1. The Causes of Instability in France 1792 - 1795
Attitudes & actions of monarchy & court
Fear of Counter-Revolution
Religious divisions
The Causes of Instability in France
Economic Crises
Political divisions
War

2. Tensions led to increasing violence.
In 1792, the war abroad was going badly for the French.
Many revolutionaries believed that the king was in league with foreign powers to retain his power.
Citizens attacked the palace where the king was held.
The king and his family escaped to the Legislative Assembly.
Citizens also attacked prisons that held nobles and priests.

3. Radicals Take Control of the Legislative Assembly
Called for the election of a new legislative body—the National Convention.
Extended suffrage to all male citizens.
Seized nobles’ lands.
In addition, the monarchy was abolished in favor of the creation of a republic.

4. The Monarchy Looses Their Heads
The National Convention put Louis XVI on trial as a traitor to France.
He was sentenced to death.
In January 1793, Louis XVI was beheaded.
In October 1793, Marie Antoinette was beheaded.

6. By 1793, France faced external and internal threats.
War continued with the Netherlands, Spain, Britain, and Prussia.
Royalists and priests led rebellions against the government.
The sans-culottes demanded relief from food shortages and inflation.
The Convention was divided between the Jacobins and the Girondins.

7. Committee of Public Safety
The Convention created the Committee of Public Safety to deal with these issues.
The National Convention granted the Committee of Public Safety absolute power to save the revolution.
At war, French armies overran the Netherlands and invaded Italy.
At home, France battled counter-revolutionaries through the use of terror.

8. Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre became the leader of the Committee of Public Safety.
He was a reformer, but also supported terror as a way to maintain order.
Promoted religious tolerance
Tried to abolish slavery
Arrested and tried all those who threatened the revolution

9. Let terror be the order of the day!
The Reign of Terror
Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible. -- Robespierre
Let terror be the order of the day!
The Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris alone executed 2,639 victims in 15 months.
The total number of victims nationwide was over 20,000!

10. The Engine of Terror
A new execution device called the guillotine was introduced during this phase of the revolution. With its large, diagonal blade that came crashing down from a great height, it cut off heads swiftly and accurately. Thousands of people were sent to the guillotine and executed without trial. In his novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens describes daily life during the Reign of Terror: “Along the Paris streets, the death-carts rumble, hollow and harsh. Six tumbrils [carts that carried condemned persons to the guillotine] carry the day’s wine to La Guillotine.”

11. The Guillotine: 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.

12. Different Social Classes Executed7% 8%
28%
25%
31%

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

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

15. 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

16. 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 Gregorian System returned in 1806.

17. The De-Christianization Program
The public exercise of religion was banned.
The Paris Commune supported the:
destruction of religious & royal statues.
ban on clerical dress.
encouragement of the clergy to give up their vocations.
The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris was turned into the “Temple of Reason.”
The deportation of priests denounced by six citizens.

18. The Festival of Supreme Being
A new secular holiday

19. The “Thermidorean Reaction,” 1794
July 26  Robespierre gives a speech illustrating new plots & conspiracies.
he alienated members of the CPS & CGS.
many felt threatened by his implications.
July 27  the Convention arrests Robespierre.
July 28  Robespierre is tried & guillotined!

20. By 1799, France had changed dramatically from the country of Louis XVI and his court.
The term citizen applied to people of all social classes.
Elaborate fashions gave way to simple clothing.
Nationalism rose throughout France.
Troops in Marseilles marched to a rousing song that would later become the French national anthem.
State schools replaced religious ones.
Social systems were organized to help the poor, old soldiers, and war widows.