21 10 347 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The regeneration of the French people and the establishment of the Republic has necessarily led to the reform of the vernacular era. We could no longer count the years during which kings oppressed us as an era during which we had lived. The prejudices and lies of both the throne and the church sullied each page of the calendar we were using. You have reformed this calendar and replaced it with another where time is calculated in exact and symmetrical measurements. This is not sufficient. Long usage of the Gregorian calendar has filled the people's memory with a considerable number of images that they have long revered, and which today remain the source of their religious errors. It is therefore necessary to replace these visions of ignorance with the realities of reason, and this sacerdotal prestige with nature's truth. We understand nothing except through images. In the most abstract analysis, in the most metaphysical combination of ideas, our understanding only progresses by means of images, our memory uses and depends only on them. Therefore, if you want the methodology and cohesion of this calendar to easily be understood by the people, and to engrave itself rapidly in their memory, you must use images in your new calendar. . . . What if at each moment of the year, the month, the decade, and the day, the glances and thoughts of the citizens fell upon a picture of farming, or nature's bounty, or an aspect of the rural economy? You could not doubt the fact that this would be a big step in moving the nation toward a system of agriculture, and that each citizen would feel nothing but love for the real and true gifts of nature he enjoys. For centuries, the people felt this love for imaginary objects, alleged saints whom they could not see, let alone know. I will go even further and say that priests could only give substance to their idols by attributing to each of them direct influence over matters of tangible interest to the people: This is how Saint John came to grant harvests while Saint Mark protected the vineyards. If arguments were required to demonstrate the irresistible power that images have on human intelligence, I would not need to enter into metaphysical analyses. I would find adequate proof in the theory, doctrine, and practice of priests. Take, for example, priests, whose universal and definitive goal is, and always will be, to subjugate mankind and enslave it under their dominion, instituted the practice of commemorating the dead. They did so to inspire disgust in us for earthly and worldly riches so that they could enjoy more of these riches themselves, and make us dependent on them through the myth and imagery of purgatory. You can see here their skill in seizing upon men's imagination and controlling it to suit their purposes. But they didn't choose to act out this farce in a pleasant setting, one joyous and fresh, which would have made us cherish life and its pleasures. Instead they chose November 2nd to lead us to the tombs of our fathers. They chose a time when the nice days are over, the sky is sad and gray, the earth's colors are fading and the falling leaves fill our soul with melancholy and sadness. At that time of year, making use of nature's farewells, they took hold of us, to lead us through Advent and their endless number of so-called holy days, through all that they had insolently conjured up that was meant to be mystical for the predestined (in other words, for imbeciles) and terrifying for the sinner (in other words, for the clear-sighted). Priests, these men who appeared to be enemies of human passion and its sweetest sentiments, wanted to turn these to their own advantage. . . . The Commission that you named to make the new calendar more sensible and easier to learn, therefore believed that it could achieve this goal if it succeeded in using names to strike the imagination and using nature and a succession of images to teach. The main idea upon which we have based our proposal is to use the calendar to consecrate the agricultural system, to lead the nation back to it, highlighting periods and times of the year with clear or tangible signs taken from agriculture and the rural economy. The more the memory is presented with fixed points of reference, the more easily it remembers. We have therefore developed the idea of giving each month of the year a characteristic name that depicts its unique temperature and the types of agricultural produce in season at that time. And that would, at the same time, suggest to which of the four seasons that make up the year it belongs. This latter effect is achieved by four endings, each given to three consecutive months, that produce four different sounds indicating the seasons in which they belong. . . . Thus the names of the months are: AUTUMN Vendémiaire (Vintage) Brumaire (Fog) Frimaire (Frost) WINTER Nivôse (Snow) Pluviôse (Rain) Ventôse (Wind) SPRING Germinal (Buds) Floréal (Flowers) Prairial (Meadow) SUMMER Messidor (Harvest) Thermidor (Heat) Fructidor (Fruit)As I have mentioned, the effect of these names is such that by merely saying the name of the month one will clearly feel three things and how they are connected: the type of season; the temperature; and the state of vegetation. Sortable Date 1793-10-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Jacques Guillaume, ed., Procès-Verbaux du Comité d'instruction publique de l'Assemblée legislative, vol. 2 (Paris, 1891), 440–41, 582–84, 697–99, 701. Description An account of the resource A reformed calendar was a goal of the revolutionaries who sought to remake not only the political system and the social order, but also the very experience of life. To rid the calendar of the malign influence of Christianity as a bulwark of tradition, in the fall of 1793 the Convention set up a committee to draft a new secular, rational calendar. Headed by the Dantonist Philippe–François Fabre d’Eglantine, the committee filed the report excerpted below in October 1793. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 435 Title A name given to the resource The Calendar Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/435/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 1793 Laws Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The Festival of the Supreme Being (8 June 1794) At exactly five in the morning, a general recall shall be sounded in Paris. This call shall invite every citizen, men and women alike, to immediately adorn their houses with the beloved colors of liberty, either by rehanging their flags, or by embellishing their houses with garlands of flowers and greenery. They shall then go to the assembly areas of their respective sections to await the departure signal. No men shall be armed, except for fourteen- to eighteen-year-old boys, who shall be armed with sabers and guns or pikes. In each section, these boys shall form a square battalion marching twelve across, in the middle of which the banners and flags of the armed force of each section shall be placed, carried by those who are ordinarily entrusted with them. Every male citizen and young boy shall hold an oak branch in his hand. All female citizens, mothers and daughters, shall be dressed in the colors of liberty. Mothers shall hold bouquets of roses in their hands, and the young girls shall carry baskets filled with flowers. Each section shall choose ten older men, ten mothers, ten girls from fifteen to twenty years of age, ten adolescents from fifteen to eighteen years of age, and ten male children below the age of eight to stand on the raised mountain in the Champ de la Reunion. The ten mothers chosen by each section shall be in white and wear a tricolored sash from right to left. The ten girls shall also be in white and shall wear the sash like the mothers. The girls shall have flowers braided into their hair. The ten adolescents shall be armed with swords. . . . Every citizen shall make sure they have their oak branches, bouquets, garlands, and baskets of flowers, and to adorn themselves with the colors of liberty. At exactly eight in the morning an artillery salvo, fired from the Pont Neuf, shall signal the time to proceed to the National Garden. Male and female citizens shall leave from their respective sections in two columns, each six abreast. The men and boys shall be on the right, while the women, girls, and children below the age of eight will be to the left. The square battalion of young boys shall be placed in the center between the two columns. The sections shall be called upon to arrange themselves in such a way that the column of women is not longer than the column of men, in order to avoid disturbing the order which is necessary in a national festival. . . . Upon arrival at the National Garden, the columns of men shall line up in the part of the garden on the side of the terrace called "the Feuillants," while the columns of women and children shall line up on the side of the river terrace, and the square battalions of boys in the wide path in the center. . . . When all the sections have arrived at the National Garden, a delegation shall go to the Convention to announce that everything is ready to celebrate the Festival of the Supreme Being. The National Convention shall arrive by way of the balcony of the Pavilion of Unity to the adjoining amphitheater. They shall be preceded by a large body of musicians, who shall be located on each side of the steps to the entrance. The president, speaking from the rostrum, shall explain to the people the reasons behind this solemn festival, and invite them to honor Nature's Creator. . . . Robespierre spoke as follows: The eternally happy day which the French people consecrates to the Supreme Being has finally arrived. Never has the world he created offered him a sight so worthy of his eyes. He has seen tyranny, crime, and deception reign on earth. At this moment, he sees an entire nation, at war with all the oppressors of the human race, suspend its heroic efforts in order to raise its thoughts and vows to the Great Being who gave it the mission to undertake these efforts and the strength to execute them. Did not his immortal hand, by engraving in the hearts of men the code of justice and equality, write there the death sentence of tyrants? Did not his voice, at the very beginning of time, decree the republic, making liberty, good faith, and justice the order of the day for all centuries and for all peoples? He did not create kings to devour the human species. Neither did he create priests to harness us like brute beasts to the carriages of kings, and to give the world the example of baseness, pride, perfidy, avarice, debauchery, and falsehood to the world. But he created the universe to celebrate his power; he created men to help and to love one another, and to attain happiness through the path of virtue. The Author of Nature linked all mortals together in an immense chain of love and happiness. Perish the tyrants who have dared to break it! Frenchmen, Republicans, it is up to you to cleanse the earth they have sullied and to restore the justice they have banished from it. Liberty and virtue issued together from the breast of the Supreme Being. One cannot reside among men without the other. Generous people, do you want to triumph over all your enemies? Practice justice and render to the Supreme Being the only form of worship worthy of him. People, let us surrender ourselves today, under his auspices, to the just ecstasy of pure joy. Tomorrow we shall again combat vices and tyrants; we shall give the world an example of republican virtues: and that shall honor the Supreme Being more. After this speech, a symphony shall be played. At the same time, the president, armed with the Flame of Truth, shall descend from the amphitheater and approach a monument raised on a circular basin, representing the monster, Atheism. From the middle of this monument, which the president shall set on fire, the figure of Wisdom shall appear. After this ceremony, the president shall return to the rostrum and speak again to the people, who shall answer him with songs and cries of joy. Robespierre spoke again, as follows: He has returned to nothingness, this monster which the spirit of kings has spewed forth over France. Let all the crimes and ills of the world disappear with him. Armed in turn with the daggers of fanaticism and the poisons of atheism, kings still conspire to assassinate humanity. If they can no longer disfigure the Divinity with superstition in order to implicate him in their transgressions, they endeavor to banish him from the earth to reign alone with crime. People, fear no more their sacrilegious conspiracies. They can no more tear the world from the breast of its author than the remorse from their own hearts. You who are wretched, hold up your woeful heads: you can again raise your eyes to the sky with impunity. Heroes of the country, your generous devotion is not a brilliant folly; the minions of tyranny may be able to assassinate you, but it is not in their power to annihilate you completely. Man, whoever you are, you can again think well of yourself. You can attach your transitory life to God himself and to immortality. Let nature thus regain all its magnificence, and wisdom all its empire. The Supreme Being is not destroyed. It is wisdom, above all, that our guilty enemies want to drive from the Republic. To wisdom alone does it belong to consolidate the prosperity of empires; it is for her to guarantee the fruits of our courage. Let us therefore associate her with all our enterprises. Let us be serious and discreet in all our deliberations, as men who determine the interests of the whole world. Let us be ardent and obstinate in our anger against sworn tyrants, imperturbable in the heat of danger, patient in our work, terrible during setbacks, modest and vigilant in success. Let us be generous toward those who are good, compassionate toward the unfortunate, inexorable toward the wicked, just toward everyone. Let us not count on unalloyed prosperity, on triumph without obstacles, or on anything that depends upon the fortune or perversity of another. Let us depend only on our constancy and our virtue. Alone, but infallible guarantors of our independence, let us crush the ungodly union of kings still more by our force of character than by the force of our arms. Sortable Date 1794-06-08 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived La Convention nationale, réimpression faite textuellement sur le moniteur original, vol. 21 (Paris, 1842), 683–84 (from the Gazette nationale, no. 262, 22 Prairial, an II [10 June 1794]). Description An account of the resource Adapting the established strategy of staging public pageantry to win support for a political cause, Robespierre organized a "Festival of the Supreme Being" in the summer of 1794. Having recently eliminated his adversaries Hébert and Danton, Robespierre delivered the keynote speech. In it he explained his idea for a civic religion worshipping a deist "supreme being" while resisting the more extreme tendency of some to eliminate spirituality outright through an atheistic "cult of reason." Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 436 Title A name given to the resource Religion: The Cult of the Supreme Being Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/436/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 8, 1794 Religion Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The Revolutionary Tribunal shall divide itself into sections, composed of twelve members, to wit: three judges and nine jurors, which jurors may not pass judgment unless they are seven in number. The Revolutionary Tribunal is instituted to punish the enemies of the people. The enemies of the people are those who seek to destroy public liberty, either by force or by cunning. The following are deemed enemies of the people: those who have instigated the reestablishment of monarchy, or have sought to disparage or dissolve the National Convention and the revolutionary and republican government of which it is the center: Those who have betrayed the Republic in the command of places and armies, or in any other military function, carried on correspondence with the enemies of the Republic, labored to disrupt the provisioning or the service of the armies; Those who have sought to impede the provisioning of Paris, or to create scarcity within the Republic; Those who have supported the designs of the enemies of France, either by countenancing the sheltering and the impunity of conspirators and aristocracy, by persecuting and calumniating patriotism, by corrupting the mandataries of the people, or by abusing the principles of the Revolution or the laws or measures of the government by false and perfidious applications; Those who have deceived the people or the representatives of the people, in order to lead them into undertakings contrary to the interests of liberty; Those who have sought to inspire discouragement, in order to favor the enterprises of the tyrants leagued against the Republic; Those who have disseminated false news in order to divide or disturb the people; Those who have sought to mislead opinion and to prevent the instruction of the people, to deprave morals and to corrupt the public conscience, to impair the energy and the purity of revolutionary and republican principles, or to impede the progress thereof, either by counterrevolutionary or insidious writings, or by any other machination; Contractors of bad faith who compromise the safety of the Republic, and squanderers of the public fortune, other than those included in the provisions of the law of 7 Frimaire; Those who, charged with public office, take advantage of it in order to serve the enemies of the Revolution, to harass patriots, or to oppress the people; Finally, all who are designated in previous laws relative to the punishment of conspirators and counterrevolutionaries, and who, by whatever means or by whatever appearances they assume, have made an attempt against the liberty, unity, and security of the Republic, or labored to prevent the strengthening thereof. The penalty provided for all offenses under the jurisdiction of the Revolutionary Tribunal is death. The proof necessary to convict enemies of the people comprises every kind of evidence, whether material or moral, oral or written, which can naturally secure the approval of every just and reasonable mind; the rule of judgments is the conscience of the jurors, enlightened by love of the Patrie; their aim, the triumph of the Republic and the ruin of its enemies; the procedure, the simple means which good sense dictates in order to arrive at a knowledge of the truth, in the forms determined by law. It is confined to the following points. Every citizen has the right to seize conspirators and counterrevolutionaries, and to arraign them before the magistrates. He is required to denounce them as soon as he knows of them. The accused shall be examined publicly in the courtroom: the formality of the preceding secret examination is suppressed as superfluous; it shall take place only under special circumstances in which it is deemed useful for a knowledge of the truth. If either material or moral proofs exist, apart from the attested proof, there shall be no further hearing of witnesses, unless such formality appears necessary, either to discover accomplices or for other important considerations of public interest. All proceedings shall be conducted in public, and no written deposition shall be received, unless witnesses are so situated that they cannot come before the Tribunal; and in such case an express authorization of the Committees of Public Safety and General Security shall be necessary. The law provides sworn patriots as counsel for calumniated patriots; it does not grant them to conspirators. The pleadings completed, the jurors shall formulate their verdicts, and the judges shall pronounce the penalty in the manner determined by law. The public prosecutor may not, on his own authority, discharge an accused person sent to the Tribunal, or one whom he himself has caused to be arraigned before it; in case there is no ground for accusation before the Tribunal, he shall make a written and motivated report thereon to the chamber of the council, which shall decide. But no accused person may be discharged from trial before the decision of the chamber has been communicated to the Committees of Public Safety and General Security, who shall examine it. Sortable Date 1794-06-10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Hall Stewart, A Documentary History of the French Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1951), 528–31. Description An account of the resource Although the most immediate threats to the security of the Republic—foreign invasion, the civil war in the Vendée, the Federalist uprisings, the grain shortage in Paris, and hyperinflation—had abated by June 1794, Robespierre and his allies on the Committee of Public Safety argued all the more strenuously that virtue needed to be enforced through terror. To this end, on 22 Prairial (10 June), they proposed a law that would free the Revolutionary Tribunals from control by the Convention and would greatly strengthen the position of prosecutors by limiting the ability of suspects to defend themselves. Furthermore, the law broadened the sorts of charges that could be brought so that virtually any criticism of the government became criminal. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 439 Title A name given to the resource The Law of 22 Prairial Year II (10 June 1794) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/439/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 10, 1794 Clubs Laws Text The Terror Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document In several evening sessions, the two Committees met to decide how to go about revoking the Law of 22 Prairial. After several debates that took place during the month of Messidor, they called in Robespierre and Saint-Just to force them to revoke the law themselves, which had been the result of a combination that all of the other members of the government had been unaware of. It was a very stormy session. Of the members of the National Security Committee, it was Vadier and Moïse Bayle who attacked the law and its authors with the most force and indignation. As for the Committee of Public Safety, they stated that they had played no role in the matter, and disowned the law completely. Everyone agreed that it would be revoked the next day. After this decision, Robespierre and Saint-Just stated that they would put the matter before the public. They stated that it was perfectly clear that a party had been created to ensure immunity for the enemies of the people and that in this way, Liberty's most ardent friends would be lost. But, they said, they would know how to protect the good citizens against the combined maneuvering of the two governmental committees. They departed, threatening members of the committee, including Carnot, among others, whom Saint-Just called an aristocrat and threatened to denounce to the Assembly. It was like a declaration of war between the two committees and the triumvirate. Sortable Date 1794-06-10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac, Mémoires de B. Barère, membre de la constituante, de la Convention, du Comité de Salut public, et de la Chambre des représentants, vol. 2 (Paris: J. Labitte, 1842), 205–6. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in John Hardman, French Revolution Documents 1792–95, vol. 2 (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1973), 250. Description An account of the resource Many in the Convention, including some on the Committee of Public Safety, opposed the proposed law, which they feared concentrated too much power in too few hands and would only further destabilize the Republic. This passage from the memoirs of Bertrand Barère, a member of the committee, reveals how opponents of the law had to confront the fear that opposition would expose adversaries to the Terror. The passage of this law marked the beginning of the period known to historians as the "Great Terror," when violence, no longer necessary to protect the Republic, accelerated and became more focused not only on former nobles and clergy but more broadly on "the wealthy." From 22 Prairial until 10 Thermidor (10 June–28 July 1794), over 1,300 were executed in Paris and nearly 1,500 in the provinces, some 15 percent of the total number put to death in the entire fifteen–month reign of Terror. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 440 Title A name given to the resource Debate on the Law of 22 Prairial Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/440/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 10, 1794 Clubs Public Opinion Text The Terror Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Meanwhile, the Reign of Terror was reaching its end. Robespierre had become unbearable, even to his own accomplices. The members of the committees were in a power struggle with him, and were afraid that sooner or later, they would become his victims. When faced with his tyranny in the Convention, everyone whimpered, not daring to attack him. But soon Robespierre, through his speeches and actions, would give "hope to the damned" for Tallien, Bourdon-de l'Oise, Legendre, Le Cointre, and others, who feared sharing the fate of Danton and Lacroix. Every tyrant who threatens but does not strike, is himself struck. Tallien, Bourdon and two or three other Montagnards who had been threatened could no longer sleep, so, to defend themselves, they formed a conspiracy against Robespierre. But how to go about overthrowing him? Robespierre was in charge of all of the Parisian authorities, all of the club agitators, and counted Henriot, the commander of the Armed Forces, among his devoted followers. Only a decree from the Convention could fell this Colossus, because nothing is more powerful than morality in a war of opinions. But there were other problems. The Right, with more votes, was, as they should have been, less a friend of the threatened Montagnards, who had often called for their arrest and indictment, than of Robespierre who had constantly protected them. (No doubt to keep them as a backup if the need ever arose.) However, since no other way existed, the Montagnards turned to us. Their emissaries came to us. They spoke with Palasne-Champeaux, Boissy-d'Anglas and myself, all of us former members of the Constituent Assembly, and whose example would convince others. They used everything they could to help us make up our minds. . . . On 9 Thermidor, a few moments before the famous session, Bourdon-de-l'Oise met me in the gallery, touched me on the hand, and said, "Oh, how brave they are, those men of the Right." I went up to the Hall of Liberty, where I strolled for a moment with Robère. Tallien approached us, but then immediately saw Saint-Just at the rostrum and left us saying, "There is Saint-Just at the rostrum, we must be done with this." We followed him, and from his seat at the top of the Mountain, heard him sharply interrupt Saint-Just and start the attack. The stage thus set, Billaud-Varenne took over from Tallien and spoke even more vehemently. Robespierre went up to the rostrum to defend Saint-Just. The only words that could be heard were: "Down with the tyrant! Arrest him!" Since the Mountain was still acting alone, Robespierre turned to us and said: "Deputies of the Right, men of honor, men of virtue, give me the floor, since the assassins will not." He hoped to receive this favor as a reward for the protection he had given us. But our party was decided. There was no answer, just dead silence until the debate over the decree to arrest Robespierre and his accomplices, for which we all voted in favor, which made the decision unanimous. Sortable Date 1794-07-27 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Pierre-Toussaint Durand de Maillane, Histoire de la Convention Nationale (Paris: Baudouin, 1825), 198–201. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in John Hardman, French Revolution Documents 1792–95, vol. 2 (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1973), 253–54. Description An account of the resource This account of the proceedings in the Convention Hall on the 9 Thermidor Year II (27 July 1794) describes how Robespierre and Saint–Just, facing an organized attack by other members of the Committee of Public Safety, tried one last gamble, appealing to the deputies of the "Right" to come to their aid. These deputies repudiated the appeal, and the Convention unanimously voted for the resolution condemning them. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 441 Title A name given to the resource 9 Thermidor: The Conspiracy against Robespierre Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/441/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 27, 1794 Text The Terror Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 9 Thermidor [27 July 1794] After the reading of correspondence, about eight o'clock in the evening, the crowd being very large and the galleries filled with citizens and citizenesses from all quarters of the city, someone asked that a member of the Convention report on its meeting that day. Chasles, a deputy of the départment of Eure-et-Loire, wounded at the siege of Lille, climbed to the rostrum with the aid of his crutch. He began to give his report, but was interrupted after almost every word by a universal clamor condemning the decree that had been passed against the two Robespierres, Couthon, Saint-Just, and Le Bas. . . . At nine thirty, a member rushed into the meeting, hurried to the front and said: "Citizens, I am going to announce some good news." A great silence fell upon the assembly. "Citizens, the cannoneers with their cannons at this moment surround the Committee of Public Safety; they are preceded by some magistrates and followed by a large crowd of people. The magistrates again demand from the Committee, in the name of the people and the law, the liberty of Robespierre, Couthon, Le Bas, and Saint-Just." At these words, cries of "Long live Liberty! Long live Liberty!" broke out throughout the hall and throughout all the galleries; hats were waved in the air, people applauded with their feet and their hands, and expressions of the liveliest and most intense joy were prolonged for several minutes. It was then that commissioners were appointed to fraternize with the Commune and other commissioners sent to the sections on the same mission. Sortable Date 1794-07-27 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived From THE NINTH OF THERMIDOR by Richard Bienvenu. Copyright (c) 1970 by Oxford University Press, Inc., 228–30. Used by permission of Oxford University Press, Inc. Description An account of the resource Having carried the day in the Jacobin Club, Robespierre rose to speak the next day in the Convention, where he attacked members of the Committee of Public Safety and Committee of General Security, until now his closest collaborators, for their extreme use of the Terror. He also hinted that such "terrorists" should be purged from the Convention. Fearing for their own safety, some members of those committees, a number of deputies noted for their harsh repressive measures, and others introduced to the Convention measures they had prepared in advance that condemned Robespierre. In effect, the Incorruptible’s turn against the immoderate use of the Terror created a conspiracy against him where one had not existed before. The resolution was passed, and Robespierre, his brother Augustin, Louis–Antoine Saint–Just, Georges Couthon, and several others were arrested. Robespierre’s supporters, hoping to energize the sections to influence the Convention deputies on their own behalf, issued a call for a general mobilization. As the text below shows, a crowd gathered outside the Convention Hall to demand "liberty" for the arrested leaders. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 442 Title A name given to the resource Execution of Robespierre Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/442/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 27, 1794 Text The Terror Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document At that time, counting on the new principles of the National Convention, I thought I would be able to take advantage of the circumstances and go up to the rostrum to deliver a legitimate criticism of the Montagnards for their disgraceful practices towards the "people's appellate" (i.e., in the trial of Louis XVI), and towards the Nation's representatives who they had stifled. They suspected my intentions when they saw me at the rostrum, where no deputy from the Right had appeared in a long time. They did not want to hear me. But times had changed, and I forced them to give me the floor. My speech, which was nothing more that a motion calling for the freedom of opinion, was delivered on 4 Fructidor, Year II [21 August 1794], a little more than three weeks after the fall of Robespierre. I gave them nothing that they could use against me. I made them listen, however, to the truths that reminded several Montagnards how unjust a persecution is that can lead to the gallows simply for having an opinion. This reprimand was taken to heart, since Bentabolle, during this same session, took the floor and said: "Among the opinions offered to the Tribunal, I noticed Durand-Maillane's, for which I request that he give us a report. Every honest man should want that the freedom of opinion never be jeopardized by unproven charges or invective. We should not swear at men whom we look upon as 'weak beings' in order to shackle the opinions that they only want to express for the good of the People. If someone here believes that they should make a serious reproach toward one of his colleagues, let him explain himself and stipulate the facts, not just offer insults. Let the accused be heard, and let us not seek to make people fear from threats. Only the conspirators should be afraid." [Excited applause.] This is what is written in the Journal of Debate on the session of 4 Fructidor, Year II. Bentabolle's proposition requesting a report on my motion was rightfully argued against, since the freedom of opinion is the right of a representative of the people, and that without this freedom, the entire State would be oppressed. Also, far from wanting either a report or a decree on this matter, I proposed that only those who were against this sacred right receive a punishment. In addition, Bentabolle's language made it clear how the Montagnards judged the silence of their colleagues on their right. They called them the "weak beings," a name which, if they were right, was a serious charge against us, since we were sent by the Nation to uphold its interests. To neglect those interests, or sacrifice them through weakness, would have been a real failure to do our duty. But we only had the appearance of weakness, because, not being able to fight the follies of the Mountain under pain of death, our inertia was but a great strength. We preferred the dangers, the disrespect, the humiliations with which we were bombarded, than giving in to being accomplices of the Mountain for our own safety. Nothing was easier for us than to line up in the reassuring ranks of our dominators. But the price to pay for this peace was worse than death. . . . There was, in the space that separated the Right from the Mountain, a spot in the hall that was called "the stomach." Those that sat there were not of the Right, they did not share in our humiliations, but neither did they have the courage to disprove the evil done by the left side by sitting so close. They had nonetheless the silly pride to call themselves wiser that those on their right, even though they were less courageous, and alone deserved the name "weak beings." Sortable Date 1794-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Mathurin de Lescure, ed., Mémoires sur les assemblées parlementaires de la révolution, 2 vols. (Paris: Firmin-Didot et cie, 1881), 2:410–13. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in John Hardman, French Revolution Documents 1792–95, vol. 2 (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1973), 263–64. Description An account of the resource In condemning Robespierre on 9 Thermidor, the Convention deputies did not necessarily intend to end the Terror as much as prevent Robespierre and his followers from turning it on them. Yet in the weeks and months that followed, it became clear that Thermidor had been a turning point away from "revolutionary government" and toward a revival of procedural, parliamentary politics. In this passage from the memoirs of a Thermidorean Convention deputy named Pierre–Toussaint Durand–Maillane, we see how it once again become politically feasible to express differences of opinion without fear of being brought before a Revolutionary Tribunal. Note the expectation that people are "weak beings" who cannot be, as Robespierre had demanded, constantly virtuous or spontaneously aligned with the "general will." Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 448 Title A name given to the resource Dismantling the Terror: Parliamentarianism Reasserted Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/448/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1794 Clubs Laws Text The Terror Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Having concluded our work with the Committee of Eleven, [Pierre] Daunou and I were named to the Committee of Public Safety. He was handed the trident [gavel], and I was charged with suppressing the civil unrest that was disrupting departments in the west. It was the end of Year III, and the Convention was no longer the formidable assembly that it was. . . . Now it was nothing more than a spineless mob, a mass without cohesion, formed from the incoherent remnants of all the parties that had been successively removed and destroyed. The state of the Convention was a mirror image of that of France. The Committee of Public Safety, the true heart of the State and the only pillar onto which to hold, which alone could rally everyone and move them to action, had itself fallen into complete dissolution. Although I had been warned about this deplorable state, as soon as I saw the committee firsthand I thought I was entering the grave, buried under the rubble of France. I felt the most acute anguish that only a true friend of the homeland could feel when he sees it swallowed by the abyss. The committee members only concerned themselves with their own business, or with the business of their friends or supporters. The only role they took in the Administration was to find a job for this person, or make that person pay something (which may or may not have been owed), etc. Each section of the Administration was given to one member in particular, and they managed it as they pleased. Only correspondence, to look official, had to be signed by two other members. But as I've already mentioned, it was not administration that took up our time. Moreover, as there was no unity in the committee, the administrative committees acted alone, in isolation, as they wanted and as best they could. I say as best they could, because procuring the two signatures needed to give orders, or answer them, which was very difficult to do for those members of the committee who still wanted to act amidst the chaos. Often it was necessary to wait several days before these two signatures could be obtained. These men, who only saw to their little schemes, were too busy with their own affairs to sign anything. When Daunou and I pressed them, telling them that it does not take long to sign, they objected that they didn't want to sign something until they had read it, which is the right thing to do. But they used this as a pretext, saying they didn't have time! . . . We shall soon see what they used this precious time for. That was the normal daily speed of the Committee of Public Safety when I arrived there. It remained that way until the end, which fortunately was not long in coming. Sortable Date 1794-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Louis-Marie de La Révellière-Lepaux, Mémoires, 3 vols. (Paris: E. Plon, Nourrit, 1895), 1:245–55. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in John Hardman, French Revolution Documents 1792–95, vol. 2 (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1973), 307–12. Description An account of the resource The coup of Thermidor did not lead immediately to the dissolution of the Committee of Public Safety (CPS), although much of its power was quickly transferred to other committees, especially the Committee of General Security, and back to the Convention as a whole. This passage, from the memoirs of a member of the CPS after Thermidor, describes the committee’s efforts to continue to guide the Republic in the face of ongoing war, domestic unrest, and food shortages. Yet as the text below shows, both the committee and the Convention as a whole operated from a considerably weakened position, in part because without the Terror, the central government could not compel obedience by officials in the provinces. The steady deterioration of the government’s power over the next fifteen months increasingly made clear the need for a new constitution, with a strong central executive that would be constitutionally limited so as to avoid the excesses of revolutionary government. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 449 Title A name given to the resource The Convention Is Weak Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/449/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1794 Middle Classes – Bourgeoisie Public Opinion Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document EXECUTIVE POWER The Executive Power shall be delegated to a Directory of five members appointed by the Legislative Body, which for such purpose performs the functions of an electoral body, in the name of the nation. The Council of Five-Hundred shall prepare, by secret ballot, a list of ten times the number of members of the Directory to be appointed, and shall present it to the Council of Elders, which shall choose, also by secret ballot, from said list. The members of the Directory must be at least forty years of age. They may be chosen only from among citizens who have been ministers or members of the Legislative Body. The present article shall be observed only dating from the ninth year of the Republic. Dating from the first day of Year V of the Republic [22 September 1796], members of the Legislative Body may not be elected members of the Directory or ministers, either during the continuance of their legislative functions or during the first year after the expiration of same. The Directory shall be renewed in part by the election of one new member annually. During the first four years, the order of retirement of those first elected shall be determined by lot. None of the retiring members may be reelected until after an interval of five years. Ancestors and descendants in direct line, brothers, uncles and nephews, first cousins, and those related by marriage in said several degrees may not be members of the Directory at one and the same time, or succeed one another therein until after an interval of five years. In case of the removal of one of the members of the Directory by death, resignation, or otherwise, his successor shall be elected by the Legislative Body within ten days at the latest. The Council of Five-Hundred shall be required to propose candidates within the first five days, and the Council of Elders shall complete the election within the last five days. The new member shall be elected only for the term of office remaining to the one to be replaced. Nevertheless, if such time does not exceed six months, the person elected shall remain in office until the end of the fifth year following. Each member of the Directory shall preside over it in turn for three months only. The president shall possess the right of signature, and shall have custody of the seal. Laws and acts of the Legislative Body shall be addressed to the Directory in the person of its president. The Executive Directory may not deliberate unless at least three of its members are present. It shall choose for itself, from outside its own membership, a secretary who shall countersign dispatches and record deliberations in a register, in which every member has the right to have his motivated opinion inscribed. When it deems expedient, the Directory may deliberate without the presence of its secretary; in such case, the deliberations shall be recorded in a special register by one of the members of the Directory. The Directory shall provide, according to law, for the external and internal security of the Republic. It may issue proclamations in conformity with the laws, and for the execution thereof. It shall dispose the armed force, but neither the Directory collectively nor any one of its members may, under any circumstances, command same while in office or during the two years immediately following the expiration of his term. If the Directory is informed that a conspiracy is being plotted against the external or internal security of the State, it may issue warrants of apprehension and arrest against those who are presumed to be the authors or accomplices thereof; it may question them; but it shall be required, under the penalties provided for the crime of arbitrary detention, to send them before the police officer within two days, in order to proceed according to law. The Directory shall appoint the generals in chief; it may not choose them from among the blood or marriage relations of its members in the degrees stated in article 139. It shall supervise and ensure the execution of laws in the administrations and courts, through commissioners of its own appointment. It shall appoint the ministers, from outside its own membership, and may dismiss them when it thinks it advisable. It may not select anyone under the age of thirty years, or from among the blood or marriage relations of its members in the degrees stated in article 139. The ministers shall correspond directly with the authorities that are subordinate to them. The Legislative Body shall determine the number of the ministers and their prerogatives. Such number may not be fewer than six or more than eight. The ministers do not constitute a council. The ministers shall be jointly and severally responsible for non-execution of laws, as well as for non-execution of orders of the Directory. The Directory shall appoint the collector of direct taxes in each and every department. It shall appoint the superintendents-in-chief for the administration of indirect taxes and the national domains. Until peace has been made, all public functionaries in the French colonies, except in the departments of the Île de France and the Île de la Réunion, shall be appointed by the Directory. The Legislative Body may authorize the Directory to send to all French colonies, as occasion may require, one or more special agents appointed by it for a limited time. Such special agents shall perform the same duties as the Directory, and shall be subordinate thereto. GENERAL PROVISIONS There shall be no superiority among citizens other than that of public functionaries, and that only in relation to the performance of their duties. The law shall recognize neither religious vows nor any obligation contrary to the natural rights of man. No one may be prevented from speaking, writing, printing, or publishing his ideas. Writings may not be subjected to any censorship before their publication. No one may be held responsible for what he has written or published, except in cases provided for by law. No one may be prevented from performing the worship of his choice, so long as he complies with the laws. No one may be forced to contribute to the expenses of a religion. The Republic does not pay for any. There shall be neither privilege, nor mastership, nor wardenship, nor limitation on the liberty of the press, of commerce, or of the practice of industry or arts of any kind. When circumstances render such prohibitive laws necessary, they shall be essentially provisional, and shall be effective for one year only, unless formally renewed. The law shall watch particularly over the professions which affect public morals and the security and health of citizens; but admission to the practice of such professions may not be made conditional upon any pecuniary payment. The law shall provide for the compensation of inventors, or for the maintenance of the exclusive ownership of their discoveries or productions. The Constitution guarantees the inviolability of all property, or just indemnification for that of which legally established public necessity requires the sacrifice. The house of every citizen is an inviolable asylum; during the night no one shall have the right to enter except in case of fire, flood, or a call proceeding from inside the house. During the day, orders of the constituted authorities may be executed therein. No domiciliary visit may take place except by virtue of a law, and for the person or object expressly designated in the warrant ordering such visit. Corporations and associations which are contrary to public order may not be formed. No assembly of citizens may call itself a popular society. No private society which concerns itself with political questions may correspond with another, or affiliate therewith, or hold public sessions composed of the members of the societies and of associates distinguished from one another, or impose conditions of admission and eligibility, or arrogate to itself rights of exclusion, or cause its members to wear any external insignia of their association. Citizens may exercise their political rights only in the primary or communal assemblies. All citizens shall be free to address petitions to the public authorities, but they must be individual ones; no association may present them collectively, except the constituted authorities, and only for matters within their competence. The petitioners must never forget the respect due the constituted authorities. Every armed gathering is an attack upon the Constitution; it shall be dispersed immediately by force. Every unarmed gathering, likewise, shall be dispersed, at first by verbal command, and, if necessary, by the deployment of armed force. Several constituted authorities may never unite for the purpose of deliberating together; no instrument emanating from such a union may be executed. No one may wear distinctive symbols indicative of duties formerly performed or services rendered. The members of the Legislative Body, and all public functionaries, shall wear, in the performance of their duties, the costume or insignia of the authority with which they are invested; the form thereof shall be determined by law. No citizen may renounce, in whole or in part, the indemnity or salary assigned to him by law because of public duties. There shall be uniformity of weights and measures throughout the Republic. The French era shall date from 22 September 1792, the day of the establishment of the Republic. The French nation declares that under no circumstances will it permit the return of Frenchmen who, having abandoned their homeland since 15 July 1789, are not included in the exceptions provided in the laws against émigrés; and it forbids the Legislative Body to make new exceptions in such connection. The property of émigrés is irrevocably acquired for the benefit of the Republic. The French nation likewise proclaims, as a guarantee of public faith, that after a legally consummated auction of national property, whatever its origin, the lawful acquirer may not be dispossessed thereof; reserving to third claimants, if need be, indemnification by the National Treasury. None of the powers instituted by the Constitution shall have the right to change it in its entirety, or in any of its parts, except for reforms which may be effected by way of revision in conformity with the provisions of Title XIII. The citizens shall always remember that the duration, preservation, and prosperity of the Republic depend principally upon the wisdom of elections in the primary and electoral assemblies. The French people entrust the present Constitution to the fidelity of the Legislative Body, the Executive Directory, the administrators, and the judges; to the vigilance of fathers of families, to wives and mothers, to the affection of young citizens, to the courage of all Frenchmen. Sortable Date 1795-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Hall Stewart, A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1951), 588–91, 610–12. Description An account of the resource By mid–1795, dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs, particularly the extra–constitutional nature of the government, had become widespread. The Left demanded "bread and the Constitution of 1793" while those who had suffered under the Terror sought to "end the Revolution" by finishing off popular political activity in the sections that had led to continual uprisings, civil unrest in the provinces (notably revenge being taken on those in power during the Terror), and the ongoing wars abroad that continued to make heavy demands on the domestic economy. To this end, the Convention assigned a committee including Sieyès to draft yet another constitution, which was presented on 22 August. The excerpt below demonstrates how this constitution sought to ensure a moderate continuation of the Revolution, which would reconcile a stable social order based on personal liberty (meaning individual property rights) with juridical equality rather than the direct democracy and guarantees of social and economic equality contained in the Constitution of 1793. To achieve this delicate balance, the framers reduced the authority of the legislature, which would now have two houses so it could not pass legislation as rapidly. By creating an explicit executive body, this constitution concentrated power, but also limited how much any one individual or political faction could exert by sharing executive power among five Directors. Finally, the constitution proscribed political gatherings of any sort to prevent the re–formation of the club movement or the organization of national political parties. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 450 Title A name given to the resource Constitution of the Year III (1795) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/450/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1795 Laws Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Barras conferred with his aide-de-camp over the weight of numbers: "They are 40,000 against 4,000, granted [I said]. We shall make up the deficiency in numbers by our courage; a single discharge of grape fired in the air will suffice to strike terror in the ranks of our opponents, who will all of them fly if a few of them get their faces scratched. They are merely Pompey's dandies, afraid of having their faces spoiled." Such was my plan in all its simplicity. And when I said to Bonaparte: "We must centralize," he fully grasped my intentions. . . . What course were they going to adopt? Their commanders probably did not know themselves. Suddenly a few shots were fired from the most advanced battalion of the grenadiers of the [rebel] National Guard. Those of the line, whom Bonaparte had by my orders concealed in the building contiguous to the rue du Bac, spurred on by the sound of shooting, sprang up and opened fire. Although unable to judge whether this preliminary skirmish was planned or fortuitous, I saw in it the beginning of a general engagement in which we would certainly be overpowered by numbers. I had a twelve-pounder gun under the walls of the Hôtel de Nesle, near the rue de Beaune. The gunners stood ready with lighted fuses. I gave the order to fire, and the first volley of grape mowed down some of the nearest National Guardsmen. The whole column wavered, and its recoil proved to me that it could not stand its ground. I therefore gave orders to keep up the firing, but to fire entirely in the air as it seemed to me that the noise would be sufficient to disperse the hostile phalanxes. It was enough, as I had anticipated, to lay low a few of the vanguard; all the rest scattered. . . . Civil war is undoubtedly the worst of all political evils. But the picture presented by the chaotic defeat of these well-fleshed battalions—who left their arms, and even their coats, on the field of battle as they followed the example of their doughty chiefs—roused the brave defenders of the Convention to mirth. Barras also decried Napoleon for his actions on 13 Vendémiaire: As he has, since his subsequent appearances on the stage, arrogated to himself the leading role and the sole influence in everything, it is necessary that I should once more point out in precise terms what relates to him personally. Bonaparte was neither more nor less than my aide-de-camp on 13 Vendémiaire. I was mounted, he was on foot, and consequently could not follow me wherever I went. The only mission he received from me was to go to the Pont Royal, and return and report to me what was going on there. He did not give, and did not have the authority to give, any order on his own account. He was never at any point of attack except at the Carrousel, whence he did not stir; Brune was in command there. I have not left out, however, the fact that he gave indication of a quick military perception when, pulling me by the coat and drawing me a few paces away from a position which would have exposed me to the first discharge, he said to me in an outburst of animation which was the product of the circumstances: "All would be lost if you were killed. The drama hinges on you alone; there is no one who could take your place. What action are you going to take?" It was then that I ordered Brune to fire his cannon, and Bonaparte, pressing my hand, exclaimed: "The republic is saved." Sortable Date 1795-10-05 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Paul-François-Jean-Nicolas Barras, Memoirs of Barras: Member of the Directorate, trans. and ed. George Duruy, 4 vols. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1895): 1:299–305, 332. Description An account of the resource In the waning days of the Convention in the fall of 1795, royalist–influenced sections in Paris revolted to prevent a new constitution that protected the position of the radicals. Bonaparte was delegated to put down the uprising of 5 October 1795 (13 Vendémiaire Year IV). Bonaparte’s decisiveness and willingness to fire cannons on the demonstrators—in his words, to "give them a whiff of grapeshot"—both consolidated the government’s control and revealed how much the revolutionary state after Thermidor was dependent on the military. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 451 Title A name given to the resource Bonaparte Saves the Day Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/451/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 5, 1795 Napoleon Bonaparte Text