Onset of the terror Flashcards
insurrection on the 2 june journee
January 1793
insurrection on the 2nd June
resulted in purging of girodins
Levee en masse- conscription
27th August 1793. it was proposed by Barere and pushed through by carnot. this involved ALL men between 18-25 with no immediate dependence (unmarried)
older and married men were to help with supplies and women and children were to help with making uniforms.
older men were to congregate in town squares to exhort the young to fight
SIGNIFICANCE: Growth of the french army to over 500,000 men, nearly a million by 1794
reforming the army and Carnot (modernisation, reorganisation and reestablishing discipline)
leaders of CPS, Saint Just and carnot reform the army through modernisation, reorganisation and reestablishing discipline.
modernisation: weapons manufacture set up in october- ALL industry was put under state control and geared towards the war effort
Saint Andre (protestant pastor) reorganised the french naval defences
reestablushed discipline: the representants en mission saw to it that morale was kept up and troops and generals remained loyal- military failure was considered a POLITICAL CRIME
carnot given the name ‘organiser of history’ for these reforms; by december 1793 the french are able to push back the enemy from french soil
increasing power of the sans culottes (5th Sept Journee)
despite improving war fortunes, economic circumstances did not improve. the leadership of roux and herbert exacerbated this (good leadership). led to 5th sept Journee
why was there a 5th September Journee? ECONOMIC DISCONTENT
inflation/falling value of the assignat (introduced by the nca in 1789 but was practically useless by 1793) caused by the war.
led to the establishment of the Law of the maximum 29 SEPTEMBER 1793, introduced price control on grain to which farmers started selling it on the black market, they used terror against grain merchants and the CPS made grain hoarding a capital offence FACED WITH DEMANDS FROM THE SC
Roux and the enrages stirred the sc; called for higher taxes for the rich, death to the hoarders and arrests of political suspects (spread by herbert in his newspaper ‘pere Desuche’ )
why was there a 5th September Journee? SOCIO ECONOMIC TERROR
29 sept general maximum (enforce wage and price controls) shows INCREASED GOVT INTERVENTION, AWAY FROM ENLIGHTENED PRINCIPLES
27 August Levee en masse
All men 18-41 without dependants to be conscripts
why was there a 5th September Journee? DISSAPOINTED WITH OUTCOME OF 2 JUNE JOURNEE
only ONE aim was achieved- purging of the Girodins
aim to strengthen the army was not fulfilled, all resources were directed to the war effort
Greater Price controls
No revolutionary army :(
Political Terror- Law of suspects 17th September
In response to mounting pressure from the Sans Culottes and the Paris Commune
17th September, the law of suspects widened the scope for who was considered ‘against the revolution’
YOU WERE EITHER FOR OR AGAINST THE REVOLUTION
it was the job of the watch commities and the ‘representants en mission’ to ensure arrests were made
POLARISED SOCIETY
certificate of citizenship introduced- Needed to seek employment; they could refuse citizenship when justifies them penalizing them for being ‘counter-revolutionary’
OVERALL, survival was dependant on your alignment to the revolution
Effects of the law of suspects 17 sept 1793
500,000 men and women detained
50 Prisons built
most survived but 10,000 died in poor prison conditions
9% detained merely for having questionable views against the revolutionary government
Political terror
5th September 1793, it is declared that ‘terror is now the order of the day’. this was because of DEMANDS OF THE SC to bring justice to the internal enemies of the revolution, harness the nations energies for the war (saint just) amd instill a culture of fear through law
9th september- formation of the sans culottes army to enforce political terror: though it begins in paris, it starts to form in the provinces and by december there are 40,000 soldiers
show trials (next card
suspension of the constitution until there is peace (saint just)
saint just 10 Oct 1793, “the provisional government of France is revolutionary until peace” on behalf of the CPS
JUSTIFIED TERROR
SHOW TRIALS to give the impression that the govt is working within the law
on the 14th oct marie is put on trial and is convicted and put to death TWO DAYS LATER- guilty under every article of the constitution
31 october- brissot and 21 Girodins were excecuted. robespierre, out of concern for the girodins being aquitted, he proposed after 3 days a jurt could return a guilty verdict straight away- the nc voted for this
MOST IMPORTANTLY, out of concern for the growing influence of the SC, roux was imprisoned for his involvement in the 5th sept journee and commmits suicide in january
Excessive use of terror in the provinces
