43 10 1079 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 Toulouse, September 28th of the Year II of the French Republic The revolutionary march is in full swing in Toulouse. The enthusiasm of the local chapter of the Committee of Public Safety is continuous and fruitful. The constituted authorities are all newly elected, and the army, designed to spread and advance the Revolution, adds immeasurably to our speeches and to our civil institutions. Things will get to the point where our presence won't be needed anymore. Montauban is set up on the same model as Toulouse, but has an advantage over Toulouse in that it has a larger number of educated patriots. Through the use of a Committee and a revolutionary army, Castres, capital of the department of Tarn, made an about-face in two days. The administration is deftly trying out new ideas, and soon this town will be on the same track as Montauban and Toulouse. I am leaving with my colleague Chaudron-Roussau for the [department of the] Ariège. The problems have dissipated entirely in that department. All of the administrative positions would have already been totally changed, and without any fuss, if only the educated patriots were equal in number to that of malicious administrators. And the shortage of education is at the point where we have to fill administrative positions with commissioners. There remains the department of Aude, which is reportedly extremely bad. We will take our instruments of reform there, as we have elsewhere, and will turn the department around. Since the revolutionary army is the best tool to impose order, with it we can convert a thousand political sinners every minute. . . . You know that Bordeaux is getting better every day, but it is not enough to be satisfied with a few attempts on behalf of the people. We have the correct means to take the Revolution to its end there. We should be going in on the 10th, and I assure you that the Republic will fully and entirely triumph there, if we are as strict as the circumstances require. Godspeed, in fraternity, M.-A Baudot Sortable Date 1793-09-00 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 Paul Mautouchet, Le gouvernement révolutionnaire (10 Août 1792–4 brumaire an IV (Paris: E. Cornely, 1912), 224–25. 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), 152–53. Description An account of the resource At the demand of patriots in Paris and the provinces, the National Convention sent irregular units to the countryside and to cities where resistance to the Revolution had appeared. In this report from Toulouse, the Convention, through the medium of its Committee of Public Safety, learns that this strategy was highly effective in winning support for the government and, as the correspondent writes, "converting . . . political sinners." Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 431 Title A name given to the resource Revolutionary Armies in the Provinces: Toulouse (September 1793) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/431/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September 1793 Clubs Economic Conditions Popular Politics Provinces 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 CONSTITUTIONAL ACT OF THE REPUBLIC The French Republic is one and indivisible. ON CITIZENSHIP The following are admitted to exercise the rights of French citizenship: Every man born and domiciled in France, fully twenty-one years of age; Every foreigner, fully twenty-one years of age, who, domiciled in France for one year: And lives there by his labor, Or acquires property, Or marries a French woman, Or adopts a child, Or supports an elderly person; Finally, every foreigner who is considered by the legislative body to be deserving of being treated humanely. The exercise of the rights of citizenship is lost: By naturalization in a foreign country; By the acceptance of offices or favors emanating from a government that is not of the people; By sentencing with punishments that are dishonorable or strip the party of his civil rights, until rehabilitation. The exercise of the rights of citizenship is suspended: By status of indictment; By sentencing in absentia, until such sentence is revoked. ON POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY Popular sovereignty includes all French citizens. It directly appoints its deputies. It delegates to its electors the choice of administrators, public arbiters, and judges for criminal and appellate courts. It deliberates upon the law. ON NATIONAL REPRESENTATION Population is the sole basis of national representation. There shall be one deputy for every 40,000 individuals. Every grouping of the primary assemblies, with a population of between 39,000 and 41,000 inhabitants, shall directly elect one deputy. The election is decided by absolute majority. Every assembly shall count the votes, and shall send a commissioner to the most central location for the general count. If the first return does not produce an absolute majority, a second roll call shall be held, and a vote taken between the two citizens who have obtained the most votes. In case of a tie, the elder shall have the choice, either to hold another vote or to be declared the winner. In the case where both citizens are of equal age, the decision shall be made by lot. Every Frenchman who enjoys the rights of citizenship is eligible throughout the entire Republic. Every deputy belongs to the whole nation. In case of the nonacceptance, resignation, forfeiture, or death of a deputy, the primary assemblies that elected him shall provide for his replacement. A deputy who has proffered his resignation may not leave his post until after the swearing in of his successor. The French people shall assemble annually, on the 1st of May, to hold elections. They shall proceed thereto, regardless of how many citizens have the right to vote. The primary assemblies shall meet in extraordinary session upon the request of one-fifth of the citizens who have the right to vote in that district. In such cases, the town council of the usual place of assembly shall conduct the convocation. Such extraordinary sessions shall deliberate only when one-half plus one of the citizens who have the right to vote in that district are present. ON SESSIONS OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY Sessions of the National Assembly shall be public. The minutes of its sessions shall be printed. It may only deliberate if at least 200 members are present. Its members must be granted permission to speak, in the order in which they requested it. Its decisions shall be determined by majority vote. ON THE FUNCTIONS OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY The Legislative Body shall propose laws and render decrees. Included under the general title of "law" are acts of the Legislative Body concerning: Civil and criminal legislation; General administration of the revenues and ordinary expenditures of the Republic; State property; The standard, weight, stamp, and denomination of monies; The nature, amount, and collection of taxes; The declaration of war; Every new general distribution of French territory; Public schooling; Public honors in memory of great men. ON THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL There shall be an Executive Council composed of twenty-four members. The Electoral College of each and every department shall appoint a candidate. The Legislative Body shall select the members of the council from the general list. One-half of the members shall be replaced during the final months of every legislative session. The council shall be responsible for the management and supervision of the civil administration, and may act only to execute the laws of decrees of the Legislative Body. It shall appoint, from outside its own body, the executives of the civil administration of the Republic. ON ADMINISTRATIVE AND MUNICIPAL BODIES In each and every commune of the Republic there shall be a municipal administration; In each and every district, there shall be an intermediate administration; In each and every department, there shall be a central administration. The municipal officials shall be elected by the communal assemblies. The administrators shall be appointed by the electoral colleges of the departments and districts. One-half of the municipalities and administrations shall be renewed annually. The administration and municipal officials shall have no representational role. They may not, under any circumstances, alter the acts of the Legislative Body nor stop their execution. The Legislative Body shall determine the duties of the municipal officials and administrators, the rules governing their subordination, and the penalties they may incur. Sessions of the municipalities and administrations shall be public. ON CIVIL JUSTICE The code of civil and criminal laws shall be uniform throughout the Republic. No infringement may be made upon the right of citizens to have arbitrators of their own choice pass judgment on their disagreements. The decision of such arbitrators shall be final, unless the citizens have reserved the right to protest. There shall be justices of the peace, elected by the citizens in districts determined by law. They shall reconcile and judge without charge. Their numbers and abilities shall be regulated by the Legislative Body. There shall be public arbitrators elected by the electoral colleges. ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE In criminal matters citizens may be judged only upon an indictment received by juries or decreed by the Legislative Body. The accused shall have council, chosen by themselves or appointed by the court. Inquiries shall be public. Facts and intents shall be declared by a trial jury. The penalty shall be imposed by a criminal court. Criminal judges shall be elected annually by the electoral colleges. ON PUBLIC TAXES No citizen is exempt from the honorable obligation of contributing to public expenses. ON NATIONAL CONVENTIONS If, in one-half of the departments plus one, one-tenth of the regularly constituted primary assemblies requests the revision of a Constitutional Act or the amendment of some of its articles, the Legislative Body shall be required to convoke all the primary assemblies of the Republic to ascertain if there are grounds for a National Convention. ON THE RELATIONS OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC WITH FOREIGN NATIONS The French people are the friends and natural allies of free peoples. They do not interfere in the government of other nations; nor do they permit other nations to interfere in theirs. They give asylum to foreigners who, in the name of liberty, are banished from their homelands, and refuse it to tyrants. They do not make peace with an enemy who is occupying their territory. ON THE GUARANTEE OF RIGHTS The Constitution guarantees all Frenchmen equality, liberty, security, property, public debt, freedom of worship, public schooling, public relief, unrestricted freedom of the press, the right to assemble in groups, and the enjoyment of all the rights of man. The French Republic respects loyalty, courage, the elderly, filial piety, and misfortune. It entrusts its Constitution to the care of all the virtues. The Declaration of Rights and the Constitutional Act shall be engraved on tablets and placed in the midst of the Legislative Body and in public places. Sortable Date 1793-06-10 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 Survey of the French Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1951), 458–68. (Slightly retranslated). Description An account of the resource The primary task of the Convention, when seated in the fall of 1792, had been to draft a new, republican constitution. Only after the purge of the Girondins, however, did the Convention complete this task, with what became known as the Constitution of 1793 or sometimes the "Montagnard Constitution." Particularly notable was the commitment to political democracy; universal manhood suffrage with no property requirements for voting or holding office at national or municipal levels was implemented, and the equal application of the law to all citizens was emphasized. This constitution also required the government to ensure a "right to subsistence," while simultaneously reiterating the inviolability of personal property. To many, especially the Jacobins, the Constitution of 1793 provided a model framework for an egalitarian, democratic republic; however, owing to the ongoing war the Convention suspended constitutional rule in October 1793 in favor of "revolutionary government . . . until the peace." Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 430 Title A name given to the resource "Constitution of 1793" Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/430/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 10, 1793 Clubs Laws Sans-culottes 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 For two or three weeks now, in working-class gatherings, in the sections, at the bishop's palace, in the Commune, and even at the Convention, there has been talk about firing a warning shot, of raising the alarm, of sounding general quarters. Every citizen was asked to rise up because the need to add another round to that of August 10th had been felt most strongly. The meeting, which has been proposed several times by the two parties that are tearing the Convention in half, was rejected as unworkable, useless, even deadly. As Billaud-Varennes said to the Jacobins, "It is not possible for virtue to ally itself with crime," and we totally agree with him. As gold must be extracted from its alloy, it was the natural result, and it seems as if that was where the petition that was proposed against the 22 [deputies] was heading. This measure's lack of success gave rise to threats and calls for revenge. From that point to hatching a plot was but one step, and it was all that was required to make it believable, real, and actually carried out. This gave the Right the idea of seizing the first opportunity, once it was in the majority, of establishing an authority capable of disconcerting the conspiracy, or at least of imposing that authority on its authors. . . . Because of its people and its wisdom, Paris is still, and always will be, the most worthy city in the entire empire of defending the national legislature and bringing it respect. All of these vows, and many others more secret, necessarily resulted in an explosion, or at least in the development of that public spirit that continues to enliven Paris and leads it to a moral revolution or another June 20th. And this was the true conspiracy, the "despicable conspiracy," that the deputies of the Right dreaded so much. The day before, Paris seemed to be totally calm. However, that evening the sections, more heated than they had been in the preceding two or three months, were getting ready for the next day's grand spectacle. The Convention broke up at four o'clock in the afternoon, but forewarned by one party about what was supposed to happen, the deputies reconvened at eight o'clock in the evening. Finally, all the revolutionary instruments were ready. At three o'clock on Friday morning, May 31st, the alarm sounded in several parts of the city and quickly spread to all the others. Upon this signal the recall, and even the general alarm, were sounded. If the mood wasn't uniform, the concert of wills proved to be perfect. Everyone ran to their post, meaning to their sections. However, in several streets, the means that we have already mentioned were being used. The citizens stood guard in front of their doors. At eight o'clock there were more than 100,000 men under arms, united, brothers, all determined to perish before letting the national legislature be threatened. Not that the public hadn't clearly expressed its opinion about certain members of the Convention, but as a body, Parisians will defend the legislature to the death. Everyone was already in this frame of mind, and the behavior exhibited during the course of this day proved it beyond a doubt and reassured the women, mothers above all, and pregnant wives, whose patriotism is not up to the test of these great upheavals. A good woman and citizen is far removed from those women who run through the streets under a banner that is not one of decency and civic responsibility. . . . Towards seven o'clock the commissioners from most of the sections of Paris appeared before the assembled general council. After the verification of their authority, they adjourned the old city council and the next minute reinstated it under the title of the Revolutionary and Provisional Commune. Then they devoted themselves to the important happenings of the day. Various decrees befitting the occasion were passed, and one proposal, among others, was to tear down the aristocratic posters that could be found on the walls of the world's first free city. However, out of respect for the vague freedom of the press, this proposition was not adopted. . . . We were right when we said in the last edition that a project to assassinate a certain number of deputies could not be carried out in Paris. The 31st of May was good proof of that. What an imposing effect Paris offered. Close to 300,000 citizens were under arms because all the urban areas in the department, and even beyond (5,000 men rushed over from Versailles), hurried to add their numbers to this peaceful insurrection. Let us say that there were 300,000 citizens assembled at the first sound of the alarm, anxious to demonstrate under the gaze of the entire Republic their devotedness to the homeland and their respect for the law! What a lesson for 700 still-divided lawmakers, i.e., that harmony and fraternity reigned amongst 300,000 citizens! And an entire day was spent like this, exceedingly proud, but also calm and quiet. A federation was requested. Is there any revolutionary day more perfect, which was not premeditated or begged for? All of Paris arose as one and seemed to say to the slanderers, "Vile sort, write to the departments, go tell them that Paris is a city of murder and pillage. Go tell them that the national legislature daily runs risks in the heart of this city, and that, sooner or later, our walls will be covered with the blood of the Republic's lawmakers." Oh! What a shame that the departments were not witness to the solemnity of the 31st of May, since it was a sort of national holiday. If only they could see the people of Paris en masse, they would know that the People are sensitive to insults, they are great, they are generous, and they sacrifice their feelings for their rights and for the salvation of the fatherland. If we were to give them up to themselves, they would respect themselves and bring respect to the precious object that they have in their custody. The day of May 31st is truly their work. And the sublime totality of this spectacle was due neither to the Convention nor to the constituted authorities. Neither decree nor regulations were needed to maintain order. Things would not have gone so smoothly if the Convention and the other powers that be had not been content to be spectators of this far-reaching movement. When action does nothing but impose silence on slander, it has already accomplished a great deal. It is said that May 31st had been prepared with another aim entirely. Anarchists are mentioned, as are seditionists. But this day shall prove to them that their moment has passed. Today, the citizens of Paris are too enlightened to be in a mood to cut each other's throats to please this or that faction. As each day passes, a civil war becomes more and more impracticable. Sortable Date 1793-06-00 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 Les Révolutions de Paris (June 1793), 422–29. Description An account of the resource Throughout the spring of 1793, radicals in the Convention, in the Paris Commune, and in the sections struggled for power against Brissot and his allies, known as the "Girondins." They differed over how the Revolution should be affected by popular pressure. In late May, Robespierre proposed a motion that accused the Girondins of being a threat to the Republic and ordered their arrest. When the moderate deputies of the "plain" resisted passing this measure, radicals from the sections mobilized over the course of three days, from 31 May to 2 June, culminating in a show of force by surrounding the Convention Hall. Duly intimidated, the Convention deputies voted for the measure. But even though the die was cast, most Jacobins were uneasy about resorting to such a direct threat that might later undermine their authority. Twenty–nine deputies from the Girondin faction were expelled from the Convention and placed under house arrest. In the aftermath of the coup, the radical faction known as "the Mountain," which usually followed Robespierre’s lead, took control of the Convention and the Committee of Public Safety. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 429 Title A name given to the resource Expulsion of the Girondins Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/429/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 1793 Clubs Popular Politics Public Opinion Sans-culottes 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 Paris 10 August, midnight, in session The 4th year of liberty, 1792 The indignation was so general that it was breaking out with no fear or restraint; everyone was expecting a terrible explosion; day and night, brave and valorous knights filled the chateau, which bristled with bayonets and cannon. Yesterday the fears intensified; nevertheless, there was no real threat to justify all this excitement, so just after midnight we went to bed. . . . [The next morning] upon entering the Assembly hall, I was greatly surprised to find the King, the Queen, the Prince, the King's oldest sister, Madame Elisabeth, and others [of the royal entourage] all very carefully dressed, with heads lowered like wet hens; they had all taken refuge in the National Assembly to seek there the safety which could no longer be found in the palace. The cannoneers, having being ordered to do their duty if the people were to force its way into the palace, had instead simply unloaded their cannon; knowing this, the King's closest advisers had advised him to flee the palace and come amongst the nation's representatives. [When I arrived], the National Assembly was not deliberating; [under the Constitution] it could not do so in the King's presence, although it urgently needed to. The King and the royal family could not be sent out, because they were done for if they left their asylum. After great and tumultuous debate, the King moved from the president's rostrum and his family moved from inside the rail, taking up places in the little box behind the rostrum, ordinarily used by journalists. Someone came to announce that the cannon filling the Place du Carrousel were aimed against the Tuileries Palace, which the people wanted to break down like the Bastille. After a short discussion, because time was pressing, the Assembly sent a deputation consisting of twenty of its members to speak to the people in the name of the law and to appease it by persuasion. . . . This deputation left at once, preceded by an usher and surrounded by a guard. I had the honor to be in it; although this was also nearly a misfortune, because we had barely reached the door of the Tuileries Palace when our eyes were dazzled by furious musket fire at the bottom of the stairway; at once, a second round; then a cannonade knocked down part of the façade. By God, we saw our death right before us! As we did not yet feel worthy to allow it to pass behind us, we stopped in our tracks and proposed a discussion, but a well-aimed cannon rejected our proposition. We then thought we had found a safe alternative of going to the other side of the Carrousel, preferring the cannon tails to the mouths; but scarcely had we emerged from the riding-school [in which the Assembly met] when a mass of sabers, pikes, and bayonets rushed from all sides, with indescribable rage, on our brave guards, who, angered by our obstinacy in advancing into the fire instead of retreating, finally grabbed us and swooped us back into the National Assembly. . . . [Back in the assembly hall,] brave sans-culottes had appeared at the rail and were promptly heard from. They explained to us that the sovereign people, making use of that sovereignty, had charged them to assure us of its respect, to affirm obedience to our decrees . . . and that we were the only constituted authority and there was no other in existence. They concluded by asking us to "Swear in the Nation's name to maintain liberty and equality with all your power or to die at your post." Seeing this declaration to be our only means of our salvation, all the deputies shouted eagerly and in a single voice: "I so swear!" The roll was called at once, and on the rostrum each deputy in turn pronounced the words indicated by the sans-culottes and the proposal was considered to be adopted. Our co-deputies, who had fled the hall earlier fearing for their lives, were now reassured by a declaration so easily pronounced . . . they returned to join us in session and showed the utmost courage in taking this charming oath, which they uttered with the greatest firmness, without troubling over the difficulty and even the impossibility for them of carrying it out. In the interim, a great brawl had broken out in the palace, in the Tuileries [gardens], and on the Champs Élysées. The Swiss guards, who had been deceived by the aristocratic instigators in the palace and had fired on the people . . . were now being hotly pursued and were defending themselves in the same way . . . so that corpses covered the ground. The royal palace had been pillaged, although everything of value had been carried scrupulously to the Assembly, which had in turn sent it to the Commune [i.e., city hall]; the people themselves did justice to those who concealed or stole the smallest thing . . . all the jewels, money, and other valuables found on the dead Swiss guards were carefully gathered up and returned; for instance, a true sans-culotte faithfully deposited 173 gold louis [equivalent to 3,460 livres] that he had discovered on the body of an abbot in the basement of the palace. Our sovereign people, truly French, respected the ladies of honor, or non-honor, of the court; they inflicted not the least scratch on them, ugly as certain of them may be; but they showed no mercy to the obsequious nobles of the court. . . . The King has been suspended from all his functions and powers; we have driven out his counterrevolutionary ministers and have named others worthy of public confidence. Louis, Antoinette, their children and hangers-on are still in their cell, the stenographer's box, from which they have not budged . . . and where their fare as this has consisted, deliberately, of scarcely more than bread, wine, and water. Good God, what a sight! It is really true that opinion is often all-important and that without opinion on their side the great, however great they may be, are nothing; these gods on earth, stripped and deprived of their masks . . . are now not even men, and in the end they have the same fate that false divinities have always had when the blindfolds of error fall away. Our assembly-hall commissioners are taking steps to prepare apartments for them in the former Capuchins' convent [next to the assembly-hall on the west]; for their majesties would run the risk of not being respected as they deserve if they were to go and stay in the Luxembourg Palace, which one of our decrees assigned to them today instead of the Tuileries Palace. Sortable Date 1792-08-10 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 Camille Bloch, ed., La Révolution Française, no. 27 (1894), 177–82. Description An account of the resource In early August, the Legislative Assembly was deadlocked, unable to decide what to do about the King, the constitution, the ongoing war, and above all the political uprisings in Paris. On 4 August, the most radical Parisian section, "the section of the 300s," issued an "ultimatum" to the Legislative Assembly, threatening an uprising if no action was taken by midnight 9 August. On the appointed evening, the tocsin (alarm) sounded from the bell tower and a crowd gathered before the City Hall and headed toward the Tuileries Palace. As the King’s bodyguards prepared to defend him, Louis recognized that it would be more prudent to flee. He and his family escaped through a secret passage and placed themselves under the protection of the Legislative Assembly, which arrested him. A deputy, Michel Azema, describes in this letter, the dramatic events that came to be referred to as the "second French Revolution." Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 428 Title A name given to the resource The Journée of 10 August 1792 Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/428/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource August 10, 1792 Clubs Popular Politics Public Opinion Sans-culottes 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 Niort, 25 August, 1793, Year IV [sic] of Freedom The departmental adviser reported to you, in the last mail, the troubling events which occurred in the district of Châtillon. New information shows us that the crowd is continuing to gather, that the leaders of bandits, far from scattering them, every day battle with them anew and retreat anew. The council meanwhile has taken strong measures, and at this moment there are three thousand national guardsmen in the region to establish order. It is with the greatest of sorrow that we inform you that six patriots have already fallen victim to this rabble, but at least forty of their number were killed. We had reason to hope that these gatherings would cease as soon as the public troops arrived. Our hopes were misguided, and this causes us the greatest of worries. Having already dispatched all of the armed force that was at our disposal, the departments of the Vendée, Loire-Inférieure, and Maine-en Loire showed us unequivocal proof of their fraternity and neighborliness by coming to our aid during these circumstances. Without these departments, this unfortunate region would today have fallen to the rebels. . . . We can not hide from you sirs, that a severe and swift example needs to be set. Already several of these bandits have been arrested, and the departmental adviser requests that you issue a decree whereby the criminal court of Niort judges this case as the last resort. It is the only way to bring peace back to this unfortunate region. We hope that you will not refuse us this request. Sortable Date 1793-08-25 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 Philippe-Joseph-Benjamin Buchez and Prosper-Charles Roux, Histoire parlementaire de la Révolution Française, vol. 17 (Paris: Paulin, 1834), 138–39. 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), 7–8. Description An account of the resource The first groups of "brigands" formed in the west in mid–1792, in response most immediately to the call to all citizens to volunteer for the army. In this letter, a local government official, Choudieu, informs the National Convention that the detachment of soldiers it sent to the region has failed to dispel the brigands and asks for more forces, at just the moment when the Prussians have invaded from the north. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 426 Title A name given to the resource The Vendée—Description of the Counterrevolution Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/426/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource August 25, 1793 Counterrevolution Peasants Popular Politics Provinces 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 National Assembly, considering the increased efforts by the enemies of order and the spreading of all manner of unrest in the various parts of the Empire that can put the state at risk at this very moment when the nation is engaged in a foreign war in order to maintain its liberty, and that causes us to doubt the success of our political regeneration; Convinced that in reserving itself the right to report the danger, it is delaying it for the moment, and bringing peace back into the souls of good citizens; Imbued with the oath to live free or die, and to maintain the Constitution, and strongly believing in its duties and the wishes of the people for which it exists, decrees that a matter of urgency exists. The National Assembly, after having heard the report of its Commission of Twelve, and having decreed the matter of urgency, decrees the following: Article 1. When the internal or external security of the State is threatened, and the legislative body has deemed that extraordinary measures are absolutely required, it shall, by an act of the legislative body, declare as much and in these terms: Citizens, the homeland is in danger! 2. Immediately upon publishing that declaration, the departmental and district councils shall assemble, and, along with the town councils and communal councils, be on permanent watch. From this time forward, no public servant can leave, or stay away from, his post. 3. All citizens capable of carrying arms, and having already served in the National Guard, will also be on active duty. 4. All citizens shall be called upon to declare, before their respective municipalities, the quantity and type of arms and munitions they own. Refusal to declare, or providing false information, if denounced and proven, shall be punished by the magistrate's police, as follows: for the first offense, imprisonment for a term not less than two months and not greater than one year; and for the second offense, imprisonment for a term not less than one year and not greater than two years. 8. The citizens who shall have received the honor of being the first to march for the security of the threatened homeland shall report within three days to the town in their district. They shall form a company in front of the district's Administrative Commissioner and there they shall receive military lodging and be prepared to march at first orders. 12. In towns that are cantonal seats, national weapons shall be returned to the National Guard who have been chosen for the new volunteer battalions. The National Assembly asks all citizens to voluntarily entrust their weapons for the duration of the threat to those responsible for defending them. 13. Immediately upon publication of this decree, each district's administrative directory shall provide a thousand war-gauge ball cartridges which shall be kept in a safe place so they may be distributed to the volunteers when the board deems it appropriate. The executive branch shall give orders to send the necessary articles to the departments for manufacturing the cartridges. 15. The volunteers may perform their military duties without wearing the national uniform. 16. Any man residing in, or traveling through, France, is required to wear the national cockade. Accredited ambassadors and officials of foreign powers are exempt from this regulation. 17. Any person wearing an emblem of rebellion shall be taken before the common court and, if found guilty of having deliberately done so, shall be put to death. It is hereby ordered that all citizens arrest or denounce these persons on the spot, or risk being accused of abetment. Any cockade other than the revolutionary cockade is a sign of rebellion. Sortable Date 1792-07-05 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 M. J. Mavidal and M. E. Laurent, eds., Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860, première série (1787 à 1799), 2d ed., 82 vols. (Paris: Dupont, 1879–1913), 46:133–34. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in J.M. Roberts, French Revolution Documents, vol. 1 (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1966), 487–89. Description An account of the resource Although a small minority in the Legislative Assembly when it convened in September 1791, the Girondins succeeded in passing a resolution in favor of war with "the King of Bohemia and Hungary," meaning the Habsburg Empire in April 1792. Citing the Pillnitz Declaration and Louis’s continued resistance to war to their advantage, throughout the first half of 1791, Jacques–Pierre Brissot and his followers argued that only intransigence held France back from a glorious victory, which would secure and broaden the gains of the Revolution. By July, Louis’s attempts to sabotage the war effort were clear, so the assembly issued the following resolution, declaring the "homeland is in danger." Moreover, it called upon citizens to organize themselves and take up arms in defense of the liberty of the nation against both foreign invaders and internal rebellion. The revolutionary emphasis on unity in defense of the nation is laid on this foundation. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 424 Title A name given to the resource Mobilization for War (5 July 1792) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/424/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 5, 1792 Public Opinion Text Women 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 French people gave themselves a Constitution, and this created malcontents and rebels. The majority of the nation wants to keep it and has sworn to defend it even if it means they must spill their blood. They have also seen, with joy, the war that provided the way for them to keep it. However, the minority, sustained by hope, united all of their efforts in order to gain the upper hand. That led to this internal struggle against the laws, this anarchy which pains good citizens and of which malicious people take great care to cite in order to slander the new regime. That led to this divisiveness and provocation that is spreading to every corner of the nation because nowhere does indifference reign. People are either for the constitution's victory, or for changing it, and their actions either support it or seek to alter it. I shall refrain from examining what the constitution is, in and of itself, and only consider what the circumstances require. As much as possible, I shall try to see it as a stranger would, looking for that which we can expect from it and that which it admits to encouraging. . . . Can Your Majesty openly ally himself today with those who claim to want only to reform the constitution, or should he generously and unreservedly devote himself to its triumph? That is the real question for which the current state of things makes resolution inevitable. As for the very metaphysical question of knowing if the French are ready for liberty, that discussion has no place here. It is not a matter of judging what we may become in a hundred years, but rather of seeing what the current generation is capable of. What has happened amidst the unrest in which we have been living for four years? Onerous taxes have been abolished. The concepts of justice and equality are universally widespread, reaching everywhere. Public opinion concerning the rights of the people has justified these actions. The formal recognition of those rights has become a sacred doctrine. Hatred of the nobility, long inspired by feudalism, became deep-rooted, exacerbated by the obvious opposition of the majority of nobles to the same constitution that destroyed them. During the first year of the Revolution, the People saw these nobles as men made odious by their enjoyment of their privileges as oppressors. This hatred would have stopped if, after the destruction of those privileges, the behavior of the nobles had not reinforced all of the possible reasons to fear them and fight them as irreconcilable enemies. Devotion to the constitution grew at the same rate. Not only were the People indebted to it for its kind and beneficial effects, but they decided that it was also preparing them to receive greater ones. This was so because those who usually made them bear the load were trying so hard to destroy or modify the constitution. The Declaration of Rights became a political gospel, and the French constitution has become a religion for which the People are ready to perish. Also, zeal sometimes went so far as to replace the law. And when the law was not harsh enough to control the troublemakers, the citizens took it upon themselves to punish them. This is how the property of émigrés was opened to the ravages that vengeance inspires. That is why so many departments believed they were obliged to clamp down on the priests whom public opinion had outlawed, and of whom that same public opinion would have made victims. In this collision of interests, every feeling took on a degree of passion. "Homeland" is not a word that the imagination took pleasure in embellishing. Rather it is an entity for which we have made sacrifices, and to which we become more attached each day because of the worries it brings. Our homeland has been created by our tremendous efforts. It rises up amidst our worries, and we love it because it costs us, not just because of our hopes for it. Every attempt made against it serves only to enflame our enthusiasm. At this moment when enemy forces are united outside our borders and conferring with internal plotters to strike the most deadly blows, how far will this enthusiasm take us? . . . Ferment is extreme in all corners of the Empire and will explode in a terrible way unless reasonable confidence in Your Majesty's intentions finally calm them. This confidence however cannot be based on protestations. It can only be based on deeds. . . . Because of the attempts of our enemies and the troubles evident in the capital, because of the extreme unease that had stirred up your guards and the declaration Your Majesty gave them in order to satisfy them, which, under the circumstances was truly impolitic, and because of the situation in Paris and its proximity to the borders . . . all of these things have made us feel the need of an armed camp in our neighborhood. All reasonable minds are struck by the wisdom and urgency of this measure, and it awaits nothing but Your Majesty's approval. Why is it that delays make it seem regretful, when promptness should give it the recognition it deserves? Already the attempts by the heads of the Parisian National Guard against this measure have brought suspicion that they were acting on orders from above. Already the rantings of some outraged demagogues have awakened suspicions about their relationships with those interested in overthrowing the constitution. Already public opinion compromises Your Majesty's goals. The people will be saddened to think their King is acting as a friend and accomplice of the conspirators. . . . I know that the stern language of the truth is rarely welcome close to the throne. I also know that, because it is almost never heard there, that revolutions become necessary. I know above all that I must hold the truth up before Your Majesty, not only as a citizen subject to the law, but as a minister honored with his confidence, or at least cloaked in a role that presumes it. I know of nothing that could prevent me from fulfilling a duty that is so clear to me. Sortable Date 1792-06-00 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 M. J. Mavidal and M. E. Laurent, eds., Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860, première série (1787 à 1799), 2d ed., 82 vols. (Paris: Dupont, 1879–1913), 45:163–64. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in J.M. Roberts, French Revolution Documents, vol. 1 (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1966), 459–63. Description An account of the resource In the spring of 1792, the Legislative Assembly—particularly its Executive Committee, dominated by Girondins—took a more aggressive attitude toward Austria, repeatedly arguing that France needed to act first to ward off invasion and thereby not only preserve but advance the Revolution by spreading it across Europe. In June 1792, Jean–Marie Roland de la Platière, a Girondin minister in the King’s cabinet, wrote the following letter, informing the King that the assembly favored war and suggesting that the constitution required him to execute this decision as the will of the people and warning that if he did not act, the people would consider Louis an accomplice of the "conspirators" against the Revolution. Upon receipt of this letter, Louis dismissed Roland, signaling that he did not feel compelled either to obey the will of the assembly on this matter or to distance himself from counterrevolutionaries. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 423 Title A name given to the resource A Girondin View: Roland Calls on the King to Declare War Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/423/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 1792 Monarchy Public Opinion Text War 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 National Assembly's Address to the King, 29 November 1791 Sire, The National Assembly had no sooner turned its gaze toward the state of the kingdom, than it noticed that the continuing troubles have their source in the criminal preparations of French émigrés. Their audacity is supported by the German princes who flout the treaties signed between themselves and France. They pretend to forget that they owe their Empire to the Treaty of Westphalia that guarantees their rights and security. These preparations for hostilities and these threats of invasion require weapons that absorb immense sums that the nation would have gladly used to pay back its creditors. Sire, it is your role to make them stop. It is your role to address these foreign powers with a language worthy of the King of the French People. Tell them that wherever people allow preparations to be made against France, France shall view them as nothing less than enemies. Tell them that we shall religiously abide by our oath to forswear all conquests, that we propose being good neighbors and offer them the inviolable friendship of a free and strong people. Tell them that we shall respect their laws and customs. Tell them that we shall respect their Constitutions, as long as they respect ours. Finally, tell them that if the princes of Germany continue to encourage preparations aimed against the French, that the French shall carry to them, not the sword and the torch, but liberty. It is up to them to foresee what can occur when nations are awoken. For the last two years, as French patriots have been persecuted near the borders while the rebels there have found help, what Ambassador has spoken, as he should have, in your name? . . . None. We ask you Sire: If the French, chased from their homeland by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, were massed under arms at the frontier, if they were protected by the princes of Germany, what actions would Louis XIV have taken? Would he have put up with these gatherings? Would he have put up with the help being given by the princes who, in the name of allies, act as enemies? What he would have done for his authority, let your Majesty do for the salvation of the Empire and the safeguarding of our Constitution. Sire everything, your interest, your dignity, the glory of the outraged nation, calls for some other language than that of diplomacy. The nation awaits from you energetic declarations aimed toward the ring of the Upper and Lower Rhine, the Princes of Trier, Mainz and other German princes. Such as they are, let the hordes of émigrés be dissipated this instant. Stipulate a date in the near future beyond which no response, trying merely to gain time, shall be accepted. Let your declaration be underscored by the movement of the forces that have been entrusted to you, so that the nation is aware of who are enemies and who are friends. With these bold steps, we shall recognize the defender of the Constitution. Thus you shall assure the serenity of the Empire, inseparable from you own. You shall also hasten the return of national prosperity, where peace shall bring back the order and reign of law, and where your happiness shall be mixed with that of all Frenchmen. Sortable Date 1791-11-29 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 M. J. Mavidal and M. E. Laurent, eds., Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860, première série (1787 à 1799), 2d ed., 82 vols. (Paris: Dupont, 1879–1913), 35:443. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in J.M. Roberts, French Revolution Documents, vol. 1 (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1966), 446–47. Description An account of the resource Having received news of the alliance of Prussia and Austria with émigré French nobles against the Revolution, the Legislative Assembly considered itself threatened by invasion. Fearing that the King, despite his public acceptance of the constitution, had allied himself with this coalition, the assembly addressed Louis XVI and asked him to declare his opposition to the émigrés and if necessary to lead French forces against the Prussians and Austrians to preserve not only the constitution but the more traditional concern of kings: his country’s "glory.". Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 422 Title A name given to the resource The Assembly Complains to the King about the Émigrés Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/422/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 29, 1791 Counterrevolution Europe in Revolution Monarchy Nobility 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 Their Majesties, the Emperor and the King of Prussia, having heard the wishes and representations of Monsieur, the Count of Artois, jointly declare that they view the situation in which the King of France currently finds himself as a subject of common interest for all of Europe's sovereigns. They hope that this interest can not fail to be recognized by the powers from whom assistance is being requested. Consequently, jointly with their respective Majesties, they will use the most efficient means in relation to their strengths to place the King of France in a position to be totally free to consolidate the bases of a monarchical government that shall be as amenable to the rights of sovereigns as it is to the well-being of the French nation. In this case then, their said Majesties, the Emperor and the King of Prussia are resolved to act quickly, in mutual agreement, and with the forces necessary to achieve the proposed and common goal. Meanwhile, they shall issue their troops the necessary orders to prepare them for action. Sortable Date 1791-08-27 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 George F. de Martens, Recueil des traites, 2d ed., vol. 5 (Gottingue, 1917), 260. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in J.M. Roberts, French Revolution Documents, vol. 1 (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1966), 439. Description An account of the resource In response to the "Padua Circular," King Louis’s brother, the Count of Artois, a leader of the émigré nobles, expressed his support for Emperor Leopold II of Austria. Leopold, in conjunction with Prussian King Frederick–William III, then issued this "Declaration of Pillnitz"; the "resolution to act quickly" was perceived as a declaration of war on France for the purpose of ending the Revolution, even though neither Austria nor Prussia was displeased by French weakness. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 421 Title A name given to the resource "The Declaration of Pillnitz" Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/421/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource August 27, 1791 Counterrevolution Europe in Revolution Monarchy Text War 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 I am sure Your Majesty will have learned, with as much surprise and indignation as I, of the unprecedented outrage of the arrest of the King of France, of my sister the Queen, and of the Royal Family. I am also sure your sentiments cannot differ from mine with regard to this event which immediately compromises the honor of all sovereigns and the security of all governments by inspiring fear of still more dreadful acts to follow, and by placing the seal of illegality upon previous excesses in France. I am determined to fulfill my obligation as to these considerations, both as chosen head of the Germanic State, with its support, and as Sovereign of the Austrian states. I therefore propose to you, as I propose to the Kings of Spain, England, Prussia, Naples, and Sardinia, as well as to the Empress of Russia, to unite with them and me to consult on cooperation and measures to restore the liberty and honor of the Most Christian King and his family, and to limit the dangerous extremes of the French Revolution. The most pressing [need] appears to be our immediate cooperation . . . having our ministers in France deliver a common declaration, or numerous similar and simultaneous declarations, which may curb the leaders of the violent party and forestall desperate decisions. This will still leave them an opportunity for honest repentance and for the peaceful establishment of a regime in France that will preserve at least the dignity of the crown and the essential requirements for general tranquillity. For this purpose, I propose to Your Majesty the plan annexed hereto which appears to me satisfactory. However, since the success of such a declaration is problematical, and since complete success can be assured only in so far as we are prepared to support it by sufficiently respectable means, my Minister to Your Majesty will receive at once the necessary instructions to discuss with your Minister such agreement on vigorous measures as circumstances may require. I also intend to have him inform you concerning the replies of the other powers as soon as I have received them. I regard it as an infinitely precious advantage that the disposition they all show for the reestablishment of peace and harmony gives promise to the removal of the obstacles which might be detrimental to the unanimity of the views and sentiments concerning an event so closely associated with the welfare of all Europe. Signed, Leopold Plan of the Common Declaration Padua, 5 July 1791. The undersigned are charged with making known, on the part of their sovereigns, the following: That, notwithstanding the notorious deeds of constraint and violence which have preceded and succeeded the acts of consent granted by the King of France to the decrees of the National Assembly, they had nevertheless still wished to withhold their opinion concerning the degree to which such consent represented, or did not represent, the conviction and free will of His Most Christian Majesty. But the effort undertaken by that prince to set himself at liberty, being a most certain proof of the state of confinement in which he found himself, no longer left any doubt that he had been forced to do violence to his religion in several respects, at the same time that the last outrage, the formal arrest of Him and of the Queen, the Dauphin, and Madame Elizabeth, inspires legitimate fears concerning the ulterior undertakings of the dominant party. That the said sovereigns, unable to delay any longer the manifestation of sentiments and resolutions which, under the circumstances, the honor of their crowns, the ties of blood, and the maintenance of the public order and peace of Europe require of them, have ordered their undersigned ministers to declare: That they demand that this prince and his family be set at liberty immediately, and that they claim for all said royal persons the inviolability and respect which the law of nature and of men imposes upon subjects towards their princes; That they will unite in order to avenge in a forceful manner any future outrages which may be committed, or may be allowed to be committed, against the security, the person, and the honor of the King, the Queen, and the Royal Family. That, finally, they will recognize as law and as a constitution legally established in France only those [measures] which they find bearing the voluntary approval of the King, in the enjoyment of perfect liberty; but that, in the contrary case, they will employ in concert all the means within their power to bring to an end the scandal of an usurpation of power which bears the character of an open revolt, and the disastrous example of which it is important for all governments to check. Sortable Date 1791-07-05 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 John Hall Stewart, A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1951), 221–23. (Slightly retranslated). Description An account of the resource Even after the aborted flight of the royal family in June 1791, Emperor Leopold von Habsburg of Austria, brother of Marie Antoinette, continued his efforts to organize a coalition of French émigré nobles and other European powers that would invade France and put an end to the Revolution. In this letter, written shortly after the forced return of Louis and Marie Antoinette to Paris (which Leopold considered their "arrest"), he proposes an alliance of Austria, Prussia, Britain, Spain, Russia, and other forces against the French Revolution and sets forth the principles for which this alliance would fight—most notably, the restoration of Louis to his full pre–1789 powers. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 420 Title A name given to the resource "The Padua Circular" (5 July 1791) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/420/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 5, 1791 Counterrevolution Europe in Revolution Monarchy Text