Radical+Days


 * Radical Days**

This section of the french revolution is on the radical days.The radical days was a period of time when the monarchy had a downfall.


 * The Beginning**

August 10, 1792, The Parisian people attacked the kings palace and killed a couple hundred swiss gaurds. Result in this was the radicalization of the revolution. Louis and Marie Antoninette were to flee. They hid out in the Legislative Assembly. They were found out when a former soldier saw Marie, and new it wasn't a coincidence when he recognized Louis from the currency. They were forced to return to the palace where they were placed on house arrest. From here, the king could not perform any of his political duties. The san-coulottes destroyed the prisons since they thought that they were sheltering conspirators secretly, more than 1000 killed. Street fights started breaking out and barracades were then set up around the city. September 21 and 22, 1792, the monarchy was considered ambolished and a republic was made. After the execution the National convention has some problems. The currency of paper went down 50%. There were price problems, food shortages and different peasant rebellions. Due to all this Frence was close to another civil war. In december 1792, Louis XVI was placed on trial.The convention voted to execute him. He was beheaded on January 21, 1793. During the year of 1793, the Convention declared war on Great Britian, followed by Holland, and then spain. France was pretty much at war with all of Europe, including itself.

**Reign of Terror**

The reign of terror started in September, 1793, and didn't end until July, 1994. The reign of terror can best be described as a dictatorship formed by the Convention. The reign was mostly under the called the control of a bunch of leaders named the Committee of Public Safety meaning they these leaders were in charge of everything. Most deaths during this time were caused by a guillotine. An estimated forty thousand people lost their lives to this. Most of theses executions had no good explanation.

During this time, their were several groups. One of these were the Jacobins. the Jacobins saw themselves as the representatives of the lower classes; however, they were part of the middle class and represented them the most. Another group were the enragees. Their leader was Jacues Hebert, a journalist. The enragees were a more radical group. They showed devotion to Rousseau. They liked his idea of what is now known as communism.


 * The Committee**

The Convention created a draft making all men capable of fighting to enter the war. In 1794, the small untrained armies secured French borders. In 1795, the French defeated Holland, and parts of Spain and Switzerland. By the year of 1794, the French had won the war. Because of this war, the creation of a democratic government was delayed. By now, almost all the French's government was dependent on the Committee (of Public Safety).Their were 12 men in the Committee, but only three led the group. These were Jean-Paul Marat, Georges Jacques Danton, and Maximilien Robespierre. Jean-Paul had been involved in the revolution from the very start. His effect on the revolution was not long lived though. He was soon hunted down, and forced to hde in the in the sewers. From here he picked up an extremly bad skin disease which forced him to bath constantly. While he was bathing one day, a Girondist (Charlotte Corday) stabbed him and killed him. Danton did not emerge until the Jacobins gained control of the Convention. His major roles were setting up the tribunals in Paris and throughout the country. He also helped the transfer of power from the Convention to the Committee. The tribunals he created started to behead people of the aristocracy (including Marie Antoinette). Soon, the tribunals began to kill Girondists, sans-culottes, and then enragees. Pretty soon, some members of the Jacobin party were killed too. In the end of the reign, more peasents, republicans, democrats, and laborers were killed than monarchists or aristocrats. In April, 1794, Danton was declared an enemy of the Republic according to one tribunal and beheaded.

The most radical of the radical leaders was Maximilien Robespierre. Robespierre strived for morality and principle. He was the most heartless leader, and would do anything to get what he wanted. He wanted an inequality free society. Robespierre is best known for putting the word terror, into Reign of Terror. He felt that the only way to espress virtue was through terror. Maximilien extended the power of tribunals, and on June 10, he had the Law of 22 Prairial approved. This ment that tribunals could convict enemies without hearing any evidence.


 * Dechristianization**

The Convention and the Committee wanted to build something better for their humanity. Instead of the monarchy, they wanted an "equality-based rebublic of civic virtue." The first thing they did was to eliminate Christianity. First, they through out the old Christian calender, and replaced it with the Revolutionary calender. They wanted to take out the Christian religion completely.The convention founded the Religion of Reason (now Temple of Reason, located at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris) in November of 1793. A group of people called the mission deputies were set up in an attempt to get rid of the Christian religion of the French republic. The mission deputies closed down churches and sometimes forced priests to marry. This, however, lost many supporters of the radical revolution. Robespierre felt that this new religion was too difficult. Instead, he replaced it with the new religion, the Cult of the Supreme Being. On July 27, Robespierre was killed for being an enemy of the Republic.


 * The Thermidorean Reaction**

When the Convention repealed the Law of 22 Prairal, and took all the power away from the Committee of Public Safety, the Jacobins went into hiding. With them gone, the convention returned to drafting a constitution which was completed in 1795. The new constitution stated that all adult males could vote, as long as they could read and write. They voted for electors which voted for the important members of the legislature. A directory ( five men) replaced the monarrchy. These men were controlled mostly by the middle class. Many people hated them, but the directory held its place. It was not until March of 1797, when France held its first democratic election which leads into the Age of Napoleon.

"Revolution and After: Tragedies & Farce." 21 Oct. 2007 . Kreis, Steven. "The French Revolution: Radical Days." 2000. 21 Oct. 2007 http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture13a.html.