All unofficial bodies were shut down, including provincial revolutionary armies. Even the departmental organisation was bypassed for everything bar tax and public works.
Arrest and execution of Hebertists
March 1794
The Hébertistes were followers of Jacques Hebert, a left-wing former supporter of the revolutionary government, who demanded that hoarders be executed and property redistributed (this was very popular with the sans-culottes). They had little support in the Convention but not in the Cordeliers Club, the Commune or other popular Paris societies. Robespierre disliked their polItical extremism, particularly their leading part in the dechristianisation campaign, turning Catholics against the revolution. When Hebert called for an insurrection at the beginning of March 1974, he was arrested along with eighteen supporters. They were accused of being foreign agents who wanted a military dictatorship that would then prepare the way for restored monarchy.
The CPS took advantage of this situation to strengthen its dictatorship:
The Parisian revolutionary army was disbanded
The Cordeliers Club was closed
All popular societies were forced to disband
The Commune was purged and filled with supporters of Robespierre
Representatives-on-mission, responsible for some of the worst atrocities in the provinces, were recalled to Paris
Arrest and execution of Dantonists
Mar-Apr 1794
Danton, a former colleague of Robespierre, was a greater threat from the Right due to his high profile and stance with the Jacobins. The Indulgents wanted to halt the Terror and centralisation imposed in December. To do this. Danton argued the war would have to come to an end as it was largely responsible for the Terror. Desmoulins supported his desire to end the Terror and in his newspaper ‘Le Vieux Cordelier’ in December 1793 called for the release of ‘200,000 citizens who are called suspects’. Danton, unlike Hebert, had a large following in the Convention. However, his aims were felt by the CPS to leave the door open for a return of monarchy. He was therefore brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal on charges based on his political record and on the 5th of April 1794 was executed with many of his followers, including Desmoulins.
Indulgents: Followers of Danton and Desmoulins who wished to relax the Terror
On the 5th of April 1794 was executed with many of his followers, including Desmoulins.
Festival of the Supreme Being
8th June 1794
Robespierre loathed the dechristianisation campaign as he himself was religious but also because it made Catholics an enemy of the Revolution. Thus, he wanted to unite all Frenchmen under a new religion; the Cult of the Supreme Being, which he convinced the Convention to accept in a decree on the 7th May 1794. On the 8th of June 1794 Robespierre organised a large ‘Festival of the Supreme Being’ in Paris.
This pleased no one.
Criticisms:
Ignored Catholic doctrine, ceremonies and the Pope
Anti-clericals, including most members of the CGS saw it as trying to reintroduce Catholicism
Others saw it as Robespierre trying to assert himself as high priest of the new religion.
Law of the 22 Prairial
10th June 1794
The Law of 22 Prairial, also known as the Law of the Great Terror, was enacted on 10 June 1794. The immediate background to the introduction of the Prairial Law was the attempted assassinations of Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois on 23 May and of Maximilien Robespierre on 25 May. Introducing the decree at the Convention, Georges Couthon, who had drafted it, argued that political crimes were far worse than common crimes because in the latter 'only individuals are wounded' whereas in the former 'the existence of free society is threatened'. The law was an extension of the centralisation and organisation of the Terror, following the decrees of 16 April and 8 May which had suspended the revolutionary court in the provinces and brought all political cases for trial in the capital. The result of these laws was that by June 1794 Paris was full of suspects awaiting trial.
The law was also prompted by the idea that members of the Convention who had supported Georges Danton were politically unreliable, a view shared by Robespierre, Couthon, Saint-Just and others. They felt that these people needed to be brought swiftly to Justice without a full debate by the Convention itself.
It was proposed by Georges Auguste Couthon but seems to have been written by Robespierre
On 29 April it was reported that the forty prisons of Paris contained 6,921 prisoners; by 11 June this number had increased to 7,321 and by 28 July to 7,800.
