Topic 4

Clubs

Clubs have zero formal legal power but they have the ability to shape public opinion

Jacobin Club led by Robespierre

The sans-culottes were a radical group of working class-men

after grain prices rose by 50% after a poor harvest in 1791, this led to riots which resulted in shopkeepers being forced to reduce prices

Flight to Varennes

June 1791, Louis decided to flee from Paris where he felt restricted by the Assembly

Louis left a note setting out his true feelings on the revolution

support for a republic started to grow and Louis’s popularity declined

the credibility of the new constitution had been undermined before it had been implemented

Champ de Mars Massacre

July 1791, 50k people flocked to the Champ de Mars to celebrate the fall of the Bastille

the Commune, under pressure from the Assembly sent Lafayette with the national guard who killed 50 people

The Legislative Assembly

the acceptance of the constitution by the King in September 1791 marked the end of the Constituent Assembly

October 1791, the 1st meeting of the legislative assembly was held

to prevent his political opponents in the Assembly from dominating the next Assembly, Robespierre proposed a self-denying ordinance so that no member of the Constituent Assembly could be a member of the Legislative Assembly → he restricts his own power in the Constituent Assembly to use the Jacobin Club’s power to influence members of the Legislative Assembly to do his work

War

by 1791, 1200 army officers had become emigres

the Assembly passed two laws:

  1. all non jurors were suspects

  2. all emigres who didnt return to France by 1st January 1792 would forfeit their property and be labelled traitors

Louis’s popularity decreased more when he vetoed these laws as he was seen as undermining the revolution

outbreak of war with Austria in 1792 prevented the constitution from surviving

Pillnitz

declaration at Pillnitz was seen as interfering in French internal affairs

enemies of Louis saw the declaration as a justification of their opposition to and mistrust of the monarchy

Support for War

Marie Antoinette supported war in which France would be defeated so that Louis could recover his old powers

there were rumours that France’s foreign policy was being led by Marie Antoinette and that they were plotting counter revolution

Lafayette wanted Louis’s authority to be strengthened and he believed a war against Austria could do this

Lafayette and Brissotins both wanted war → Brissot believed war would force Louis to reveal his true sympathies being either for or against the revolution

Opposition to War

Robespierre opposed the war and argued that Lafayette was the real threat who was popular enough to mislead the public

as a result of his opposition to war, Robespierre became isolated and unpopular who was convined that his opponents were plotting to betray the revolution

Declaration of War

the Girondins were very pro-war

February 1792, Austria and Prussia allied and intimidated France by threatening war

they expected no resistance from France as:

  1. they were considered to be weak due to internal division

  2. their financial situation would limit their purchasing of munitions

  3. the fleeing of officers and lack of soldiers would undermine France’s ability

both the Assembly and the Government now wanted war

France declared war in April 1792