Collapse of the constitutional monarchy, late 1791-1792 Flashcards
(26 cards)
1
Q
Declaratino of Pillnitz
A
- Leopold II (Marie-Antoinette’s brother) and his ally, Frederick-William of Prussia, wanted to make some gesture of support for the king following the failure of his attempted flight. They issued the Declaration of Pillnitz on 27th August in order to create such a gesture…
- The declaration stated that the situation of the French King was of ‘common interest’ to all nations, and that the powers of the French Crown should be restored. Additionally, it threatened the use of force to bring about the restoration of royal power.
- The consequence of this declaration was that is hugely increased the mistrust of those who already had lost faith in the monarchy, with Louis being accused of conspiring with the Austrians against the revolution.
2
Q
Why were people already increasingly worried about the prospect of war? (emigres)
A
People’s fear was heightened by the number of noble emigres who were building up private armies in neighbouring Austrian of German Rhineland states; by the end of 1791, an estimated 60% of all pre-revolutionary army officers were among these emigres.
3
Q
How did the National Assembly respond to the Declaration of Pillnitz? What was Louis’ response?
A
- On 9th November, a decree was put forward against the emigres, threatening perpetual banishment and the seizure of all property unless they returned to France before 1 January 1792.
- On 29th November, a decree demanded that refractory priests take the oath or be deemed ‘counterrevolutionaries.
- Louis used his suspensory veto against both measures, which only exacerbated the problem as people only linked him further to the counterrevolutionary activities of the emigres and of Austria.
4
Q
What was the stance of Brissot on the war?
A
- Brissot, a Parisian deputy who headed a group known as the Brissotins (and later became the Girondins), argued strongly in favour of the war. They claimed that the war would be easily won because the oppressed subjects of their enemies would welcome France troops as the bringers of liberty.
5
Q
Was was the stance of Robespierre on the war? How did this contrast to what the other Jacobins thought?
A
- In the radical Jacobin club, only Robespierre opposed the war. He argued that the revolution should be firmly established first at home before exported abroad.
- The war was generally considered something necessary in order to defend the revolution and something also wanted in order to invigorate the people with patriotic fervour and revolutionary enthusiasm.
6
Q
What was the stance of the royal family on the war?
A
- The royal family also favoured war, but with the hope of revolutionary France losing rather than winning. In public, however, he opposed a war and claimed to support the constitution. He tried to please the Assembly through half-heartedly appointing several Girondin ministers, sympathetic to Brissot, but wasn’t enthusiastic about a patriotic war.
7
Q
What events in early 1792 caused France to declare war?
A
- In February 1792, Austria and Prussia made a formal alliance in which Prussia promised 20,000 men in support of a war against France.
- Leopold II dies on 1st March 1792, and the lack of any response from his successor, Francis II, to the French demands led to a French declaration of war against Austria on 20th April 1792.
8
Q
How did France initially do in the war? How did their numbers compare?
A
- The war proved more difficult than expected – on 28th April in Lille, French troops retreated on sight of the enemy and massacred one of their own officers whom they unfairly accused of treason. This is evidence of the poor war effort and lack of trust/good communication.
- However, the French army were far numerically superior; they sent 150,000 men into battle against roughly 35,000 Austrians. The Prussians were caught unprepared and didn’t join until May. So maybe not a bad decision?
9
Q
How did the Assembly attempt to establish wartime control in mid-1792?
A
- 27th May: the Assembly votes for the deporting of refractory priests
- 29th May: the Assembly orders the disbanding of the King’s guard (who allegedly were celebrating the military setbacks of the French revolutionary army)
- 8th June: the Assmebly passes a decree to set up a federe camp of 20,000 volunteer soldiers to expand the force of the ‘National Guardsmen’
10
Q
How did Louis’ continued obstinacy by mid-1792 heighten tension?
A
- He uses his suspensory veto against all three decrees. When one of his Girondin ministers, Roland, tries to plead with him on this matter, he dismissed his entire ministry on 13th June.
11
Q
What were the sans-culottes? Where did they meet? Why were they so politicised?
A
- They were working class supporters of the political left wing who idealised heroes such as Danton and Marat and were initially radicalised through meeting at the Cordeliers club (which became increasingly open to poorer, working class people).
- From 1792, the sans-culottes tended to meet in the Paris Sections – the 48 sections of Paris went into permanent session from July 1792 as a result of the war crisis and met almost continuously until September 1793. The general assemblies of the sections were the strongholds of the sans-culottes.
12
Q
How was the Journee of 20th June problematic? How did it show that Louis’s behaviour was the problem?
A
- On 20th June – the anniversary of the tennis court oath – 8000 sans-culottes, accompanied by some National Guards, marched to the Tuileries carrying petitions and demanding that Louis withdraw his vetoes and reinstate his Girondin ministers. This can be used as an example of Louis’s personal actions and obstinacy causing the constitutional monarchy to fail because this journee was not against his existence, but against his continued attempt to assert absolute control and undermine the revolution.
13
Q
Why was the journee of 20th June not actually a huge deal/dealt with well by Louis?
A
- However, the journee was actually dealt with by Louis very well, suggesting that his behaviour wasn’t always provocative and didn’t always damage how the constitutional government was perceived; he allowed his doors to be opened to the crowds, placed the bonnet rouge (which had been offered to him on a pike) on his head, and then drank a toast to the nation. Despite not actually agreeing to any of their demands, he was able to sufficiently please the crowds so that they would be easily persuaded by Petion (the Major of Paris) to leave.
14
Q
Which moderates were critical of Louis’ behaviour during the 20th June Journee?
A
- The affair was deeply unsettling to the moderates, however, who even thought that Louis wasn’t being authoritative enough. Lafayette went to the assembly a week later to demand action against the protestors, and even in the assembly, the Girondin Vergniaud suggested that Louis had ‘abdicated his royal office’ by his behaviour and should be forced to step down.
15
Q
Give two examples of the worsening war situation in July/August?
A
- On 11th July, the decree La Patrie en danger was issued in response to the French reverses in the war, calling on all men to support the war.
- On 1st August, the manifesto written by the Duke of Brunswick (who commanded the enemy armies) a week prior arrived in Paris. It threatened that any National Guardsmen captured by the Austrians would be put to death without mercy and that Paris would suffer vengeance, if any harm came to the king.
16
Q
Robespierre gave a speech shortly after the 20th June Journee? When was it and what did it propose?
A
- On 29th July, Robespierre gave a speech which essentially echoed the attitudes in the Paris communes. He had lost complete faith in the constitutional monarchy by this point, argued that there should be a republic with elections to a National Convention (in which both active and passive citizens would have a vote).
17
Q
What was the impact of the federes coming into Paris in huge numbers throughout July?
A
- Throughout July, the federes were arriving in ever increasing numbers in Paris, adding to the revolutionary fervour of the sans-culottes and furthering the hostility towards the king. Their patriotic song, the Marseillaise, included the line ‘Let an impure blood soak our fields’ in its chorus.
18
Q
Describe the events of the 10th August Journee?
A
- A second Journee, much better planned than the first one, occurred on 10th August, with 20,000 sans-culottes, 2000 federes and some National Guards marching on the Tuileries.
- On the other side, you had Louis being protected by loyal National Guards, some gendarms and ‘gentlemen-at-arms’ and three battalions of Swiss Guards (totalling somewhere between 2000 and 3000).
- One shot was fired in the melee, provoking a two-hour long battle during which the palace was set alight and nearly 1000 of the sans-culottes and federes were killed. Worse still, almost all the Swiss Guard and gentlemen-at-arms were massacred.
19
Q
What was the outcome of the 10th August journee?
A
- The Paris Commune ‘removed’ the King and royal family to the Temple prison, though technically he was just being ‘temporarily suspended’ whilst they figured out what to do.
- The commune also issued a decree to end the distinction between active and passive citizens (though rejected Robespierre’s proposal to end the two-tier voting system). A new convention, elected by all men over 25, was promised.
20
Q
What committee took over after the 10th August Journee? Who ran it and what were its first actions?
A
- In the meantime, however, a temporary committee set up by Danton took executive power until new elections could be held. They announced that all decrees which had been vetoed by the king would immediately come into effect.
- They set up a tribunal on 17th August with juries and judges elected by the sections in order to prosecute traitors – the sans-culottes are able to exert quite a lot of power now
- On 26th August, refractory priests were given two weeks to leave the country or face deportation to the French Guyana.
- All compensation to former seigneurs, which had been agreed after the August Decrees, was now cancelled in order to appease a very agitated peasantry.
21
Q
What news of the war reached Paris in early September? Give evidence of this causing the September Massacres.
A
- 1st September: news reached Paris that Verdun, the last fortress blocking the way to the capital, was under siege. This created a sense of fear and panic, causing the sans-culottes to frantically try and eliminate any ‘enemies’ at home in order to feel like they were doing something.
- A newspaper which was sympathetic to the Paris revolutionaries wrote in September 1792: ‘the enemy from outside is not yet at our doors; but we have one already in our midst’ – shows how the escalation of the war situation caused the September massacres as it created an atmosphere of fear and emergency where the removal of all internal enemies seemed necessary
22
Q
What two policies did Danton implement in late August/early September which exacerbated the feeling of panic?
A
- 30th August: Danton authorised house-searches for weapons hidden by the ‘ill-disposed’. Over the next two days, all houses were searched and 3000 taken to prison. This created an atmosphere of suspicion and encouraged a culture of denunciation, leading to the September Massacres which started out being attacks on obvious traitors (i.e., refractory priests), but eventually ended up with indiscriminate killing.
- 2nd September: Danton launched a levee, enforcing conscription, on pain of death.
23
Q
Events of the September Massacres (dates, nature of violence, number of those killed, response from authorities)
A
- The September Massacres consisted of 5 days of frenzied killing from 2nd – 7th September. The first attacks were on the afternoon of 2nd September and targeted refractory priests being taken to or held in prison.
- Sometimes the sans-culottes set up an improvised tribunal in order the see whether the accused were actually traitors, but in other places the violence was completely indiscriminate and uncontained.
- However, the attacks soon became indiscriminate, with ordinary criminals (including women and children) being killed. Approximately 300 refractory priests and nobles were killed, but the number of other criminals (including thieves, prostitutes, forgers etc.) rested at approximately 900.
- Overall, 1100-1400 of the 2600 prisoners in Paris jails were killed.
- The National Assembly did nothing to stop the violence, suggesting that their complicity perhaps led to the downfall of the constitutional monarchy (very arguably, though, as this is pretty obviously a sans-culottes-led event)
24
Q
Consequences of the September Massacres
A
- Confirmed fears abroad of the danger of popular revolution, so potentially worsening the war situation as the coalition may expand (and does, especially after the execution of the king)
- The split between the Girondins and Jacobins becomes more prominent, as the Girondins blame the Jacobins for inciting the violence
- The power of the Assembly and ‘authorities’ was shown to be weak, whilst the popularity of radical leaders such as Danton (who allowed the attacks to escalate despite being the Minister of Justice) and Robespierre, increased. This paved the way for the Jacobins to become the main authority within the Republican government.
- Robespierre, for example, defended the september massacres, asking ‘Do you want a revolution without a revolution?’
25
Details of the elections to the National Convention
* The outbreak of the massacres on 2nd September also coincided with the second stage of the elections for a new National Convention, in which all adult males were given the vote for the first time.
* Given the hostility the Girondins were showing towards the sans-culottes and Paris communes, none of the Girondin candidates were elected in Paris. In Paris, Robespierre was the people’s first choice, with Marat, Danton and Desmoulins also being chosen to represent the capital. This shows the effect of the massacres in increasing the popularity of Jacobin/Montagnard leaders who are now siding with the sans-culottes and adopting a more radical stance.
* Whilst all adult males were given the vote, however, this did not produce a huge effect because voter turnout ended up being very low, with the individuals who votes largely being the same group of ‘active’ citizens who had the vote all along.
* The deputies were now more formally split into Jacobins/Montagnards, Girondins, and then members of ‘the Plain’ who sat in the centre.
26
When did the Convention open? Which military victory coincided with its opening?
* The New Convention opened on 20th September. The same day, the French Army won a victory against the combined Austro-Prussian forces at Valmy. News reached Paris of this victory on 21st September, giving the new National Convention an air of optimism.
