The emergence and spread of Terror January - September 1793 Flashcards
Key military developments early 1793
The execution of Louis helps to unify European governments against France, placing more military pressure on the republic…
o In January, Portugal entered the anti-French coalition
o In early February, France declares war on Britain and the Dutch Republic
o In early March, France declared war on Spain
So… from March France was fighting a powerful coalition of European countries, comprised of Austria, Piedmont-Sardinia, Prussia, Spain, Britain, Portugal and the Dutch Republic
Immediate consequences of the escalating war for France in early 1793
- French troops are driven out the Austrian Netherlands
- British, Austrian and Spanish troops all mounted attacks into France
- On 1st March: in Belgium, the Austrians had counter-attacked and turned the flank of Dumouriez’s advance into Holland
- In April, the Austrians besiege the ‘Republic of Mains’
Evidence of the war producing an economic strain on France
o By January 1793, the assignat were down to 5% of their face value
o Requisitioning and bulk-purchasing to supply the French army over the Autumn of 1792 meant that the supply of basic commodities was heavily disrupted: by February 1793, the price of sugar was doubled or possibly triple its value in 1790, and the price of soap had also more than doubled.
o Average food prices rose 90% from 1791 to 1793 – increased discontent amongst the sans-culottes
What was the sans-culottes’ reaction to the economic strain on France? (February riots)
o Between 22nd and 24th February, French citizens were making petitions to the Convention and Jacobin club for price caps due to the high rates of inflation (economic strains put public pressure on the government to actively improve the situation – eg, by getting rid of hoarders)
o On 25th February, when the people’s demands for price caps weren’t answered, there was a wave of attacks on grocery shops and warehouses (but order was restored by Santerre’s National Guards on 26th)
How did disturbances in Brittany make terror more likely?
o On 3rd March, an armed royalist uprising begins in Brittany
o One Breton agitator urged people to pay no taxes ‘since there’s no more king and there are no more laws’
o However, Brittany was better garrisoned than the Vendee so within one month the Breton risings had been supressed and districts were complying with the levy decreed in February (ie meeting the required numbers)
How did the emergence of the rising in the Vendee make terror more likely?
o The uprising in the Vendee region began as a protest against the levy for 300,000 men which had been decreed on 24th February and was being conducted in March
o Started as clashed between peasants and National Guards
o By early March, recognizable leaders had begun to emerge, including the ex-soldier Stofflet who led 10,000 men
o On 14th March, a ‘Catholic and Royal Army of the Vendee’ was officially pronounced
o The Convention was forced to send 30,000 men from the front to the Vendee area to quell the revolt in May – internal disturbances hindered the war effort, so needed to be removed in order for the War of the First Coalition to be won (terror needed as a means of ‘cleansing’ the nation)
How did sans-culottes put pressure on the Convention to set up the instruments of terror? (March)
o The communes and Jacobins started calling for the establishment of a revolutionary tribunal to try traitors
o 9th – 10th March: there was an attempted insurrection by sans-culottes under the radical journalist Hebert (and including enrages like Varlet) BUT the communes refuse their support and order is restored by Santerre’s 9,000 troops
What happened on 10th March?
The convention accepted the Jacobin club and communes’ calls for a revolutionary tribunal to try traitors to be set up. The Convention also stated that deputies should be sent out to all the departments as ‘representatives on mission’ to explain and expedite war emergency measures
What are key events regarding Dumouriez?
o 12th March: Dumouriez openly denounces French policy in Belgium (heightens tensions in Paris and increases suspicion on his loyalties)
o 6th April: Dumouriez defects and flees across the Austrian lines – Dumouriez’s association with the Girondins didn’t reflect well on them, and only heightened the Montagnard/Girondin internal conflict in the Convention
What are key events in mid-late March which make terror more likely?
o 19th March: summary execution decree provides for the trial and execution of armed rebels within 24 hours of capture. These trials were hled without a jury and there was no appeal – decentralisation and radicalisation of terror
o 21st March: watch committees are established (comites de surveillance) throughout the country to scrutinize the activities of foreigners and suspects
When does the CPS start functioning? How is it changed?
o 6th April: the Committee of Public Safety formally starts functioning, BUT by this time its numbers had been reduced from 25 to 9, where the members were renewed monthly
Describe the trial of Marat? What’s the significance?
o 12th April: the Girondins call for Marat to be impeached, and the motion is passed overwhelmingly. He is accused of undermining the authority of the Convention, and of inciting murder and pillage. The 33 sections of Paris respond to this attack by calling for the expulsion of 22 named deputies who were considered not radical enough.
o 24th April!!! Marat is acquitted by the new Revolutionary Tribunal and carried shoulder high by sans-culottes back to the Convention
Significance is that the sans-culottes, as well as the Jacobins, become more suspicious of the Girondins and whether they are trying to hinder the progress of the revolution.
Describe the establishment of the first maximum? What triggered it? What’s the significance?
o 3rd May: the Convention is mobbed by 8,000 demonstrators who declared themselves in a state of insurrection until price controls were introduced
o 4th May: the first maximum for grain and bread, giving the local authorities wide powers of search and requisition, is formally promulgated
Another example of the Convention giving in to the demands of the sans-culottes - makes them more likely to press for political and economic terror later onwards.
What is the difference between the CGS and CPS? When were they set up?
o The Committee of General Security (had existed since mid-1792) had overall responsibility for police security, surveillance and spying
o The Committee of Public Safety (6th April) was supposed to be the higher authority that would supervise and speed up the implementation of terror. It comprised of 9 individuals who were re-elected by the Convention each month, though was initially supposed to be 25. Danton wanted a committee without extremists so initially seven out of the nine were members of the Plain (including Barere).
Describe how the machinery of terror worked? (excluding the CGS and CPS)
o A Revolutionary Tribunal was set up (10th March) to try those accused of counter-revolutionary activities (the court basically)
o Representatives-on-mission (10th March) were to be sent to the provinces to reassert control – they had almost unlimited powers over the department administrations and the armies – these representatives were mainly comprised of Jacobin deputies from the Convention
o Committees de surveillance were also set up in each commune and each section of major towns to determine the victims for the Revolutionary Tribunal
Describe the overthrow of the Girondins… Who initiated it? How was it achieved? What was its significance?
o 26th May: Robespierre invited ‘the people to place themselves in insurrection against the corrupt [Girondin] deputies’ – formally aligning himself with the sans-culottes
o 2nd June: 80,000 sans culottes and National Guardsmen surrounded the Convention and directed their canon at it, demanding the expulsion of the Girondins from the Assembly and a maximum price to be imposed on all essential goods – first time that armed force was being used against an elected assembly
o To avoid a massacre or forceful seizure of power, the Convention then agreed to the arrest of 29 Girondin deputies and two ministers (but 75 deputies still abstained and signed a protest against Robespierre’s motion)
What were the Federalist revolts? How did they make terror more likely?
o On 29th May the Jacobin leaders in Lyons (France’s second biggest city) were forced out of office.
o 60 out of the 83 departaments protested against the expulsions (though not always serious conflict/an actual overthrow)
o The revolting people of Toulon went even further and merged with a royalist reaction, appealing for help form the Anglo-Spanish fleet and proclaiming Louis XVII as King. The federalist revolt in Toulon was particularly worrying as it was a key naval base with 26 ships (a third of the available French navy) at anchor there.
o Most other risings were successfully crushed between July and October, and representatives-on-mission were sent out to restore order.
Made terror more likely because France couldn’t withstand both foreign and internal war without an idealogical purge of its population.
When was the new constitution produced? What rights did it lay out?
24th June: the new Jacobin constitution is produced but never actually put into effect.
It gave all adult males the right to vote.
It legalised uprisings against a government which violated the ‘rights of the people’ (this point is particularly un-authoritarian).
It gave everyone the right to work (it was the government’s obligation to provide people with this).
The constitution also said that the Declaration of Rights should be engraved on tablet in public places.
When was Marat murdered? What was the significance?
13th July: Marat is murdered by Charlotte Corday, a disgruntled woman from the provinces who had connections to the Girondins – the sans-culottes then demanded that ‘all suspects’ be arrested
Significant because increases suspicion of hidden internal counter-revolutionaries in Paris who need to be purged - makes terror more likely
When is Robespierre elected to the CPS? What does he write the day before?
o 26th July: Robespierre drafts a personal catechism: he asks, ‘how can we end the civil war?’ and answers ‘by making a terrible example of all the criminals who have outraged liberty and spilt the blood of patriots.’
o 27th July: Robespierre is elected to the Committee of Public Safety
What was the Levee en Masse? How did it make terror more likely?
On 23rd August: Levee en masse created in response to the worsening war situation:
- All men aged 18-25 without immediate dependents were expected to give immediate military service,
- Women were to ‘make tents and serve in hospitals’,
- Children were to ‘shred old linen for lint’
France had over 1 million men in arms by 1794, and its 14 armies were well-trained and disciplined.
A total of 17 ‘aristocratic’ generals associated with the Ancien Regime were executed, and replaced with new younger, revolutionary commanders
Significant because it…
A) heightened the sense of emergency, making people more tolerant of extraordinary repressive measure
B) militarised society, normalising violence especially from ordinary citizens (ie making things like the armes revolutionaires more likely)
What happened on 5th September?
5th September: the sans-culottes marched on the Convention, demanding lower bread prices, higher wages, and an attack on those oppressing the people. The Convention promised action against counter-revolutionarries and also allowed as a result two activists who were popular with the sans-culottes (Billaud-Varenne and Collot d’Herbois) to join the CPS
An unknown Jacobin deputy said let us ‘place terror on the order of the day’
What happened on 9th September?
9th September: the Convention established sans-culottes paramilitary forces, the armes revolutionnaires, to force farmers to surrender grain and to attack hoarders
What happened on 17th September?
The Law of Suspects is passed. It increased terror through redefining the definition of a ‘suspect’ – someone could be arrested because of their “conduct, associations, comments or writings”. Nobles and relatives of emigres were removed from office, and hoarders were also considered suspect (beginning of the economic terror)
