27 Germinal
An CCXXXIV
Republic of Mainz
After the French occupation of the territories on the left bank of the Rhine in October 1792, the hour of the German revolutionaries had come. General Custine gave the Jacobins key positions in the administration, he allowed elections – and finally the Rhenish-German Free State was proclaimed. The first republic on German soil. But scarcely had the new state been founded when Prussian-Austrian troops reconquered most of the territory. Mainz became a fortress, and the republic shrank to the besieged city. The parliament sent deputies to Paris to request union with the French Republic. The National Convention approved the request, but it was already too late. After four months, Mainz capitulated. The armies of the kings marched in – and the persecution of the German Jacobins began.
1792 - 1793
- October 21, 1792 · After French troops have occupied the territories west of the Rhine, General Custine marches into Mainz with his revolutionary army. He declares that the population will henceforth decide its own fate.
- October 23, 1792 · First meeting of the Society of the Friends of Liberty and Equality (Mainz Jacobin Club).
- November 1792 · Leading members of the Mainz Jacobin Club are appointed to high positions in the civil administration established by General Custine.
- December 15, 1792 · The National Convention in Paris decides to establish democratic constitutions in the occupied territories.
- January 1793 · Commissioners of the Convention, together with the German Jacobins, prepare elections in the area between Landau and Bingen.
- February 24, 1793 · Elections are held. 126 towns and villages elect their representatives. A prerequisite for voting is an oath to popular sovereignty, liberty, and equality.
- March 17, 1793 · The Rhenish-German National Convention convenes in Mainz.
- March 18, 1793 · Convention president Andreas Joseph Hofmann proclaims the Rhenish-German Free State from the balcony of the Deutschhaus.
- March 21, 1793 · The parliament in Mainz decides in favor of annexation to France. To present the request to the French National Convention, the deputies Georg Forster and Adam Lux are sent to Paris.
- March 30, 1793 · The National Convention in Paris declares the city of Mainz an
integral part of the French Republic
. - April 1793 · Prussian troops recapture the territory of the Free State, except for Mainz, and begin the siege of the city.
- July 22, 1793 · Mainz capitulates.
Quotes
The bond by which the members of the society unite within it is the oath: to live free or to die.
Statutes of the Society of the Friends of Liberty and Equality in Mainz, January 1793 (abridged)
The entire stretch of land from Landau to Bingen shall henceforth form a free, independent, and indivisible state.
Art. 1 of the decree of the Rhenish-German National Convention of 18 March 1793 (abridged)
The National Convention decrees unanimously that the free Rhenish-German people wish to be incorporated into the French Republic.
Decree of the Rhenish-German National Convention of 21 March 1793
Le Moniteur
Lundi 1er avril 1793. L'an deuxieme de la République Française
The Jacobin Club in Mainz
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