Though all of the members of the National Convention supported the Revolution, there were distinct differences between the groups that made up the National Convention.

: members called Montagnards (most radical of the 3 groups), members also belonged to Jacobin Club (very radical) and were supported by the lowest of the 3rd Estateled to push to adopt more radical policies

: came from provinces outside of Paris, resented influence of Paris mob on the Revolution, supported having a constitutional monarchy, resisted extremism

: Made up of swing voters, mostly supported Girondins originally, but eventually switched their support to the Mountain.

There was no formal organization within the groups. Mostly people acted as individuals and often pursued personal rivalries.

These men were not technically leaders of their movements, they were often the most vocal & recognizable symbols of their party.

: Extremely radical, advocated violence, was the leader of the Paris faction of the sans culottes.

: Violent, extremely popular with the public, opposed what he thought were the excesses of the Revolution.

: Known for his “intense dedication” to the Revolution, led the National Convention at the bloodiest time of the Revolution.

After the National Convention came to power, Louis XVI was put on trial. The Girondins hoped to avoid this, but they were over ruled by the Montagnards and the Plain.

The Montagnards hoped that the trial would end quickly and result in the king’s death, so that the monarchy couldn’t be restored and no one could end the .

Immediately after the trial ended, the King was condemned to die on January 21, 1793. At the scaffold, Louis began to address the crowd & proclaim his innocence, however, his voice was drowned out by a drum roll & he was pushed on to the

. After the execution, a guard picked up Louis’s head and waved it around for the crowd to see.

The rest of Europe reacted with horror to the news of Louis’ execution.

“Every heart burns with indignation in this kingdom; against the ferociousness of

savage Paris…A Republic founded on the blood of an innocent victim must have but a short duration…”

The London Times, January 25, 1793

Once the king was executed, the National Convention took complete control of France.

1. Set up Committee of Public Safety: military defense of borders

2. Created a draft: all able-bodied men from 18-45 MUST participate in the military

3. Established : purpose of finding people who threatened the Revolution from the inside

Revolutionaries wanted to get rid of all traces of their former way of life, including religion & its importance in daily life.

Priests lost their jobs, the city of Paris shut down all churches, and Robespierre created the (a form of religion where the Revolution was the focus of worship)People would change statues that were holding bibles by erasing where it stated Holy Bible and replacing the title with .Also, the National Convention put the in place & created a new calendar for the Republic where each month had 3 weeks & 10 days (the calendar isn’t used anymore, but France still uses the metric system)

Many French people, in addition to other European countries, were concerned about the way the Revolution was going. England, Holland, Spain, Prussia, & Austria all formed an alliance to go to war against France.

Revolutionaries were afraid that they would lose control of France & begun the “ ” in order to keep their hold.( The Reign of Terrorperiod of great fear & widespread accusations in France)The biggest challenge to the Revolution came from the peasants. Once they got what they wanted out of the Revolution (end of feudal dues, etc.) they wanted to go back to a more conservative way of life. (mostly devout Catholicswent against Revolution’s destruction of church)

Anti-Revolution sentiment reached a boiling point when the draft was instated. “They have killed our king; chased away our priests; sold the goods of our church; eaten everything we have and now they want to take our bodies … no, they shall not have them.” 

A broke out in Vendee when the Catholic & Royal Army clashed with the government’s army and continued until the government army regained control of the region by destroying everything in their path.

The Mountain (and people like ) used fear & terror to try to find people who they considered to be a threat to the Revolution.

“Now, what is the fundamental principle of the democratic or popular government? … It is virtue … which is nothing

other than the love of country and of its laws… If the spring of popular government in time of peace is virtue, the springs of popular government in revolution are at once virtue and terror: virtue, without which terror is fatal; terror, without which virtue is powerless. Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible; it is therefore an emanation of virtue.”

—Robespierre, Justification of the Use of Terror,

speech February 5, 1794

The Mountain used the to attack the Girondins (who were thought to be enemies to the Revolution because they favored the Constitutional Monarchy, not the Republic) Anyone who had ever criticized the Revolution was put on trial, so were people who were just suspected of being anti-Revolution. (they had no rights & were often unable to defend themselves)

The Mountain favored the guillotine to carry out death sentences from the tribunal.

Using the guillotine was so efficient that executioners could take down more than per minute.

No one was safe from the guillotine. The Revolution was supposed to help the lower classes, but they had the most amount of victims.

People would go to watch executions like we would go to watch high school sports teams play today. Women would bring their to do while people lost their heads.

The Guillotine

-Considered the

Enlightenment

way of executing

people

-more humane

that torture

-Beheading used

to be only for

the nobility &

royals

-Made everyone

equal in death

Women weren’t spared from the guillotine. Marie Antoinette was one of the first women to be beheaded. (Declaration of the rights of women) was also beheaded. Many nuns who refused to leave their convents were also victims of the guillotine.

Eventually those who favored the Reign of Terror became its victims. Robespierre sent & his followers to the guillotine for saying that the Reign of Terror should be reduced.

Even Robespierre himself was arrested along with 100 of his followers & sent to the guillotine by the .

In the 10 months that the Reign of Terror lasted: people were arrested people were executed The death & horror shocked the people of France so much that the

Revolution lost much of its support and was openly opposed by other European countries.

Once the Reign of Terror ended, the National Convention wrote another constitution. The new constitution made it so that only men who owned property could vote.

became the new rulers:5 men called ‘directors’passed a few financial reforms to help farmers &

improve tradenot effective as a government (weak & corrupt

directors) 

Essentially no one had control in Francesomething had to change.