Radical Phase of the French Revolution The Second Revolution: 8 or 9/1792- 7/1794

September Massacres Sept 2-6 Over 1,500 prisoners

The Jacobins Jacobin Meeting House Started as a debating society. Membership mostly middle class. Political & educated Created a vast network of clubs Drove much of the 2nd Fr Rev Not the only political club, but the most influential

The Sans-Culottes: The Parisian Working Class

Depicted as Savages by a British Cartoonist. The Sans-Culottes Depicted as Savages by a British Cartoonist.

The Political Spectrum Of the National Convention TODAY: 1790s: The Plain (swing votes) Montagnards (“The Mountain”) Girondists Monarchíen (Royalists) Sans culottes Jacobins

Economic & Social Policies of the National Convention Abolished the monarchy & established a Republic Universal male suffrage Abolished feudalism Also abolished slavery Planned economy “Embryonic war-socialism”  Law of Maximum  Price controls insisted on by sans-culottes On “goods of the first necessity” Keep price gauging to a minimum

The “Cultural Revolution” Brought About by the Convention * It was premised upon Enlightenment principles of rationality. * The metric system of weights and measures Was defined by the French Academy of Sciences in 1791 and enforced in 1793. It replaced weights and measures that had their origins in the Middle Ages. * The Convention legalized divorce and enacted shared inheritance laws [even for illegitimate offspring] in an attempt to eradicate inequalities.

L’armoire de fer (the iron chest)

Louis XVI’s Head (January 21, 1793) The trial of the king was hastened by the l’amoire de fer. The National Convention unanimously agreed Louis was guilty; they voted 361 to 360 to execute the monarchs.

The Death of “Citizen” Louis Capet Matter for reflection for the crowned jugglers. So impure blood doesn’t soil our land!

The Reign of Terror 5 September 1793 – 28 July 1794 Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible... Let terror be the order of the day! -- Robespierre The Committee of Public Safety was given power by the National Convention to take “all measures necessary for the internal and external defense of the Republic.” The use of terror was a conscious effort- the CPS wanted “to horrify conspirators” that “the blade of the law [was] hovering over them.” Law of Suspects- Arrested ALL former nobles, including women and children, who couldn’t PROVE they supported the Rev

Maximillian Robespierre (1758 – 1794) Georges Jacques Danton (1759 – 1794) Jean-Paul Marat (1744 – 1793)

“The Death of Marat” by Jacques Louis David, 1793

The Guillotine

The “Monster” Guillotine

The Guillotine Song : An “Enlightenment Tool”? Oh, thou charming guillotine, You shorten kings and queens; By your influence divine, We have re-conquered our rights. Come to aid of the Country And let your superb instrument Become forever permanent To destroy the impious sect. Sharpen your razor for Pitt and his agents Fill your divine sack with heads of tyrants.

Different Social Classes Executed in Reign of Terror 7% 8% 28% 25% 31%

War! Nat’l Convention declares war on GB, Sp, Holland; already at war with Prus & Aus, who consistently defeat French armies "Gallic Declaration of War, or, Bumbardment of all Europe" This scatological English cartoon mocks France’s claim that it was going to war for "liberty," suggesting instead that France’s body politic is ill and that England needs to fight back to defend itself from such sickness. The figures in this drawing represent all the major leaders of Europe, including Louis XVI, Catherine of Russia, William Pitt, King George III of Britain, and the Pope, while symbols represent the Prussian and Habsburg monarchies.

An army based on merit, not birth! The Levee en Masse (1793) CPS established massive draft 800,000 -in less than a year! MUCH larger than any other Euro army Demonstrated creativity of CPS Set foundation for future successes of French army Turning point in history of warfare- now TOTAL war  ENTIRE society & econ mobilized for war effort An army based on merit, not birth!

Religious Terror: De-Christianization by the National Convention (1793-1794) The Catholic Church was linked with real or potential counter-revolution. Religion was associated with the Ancien Régime and superstitious practices. De-Christinaization VERY popular among the sans-culottes. Religion had no place in a rational, secular republic!

The De-Christianization Program The adoption of a new Republican Calendar: abolished Sundays & religious holidays. months named after seasonal & agricultural features. 7-day weeks replaced by 10-day decades. the yearly calendar was dated from the creation of the Republic: Year I [Sept. 22, 1792] The Convention symbolically divorced time from the Church!!

The New Republican Calendar Vendemaire (Vintage) 22 September-21 October Brumaire (Fog) 22 October-20 November Frimaire (Frost) 21 November-20 December Nivose (Snow) 21 December-19 January Pluviose (Rain) 20 January-18 February Ventose (Wind) 19 February-20 March Germinal (Budding) 21 March-19 April Floreal (Flowers) 20 April-19 May Prairial (Meadows) 20 May-18 June Messidor (Harvest) 19 June-18 July Thermidor (Heat) 19 July-17 August Fructidor (Fruit) 18 August-21 September The New Republican Calendar New Name Meaning Time Period Vendemaire Vintage September 22 – October 21 Brumaire Fog October 22 – November 20 Frimaire Frost November 21 – December 20 Nivose Snow December 21 – January 19 Pluviose Rain January 20 – February 18 Ventose Wind February 19 – March 20 Germinal Budding March 21 – April 19 Floreal Flowers April 20 – May 19 Prairial Meadow May 20 – June 18 Messidor Harvest June 19 – July 18 Thermidor Heat July 19 – August 17 Fructidor Fruit August 18 – September 21 The Gregorian System returned in 1806.

A New Republican Calendar Year Vendemaire (Vintage) 22 September-21 October Brumaire (Fog) 22 October-20 November Frimaire (Frost) 21 November-20 December Nivose (Snow) 21 December-19 January Pluviose (Rain) 20 January-18 February Ventose (Wind) 19 February-20 March Germinal (Budding) 21 March-19 April Floreal (Flowers) 20 April-19 May Prairial (Meadows) 20 May-18 June Messidor (Harvest) 19 June-18 July Thermidor (Heat) 19 July-17 August Fructidor (Fruit) 18 August-21 September A New Republican Calendar Year I 1792 – 1793 II 1793 – 1794 III 1794 – 1795 IV 1795 – 1796 V 1796 – 1797 VI 1797 – 1798 VII 1798 – 1799 VIII 1799 – 1800 IX 1800 – 1801 X 1801 – 1802 XI 1802 – 1803 XII 1803 – 1804 XIII 1804 – 1805 XIV 1805

The De-Christianization Program The public exercise of religion was banned. Civil Constitution of the Clergy * Subordinated the Catholic Church in France to the French government * Priests had to take an oath of loyalty to the government  Those who did called “jurors” or “jurying priests”  Those who did NOT- “non-jurors” or “refractory” The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris was turned into the “Temple of Reason.”

The “Temple of Reason” Come, holy Liberty, inhabit this temple, Become the goddess of the French people.

The Festival of Supreme Being A new secular holiday

The government required all clergy to swear an oath of loyalty to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Only seven bishops and about half the clergy agreed: the rest, mainly in western France, refused; these became known as "non-jurors" or "refractory priests". While there was a higher rate of rejection in urban areas, most of these refractory priests (like most of the population) lived in the countryside, and the Civil Constitution generated considerable resentment among religious peasants.

Backlash to the De-Christianization Program It alienated most of the population (especially in the rural areas). Robespierre never supported it. he persuaded the Convention to reaffirm the principle of religious toleration.

War of Resistance to the Revolution: The Vendee Revolt, 1793

Why was there a Revolt in the Vendee? The draft of French troops- Vendee required to send MANY for the war effort. Rural peasantry still highly taxed. Resentment of the Civil Constitution the Clergy. Peasants had failed to benefit from the sale of church lands. Local government officials Representatives on mission Jurying priests TARGETS:

Siege of Lyon

"An Example of Heroic Courage" The Heroine of Milhier In this rendition of an incident from the Vendée rebellion, an ordinary woman is shown standing up to the rebels. It comes from a series of heroic images of the Revolution and shows that women could be heroines for the Republic

Political Propaganda

The Contrast: “French Liberty / British Slavery”

No God! No Religion! No King! No Constitution! The Radical’s Arms: No God! No Religion! No King! No Constitution! From an English periodical of 1819, this antirevolutionary print portrays the sans–culottes as drunkards anxious to destroy by fire, gallows, and guillotine rather than to work for their own good. The image satirizes the idea of sans–culotte simplicity by arranging the two figures and the guillotine as an aristocratic coat of arms

French Victory at Fleurus June 26, 1794. France defeated Austria. Invalidated the argument that continuation of the Reign of Terror was necessary because of the military threat to France's very existence.