Convention is. National Convention

National Convention

(Convention nationale) - a meeting convened to decide on a new form of government for France, after the declaration of “the fatherland in danger” and the suspension of the executive power, proclaimed on August 10, 1792. Primary elections to the National Convention, with the participation of all citizens who have reached coming of age took place on August 26, 1792, departmental - on September 2; A convention was organized on September 20, and at the very first meeting, September 21, it decreed the abolition of royal power and the proclamation of a republic. The vast majority of the convention (about 500 people) was made up of the so-called “Plaine”, which did not play an independent role and was subject to the influence of either the Girondins, who occupied the right side of the convention, or the Montagnards, who occupied the left. From the first meetings, the inevitability of a merciless struggle between the Girondins and Montagnards was clear. The discord between them appeared even during the debate on the issue of punishing the perpetrators of the September massacre (see); Even then, the Girondins accused the Montagnards of striving for dictatorship. They were further divided by the question of the execution of Louis XVI, who was tried on October 16, 1792 and executed on January 21, 1793. The Vendée uprising (q.v.) prompted the convention to establish the death penalty for all emigrants and unsworn priests, who, a week after the promulgation of this measure will be located within France; in addition, the convention issued a decree on the disarmament of the nobility and clergy. After the betrayal of Dumouriez (q.v.), revolutionary committees were established in all communities to supervise the “suspicious ones.” On March 10, 1793, a revolutionary tribunal was established to try traitors, rebels, unscrupulous suppliers to the army, counterfeiters of paper money, etc. On April 1, 1793, a decree was adopted depriving the right of immunity of any deputy who fell on suspicion of complicity with the enemies of the republic. This was a real organization of terror (see), supplemented by the establishment of committees of public safety (April 6, at the suggestion of Barrer) and general security. The decisive blow to the Girondins (q.v.) was dealt on May 31-June 2, when the convention was for the first time attacked by the Parisian proletariat, led by the Paris Commune (q.v.). The result of "May 31" was an uprising in the provinces, which covered more than half of France (Bordeaux, Toulon, Lyon, Marseille, Normandy, Provence, etc.); its leaders in many places were the Girondins. The convention suppressed these uprisings with terrible energy and cruelty. At the end of 1793, clashes began between the Hebertists, who wanted to continue the terror, and the Dantonists, who wanted to end it. On February 5, 1794, Robespierre spoke at the convention against both the “extreme” (Hebertists) and the “lenient” (Dantonists): in March, the Hebertists were arrested, accused of having relations with “enemies of freedom, equality and the republic” and executed (March 24 ), and after them, in April, the Dantonists died. Robespierre became the master of the situation, together with Couton and S.-Just. When the convention was still in the power of the Hebertists, the latter, insisting on replacing the Christian calendar with a republican one (see), proposed replacing Catholicism with the cult of Reason: on November 10, the festival of Reason took place in the Cathedral of Our Lady, after which the commissioners of the convention began to spread the new cult in the provinces, and the Parisian commune closed city churches. On May 7, Robespierre proposed to the convention to decree recognition by the French people of the existence of the Supreme Being. The constant increase in terror, which threatened many influential members of the convention, led, on 9 Thermidor (July 26), to the fall of Robespierre and to a reaction against terror.

The Convention concentrated executive and legislative powers, and partly judicial powers; throughout his existence, his power was not limited by any law and he ruled the state as an absolute monarch. Executive power was in the hands of committees (up to 15 in number), of which the committees of public safety (Comité du salut public) and general security (C. de la sûreté générale) acquired particular importance. The first, consisting first of 9, then of 12 members elected for a month, was organized with the aim of promoting the defense of the republic by emergency and urgent measures; the second, also consisting of 12 members and renewed every 3 months, had the right to bring before the revolutionary court. The decree of March 21, 1793 placed local committees of supervision and national agents or commissioners of the convention at the full disposal of the committee of public safety, and the latter actually had municipal and departmental authorities in their hands and disposed of the revolutionary army and revolutionary tribunals, which acted without any guarantees for the defendants. Another decree, on March 10, 1794, directly subordinated all administration to the Committee of Public Safety, and by decree of the 12th of Germinal II (April 1, 1794), 12 commissions were placed under the authority of the committee, replacing ministries. At the end of the terror, the composition of the ruling committees was not renewed at all. The first step of the convention after 9 Thermidor was the renewal of the Committee of Public Safety and the Revolutionary Court, the arbitrariness of which was limited. This was followed by the closure of the Jacobin club (November 18), the return of 73 Girondins expelled for protesting against “May 31” (December 8), the trial and execution of Carrier (q.v.), the repeal of the decrees on the expulsion of nobles and non-sworn priests, the return of the surviving leaders The Girondes, declared in 1793 outside the protection of the laws (March 1795). The Parisian proletariat, deprived of the importance it had during the Terror, attacked the convention on the 12th of Germinal III (April 1, 1795), demanding “bread and the constitution of 1793”; this gave the convention a reason to arrest some Montagnards, reorganize the N. Guard and disarm the suburbs. On Prairial 1 (May 20) the people rebelled again; the crowd broke into the convention, took the seats of the deputies and decreed the restoration of revolutionary measures, but by the evening, when some of the insurgents dispersed and others were dispersed by the N. Guard, the convention canceled everything that had been decreed by the insurgents. The next day, troops were brought into Paris and up to 10,000 arrests were made; Several more deputies, the “last Montagnards,” died on the scaffold. Back in 1793, the convention instructed a special commission to draw up a draft constitution, which was called the “Girondin draft constitution” (see). This project was rejected, since by the time it was drafted the Girondin party had fallen. On July 24, another constitution was adopted by the convention, and then approved by the primary meetings, which was called the constitution of 1793 or Jacobin (see French Constitutions); but its execution was postponed by the Montagnards until the end of the war and internal unrest. After the victory of the Thermidorian party, the latter developed a new constitution of the 3rd year (see French Constitutions), adopted by the convention on August 22, 1795. Wanting to ensure the order established by this time from attacks both from the more extreme elements and from the royalists (who after 9 Thermidor raised their heads everywhere, and in some places even rebelled), the convention decided that two-thirds of the members of the new legislative assemblies should be elected from among the convention. This ruling deprived the royalists of hope of gaining an advantage in the elections and legally restoring the monarchy. On the 13th of Vendémière (October 5, 1795) they rebelled in Paris and attacked the convention. The latter was saved only by military force (see Napoleon I). On October 26, 1795, the convention ceased its activities, issuing decrees on the abolition of the death penalty and on a general amnesty, from which, however, emigrants, unsworn priests, banknote forgers and Vendémière insurgents were excluded.

The activities of the convention were not limited to the struggle of parties, the organization of defense against external enemies (see Revolutionary Wars) and the development of a constitution. He cared about the proper organization of charity and food for the hungry; issued new laws relating to family, property and inheritance law; was engaged in the drafting of a new civil code, the draft of which was presented to him by Cambaceres on August 9, 1793 and subsequently served as the basis for the Napoleonic Code. Important improvements were made by the convention, at the suggestion of Cambon, in the financial department. Much has been done in the field of education, in the field of which Lakanal played a particularly prominent role: a normal school, a central school of public works, a special school of oriental languages, a bureau of longitudes, a conservatory of arts and crafts, the Louvre Museum, the N. Library, N. archives, Museum of French Antiquities, N. Conservatory of Music, art exhibitions, N. Institute. The decrees of 30 Vendemier and 29 Frimer II (October 21 and December 19, 1793) proclaimed the principle of compulsory and free primary education, which, however, was not implemented. For literature about the National Convention, see French Revolution.

M. V-ii.

Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron. - S.-Pb.: Brockhaus-Efron. 1890-1907 .

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What is the "National Convention"? How to spell this word correctly. Concept and interpretation.

National Convention (Convention nationale) - a meeting convened to decide on a new form of government for France, after the declaration of “the fatherland in danger” and the suspension of the executive power, proclaimed on August 10, 1792. Primary elections to the National Convention, with the participation of all citizens who have reached coming of age took place on August 26, 1792, departmental - on September 2; A convention was organized on September 20, and at the very first meeting, September 21, it decreed the abolition of royal power and the proclamation of a republic. The vast majority of the convention (about 500 people) was made up of the so-called “Plaine”, which did not play an independent role and was subject to the influence of either the Girondins, who occupied the right side of the convention, or the Montagnards, who occupied the left. From the first meetings, the inevitability of a merciless struggle between the Girondins and Montagnards was clear. The discord between them appeared even during the debate on the issue of punishing the perpetrators of the September massacre (see); Even then, the Girondins accused the Montagnards of striving for dictatorship. They were further divided by the question of the execution of Louis XVI, who was tried on October 16, 1792 and executed on January 21, 1793. The Vendée uprising (q.v.) prompted the convention to establish the death penalty for all emigrants and unsworn priests, who, a week after the promulgation of this measure will be located within France; in addition, the convention issued a decree on the disarmament of the nobility and clergy. After the betrayal of Dumouriez (q.v.), revolutionary committees were established in all communities to supervise the “suspicious ones.” On March 10, 1793, a revolutionary tribunal was established to try traitors, rebels, unscrupulous suppliers to the army, counterfeiters of paper money, etc. On April 1, 1793, a decree was adopted depriving the right of immunity of any deputy who fell on suspicion of complicity with the enemies of the republic. This was a real organization of terror (see), supplemented by the establishment of committees of public safety (April 6, at the suggestion of Barrer) and general security. The decisive blow to the Girondins (q.v.) was dealt on May 31-June 2, when the convention was for the first time attacked by the Parisian proletariat, led by the Paris Commune (q.v.). The result of "May 31" was an uprising in the provinces, which covered more than half of France (Bordeaux, Toulon, Lyon, Marseille, Normandy, Provence, etc.); its leaders in many places were the Girondins. The convention suppressed these uprisings with terrible energy and cruelty. At the end of 1793, clashes began between the Hebertists, who wanted to continue the terror, and the Dantonists, who wanted to end it. On February 5, 1794, Robespierre spoke at the convention against both the “extreme” (Hebertists) and the “lenient” (Dantonists): in March, the Hebertists were arrested, accused of having relations with “enemies of freedom, equality and the republic” and executed (March 24 ), and after them, in April, the Dantonists died. Robespierre became the master of the situation, together with Couton and S.-Just. When the convention was still in the power of the Hebertists, the latter, insisting on replacing the Christian calendar with a republican one (see), proposed replacing Catholicism with the cult of Reason: on November 10, the festival of Reason took place in the Cathedral of Our Lady, after which the commissioners of the convention began to spread the new cult in the provinces, and the Parisian commune closed city churches. On May 7, Robespierre proposed to the convention to decree recognition by the French people of the existence of the Supreme Being. The constant increase in terror, which threatened many influential members of the convention, led, on 9 Thermidor (July 26), to the fall of Robespierre and to a reaction against terror.

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National Convention(French: Convention nationale) - the highest legislative and executive body of the First French Republic during the French Revolution, operating from September 21, 1792 to October 26, 1795. The Legislative Assembly, after the uprising of August 10, 1792, which overthrew the monarchy, decided to suspend King Louis XVI in his functions and convene a national convention to develop a new constitution. Elections to the Convention were two-stage, involving all men (excluding domestic servants) over 21 years of age. Thus, the National Convention is the first French legislative assembly elected on the basis of universal suffrage.

Elections

Elections took place September 2–6, 1792, following the election of electors by primary meetings on August 26. After the uprising of August 10 and the arrest of the king, the flow of emigrants increased. Monarchists, monarchist constitutionalists and open royalists were afraid to appear at polling stations and abstained from voting. Turnout was very low - 11.9% of voters, against 10.2% in 1791, while the number of voters almost doubled. Overall, the electorate returned the same type of MPs that the "active" citizens had elected in 1791. Across France, only eleven primary assemblies voted in favor of the monarchy. Among the elected assemblies there was not one that did not prefer a republic, although only Paris used the word itself. Among the elected deputies there was not a single one who represented himself in the elections as a royalist.

Composition of the National Convention

The deputies of the Convention represented all classes of French society, but the most numerous were lawyers. Seventy-five deputies were representatives in the Constituent Assembly, and 183 in the Legislative Assembly. The total number of deputies was 749, not counting 33 from the French colonies, of which only a few managed to arrive in Paris by the time the meetings began.

The first meetings of the Convention took place in the Tuileries Hall, then in the Manege and, finally, from May 10, 1793 in the Tuileries Theater hall. There was a gallery in the meeting room for the public, who quite often interrupted the debate with shouts or applause. According to its own organizational rules, the Convention elected a president every two weeks. The President of the Convention had the right to be re-elected after the expiration of two weeks. Usually the meetings took place in the morning, but there were often evening meetings, sometimes until late at night. In extreme circumstances, the Convention declared itself in permanent session and met for several days without interruption. The executive and administrative bodies of the Convention were committees with more or less broad powers. The most famous of these committees were the Committee of Public Safety (French Comité du salut public) and the Committee of Public Safety (French. Comité de la sûreté générale) .

The Convention served as legislative and executive power during the early years of the First French Republic and its existence can be divided into three periods: Girondin, Jacobin and Thermidorian.

Girondist Convention

The first meeting of the Convention took place on September 21, 1792. The next day, in absolute silence, the question of “the abolition of the monarchy in France” was put before the assembly - and was adopted with unanimous shouts of approval. On September 22, news of the Battle of Valmy arrived. On the same day it was announced that "in future the acts of the assembly should be dated to the first year of the French Republic." Three days later, an amendment against federalism was added: “the French Republic is one and indivisible.” The Republic was proclaimed; all that remained was to introduce a republican government. The country was little more republican in feeling and practice than before or at any time since the king's flight to Varennes. But now it was obliged to become a republic, because the king was no longer the head of state.

The military situation had changed, which seemed to confirm the Girondin prophecies of an easy victory. After Valmy, Prussian troops retreated and in November French troops occupied the left bank of the Rhine. The Austrians besieging Lille were defeated by Dumouriez at the Battle of Jemappes on 6 November and evacuated the Austrian Netherlands. Nice was occupied, and Savoy declared an alliance with France. These advances have made it safe to fight at home.

Girondists and Montagnards

Girondins was a geographical term given to provincial deputies, and Jacobins got theirs from the name of the Jacobin Club. Now the group of deputies from the Gironde gave its name to the assembly, and the name of the Parisian club identified itself with the group of representatives of Paris. The Jacobin leaders differed little from their opponents in origin and upbringing. Like the Girondins, they believed in war, the republic and the Convention. They were no less idealistic and no more humanitarian. But they were more attentive to the interests of ordinary people, they had less political and economic doctrinaire, and they had the additional potential for realistic and, if necessary, ruthless intervention to achieve the necessary goals.

Three issues dominated the first months of the Convention: the dominance of Paris in the country's politics, revolutionary violence, and the trial of the king.

The antagonism between Paris and the provinces created friction, which served more as a propaganda weapon. The resistance of the departments to centralization symbolized the desire to reduce the influence of the capital on the revolution to one to eighty-third share of influence. Most of the Gironde wanted to remove the assembly from the city, which was dominated by "agitators and flatterers of the people."

Trial of the King

Trial of Louis XVI

Since the opening of the Convention, the Girondins had not expressed the slightest interest in the trial of the king. They were more interested in discrediting Paris and its deputies after the September massacre. And their decision to pursue the Jacobins was not simply a choice of priorities; they sincerely wanted to save the king. But in reality the Convention had to declare him guilty if he wanted to avoid recognizing the uprising of August 10, 1792 as “illegal,” his own existence and the proclamation of a republic. “If the king is innocent, then those who overthrew him are guilty,” as Robespierre reminded the assembly on December 2. After recognizing the guilt of Louis, the Convention could not help but sentence to death the man who had called upon foreign powers to suppress freedom and whom the sans-culottes held responsible for the trap during the capture of the Tuileries.

The discovery of a secret safe in the Tuileries on November 20, 1792 made the trial inevitable. The documents found in it proved beyond any doubt the treason of Louis XVI.

The trial began on December 10. Louis XVI was classified as an enemy and a "usurper", alien to the body of the nation. Voting began on January 14, 1793. Each deputy explained his vote from the podium. The vote for the king's guilt was unanimous. The President of the Convention announced the result of the vote: “In the name of the French people, the National Convention declared Louis Capet guilty of malicious intent against the freedom of the nation and the general security of the state.” The proposal for a popular referendum to punish the king was rejected. The fateful voting began on January 16 and continued until the next morning. Of the 721 deputies present, 387 were in favor of the death penalty, 334 were against. Twenty-six deputies voted for death, subject to subsequent pardon. On January 18, the question of pardon was put to a vote: 380 votes were cast against; 310 per. At each vote, a split occurred among the Girondins.

By order of the Convention, the entire National Guard of Paris was lined up on both sides of the road to the scaffold. On the morning of January 21, Louis XVI was beheaded on the Place de la Revolution.

With rare exceptions, the French people accepted what was done calmly, but it made a deep impression. The death of the king evoked pity, but still it cannot be denied that monarchical sentiments were dealt a serious blow - the king was executed as an ordinary person; the monarchy was destroyed and its supernatural qualities could never be restored. Opponents and supporters of the deed swore eternal hatred towards each other; the rest of Europe declared a war of extermination against the regicides.

Fall of the Gironde

The meetings of the assembly began calmly enough, but within a few days the Girondins began to attack the Montagnards. The conflict continued without interruption until the expulsion of the Gironde leaders from the Convention on June 2, 1793. At first, the Girondins could rely on the votes of the majority of deputies, many of whom were shocked by the events of the September massacre. But their insistence on monopolizing leadership positions and their attacks on Montagnard leaders soon began to irritate those who were trying to take an independent position. One by one, deputies such as Couthon, Cambon, Carnot, Lende and Barère began to gravitate towards the Montagnards, while the majority, "the plain" (French: La Plaine), as it was then called, tried to keep aloof from both sides .

The Girondins were convinced that their opponents were seeking dictatorship, while the Montagnards believed that the Girondins were ready for any compromise with the conservatives, and even the royalists, to ensure their stay in power. Bitter hostility soon turned the Convention into a state of complete paralysis. Debate after debate degenerated into verbal altercations that made it impossible to make any decisions. The political impasse discredited the national representative body and, in the end, forced the warring parties to rely on dangerous allies, monarchists in the case of the Girondins, sans-culottes in the case of the Montagnards.

Thus, the inconclusive struggle in the Convention continued. The solution had to come from outside.

At the same time, the military situation changed. Failures in the war, Dumouriez's betrayal and the rebellion in the Vendée, which began in March 1793, were all used as arguments to portray the Girondins as an obstacle to a successful defense. The economic situation at the beginning of 1793 was increasingly deteriorating and unrest began in large cities. Sectional activists in Paris began to demand a "maximum" on basic foodstuffs. The riots and agitation continued throughout the spring of 1793, and the Convention created the Commission of the Twelve to investigate them, which included only the Girondins.

By order of the commission, several sectional agitators were arrested, and on May 25 the Commune demanded their release; at the same time, the general meetings of the sections of Paris drew up a list of 22 prominent Girondins and demanded their arrest. In response, Inard, who presided over the Convention, made an accusatory speech against Paris, which was quite reminiscent of the manifesto of the Duke of Brunswick: “... If during one of these ongoing unrest an attempt is made on the people's representatives, then, on behalf of all France, I announce to you - Paris will be destroyed!..." The next day the Jacobins declared themselves in a state of rebellion. On May 28, the Cité section called on other sections to meet to organize an uprising. On May 29, delegates representing thirty-three sections formed a nine-member rebel committee.

On June 2, 1793, 80,000 armed sans-culottes surrounded the Convention. After the deputies attempted to march out in a demonstrative procession and encountered armed National Guardsmen, the deputies bowed to pressure and announced the arrest of 29 leading Girondins. Thus the Gironde ceased to be a political force. The Girondins declared war without knowing how to wage it; they condemned the king and demanded a republic, but did not dare to depose the monarch and proclaim a republic; worsened the economic situation in the country, but resisted all demands to make life easier for the people.

Jacobin Convention

As soon as the Gironde was eliminated, the now Montagnard Convention found itself between two fires. The forces of counter-revolution are gaining new impetus in the federalist uprising; A popular movement dissatisfied with high prices is increasing pressure on the government. Meanwhile, the government seemed unable to control the situation. In July 1793 the country seemed on the verge of disintegration.

Constitution of 1793

Throughout June, the Montagnards took a wait-and-see attitude, awaiting a reaction to the uprising in Paris. However, they did not forget about the peasants. Peasants made up the largest part of France and in such a situation it was important to satisfy their demands. It was for them that the uprising of May 31 (as well as July 14 and August 10) brought significant and permanent benefits. On June 3, laws were passed on the sale of emigrants' property in small parts with the condition of payment within 10 years; On June 10, an additional division of communal lands was proclaimed; and on July 17, a law abolishing seigneurial duties and feudal rights without any compensation.

The Montagnards also attempted to placate the middle classes by rejecting any accusations of terror, reaffirming property rights, and limiting the popular movement to narrowly defined boundaries. They tried to maintain a fragile balance of equilibrium, a balance that was destroyed in July as the crisis worsened. The convention quickly approved a new constitution in the hope of protecting itself from accusations of dictatorship and pacifying the departments.

The Declaration of Rights, which preceded the text of the Constitution, solemnly affirmed the indivisibility of the state and freedom of speech, equality and the right to resist oppression. This went far beyond the scope of the Declaration of 1789, adding to it the rights to social assistance, work, education and rebellion. No one had the right to impose their will on others. All political and social tyranny was abolished. The Constitution of 1793 became the bible of 19th-century democrats.

The main purpose of the Constitution was to ensure the predominant role of deputies in the legislative assembly, which was seen as a necessary basis for political democracy. Each member of the legislative assembly had to be elected directly, by a simple majority of the votes cast, and was re-elected every year. The Legislative Assembly elected an executive council of 24 members from among 83 candidates chosen by the departments by universal suffrage and, in the same way, ministers, who were also responsible to the representatives of the people. National sovereignty was expanded through the institution of referendum - the Constitution had to be ratified by the people, as well as laws in certain, precisely defined circumstances.

The Constitution was submitted for general ratification and was adopted by a huge majority of 1,801,918 in favor and 17,610 against. The results of the plebiscite were published on August 10, 1793, but the application of the Constitution, the text of which was placed in the "sacred ark" in the meeting room of the Convention, was postponed until peace was concluded.

Federalist Rebellion and War

Indeed, the Montagnards faced dramatic circumstances - a federalist rebellion, the war in the Vendée, military failures, a deteriorating economic situation. Despite everything, civil war could not be avoided. By mid-June some sixty departments were in more or less open rebellion. Fortunately, the border regions of the country remained loyal to the Convention. Basically, the uprisings were raised by departmental and district administrations. The communes, which were more popular in composition, reacted rather coldly, if not hostile, to the uprising; and the Federalist leaders, despite their phraseology, lacked faith in their cause, and soon they themselves began to quarrel among themselves. The sincere republicans among them could not associate themselves with foreign invasion and rebellion in the Vendée. Those who found themselves rejected locally sought support from moderates, Feuillants, and even aristocrats.

July and August were unimportant months on the borders. Within three weeks, Mainz, symbol of the previous year's victory, capitulated to Prussian forces, and the Austrians captured the fortresses of Condé and Valenciennes and invaded northern France. Spanish troops crossed the Pyrenees and began to advance on Perpignan. Piedmont took advantage of the uprising in Lyon and invaded France from the east. In Corsica, Paoli rebelled and, with British help, expelled the French from the island. English troops began the siege of Dunkirk in August and in October the Allies invaded Alsace. The military situation became desperate.

Moreover, the escape of the Girondins from house arrest and other events of the summer aggravated the rage of the revolutionaries and convinced them that their opponents had abandoned all norms of civilized behavior. On July 13, Charlotte Corday killed the sans-culotte idol Jean-Paul Marat. She was in contact with the Girondins in Normandy and they are believed to have used her as their agent.

The hesitation, caution and indecisiveness of the Convention during the first few days were redeemed by the strength of the organization to suppress the rebellion. Warrants were issued for the arrest of the rebel leaders of the Gironde, and the rebel members of the departmental administration were stripped of their powers. The regions in which rebellion was most dangerous were precisely those that contained the largest number of royalists. There was no room for a third force between the Montagnards, who were associated with the Republic, and royalism, which was an ally of the enemy. If the federalist uprising had succeeded, it would have led to the restoration of the monarchy. The royalist rebellion in the Vendee had already forced the Convention to take a big step in the direction of terror - that is, the dictatorship of the central government and the suppression of freedoms. The Federalist Rebellion now forced him to take an even more decisive step in the same direction.

Revolutionary government

"Marseillaise"

The executive and administrative bodies of the Convention were committees. The most famous of them were the Committee of Public Safety (French Comité du salut public) and the Committee of Public Safety (French. Comité de la sûreté générale). The second, which had great powers, is less known than the first, which was the actual executive power and was vested with enormous prerogatives. Formed back in April, its composition was greatly changed in the summer of 1793.

Under the double banner of price fixing and terror, sans-culotte pressure reached its peak in the summer of 1793. In addition to all this, news arrived of an unprecedented betrayal: Toulon and the squadron located there were surrendered to the enemy. The crisis in the food supply remained the main cause of discontent among the sans-culottes; the leaders of the “rabid”, led by Jacques Roux, demanded that the Convention establish a “maximum”. The Convention and the Montagnards were also against any economic regulation, as were the Girondins. In the adopted constitution, the inviolability of private property was confirmed. But the invasion, the federalist rebellion and the Vendée war - the whole revolutionary logic of resource mobilization - were an infinitely more powerful stimulus than economic doctrines. In August, a series of decrees gave the committee powers to control the circulation of grain, and also approved harsh penalties for violating them. “Repositories of abundance” were created in each region. On August 23, the decree on mass mobilization (French levée en masse) declared the entire adult population of the republic “in a state of constant requisition.”

On September 5, Parisians attempted to repeat the June 2 uprising. Armed sections again surrounded the Convention demanding the creation of an internal revolutionary army, the arrest of “suspicious” ones and the purge of committees. This was probably a key day in the formation of the revolutionary government: the Convention succumbed to pressure but retained control of events. This put terror on the agenda - September 5, 9th creation of a revolutionary army, 11th - decree on a “maximum” on bread (general control of prices and wages - September 29th), 14th reorganization of the Revolutionary Tribunal, 17th the law on “suspicious” people, and the decree of the 20th gave local revolutionary committees the right to the task of compiling lists.

Finally, France saw its government taking a definite form. By a roll call vote, the Convention renewed the composition of the Committee of Public Safety: on July 10, Danton was expelled from it. Couthon, Saint-Just, Jeanbon Saint-André and Prieur of the Marne formed the core of the new committee. Barera and Lende were added to them, Robespierre was appointed on July 27, and then Carnot and Prieur from the Côte d'Or department on August 14; Collot d'Herbois and Billau-Varenna - September 6. They had a few clear ideas that they followed: fight and win. This was the committee that was later called the great committee of Year II.

The committee always worked collegially, despite the specific nature of the tasks of each director: the division into “politicians” and “technicians” was a Thermidorian invention in order to leave the victims of terror at the feet of the Robespierrists alone. Many things, however, distinguished the twelve members of the Committee; Barer was more a man of the Convention than of the Committee, and was closer to the "plains." Robert Lende had doubts about the terror, which, on the contrary, was closer to Collot d'Herbois and Billot-Varenne, who joined the committee under pressure from the sans-culottes in September. But the situation that united them in the summer of 1793 was stronger than their differences. First of all, the committee had to assert itself and select those demands of the people that were most suitable for achieving the goals of the assembly: to crush the enemies of the Republic and cross out the last hopes of the aristocracy for restoration. To govern in the name of the Convention and at the same time to control it, to restrain the sans-culottes without dampening their enthusiasm - this was the necessary balance of a revolutionary government.

This sum of institutions, measures and procedures was enshrined in the decree of the 14th Frimaire (December 4, 1793), which determined the gradual development of a centralized dictatorship based on terror. At the center was the Convention, whose executive branch was the Committee of Public Safety, endowed with enormous powers: it interpreted the decrees of the Convention and determined the methods of their application; all state bodies and all civil servants were under his direct leadership; he determined military and diplomatic activities, appointed generals and members of other committees, subject to their ratification by the Convention. He was responsible for the conduct of the war, public order, provision and supply of the population. The Paris Commune, a famous bastion of the sans-culottes, was also neutralized, falling under his control.

Economy

Administrative and economic centralization went hand in hand. The blockade forced France into autarky; To preserve the Republic, the government mobilized all the productive forces of the nation and, although reluctantly, accepted the need for a controlled economy, which was introduced impromptu as the situation demanded. It was necessary to develop military production, revive foreign trade and find new resources in France itself, and time was short. Circumstances gradually forced the government to take charge of the economy of the entire country.

All material resources became the subject of requisition. Farmers donated grain, feed, wool, flax, hemp, and artisans and traders donated their products. They carefully searched for raw materials - metal of all kinds, church bells, old paper, rags and parchment, herbs, brushwood and even ashes for the production of potassium salts and chestnuts for their distillation. All enterprises were transferred to the disposal of the nation - forests, mines, quarries, furnaces, forges, tanneries, paper factories, textile factories and shoe workshops. Labor and the value of what was produced were subject to price regulation. No one had the right to speculate while the Fatherland was in danger. Armament was a big concern. Already in September 1793, an impetus was given for the creation of national manufactories for the military industry - the creation of a factory in Paris for the production of guns and personal weapons, the Grenelle gunpowder factory. A special appeal was made to the scientist. Monge, Vandermonde, Berthollet, Darcet, Fourcroix improved metallurgy and weapons production.

Only for hired workers the “maximum” turned out to be quite profitable. Their wages doubled compared to 1790, while at the same time goods became more expensive by only a third. Paris became calmer because the sans-culottes gradually found ways to live; many volunteered for the army; many worked in the production of weapons and military equipment or in the bureaus of committees and ministries, the staff of which had grown quite significantly.

Army of the Year II

Gradually a military command arose, incomparable in quality: Marceau, Gauche, Kleber, Massena, Jourdan, as well as an officer corps excellent not only in military qualities, but also in a sense of civic responsibility.

For the first time since antiquity, a truly national army entered into battle, and for the first time, through the efforts of the entire nation, it was possible to arm and feed such a large number of soldiers - these were new characteristics of the army of Year II. Technical innovation and strategy flowed and developed primarily from the masses themselves. The old system of cordons has lost its significance. Moving between coalition armies, the French could maneuver along internal lines of communication, deploying some of their troops along the borders and taking advantage of the inaction of any of their opponents to beat others piecemeal. “Act with masses, suppress the enemy with numbers,” these were Carnot’s principles. All these innovations had not yet been sufficiently tested and, before the advent of Bonaparte, they could not yet boast of brilliant victories.

Terror

Although the Terror was organized in September 1793, it was not actually applied until October, and only as a result of pressure from the sans-culottes. A new chapter of the Revolutionary Tribunal was opened after September 5: it was divided into four sections; The Committees of Public Safety and Public Safety appointed judges and jurors; Fouquier-Tinville remained as prosecutor and Arrman was appointed president of the Revolutionary Tribunal.

Large political processes began in October. The queen was guillotined on October 16. A special decree limited the protection of 21 Girondins and they died on the 31st, including Vergniaud and Brissot.

Fusilades in Nantes

At the top of the apparatus of terror was the Committee of Public Safety, the second organ of the state, consisting of twelve members elected every month in accordance with the rules of the Convention, and vested with the functions of public security, surveillance and police, both civil and military. He employed a large staff of officials, headed a network of local revolutionary committees, and enforced the law of suspects by sifting through thousands of local denunciations and arrests, which he then had to present to the Revolutionary Tribunal.

Terror struck the enemies of the Republic wherever they were, was socially indiscriminate and politically directed. Its victims belonged to classes that hated the revolution or lived in regions where the threat of rebellion was most serious. “The severity of repressive measures in the provinces,” writes Mathiez, “was in direct proportion to the danger of rebellion.”

In the same way, the deputies sent by the Committee of Public Safety as "representatives on a mission" were armed with wide powers and acted in accordance with the situation and their own temperament: in July Lende pacified the Girondin uprising in the west without a single death sentence; in Lyon, a few months later, Collot d'Herbois and Joseph Foucher relied on frequent summary executions, using mass shootings because the guillotine did not work fast enough.

Fall of Factions

As early as September 1793, two wings could be clearly identified among the revolutionaries. One were what were later called the Hébertists - although Hébert himself was never the leader of the faction - and preached war to the death, partly adopting the "rabid" program which the sans-culottes favored. They entered into an agreement with the Montagnards, hoping through them to put pressure on the Convention. They dominated the Cordeliers Club, filled Bouchotte's War Ministry and could carry the Commune with them. Another wing arose in response to the increasing centralization of the revolutionary government and the dictatorship of committees - the Dantonists; around the deputies of the Convention: Danton, Delacroix, Desmoulins, as the most prominent among them.

By prioritizing national defense over all other considerations, the Committee of Public Safety tried to maintain an intermediate position between moderantism and extremism. The revolutionary government did not intend to give in to the Hebertists at the expense of revolutionary unity, while the demands of the moderates undermined the controlled economy necessary for the conduct of war, or at the expense of the terror that ensured universal obedience. But at the end of the winter of 1793, food shortages took a sharp turn for the worse. The Hebertists began to demand the use of harsh measures, and at first the Committee behaved conciliatoryly. The convention voted 10 million to alleviate the crisis, on the 3rd Ventoise Barer introduced a new general “maximum” and on the 8th a decree on the confiscation of property of suspicious persons and its distribution to those in need (Ventose Decrees). The Cordeliers believed that if they increased the pressure, they would triumph once and for all. There was talk of an uprising, although it was probably as a new demonstration, as in September 1793. But on the 22nd of Ventos II (March 12, 1794), the Committee decided to put an end to the Hébertists. The foreigners Proly, Kloots and Pereira were added to Hébert, Ronsin, Vincent and Momoro in order to present them as participants in a “foreign conspiracy”. All were executed on the 4th Germinal (March 24, 1794). The Committee then turned to the Dantonists, some of whom were involved in financial fraud. On April 5, Danton, Delacroix, Desmoulins, and Philippot were executed.

Germinal's drama completely changed the political situation. The Sans-culottes were stunned by the execution of the Hébertists. All their positions of influence were lost: the revolutionary army was disbanded, the inspectors were fired, Bouchotte lost the War Ministry, the Cordelier Club was suppressed and intimidated, and 39 revolutionary committees were closed under government pressure. The Commune was purged and filled with the Committee's nominees. With the execution of the Dantonists, the majority of the assembly for the first time was horrified by the government it had created.

The committee played the role of intermediary between the meeting and the sections. By destroying the section leaders, the committees broke with the sans-culottes, the source of government power, whose pressure the Convention had been so afraid of since the uprising of May 31. Having destroyed the Dantonists, it sowed fear among the members of the assembly, which could easily turn into a riot. The government seemed to have the support of the majority of the assembly. It was wrong. Having freed the Convention from the pressure of the sections, it remained at the mercy of the assembly. All that remained was the internal split of the government to destroy it.

Thermidor

9 Thermidor

The Jacobin dictatorship could hope to remain in power only as long as it successfully dealt with the national emergency. Once his political opponents were destroyed and the threat of invasion diminished, so did the importance of the reasons that held it together. But the fall would not have been so sudden and complete if not for other, more specific and internal reasons.

As long as the Committee remained united, it was practically invulnerable, but no sooner had it reached the apogee of its power than signs of internal conflict appeared. The Committee of Public Safety was never homogeneous - it was a coalition cabinet. The sense of danger and working together in conditions of a severe crisis initially prevented personal quarrels. Now trivial differences were magnified into matters of life and death. Small differences alienated them from each other. They were authoritarian people. Carnot, in particular, was irritated by the criticism of his plans by Robespierre and Saint-Just, who, after months of hard work and overexcited by danger, had difficulty restraining themselves. Dispute followed dispute. Disagreements flared constantly within the Committee of Public Safety, with Carnot calling Robespierre and Saint-Just "ridiculous dictators" and Collot making veiled attacks on "The Incorruptible". From the end of June until July 23, Robespierre stopped attending meetings of the Committee.

Realizing that disagreements in the government were leading to a split, an attempt at reconciliation was made on 5 Thermidor. Saint Just and Couthon reacted positively to this reconciliation, but Robespierre doubted the sincerity of his opponents. In his last speech at the Convention, on 8 Thermidor, he accused his opponents of intrigue and brought the issue of a split to the court of the Convention. Robespierre was asked to name the accused, but he refused. This failure destroyed him, as the deputies assumed that he was demanding carte blanche. That night a coalition was formed between the deputies who were in immediate danger and the deputies of the plain. The next day, 9 Thermidor, Robespierre and his supporters were not allowed to speak, and a decree of indictment was issued against them. The far left played the leading role: Billot-Varenne attacked and Collot d'Herbois presided.

Upon receiving news from the Convention, the Paris Commune called for an uprising, released the arrested deputies and mobilized 2-3 thousand national guards. The night of 9-10 Thermidor was one of the most chaotic in Paris, with the Commune and the Assembly competing for sectional support. The convention declared the rebels outlaws; Barras was given the task of mobilizing the armed forces of the Convention, and the moderate sections supported the Convention. The National Guardsmen and artillerymen, assembled at the town hall, were left without instructions and dispersed. At about two o'clock in the morning, a column of the Gravilliers section, led by Leonard Bourdon, burst into the town hall and arrested the rebels.

On the evening of 10 Thermidor (July 28, 1794), Robespierre, Saint-Just, Couthon and nineteen of their supporters were summarily executed. The next day, seventy-one functionaries of the insurgent Commune were executed, the largest mass execution in the history of the revolution.

Thermidorian Convention

Whatever the reasons for the 9th Thermidor: enmity towards Robespierre, personal safety, revenge - subsequent events went far beyond the intentions of the conspirators. Obviously, the remaining members of the committees expected to remain in power and continue the policy of the Jacobin dictatorship, as if nothing special had happened - another party purge, nothing more.

Thermidorian reaction

Subsequent events greatly disappointed them. It was possible to get rid of the Robespierrists and return to the Dantonists: the Convention seized the initiative and put an end, once and for all, to the dictatorship of committees, which had removed it from executive power. It was decided that no member of the management committees should hold office for more than four months. Three days later, the Prairial Law was repealed and the Revolutionary Tribunal was stripped of its emergency powers. The Commune was replaced by a civil administrative commission of the Convention, and the Jacobin Club was closed in November. Not just an anti-Robespierrist, but an anti-Jacobin reaction was in full swing.

Thus the stability of government was undermined, the main problem of the revolution since its beginning in 1789. Then came the concentration of power, another revolutionary principle. The identification of the Committee of Public Safety with the executive branch was curtailed on Fructidor 7 (August 24), limiting it to the former realm of war and diplomacy only. The Committee of Public Safety retained control over the police, but there would now be a total of sixteen committees. Realizing the danger of fragmentation, the Thermidorians, taught by experience, were even more afraid of the monopolization of power. Within a few weeks the revolutionary government was dismantled.

These measures finally had an impact on terror and opened numerous gaps in the apparatus of repression. Feeling the weakening of the authorities and the return of freedom of the press, demands began from all sides for the release of those arrested. The law of the 22nd Prairial was repealed, the prisons were opened and the “suspects” were released: 500 in Paris in one week. Several show trials were held - including Carrier, responsible for the "naiads", the drowning of people in Nantes; Fouquier-Tinville, the notorious prosecutor of the Revolutionary Tribunal in the spring and summer of 1795 - after which the activities of the Revolutionary Tribunal were suspended.

The destruction of the revolutionary government system ultimately led to the end of economic regulation. “Maximum” was weakened even before 9 Thermidor. Now no one believed in him anymore. Because the black market was abundantly supplied, the idea took hold that price controls equaled scarcity and that free trade would bring back abundance. Prices were expected to rise initially, but then fall as a result of competition. This illusion was destroyed in winter. Formally, the Convention will put an end to the “maximum” of 4 Nivoz of the III year (December 24, 1794).

The abandonment of a controlled economy provoked a disaster. Prices soared and the exchange rate fell. The Republic was condemned to massive inflation and the currency was destroyed. In Thermidor Year III, banknotes were worth less than 3 percent of their face value. Neither peasants nor merchants accepted anything other than cash. The decline was so rapid that economic life seemed to come to a standstill.

The crisis has greatly worsened the famine. The peasants stopped bringing food to the markets because they did not want to accept banknotes. The government continued to deliver food to Paris, but was unable to provide the promised rations. In the provinces, local municipalities resorted to a kind of requisition, subject to indirect coercion in obtaining goods. The fate of rural day laborers, abandoned by everyone, was often terrible. Inflation destroyed creditors in favor of debtors. This has all caused unprecedented speculation.

At the beginning of spring there was such a shortage of basic goods that there seemed to be unrest throughout the country. Paris is on the move again.

Bread and the 1793 Constitution

1st Prairial's Rebellion 1795

The increasing hunger brought the excitement of the sections to the limit. On March 17, a delegation from the suburbs of Saint-Marceau and Saint-Jacques complained to the Convention that: “We have no bread, we are ready to regret all the sacrifices we have made for the sake of the revolution.” A decree on police measures was adopted, establishing the death penalty for seditious slogans or calls for uprising. The weapons were distributed to “good citizens.” The test of strength was approaching.

On the 10th of Germinal all sections are convened for a general meeting. The political geography of Paris clearly showed priorities. The debates of the Convention were focused on two issues: the bringing to trial of Barer, Collot, Billot, Vadier and the fate of the constitution of 1793. While sections of the west and center called for punishment of the “four,” sections of the east and suburbs demanded measures to combat crisis, the implementation of the 1793 constitution, the restoration of revolutionary committees and the release of arrested patriots.

On the morning of Germinal 12 (April 1, 1795), crowds of people gathered on the Isle of Cite and, pushing back the Convention guards, burst into the meeting room. Amid the noise and chaos, representatives of the sections outlined their wishes - the Constitution of 1793 and the adoption of measures against hunger. Reliable National Guard battalions from sections loyal to the Convention were called up, and they had little difficulty in dispersing the unarmed demonstrators. For the majority, the constitution of 1793 was seen as a saving utopia and a solution to all evils. There were others who openly regretted the end of the "reign of Robespierre".

But that was not all. A new explosion was approaching on the horizon. The uprising was organized openly. On Prairial 1 (May 20, 1795), the alarm sounded in the suburbs of Saint-Antoine and Saint-Marceau. Armed battalions arrived at the Place de la Carousel and burst into the meeting hall of the Convention. A terrible noise began, among which the rebels read out the program of the uprising - “The Uprising of the People.” In the chaos, none of the leaders even thought about implementing the key element of the program: overthrowing the government.

The remnants of the Montagnards, the "Top" (French: la Crête de la Montagne), managed to pass decrees favorable to the rebels. But at 11:30 pm two armed columns entered the hall and cleared it of rioters. The next day, the rebels repeated the same mistakes and, after receiving a promise from the deputies to take urgent measures against hunger, returned to their sections.

On the 3rd Prairial, the government assembled loyal troops, chasseurs and dragoons, national guards chosen from those “who have something to defend” - 20,000 in total; The Faubourg Saint-Antoine was surrounded and 4 Prairials surrendered and were disarmed. Hesitation and indecision, the lack of revolutionary leadership doomed the last movement to defeat.

4 Prairial III is one of the most important dates of the revolutionary period. The people have ceased to be a political force, a participant in history. This date can be called the end of the revolution. Its spring was broken.

Constitution of 1795

Vandemiere

Five deputies, including Barras, formed a committee to deal with the mutiny. By decree of the 12th Vendémière (October 4), the previously announced disarmament of the former “terrorists” was canceled and an appeal to the sans-culottes was issued.

With the connivance of General Menou, commander of the internal army, the uprising began on the night of 12-13 Vendémière. Most of the capital was in the hands of the rebels, about 20,000; a central rebel committee was formed and the Convention was besieged. Barras attracted the young general Napoleon Bonaparte, a former Robespierrist, as well as other generals - Carto, Brun, Loison, Dupont. The future marshal, Captain Murat, managed to capture cannons from the camp in Sablon, and the rebels, lacking artillery, were driven back and scattered.

Moderate repression followed, and the White Terror in the south was suppressed. On the 4th Brumaire of the year IV, just before the end of its powers, the Convention declared a general amnesty for “cases connected exclusively with the revolution.”

Merits

The activities of the convention were not limited to the struggle of parties, terror, organizing defense against external enemies (see Revolutionary Wars) and developing a constitution. He cared about the proper organization of charity and food for the hungry; issued new laws relating to family, property and inheritance law; was engaged in drawing up a new civil code, the draft of which was presented to him, the national archives, the Museum of French Antiquities, the Paris Higher National Conservatoire of Music and Dance, art exhibitions, and the national institute. The decrees of 30 Vendemier and 29 Frimer II (October 21 and December 19, 1793) proclaimed the principle of compulsory and free primary education, which, however, was not implemented.

brought to life by the Parisian uprising in August 1792, it met on September 21, 1792. In the first months of its existence, it worked under the leadership of the Girondins (representatives of the liberal bourgeoisie). The moderate policy of this group and its indecisiveness in the fight against the counter-revolution pushed the left wing of the Convention, the Jacobins, towards the overthrow of the Girondins. By uprisings of the Parisian poor on May 31 and June 2, 1793, the Girondin government was overthrown and power was transferred to the hands of the Jacobins. The Jacobin Convention proclaimed a republic and declared the abolition of all feudal duties without any ransom and insisted on bringing the king to trial on charges of treason. The era of Jacobin rule was the apogee of the revolutionary upsurge. But this dominance could not be long-lasting, because the extreme revolutionary radicalism of the Jacobins did not correspond to the objective economic state of France, which was then just entering the period of bourgeois development. Moreover, among the Jacobins themselves, contradictions soon emerged between the more extreme and more moderate elements. Under such conditions, the Jacobin dictatorship could not be durable and quickly decomposed; On July 27, 1794 (9 Thermidor), the main leader of the convention, Robespierre, was deposed by the Convention itself and executed on the scaffold with a hundred of his followers (hence the expression “9 Thermidor” to denote the beginning of the collapse of the revolutionary government). see volume XII, note. 81. /T. 2/

The convention opened on September 21, 1792, and a day later it proclaimed France a republic. Elections to the Convention were carried out on the basis of universal male suffrage, and therefore its composition was more revolutionary than that of the Legislative Assembly. The Convention included almost exclusively representatives of the bourgeoisie. It did not include at all that part of the nobles who at first supported the revolution - they also fled abroad.

In the fall of 1792, the French army crossed the border and expelled Austrian troops from Belgium. The Convention issued a decree on assistance to peoples wishing to overthrow their tyrants, and proclaimed the slogan: “Peace to the huts, war to the palaces.”

At first, the Girondins took the leading position in the Convention. They voted for the republic, but tried to restrain the further development of the revolution, fearing for the interests of large property owners. The Girondins sat on the lower benches of the Convention. With them and above were located most of the hesitant, ready to follow those who were stronger at the moment. At first they supported the Girondins. The people contemptuously called the unstable part of the deputies the “belly” or “swamp” of the Convention, and the deputies who belonged to it – “swamp toads.”

The upper benches in the Convention hall were occupied by the most determined representatives of the revolutionary bourgeoisie, ready to enter into a further alliance with the masses of the people to complete and defend the revolution. At the head of this group, nicknamed the “mountain” of the Convention, were Robespierre and Marat. At first they were followed by a minority of the Convention, but they enjoyed enormous influence among the people. They were supported by the Paris Commune. Gradually they achieved an advantage in the Jacobin club, and the Girondins were excluded from it.

The role of the grassroots as the driving force of the revolution intensified. The Paris Commune and its revolutionary sections expressed the aspirations of the masses of sans-culottes - ordinary people, artisans, workers, small shopkeepers. Representatives of sections and crowds of people surrounded the Convention and put forward their demands. They sought the execution of the king. Relying on the people, the Jacobins ensured that he was brought before the court of the Convention. The king's death sentence was passed by open and roll-call vote. In January 1793, Louis XVI was beheaded.

Defeat in the war against the interventionists and the collapse of the Girondin policy

The execution of the king alarmed the monarchical governments of Europe. England and Spain joined the alliance (coalition) of Austria and Prussia. Due to the fault of the Girondins, the French revolutionary troops did not have uniforms and food. Speculators profited from military supplies, but in reality the troops remained barefoot and hungry. The peasants did not want to fight, because they did not. Feudal duties were finally abolished.

The Girondist generals turned out to be traitors. In the spring of 1793, Austrian troops went on the offensive and defeated the French army. The threat of invasion by interventionists once again loomed over the country. This greatly undermined the influence of the Girondins, who were responsible for the military failures.

The patience of the popular masses was exhausted when the Girondins put Marat on trial for exposing their actions and began to prepare reprisals against the revolutionary sections of the Commune. Under pressure from the Parisian sans-culottes, the court acquitted Marat, and the people solemnly carried their favorite in their arms through the streets of Paris. The eastern sections of the capital demanded the expulsion of the Girondins from the Convention.