Saint-Calais ( French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ kalɛ] ) is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays de la Loire in north-western France .
142-681: Prior to the French Revolution it was known for its Benedictine abbey named after the Anisola stream (modern Aniole , a tributary of the Braye ). Saint-Calais is a later name coming from one of the local saints of the Perche area . William of St. Calais , a product of this monastery, was a post-conquest bishop of Durham . There are no remains of the Abbey, which was a principal land-owner in
284-593: A Committee of Public Safety . Social and economic difficulties exacerbated the tensions between the groups. The final showdown was precipitated by Jean-Paul Marat 's trial and the arrest of sectional activists. On 25 May, the Paris Commune marched to the Convention to demand the release of the activists. In reply, Maximin Isnard , who was presiding over the Convention, launched into a diatribe reminiscent of
426-572: A counter-revolution . In response, the Assembly published the August Decrees which abolished feudalism . Over 25% of French farmland was subject to feudal dues , providing the nobility with most of their income; these were now cancelled, along with church tithes. While their former tenants were supposed to pay them compensation, collecting it proved impossible, and the obligation was annulled in 1793. Other decrees included equality before
568-471: A Parisian mob, and neither Bailly nor Lafayette could prevent it. In rural areas, wild rumours and paranoia resulted in the formation of militia and an agrarian insurrection known as la Grande Peur . The breakdown of law and order and frequent attacks on aristocratic property led much of the nobility to flee abroad. These émigrés funded reactionary forces within France and urged foreign monarchs to back
710-543: A balance that was destroyed in July by the worsening of the crisis. The Convention rapidly approved the new constitution in the hope to clear itself of the charge of dictatorship and calm the anxieties of the departments. The Declaration of Rights, which precedes the text of the Constitution, solemnly reaffirmed the nation's indivisibility and the great principles of equality, liberty, security, and property. In contrast to
852-439: A campaign for war against Austria and Prussia, often interpreted as a mixture of calculation and idealism. While exploiting popular anti-Austrianism, it reflected a genuine belief in exporting the values of political liberty and popular sovereignty. Simultaneously, conservatives headed by Marie Antoinette also favoured war, seeing it as a way to regain control of the military, and restore royal authority. In December 1791, Louis made
994-766: A combination of social, political, and economic factors which the ancien régime ("old regime") proved unable to manage. A financial crisis and widespread social distress led to the convocation of the Estates General in May 1789, its first meeting since 1614. The representatives of the Third Estate broke away, and re-constituted themselves as a National Assembly in June. The Storming of the Bastille in Paris on 14 July
1136-683: A distinction opposed by a significant minority, including the Jacobin clubs . By mid-1790, the main elements of a constitutional monarchy were in place, although the constitution was not accepted by Louis until 1791. Food shortages and the worsening economy caused frustration at the lack of progress, and led to popular unrest in Paris. This came to a head in late September 1789, when the Flanders Regiment arrived in Versailles to reinforce
1278-588: A few days the Girondins launched a bitter attack on their Montagnard opponents. Conflict continued without interruption until the expulsion of the Girondin leaders from the Convention on 2 June 1793. The Girondins had relied on votes from the majority of the deputies, many of whom were alarmed as well as scandalized by the September massacres , but their insistence on monopolising all positions of authority during
1420-533: A government take shape. Danton resigned from it on 10 July. Couthon , Saint-Just , Jeanbon Saint-Andre , and Prieur of the Marne formed a nucleus of resolute Montagnards who rallied Barère and Lindet , then successfully added Robespierre on 27 July, Carnot and Prieur of Cote-d'Ore on 14 August, and Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varenne on 6 September. They had a few clear ideas to which they clung: to command, to fight, and to conquer. Their work in common,
1562-460: A host of others, backed by officers who combined abilities as soldiers and their political sense. For the first time since the Roman Empire, a government succeeded in arming and feeding great numbers of soldiers. The technical innovations resulted chiefly from its sheer size as well the strategy that developed from it. The old system of cordons lost its prestige. Moving between the armies of
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#17327768584541704-492: A list of grievances, known as Cahiers de doléances . Tax inequality and seigneurial dues (feudal payments owed to landowners) headed the grievances in the cahiers de doleances for the estate. On 5 May 1789, the Estates-General convened at Versailles . Necker outlined the state budget and reiterated the king's decision that each estate should decide on which matters it would agree to meet and vote in common with
1846-494: A majority by forging consensus with monarchiens like Mounier, and independents including Adrien Duport , Barnave and Alexandre Lameth . At one end of the political spectrum, reactionaries like Cazalès and Maury denounced the Revolution in all its forms, with radicals like Maximilien Robespierre at the other. He and Jean-Paul Marat opposed the criteria for "active citizens", gaining them substantial support among
1988-558: A network of institutions set up haphazardly since spring in March, the Revolutionary Tribunal and representatives on missions in the departments and was followed the next month by the Convention's representatives to the armies, also armed with unlimited powers; and enforced acceptance of assignat as the sole legal tender, price controls for grain and the forced loan of a billion livres from the rich. At last, France saw
2130-467: A new independent judiciary, with jury trials for criminal cases. However, moderate deputies were uneasy at popular demands for universal suffrage, labour unions and cheap bread, and over the winter of 1790 and 1791, they passed a series of measures intended to disarm popular radicalism. These included exclusion of poorer citizens from the National Guard, limits on use of petitions and posters, and
2272-562: A philosophical founder of the revolution, wrote it was "manifestly contrary to the law of nature ... that a handful of people should gorge themselves with superfluities, while the hungry multitude goes in want of necessities." The Revolution caused a massive shift of power from the Catholic Church to the state; although the extent of religious belief has been questioned, elimination of tolerance for religious minorities meant by 1789 being French also meant being Catholic. The church
2414-458: A policy concession to the people. But the situation which united them in the summer of 1793 was stronger than those differences of opinion. The Committee had to set itself above all, and choose those popular demands which were most suitable for achieving the Assembly's aims: to crush the enemies of the Republic and dash the last hopes of the aristocracy. To govern in the name of the Convention, at
2556-545: A propaganda tool and combat weapon for the two groups. The departments and districts resisted the idea of centralization. They saw the idea being symbolised by the desire to reduce the capital of the Revolution to a minuscule share of influence. Much of the Gironde wished to remove the Assembly from a city dominated by "agitators and flatterers of the people" but did not yet encourage an aggressive federalism , which would have run counter to its political ambitions. The Plain
2698-542: A representative body that had last met in 1614. The conflict between the Crown and the parlements became a national political crisis. Both sides issued a series of public statements, the government arguing that it was combating privilege and the parlement defending the ancient rights of the nation. Public opinion was firmly on the side of the parlements , and riots broke out in several towns. Brienne's attempts to raise new loans failed, and on 8 August 1788, he announced that
2840-463: A republican government. The country was little more republican in feeling or practice than it had been before at any time since Varennes but now had to become a republic because it no longer had a king. When the Convention met the military situation was undergoing an extraordinary transformation that seemed to confirm the Girondin prophecies of easy victory. After Valmy, the Prussians withdrew to
2982-571: A result, the clergy and nobility could combine to outvote the Third Estate despite representing less than 5% of the population. Following the relaxation of censorship and laws against political clubs, a group of liberal nobles and middle class activists, known as the Society of Thirty, launched a campaign for the doubling of Third Estate representation and individual voting. The public debate saw an average of 25 new political pamphlets published
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#17327768584543124-774: A series of disastrous defeats . In an effort to mobilise popular support, the government ordered non-juring priests to swear the oath or be deported, dissolved the Constitutional Guard and replaced it with 20,000 fédérés ; Louis agreed to disband the Guard, but vetoed the other two proposals, while Lafayette called on the Assembly to suppress the clubs. National Convention The Mountain (302) The Mountain (disputed members) (7) Girondins (178) Girondins (disputed members) (49) The Plain (153) The National Convention (French: Convention nationale )
3266-550: A significant proportion of the 6 million Frenchmen over 25, while only 10% of those able to vote actually did so. Finally, poor harvests and rising food prices led to unrest among the urban class known as Sans-culottes , who saw the new regime as failing to meet their demands for bread and work. This meant the new constitution was opposed by significant elements inside and outside the Assembly, itself split into three main groups. 264 members were affiliated with Barnave's Feuillants , constitutional monarchists who considered
3408-445: A single body, and the following day approved a " suspensive veto " for the king, meaning Louis could delay implementation of a law, but not block it indefinitely. In October, the Assembly voted to restrict political rights, including voting rights, to "active citizens", defined as French males over the age of 25 who paid direct taxes equal to three days' labour. The remainder were designated "passive citizens", restricted to "civil rights",
3550-617: A single-chamber assembly from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 (4 Brumaire IV under the Convention's adopted calendar ). The Convention came about when the Legislative Assembly decreed the provisional suspension of King Louis XVI and the convocation of a National Convention to draw up a new constitution with no monarchy. The other major innovation was to decree that deputies to that Convention should be elected by all Frenchmen twenty-one years old or more, domiciled for
3692-541: A speech in the Assembly giving foreign powers a month to disband the émigrés or face war, an act greeted with enthusiasm by supporters, but suspicion from opponents. Barnave's inability to build a consensus in the Assembly resulted in the appointment of a new government, chiefly composed of Brissotins . On 20 April 1792, the French Revolutionary Wars began when French armies attacked Austrian and Prussian forces along their borders, before suffering
3834-410: A week from 25 September 1788. The Abbé Sieyès issued influential pamphlets denouncing the privilege of the clergy and nobility, and arguing the Third Estate represented the nation and should sit alone as a National Assembly. Activists such as Mounier , Barnave and Robespierre organised regional meetings, petitions and literature in support of these demands. In December, the king agreed to double
3976-458: A year and living by the product of their labor. The National Convention was, therefore, the first French assembly elected by a suffrage without distinctions of class . Although the Convention lasted until 1795, power was effectively delegated by the Convention and concentrated in the small Committee of Public Safety from April 1793. The eight months from the fall of 1793 to the spring of 1794, when Maximilien Robespierre and his allies dominated
4118-420: Is less well known than the first, which was the true executive authority and was armed with immense prerogatives. It dated from April, but its composition was thoroughly reshuffled during the summer of 1793. The summer of 1793 saw sans-culotte disturbances reach a peak under a double banner: price fixing and terror. On top came the news of unprecedented treason: Toulon and its squadron had been handed over to
4260-590: The Brunswick Manifesto : "If any attack made on the persons of the representatives of the nation, then I declare to you in the name of the whole country that Paris would be destroyed". On the next day, the Jacobins declared themselves in a state of insurrection. On 28 May, the Cité section called the other sections to a meeting in order to organize the insurrection. On 29 May, the delegates representing 33 of
4402-525: The Champ de Mars to sign. Led by Lafayette, the National Guard was ordered to "preserve public order" and responded to a barrage of stones by firing into the crowd , killing between 13 and 50 people. The massacre badly damaged Lafayette's reputation: the authorities responded by closing radical clubs and newspapers, while their leaders went into exile or hiding, including Marat. On 27 August, Emperor Leopold II and King Frederick William II of Prussia issued
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4544-744: The Cordeliers Club , filled Bouchotte 's offices, and could generally carry the Commune with them. The other wing was the Dantonists , which formed in response to the increasing centralization of the Revolutionary Government and the dictatorship of the Committees. The Dantonists were led predominately by deputies of the Convention (rather than the sans-culottes), including Danton , Delacroix , and Desmoulins . Putting
4686-473: The Declaration of 1789 , the 1793 added rights to public assistance, work, education and insurrection. The chief aim of the Constitution was to ensure the major role of the deputies in the Convention, which was seen as being the essential basis for political democracy. The Legislative Assembly was to be elected by direct vote cast for a single member, deputies were elected on receiving a simple majority of
4828-599: The Declaration of Pillnitz declaring their support for Louis and hinting at an invasion of France on his behalf. In reality, the meeting between Leopold and Frederick was primarily to discuss the Partitions of Poland ; the Declaration was intended to satisfy Comte d'Artois and other French émigrés but the threat rallied popular support behind the regime. Based on a motion proposed by Robespierre, existing deputies were barred from elections held in early September for
4970-712: The First Coalition , Charles François Dumouriez 's defection to the enemy and the War in the Vendée , which began in March 1793, were all used as arguments by Montagnards and sans-culottes to portray Girondins as soft. The Montagnards proposed measures, but the Girondins were reluctant to take such measures. The Girondins were forced to accept the Montagnards' creation of the Revolutionary Tribunal and
5112-819: The French First Republic in September, and Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. After another revolt in June 1793 , the constitution was suspended, and adequate political power passed from the National Convention to the Committee of Public Safety , led by the Jacobins . About 16,000 people were executed in what was later referred to as Reign of Terror , which ended in July 1794 . Weakened by external threats and internal opposition,
5254-577: The French Legislative Assembly . Although Robespierre himself was one of those excluded, his support in the clubs gave him a political power base not available to Lafayette and Bailly, who resigned respectively as head of the National Guard and the Paris Commune. The new laws were gathered together in the 1791 Constitution , and submitted to Louis XVI, who pledged to defend it "from enemies at home and abroad". On 30 September,
5396-478: The Hôtel de Ville, some 7,000 of them marched on Versailles , where they entered the Assembly to present their demands. They were followed to Versailles by 15,000 members of the National Guard under Lafayette, who was virtually "a prisoner of his own troops". When the National Guard arrived later that evening, Lafayette persuaded Louis the safety of his family required their relocation to Paris. Next morning, some of
5538-523: The Legislative Assembly . The full number of deputies was 749, not counting 33 from the French colonies, of whom only some arrived in Paris in time. Thomas Paine and Anacharsis Cloots were appointed in the Convention by Girondins. Besides these, however, the newly formed départements annexed to France from 1782 to 1789 were allowed to send deputations. According to its own ruling,
5680-471: The Vendée , where only a few priests took the oath and the civilian population turned against the revolution. The result was state-led persecution of " Refractory clergy ", many of whom were forced into exile, deported, or executed. The period from October 1789 to spring 1791 is usually seen as one of relative tranquility, when some of the most important legislative reforms were enacted. However, conflict over
5822-703: The War of the Pyrenees . The Piedmontese took advantage of the diversion of republican forces at Lyons in order to invade France from the east. In Corsica , Paoli 's revolt expelled the French from the island with British support. British troops opened the Siege of Dunkirk in August, and in October, the Allies invaded Alsace . The military situation had become desperate. In addition were other incidents that compounded
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5964-466: The parlements , the nobility, and those subject to new taxes. France primarily funded the Anglo-French War of 1778–1783 through loans. Following the peace, the monarchy borrowed heavily, culminating in a debt crisis. By 1788, half of state revenue was required to service its debt. In 1786, the French finance minister, Calonne , proposed a package of reforms including a universal land tax,
6106-487: The 29th), on the 14th reorganized the Revolutionary Tribunal , on the 17th voted in the law on suspects, and on the 20th gave the local revolutionary committees the task of drawing up lists of them. The dictatorship of the Convention and the committees, simultaneously supported and controlled by the Parisian sections, representing the sovereign people in permanent session, lasted from June to September. It governed through
6248-417: The Assembly and published on 26 August as a statement of principle. The Assembly now concentrated on the constitution itself. Mounier and his monarchist supporters advocated a bicameral system, with an upper house appointed by the king, who would also have the right to appoint ministers and veto legislation. On 10 September, the majority of the Assembly, led by Sieyès and Talleyrand , voted in favour of
6390-441: The Assembly was increasingly divided, while external players like the Paris Commune and National Guard competed for power. One of the most significant was the Jacobin club; originally a forum for general debate, by August 1790 it had over 150 members, split into different factions. The Assembly continued to develop new institutions; in September 1790, the regional Parlements were abolished and their legal functions replaced by
6532-623: The Assembly went into a non-stop session after rumours circulated he was planning to use the Swiss Guards to force it to close. The news brought crowds of protestors into the streets, and soldiers of the elite Gardes Françaises regiment refused to disperse them. On the 14th, many of these soldiers joined the mob in attacking the Bastille , a royal fortress with large stores of arms and ammunition. Its governor, Bernard-René de Launay , surrendered after several hours of fighting that cost
6674-528: The Civil Constitution led to a state of near civil war in southern France, which Barnave tried to defuse by relaxing the more punitive provisions. On 29 November, the Assembly approved a decree giving refractory clergy eight days to comply, or face charges of 'conspiracy against the nation', an act opposed even by Robespierre. When Louis vetoed both, his opponents were able to portray him as opposed to reform in general. Brissot accompanied this with
6816-494: The Coalition, the French could maneuver along interior lines, deploy part of their troops along the frontiers and take advantage of the inaction of any one of their enemies to beat the others. Acting en masse , and overwhelming the foe by sheer numbers were Carnot's principles. They were still untried and not until Bonaparte appeared did they enjoy any great success. As late as September 1793, there were two distinct wings among
6958-679: The Committee of Public Safety, represent the most radical and bloodiest phase of the French Revolution, known as the Reign of Terror . After the fall of Robespierre , the Convention lasted for another year until a new constitution was written, ushering in the French Directory . The indirect election took place from 2 to 10 September 1792 after the election of the electoral colleges by primary assemblies on 26 August. Despite
7100-431: The Committee proved conciliatory. The Convention voted 10 million livres for relief, on 3 Ventôse , Barère presented a new general Maximum, and on the 8th Saint-Just obtained a decree confiscating the property of suspects and distributing it to the needy ( Ventôse Decrees ). The Hébertists felt that if they increased the pressure, they would triumph once and for all. Although the call appeared like one for insurrection it
7242-493: The Constituent Assembly was dissolved, and the Legislative Assembly convened the next day. The Legislative Assembly is often dismissed by historians as an ineffective body, compromised by divisions over the role of the monarchy, an issue exacerbated when Louis attempted to prevent or reverse limitations on his powers. At the same time, restricting the vote to those who paid a minimal amount of tax disenfranchised
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#17327768584547384-455: The Convention elected its President every fortnight, and the outgoing President was eligible for re-election after the lapse of a fortnight. Ordinarily, the sessions were held in the morning, but evening sessions also occurred frequently, often extending late into the night. Sometimes in exceptional circumstances, the Convention declared itself in permanent session and sat for several days without interruption. For both legislative and administrative
7526-518: The Convention ordered the entire National Guard to line both sides of the route to the scaffold. Louis was beheaded at the Place de la Revolution . Within the nation, "voters" and "appellants", those against or for the execution of Louis, swore undying hatred of each other. The rest of Europe, fearing the outcome of the French Revolution in their own countries, decreed a war of extermination against regicides. The Assembly began harmoniously, but within
7668-644: The Convention that a Constitution which Louis had violated himself, despite declaring his inviolability, could not be used in his defence. Robespierre had been taken ill and had done little other than support Saint-Just , who gave his first major speech, in his argument against the king's inviolability. On 20 November, opinion turned sharply against Louis following the discovery of a secret cache of 726 documents consisting of Louis's personal communications with bankers and ministers. At his trial, he claimed not to recognise documents that had been clearly signed by himself. The trial began on 10 December. The Montagnards put
7810-450: The Convention used committees, with powers more or less widely extended and regulated by successive laws. The most famous of these committees included the Committee of Public Safety and the Committee of General Security . The Convention held legislative and executive powers during the first years of the French First Republic and had three distinct periods: Girondin, Montagnard or Jacobin, and Thermidorian . The National Convention
7952-483: The Convention, and their attacks on the Montagnard leaders, soon irritated them and caused them to regard the party as a faction. One by one, deputies such as Couthon , Cambon , Carnot , Lindet and Barère began to gravitate towards the Montagnards, and the majority, The Plain, as it was called, held itself aloof from both sides. Girondins were convinced that their opponents aspired to a bloody dictatorship, but
8094-412: The Convention, was postponed until peace had been made. Indeed, the Montagnards faced dramatic circumstances: federalist insurrection, war in the Vendée, military failures and a worsening economic situation. Despite everything, a new civil war could not be avoided. By the middle of June, about 60 departments were in more or less open rebellion . However, the frontier departments had remained faithful to
8236-450: The Convention. The rising was widespread, rather than deep. It was essentially the work of the departmental and district administrations. The communes, which were more popular in composition, showed themselves in general lukewarm or hostile, and federalist leaders soon became divided among themselves. Sincere republicans among them could not fail to be uneasy about the foreign invasion and the Vendée. Those who were seeing themselves rejected by
8378-539: The Crown. The royal family left the palace in disguise on the night of 20 June 1791; late the next day, Louis was recognised as he passed through Varennes , arrested and taken back to Paris. The attempted escape had a profound impact on public opinion; since it was clear Louis had been seeking refuge in Austria, the Assembly now demanded oaths of loyalty to the regime, and began preparing for war, while fear of 'spies and traitors' became pervasive. Despite calls to replace
8520-402: The Estates-General. However, he stated that the three estates were sacrosanct and it was up to each estate to agree to end their privileges and decide on which matters they would vote in common with the other estates. At the end of the session the Third Estate refused to leave the hall and reiterated their oath not to disperse until a constitution had been agreed. Over the next days more members of
8662-623: The European revolts of the 1780s inspired public debate on issues such as patriotism, liberty, equality, and democracy. These shaped the response of the educated public to the crisis, while scandals such as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace fuelled widespread anger at the court, nobility, and church officials. France faced a series of budgetary crises during the 18th century, as revenues failed to keep pace with expenditure. Although
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#17327768584548804-469: The French'. Historian John McManners argues "in eighteenth-century France, throne and altar were commonly spoken of as in close alliance; their simultaneous collapse ... would one day provide the final proof of their interdependence." One suggestion is that after a century of persecution, some French Protestants actively supported an anti-Catholic regime, a resentment fuelled by Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire . Jean-Jacques Rousseau , considered
8946-400: The June 1791 Le Chapelier Law suppressing trade guilds and any form of worker organisation. The traditional force for preserving law and order was the army, which was increasingly divided between officers, who largely came from the nobility, and ordinary soldiers. In August 1790, the loyalist General Bouillé suppressed a serious mutiny at Nancy ; although congratulated by the Assembly, he
9088-434: The Montagnards believed that the Girondins were ready for any compromise with conservatives and even royalists to guarantee their remaining in power. The bitter enmity soon reduced the Convention to a state of limbo. Debate after debate degenerated into verbal brawling from which no decision could emerge. The political deadlock, which had repercussions all over France, eventually drove men to accept dangerous allies: royalists in
9230-524: The Montagnards, although they were still democrats . The Girondins drew their name from the Gironde , a region of France from which many of the deputies of this faction were elected (although many "Girondins" were actually Parisian by origin) and were also known as the Brissotins after their most prominent speaker, Jacques Pierre Brissot . The Montagnards drew their support from the Paris Commune and
9372-409: The Parisian proletariat, many of whom had been disenfranchised by the measure. On 14 July 1790, celebrations were held throughout France commemorating the fall of the Bastille, with participants swearing an oath of fidelity to "the nation, the law and the king." The Fête de la Fédération in Paris was attended by the royal family, with Talleyrand performing a mass . Despite this show of unity,
9514-629: The Republic was replaced in 1795 by the Directory , and four years later, in 1799, the Consulate seized power in a military coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte on 9 November. This event is generally seen as marking the end of the Revolutionary period. The Revolution resulted from multiple long-term and short-term factors, culminating in a social, economic, financial and political crisis in the late 1780s. Combined with resistance to reform by
9656-429: The Revolution had gone far enough, while another 136 were Jacobin leftists who supported a republic, led by Brissot and usually referred to as Brissotins . The remaining 345 belonged to La Plaine , a centrist faction who switched votes depending on the issue, but many of whom shared doubts as to whether Louis was committed to the Revolution. After he officially accepted the new Constitution, one recorded response
9798-402: The Third Estate declared itself to be the National Assembly of France and that all existing taxes were illegal. Within two days, more than 100 members of the clergy had joined them. Shaken by this challenge to his authority, the king agreed to a reform package that he would announce at a Royal Session of the Estates-General. The Salle des États was closed to prepare for the joint session, but
9940-508: The Third despite representing less than 5% of the population. Although the Catholic Church in France owned nearly 10% of all land, as well as receiving annual tithes paid by peasants, three-quarters of the 303 clergy elected were parish priests, many of whom earned less than unskilled labourers and had more in common with their poor parishioners than with the bishops of the first estate. The Second Estate elected 322 deputies, representing about 400,000 men and women, who owned about 25% of
10082-399: The abolition of grain controls and internal tariffs, and new provincial assemblies appointed by the king. The new taxes, however, were rejected, first by a hand-picked Assembly of Notables dominated by the nobility, then by the parlements when submitted by Calonne's successor Brienne . The notables and parlements argued that the proposed taxes could only be approved by an Estates-General,
10224-517: The arrest of suspects and a purge of the committees. It was probably the key day in the formation of the revolutionary government: the convention yielded, but kept control of events. It put Terror on the agenda on 5 September, on the 6th elected Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varenne to the Committee of Public Safety, on the 9th created the revolutionary army, on the 11th decreed the Maximum for grain and fodder (general controls for prices, and wages on
10366-576: The assembly agreed to the proposition " That royalty be abolished in France " and was carried with cheers. On the 22nd came the news of the Battle of Valmy . On the same day, it was decreed that "in future the acts of the assembly shall be dated First Year of the French Republic ". Three days later, the corollary that "the French republic is one and indivisible" was added to guard against federalism. A republic had been proclaimed but remained to enact
10508-629: The authority of the Pope over the French Church. In October, thirty bishops wrote a declaration denouncing the law, further fuelling opposition. When clergy were required to swear loyalty to the Civil Constitution in November 1790, it split the church between the 24% who complied, and the majority who refused. This stiffened popular resistance against state interference, especially in traditionally Catholic areas such as Normandy , Brittany and
10650-547: The calling of the Estates General of 1789 , which became radicalised by the struggle for control of public finances. Louis XVI was willing to consider reforms, but often backed down when faced with opposition from conservative elements within the nobility. Enlightenment critiques of social institutions were widely discussed among the educated French elite. At the same time, the American Revolution and
10792-461: The case of Girondins, sans-culottes in that of the Montagnards. Thus, the struggle within the Convention continued without results. The decision was to come from outside. Since the king's trial, the sans-culottes had been constantly assailing the "appealers" ( appelants ), quickly came to desire their expulsion from the Convention and demanded the establishing a Revolutionary Tribunal to deal with supposed aristocratic plots. Military setbacks from
10934-589: The clergy joined the National Assembly. On 27 June, faced with popular demonstrations and mutinies in his French Guards , Louis XVI capitulated. He commanded the members of the first and second estates to join the third in the National Assembly. Even the limited reforms the king had announced went too far for Marie Antoinette and Louis' younger brother the Comte d'Artois . On their advice, Louis dismissed Necker again as chief minister on 11 July. On 12 July,
11076-605: The command was reconstituted. The purge ended with most of the nobles excluded. The new generation reached the highest ranks, and the War College ( Ecole de Mars ) received six young men from each district to improve the staff. Army commanders were to be appointed by the Convention. What gradually emerged was a well-equipped military command. François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers , Lazare Hoche , Jean Baptiste Kléber , André Masséna , Jean-Baptiste Jourdan , and
11218-524: The danger, the taste of and pride in power created solidarity that made the Committee an autonomous organism. The committee was always managed collegially, despite the specific nature of the tasks of each director: the division into "politicians" and "technicians" was a Thermidorian invention, intended to lay the corpses of the Terror at the door of the Robespierrists alone. Many things, however, set
11360-463: The death penalty without condition, 26 voted for death on condition that the Mailhe amendment be applied, 334 were opposed (incl. 44 who voted for death with reprieve), 5 abstained or recused. On 19 January, the question of reprieve was put to a vote: 380 votes were cast against and 310 for (2 voted on condition, 10 abstained or recused). Each time, the Girondins had split. On the morning of 21 January,
11502-449: The debate on the ideological level. Louis XVI was classified as an enemy, who was alien to the body of the nation and as a "usurper". Balloting began on 15 January 1793. Each deputy explained his vote at the rostrum. The vote against the king was unanimous. There was to be no popular referendum, as Girondins had hoped. The fatal vote started on 16 January and continued until the next day. Of the 726 deputies present, 361 declared themselves for
11644-451: The disposal of the nation: forests, mines, quarries, furnaces, forges, tanneries, paper mills, large cloth factories and shoe making workshops. The labor of men and the value of things were subject to price controls. No one had a right to speculate at the cost of Patrie while it was in danger. Armaments caused more concern. As early as September 1793 efforts were made to create a large factory in Paris for rifles and sidearms. A special appeal
11786-497: The economy grew solidly, the increase was not reflected in a proportional growth in taxes, their collection being contracted to tax farmers who kept much of it as personal profit. As the nobility and Church benefited from many exemptions, the tax burden fell mainly on peasants. Reform was difficult because new tax laws had to be registered with regional judicial bodies or parlements that were able to block them. The king could impose laws by decree, but this risked open conflict with
11928-756: The emergency required. It was necessary to develop war production, revive foreign trade, and find new resources in France itself, and time was short. Circumstances gradually compelled it to assume the economic government of the country. Along with organization of the army, this was the most original feature of its work. All material resources were subjected to requisitioning. Farmers surrendered their grain, fodder, wool, flax, and hemp. Artisans and merchants gave up their manufactured products. Raw materials were carefully sought out: metal of all kinds, church bells, old paper, rags and parchments, grasses, brushwood, and even household ashes for manufacturing of potassium salts, and chestnuts for distilling. All businesses were placed at
12070-433: The enemy. In the name of the wretched poverty of the people, the leaders of the enragés , with Jacques Roux at their head, called for a planned economy from a Convention, which had no liking for the idea. However, the revolutionary logic of the mobilization of resources by national dictatorship was infinitely more powerful than economic doctrine. In August, a series of decrees gave the authorities discretionary powers over
12212-479: The expense of Saint-Calais, which has a population under 4000 and which lost its sous-préfecture status in 1926. The town however retains certain services appropriate to that level, e.g. hospital facilities. Saint-Calais was involved in the 1906 Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France , the world's first motoring Grand Prix. The D357 towards Le Mans and the D1 towards Vibraye and La Ferté-Bernard formed two sides of
12354-470: The fate of the former king. A commission was therefore established to examine the evidence against him while the Convention's Legislation Committee considered legal aspects of any future trial. Most Montagnards favoured judgment and execution, but the Girondins were divided concerning Louis's fate, with some arguing for royal inviolability, others supporting clemency and still others advocating lesser punishment or banishment. On 13 November, Robespierre stated in
12496-403: The favorable conditions that a great war always offers the labor force. Still Paris became calmer because the sans-culottes were gradually finding ways to subsist; the levée en masse and the formation of the revolutionary army were thinning their ranks; many now were working in arms and equipment shops or in the offices of the committees and ministries, which were expanded enormously. During
12638-495: The federalist revolt gained strength, the popular movement, roused to fury by high prices, was increasing the pressure it exercised on the government. Meanwhile, the Government was proving incapable of controlling the situation. In July 1793, the nation appeared to be on the point of falling apart. In June the Montagnards played for time. On 3 June the sale of the property of emigrants, in small parcels and payable in ten years,
12780-532: The frontier, and in November, French troops occupied the left bank of the Rhine . The Austrians , who had besieged Lille in October, were defeated by Dumouriez at the Battle of Jemappes on 6 November and evacuated the Austrian Netherlands . Nice was occupied and Savoy proclaimed its union with France. The successes made it safe to quarrel at home. The Girondins were more conservative than
12922-455: The fury of the revolutionaries and convinced them that their opponents had abandoned all restraint of civilized behavior. On 13 July, Charlotte Corday murdered the sans-culotte idol Jean-Paul Marat . She had been in touch with Girondin rebels in Normandy , and they were believed to have used her as their agent. The lack of forethought displayed by the Convention during the first few days
13064-466: The introduction of universal male suffrage, the turn-out was low, though the election saw an increase in comparison to the 1791 elections—in 1792 11.9% of a greatly increased electorate votes, compared to 10.2% of a much smaller electorate in the 1791. The low turn-out was partly due to a fear of victimization; in Paris, Robespierre presided over the elections and, in concert with the radical press, managed to exclude any candidate of royalist sympathies. In
13206-464: The king would summon an Estates-General to convene the following May. Brienne resigned and was replaced by Necker . In September 1788, the Parlement of Paris ruled that the Estates-General should convene in the same form as in 1614, meaning that the three estates (the clergy, nobility, and Third Estate or "commons") would meet and vote separately, with votes counted by estate rather than by head. As
13348-564: The land and collected seigneurial dues and rents from their tenants. Most delegates were town-dwelling members of the noblesse d'épée , or traditional aristocracy. Courtiers and representatives of the noblesse de robe (those who derived rank from judicial or administrative posts) were underrepresented. Of the 610 deputies of the Third Estate, about two-thirds held legal qualifications and almost half were venal office holders. Less than 100 were in trade or industry and none were peasants or artisans. To assist delegates, each region completed
13490-403: The law, opening public office to all, freedom of worship, and cancellation of special privileges held by provinces and towns. With the suspension of the 13 regional parlements in November, the key institutional pillars of the old regime had all been abolished in less than four months. From its early stages, the Revolution therefore displayed signs of its radical nature; what remained unclear
13632-519: The lives of 83 attackers. Taken to the Hôtel de Ville , he was executed, his head placed on a pike and paraded around the city; the fortress was then torn down in a remarkably short time. Although rumoured to hold many prisoners, the Bastille held only seven: four forgers, a lunatic, a failed assassin, and a deviant nobleman. Nevertheless, as a potent symbol of the Ancien Régime , its destruction
13774-475: The members of the Estates-General were not informed in advance. On 20 June, when the members of the Third Estate found their meeting place closed, they moved to a nearby tennis court and swore not to disperse until a new constitution had been agreed. At the Royal Session the king announced a series of tax and other reforms and stated that no new taxes or loans would be implemented without the consent of
13916-442: The monarchy with a republic, Louis retained his position but was generally regarded with acute suspicion and forced to swear allegiance to the constitution. A new decree stated retracting this oath, making war upon the nation, or permitting anyone to do so in his name would be considered abdication. However, radicals led by Jacques Pierre Brissot prepared a petition demanding his deposition, and on 17 July, an immense crowd gathered in
14058-501: The needs of national defense above all other considerations, the Committee of Public Safety had no intentions of giving in to the demands of either the popular movement or the moderates. Following the Hébertists would jeopardize revolutionary unity, and giving in to the demands of the moderates would have undermined both the Terror and the controlled economy. However, unity, centralization and the Terror were all considered essential to
14200-422: The other estates. On the following day, each estate was to separately verify the credentials of their representatives. The Third Estate, however, voted to invite the other estates to join them in verifying all the representatives of the Estates-General in common and to agree that votes should be counted by head. Fruitless negotiations lasted to 12 June when the Third Estate began verifying its own members. On 17 June,
14342-636: The people sought support from the moderates, the Feuillants and even the aristocrats. July and August were bad months on the frontiers. Within three weeks Mainz , the symbol of previous successes, capitulated to the Prussians, and the Austrians captured the fortresses of Condé and Valenciennes and invaded northern France. Spanish troops crossed the Pyrenees and began advancing on Perpignan in
14484-613: The popular societies such as the Jacobin Club and the Cordeliers , they got their name from the high bleachers on which they sat while the Convention was in session. Three issues dominated the first months of the National Convention: revolutionary violence , the trial of the king , and the Parisian dominance of politics. Antagonism between Paris and the provinces created friction among the people that served as
14626-444: The production and circulation of grain and ferocious punishments for fraud. "Granaries of plenty" were prepared, to stock corn requisitioned by authorities in each district. On 23 August, the decree on the levée en masse turned able-bodied civilians into soldiers. On 5 September, Parisians tried to repeat the revolt of 2 June. Armed sections again encircled the Convention to demand the setting up of an internal revolutionary army,
14768-464: The protestors broke into the royal apartments, searching for Marie Antoinette, who escaped. They ransacked the palace, killing several guards. Order was eventually restored, and the royal family and Assembly left for Paris, escorted by the National Guard. Louis had announced his acceptance of the August Decrees and the Declaration, and his official title changed from 'King of France' to 'King of
14910-431: The provisioning of the population. The Commune of Paris, a famous sans-culotte bastion, was neutralized by coming under its control. Administrative and economic centralization went hand in hand. The state of siege forced France into autarky ; to save the Republic the government mobilized all the nation's productive forces and reluctantly accepted the need for a controlled economy, which it introduced extemporaneously, as
15052-566: The public and bad acoustics. From 10 May 1793 it met in the Salle des Machines , an immense hall in which the deputies were loosely scattered. The Salle des Machines had galleries for the public who often influenced the debates with interruptions or applause. The members of the Convention came from all classes of society, but the most numerous were lawyers. 75 members had sat in the National Constituent Assembly , 183 in
15194-430: The rentier and mercantile classes, while the living standards fell for wage labourers and peasant farmers who rented their land. Economic recession from 1785, combined with bad harvests in 1787 and 1788, led to high unemployment and food prices, causing a financial and political crisis. While the state also experienced a debt crisis, the level of debt itself was not high compared with Britain's. A significant problem
15336-616: The representation of the Third Estate, but left the question of counting votes for the Estates-General to decide. The Estates-General contained three separate bodies, the First Estate representing 100,000 clergy, the Second the nobility, and the Third the "commons". Since each met separately, and any proposals had to be approved by at least two, the First and Second Estates could outvote
15478-409: The revolutionaries. Firstly, those who were later called Hébertists although Jacques Hébert himself was never the official leader of a party that advocated war to the death and adopted the program of the enragés , ostensibly because the sans-culottes approved it. The Hébertists preferred to side with the Montagnards so long as they could hope to control the Convention through them. They dominated
15620-519: The royal bodyguard, and were welcomed with a formal banquet as was common practice. The radical press described this as a 'gluttonous orgy', and claimed the tricolour cockade had been abused, while the Assembly viewed their arrival as an attempt to intimidate them. On 5 October, crowds of women assembled outside the Hôtel de Ville , agitating against high food prices and shortages. These protests quickly turned political, and after seizing weapons stored at
15762-496: The ruling elite , and indecisive policy by Louis XVI and his ministers, the result was a crisis the state was unable to manage. Between 1715 and 1789, the French population grew from 21 to 28 million, 20% of whom lived in towns or cities, Paris alone having over 600,000 inhabitants. This was accompanied by a tripling in the size of the middle class, which comprised almost 10% of the population by 1789. Despite increases in overall prosperity, its benefits were largely restricted to
15904-406: The same time controlling it, and to restrain the people without quenching their enthusiasm—this was a gamble. The ensemble of institutions, measures and procedures which constituted it was codified in a decree of 14 Frimaire (4 December) which set the seal on what had been the gradual development of centralized dictatorship founded on the Terror. In the center was the Convention, whose secular arm
16046-476: The sections formed an insurrectionary committee of nine members. On 2 June, 80,000 armed sans-culottes surrounded the Convention. After an attempt of deputies to leave was stopped with guns, the deputies resigned themselves to declare the arrest of 29 leading Girondins. In that way, the Gironde ceased to be a political force. Scarcely had the Gironde been eliminated when the Convention, now under Montagnard leadership, found itself caught between two threats. While
16188-525: The source of legitimate authority was more apparent in the provinces, where officers of the Ancien Régime had been swept away, but not yet replaced by new structures. This was less obvious in Paris, since the National Guard made it the best policed city in Europe, but disorder in the provinces inevitably affected members of the Assembly. Centrists led by Sieyès, Lafayette, Mirabeau and Bailly created
16330-556: The state assumed responsibilities such as paying the clergy and caring for the poor, the sick and the orphaned. On 13 February 1790, religious orders and monasteries were dissolved, while monks and nuns were encouraged to return to private life. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy of 12 July 1790 made them employees of the state, as well as establishing rates of pay and a system for electing priests and bishops. Pope Pius VI and many French Catholics objected to this since it denied
16472-412: The summer the requisition of the levy was completed and by July the total strength of the army reached 650,000. The difficulties were tremendous. The war production just started in September. The army was in the middle of the purge. In the spring of 1794, the amalgamation was undertaken. Two battalions of volunteers joined one battalion of regulars to constitute a demi-brigade, or regiment. At the same time,
16614-516: The three groups the Mountain was the most cohesive and the Plain was the least cohesive. Over 94% of The Mountain voted similarly on core issues, comparatively the Girondins and the Plain were much more divided with only 70% of Girondins voting similarly on the same issues and only 58% of the Plain voting similarly on the same issues. The first session was held on 20 September 1792. The following day,
16756-412: The triangular course. Famous persons from the town include Cardinal Louis-Ernest Dubois , archbishop of Rouen and subsequently archbishop of Paris in the early twentieth century. This Sarthe geographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . French Revolution The French Revolution ( French : Révolution française [ʁevɔlysjɔ̃ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
16898-464: The twelve committee members at loggerheads; Barère was more a man of the Convention than of the committee and was a link with The Plain. Robert Lindet had qualms about the Terror which, by contrast, was the outstanding theme of Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varenne, latecomers to the committee, forced on it by the sans-culottes in September; unlike Robespierre and his friends, Lazare Carnot had given his support only provisionally and for reasons of state to
17040-444: The vicinity. The existing parish church has a fine Renaissance facade. The Aniole was dammed by the monks, thereby retaining a significant lake area. Reaction against monastic landowners and the relative proximity to Paris (under twenty-four hours by stage-coach) conditioned the nineteenth century politics of the town. The coming of the railways and more recently of the motorway favoured neighbouring La Ferté-Bernard which has grown at
17182-405: The votes cast, and the assembly would sit for one year. The executive council of 24 members was chosen by the Legislative Assembly from among the 83 candidates chosen by the departments on the basis of universal male suffrage, and in that way, ministers were made responsible to the representatives. The exercise of popular suffrage was widened through the institution of the referendum. The Constitution
17324-421: The war effort. In order to balance the contradictory demands of these two factions, the Revolutionary Government attempted to maintain a position halfway between the moderate Dantonists ( citras ) and the extremist Hébertists ( ultras ). But at the end of the winter of 1793–94, the shortage of food took a sharp turn for the worse. The Hébertists incited sans-culottes to demand stringent measures, and at first,
17466-433: The whole of France, only eleven primary assemblies wanted to retain the monarchy. The electoral assemblies all tacitly voted for a "republic", though only Paris used that word. The elections returned the same sort of men that the active citizens had chosen in 1791. On 20 September the Convention held its first session in the "Salle des Cent-Suisses", the next day it moved to the Salle du Manège , which had little room for
17608-469: Was " Vive le roi, s'il est de bon foi! ", or "Long live the king – if he keeps his word". Although a minority in the Assembly, control of key committees allowed the Brissotins to provoke Louis into using his veto. They first managed to pass decrees confiscating émigré property and threatening them with the death penalty. This was followed by measures against non-juring priests, whose opposition to
17750-532: Was a period of political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 , and ended with the coup of 18 Brumaire in November 1799 and the formation of the French Consulate . Many of its ideas are considered fundamental principles of liberal democracy , while its values and institutions remain central to modern French political discourse. The causes of the revolution were
17892-404: Was a third faction during the Convention. It derived its name from their place on the floor of the Convention. During the start of the Convention, they sided with the Girondins, however, as it progressed and the Montagnards began to push for the execution of Louis XVI , The Plain began to side with them. The Convention's unanimous declaration of a French Republic on 21 September 1792 left open
18034-489: Was criticised by Jacobin radicals for the severity of his actions. Growing disorder meant many professional officers either left or became émigrés, further destabilising the institution. Held in the Tuileries Palace under virtual house arrest, Louis XVI was urged by his brother and wife to re-assert his independence by taking refuge with Bouillé, who was based at Montmédy with 10,000 soldiers considered loyal to
18176-409: Was decreed; on the 10 June, the optional division of common lands by head; and on 17 July, the abolition, without compensation, of all that remained of manorial rights. The Montagnards attempted to reassure the middle classes by rejecting any idea of terror, by protecting property rights and by restricting the popular movement to very narrowly-circumscribed limits. It was a delicate balance to achieve,
18318-527: Was followed by a series of radical measures by the Assembly, among them the abolition of feudalism , state control over the Catholic Church , and a declaration of rights . The next three years were dominated by the struggle for political control, and military defeats following the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in April 1792 led to an insurrection on 10 August . The monarchy was replaced by
18460-467: Was greeted by Bailly and accepted a tricolore cockade to loud cheers. However, it was clear power had shifted from his court; he was welcomed as 'Louis XVI, father of the French and king of a free people.' The short-lived unity enforced on the Assembly by a common threat quickly dissipated. Deputies argued over constitutional forms, while civil authority rapidly deteriorated. On 22 July, former Finance Minister Joseph Foullon and his son were lynched by
18602-674: Was identified with the Republic, and royalism, which was the ally of the enemy. The royalist insurrection in the Vendée had already led the Convention to take a long step in the direction of the Terror: that is to say, the dictatorship of central power and the suppression of liberties. The Girondin insurrection now prompted it to take a decisive step in the same direction. The Constituent Assembly had legislated through its commissions. The Convention governed by means of its committees . Two of them were of essential importance: Public Safety and General Security . The second, which had formidable powers,
18744-486: Was made to scientists. Monge , Vandermonde , Berthollet , Darcet , Fourcroy perfected metallurgy and manufacture of arms. Only to the wage earners did the Maximum seem thoroughly advantageous. It increased wages by one-half in relation to 1790, and commodities by only one-third. But since the Committee did not ensure that it was respected (except for bread), they would have been duped had they not been benefiting from
18886-517: Was made up of three major factions: The Montagnards ( the Mountain ), the Marais ( the Plain ) and the Girondins , also called Brissotins. Historians are divided on the exact make up of the Convention but the current consensus is that the Mountain was the biggest faction with around 302–309 deputies. The Girondins were represented by 178–227 deputies and the Plain was represented by 153–250 deputies. Of
19028-420: Was probably just for a new demonstration, like the one in September. However, the Committee of Public Safety decided on 22 Ventôse Year II (12 March 1794) that the Hébertists posed too serious a threat. The Committee linked Hébert, Charles-Philippe Ronsin , François-Nicolas Vincent , and Antoine-François Momoro to the émigrés Proli, Anacharsis Cloots and Pereira, so as to present the Hébertists as parties to
19170-418: Was redeemed by its vigor and skill in organizing measures of repression. Warrants were issued for the arrest of the rebellious Girondin leaders. The members of the revolting departmental administration were deprived of their office. The regions in which the revolt was dangerous were precisely those in which a large number of royalists had remained. There was no room for a third party between the Mountain, which
19312-400: Was that tax rates varied widely from one region to another, were often different from the official amounts, and collected inconsistently. Its complexity meant uncertainty over the amount contributed by any authorised tax caused resentment among all taxpayers. Attempts to simplify the system were blocked by the regional Parlements which approved financial policy. The resulting impasse led to
19454-485: Was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution , following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the one-year Legislative Assembly . Created after the great insurrection of 10 August 1792 , it was the first French government organized as a republic, abandoning the monarchy altogether. The Convention sat as
19596-471: Was the Committee of Public Safety, vested with immense powers: it interpreted the Convention's decrees and settled their methods of application; under its immediate authority it had all state bodies and all civil servants (even ministers would disappear in April 1794); it directed military and diplomatic activity, appointed generals and members of other committees, subject to ratification by the Convention. It held responsibility for conducting war, public order and
19738-514: Was the constitutional mechanism for turning intentions into practical applications. On 9 July, the National Assembly appointed a committee to draft a constitution and statement of rights. Twenty drafts were submitted, which were used by a sub-committee to create a Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen , with Mirabeau being the most prominent member. The Declaration was approved by
19880-449: Was the largest individual landowner in France, controlling nearly 10% of all estates and levied tithes , effectively a 10% tax on income, collected from peasant farmers in the form of crops. In return, it provided a minimal level of social support. The August decrees abolished tithes, and on 2 November the Assembly confiscated all church property, the value of which was used to back a new paper currency known as assignats . In return,
20022-408: Was to be ratified by the people, as were laws in certain precisely defined circumstances. The Constitution was submitted for popular ratification and adopted by a huge margin of more than 1,801,918 in favour to some 17,610 against. The results of the plebiscite were made public on 10 August 1793, but the application of the Constitution, the text of which was placed in an ark in the debating-chamber of
20164-670: Was viewed as a triumph and Bastille Day is still celebrated every year. In French culture, some see its fall as the start of the Revolution. Alarmed by the prospect of losing control of the capital, Louis appointed the Marquis de Lafayette commander of the National Guard , with Jean-Sylvain Bailly as head of a new administrative structure known as the Commune . On 17 July, Louis visited Paris accompanied by 100 deputies, where he
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