27 Germinal
An CCXXXIV
National Convention
The king had been imprisoned, enemy armies stood on French soil, and in Paris the mob massacred imprisoned enemies of the Revolution. Under these circumstances, elections to a National Convention were held in September 1792. The new parliament proclaimed the Republic, condemned the king to death, and prepared the Reign of Terror politically and legally. The Committee of Public Safety and the Committee of General Security governed the country with dictatorial powers. The Revolutionary Tribunal dealt swiftly with the government’s opponents. Politics under the threat of death. But in July 1794 (Thermidor Year II), the previously intimidated deputies overthrew Robespierre, the leading figure of the Terror. From then on, the bourgeois Thermidorians dominated politics. In the autumn of 1795, they adopted the Constitution of Year III.
1792 - 1795
- September 20, 1792 · First session of the National Convention.
- September 21, 1792 · The National Convention declares the abolition of the monarchy. France is now a republic.
- January 21, 1793 · After being found guilty and sentenced to death by the National Convention, the former king Louis XVI is guillotined on the Place de la Révolution in Paris.
- June 2, 1793 · The radical Montagnards win the power struggle against the moderate Girondins. Numerous deputies are placed under house arrest. The leading Girondin politicians are executed on 31 October 1793.
- July 27, 1794 · 9 Thermidor. Uprising of the National Convention against Robespierre. He is prevented from speaking and arrested together with four other deputies.
- July 28, 1794 · Execution of Robespierre and his supporters.
- August 1794 · The Convention curtails the powers of the committees and thereby regains greater authority.
- December 8, 1794 · The surviving Girondin deputies are officially allowed to take their seats in the Convention again.
- May 20, 1795 · Prairial uprising. Sans-culottes storm Parliament. They demand
bread and the Constitution of 1793
. The uprising fails. Fourteen sympathetic deputies are arrested. - June 17, 1795 · Death sentence by the Revolutionary Tribunal against the last Montagnards who had supported the Prairial uprising.
- August 22, 1795 · The Convention adopts the Constitution of Year III (Directory).
- October 26, 1795 · Final session of the National Convention.
Quotes
Legislators, you declared that there is no constitution except one that has been freely accepted by the people. You also declared that royalty has been abolished in France.
Pétion, president of the National Convention, 21 September 1792
The National Convention is the sole center of revolutionary initiative.
Decree of 7 Fructidor, Year II (24 August 1794)
The National Convention declares that its mission has been fulfilled and that the session is closed.
Genissieu, president of the National Convention, 26 October 1795.
Le Moniteur
Quartidi, 14 brumaire, l'an 4 de la République Française, une et indivisible
(November 5, 1795)
The abolition of the monarchy
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