reading: saving a republic of virtue, oct 1793- april 1794

  • 10th October 1793: all govt bodies + army placed under CPS who were under Convention

  • virtue + terror = ‘save Republic from invasion’

  • 1793 - 94: 84 generals executed, 350+ officers dismissed

  • 122 soldiers accused of Army desertion in italy » half acquitted, prison term <2 years & 36 executed

  • mass military desertions from early 1794

  • all hands on deck for resources inc church bells

  • oct 1793: 250 soldiers + artillery necessary to take 2 church bells due to protest

  • polycarpe pottofeux:

    • jacobin

    • born 1763

    • elected dept chief admin, Sept 1792

  • paris revolutionary tribunal, march-september 1793: 66 of 260 'suspects' guilty; final three months: 177 of 395.

  • marie-antoinette guillotined on 16 october, stoic amid accusations of treason and conspiracy.

  • jacques-louis david sketches marie-antoinette; same day, his "death of marat" displayed publicly.

  • twenty-one girondin deputies, including brissot, guillotined after marie-antoinette.

  • marie-jeanne roland found guilty, executed 8 november; husband commits suicide three days later.

  • actress olympe de gouges executed for political actions and support of girondins.

  • revolutionary tribunal often finds guilt by association; private motivations seen as conspiracy proof.

  • surveillance committee in Cecile Montagande, south-east france: rumors and personal vendettas fueled denunciations.

  • infernal column's brutal actions: 117,000 people (15% of population) executed or died in vendée.

  • nantes surrounded; thousands of clergy and royalists detained or executed.

  • vendée civil war toll: estimated 200,000 lives lost, including 30,000 soldiers, between dec 1793-may 1794.

  • republican troops' brutality: corporal françois-xavier joliclerc described ruthless actions in letters to his mother.

  • republican troops, led by general wesneman, pursued counter-revolutionaries, resulting in about 6,000 deaths.

  • vendée rebellion by december 1793: catholic and royal army decimated to 12,000, only half combat-ready.

  • deputy-on-mission jean-baptiste carrier ordered mass drownings in nantes, about 1,800 people killed; recalled in february 1794

  • jacobins like françois chabot and claud de bassement accused of financial manipulation; prussian anarchist clausen condemned by revolutionary tribunal in 1794.

  • .accusations of wives being immoral or bribed with 'english gold' used against opponents.

  • austria planned to annex french territories; robespierre accused england of plotting against france.

  • refugees and deserters in france seen as potential threats; some like mary wollstonecraft fled to switzerland.

  • article 120 of 1793 constitution suspended; deserters forced into public works to cover costs.

  • robespierre and convention focused on 'foreign plot'; foreigners and exiles in france seen with suspicion.

  • bouquier law of december 1793 proposed free, compulsory education emphasizing republican values for children.

  • republicans produced 700 new reading titles; five issues of republican collections sent to schools.

  • joseph bara and joseph-agricol viala celebrated as young revolutionary heroes, symbolizing patriotism.

  • constitution of 1793 introduced unprecedented social rights, including state responsibility for abandoned children.

  • food shortages in towns; rationing implemented reducing bread rations for men, women, and children.

  • financial demands of war hindered jacobin policies aimed at eradicating poverty.

  • working-class supporters developed a sans-culottes ideology, envisioning a world rewarding labour and condemning the wealthy elite.