29 Floréal
An CCXXXIV
Law of 22 Prairial II
With the Law of 22 Prairial, the Terror reached its peak. The aim was to empty the overcrowded prisons. The means was the guillotine. The law drafted by Robespierre and Couthon abolished all procedural rules that could prevent or delay a swift conviction. No defense, no witness hearings, moral evidence
was sufficient. There was only a choice between acquittal and death. And indeed, trials before the Revolutionary Tribunal became significantly more efficient. Those convicted in the morning mounted the guillotine the same day. Those sentenced in the afternoon had to endure one final night before death released them. Every day, except on décadis, public executions took place in Paris.
1794
- April 16, 1794 · The Convention decrees that
all those accused of conspiracy from all parts of the Republic are to be brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris.
- June 10, 1794 · (22 Prairial II) Couthon introduces a draft law on the Revolutionary Tribunal enabling death sentences through expedited proceedings. Some deputies oppose the escalation of the Terror. They call for a postponement. Robespierre demands an immediate vote. The Convention yields.
- June 11, 1794 · Bourdon de l’Oise and Merlin de Douai push through a motion in the Convention stating that the law adopted the previous day does not affect deputies’ immunity. Prosecutions against representatives of the people must still be authorized by a decree of the Convention.
- June 12, 1794 · Couthon and Robespierre disapprove of the previous day’s decision as a sign of distrust toward the committees. Robespierre declares that the Law of Prairial does not infringe upon the Convention’s rights. The Convention strikes the previous day’s statement and proceeds to the order of the day.
- July 27, 1794 · Fall of Robespierre. Over the following three days, he and numerous supporters are executed without trial.
- August 1, 1794 · The Law of Prairial is provisionally suspended.
- August 10, 1794 · The Law of Prairial is repealed. In the six weeks of its enforcement, more people are guillotined in Paris than in the entire previous year.
Quotes
It is less about punishing than about annihilating.
Georges Couthon
The penalty for all offences whose trial is reserved to the Revolutionary Tribunal is death.
Article 7
The law gives slandered patriots patriotic jurors as defenders; it grants none to conspirators.
Article 16
Le Moniteur
Quartidi, 24 Prairial, l'an 2 de la République Française une et indivisible
(June 12, 1794)
After Robespierre has had all French people executed, he has the executioner guillotined.
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