User:Atcovi/AP European History/Unit 5 - FrenchRadicalPhase

See also: User:Atcovi/French APEuro

Political Assembly

 * Left - Montagnards: "composed mainly of members of the middle class, but represented the constituencies of Paris. As such, the Mountain was sensitive to the motivations of the city and responded strongly to demands from the working class sans-culottes and were willing to go far and beyond to achieve what they wanted. The Montagnard had little understanding of the daily life and needs of the people in the cities and towns beyond Paris. Although they attempted some rural land reform, most of it was never enacted and they generally focused on the needs of the urban poor over that of rural France. The Mountain operated on the belief that what was best for Paris would be best for all of France"
 * Center/Moderist [the aim] - Girondists: "Together with the Montagnards, they initially were part of the Jacobin movement. They campaigned for the end of the monarchy, but then resisted the spiraling momentum of the Revolution [opposed the execution of Louis XIV], which caused a conflict with the more radical Montagnards. They dominated the movement until their fall in the insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793, which resulted in the domination of the Montagnards and the purge and eventual mass execution of the Girondins. This event is considered to mark the beginning of the Reign of Terror. Opposed Montagnards in that provinces vs. Paris/sans-culottes"
 * Right Wing - Royalists: "Royalists say the French Revolution was ruthless, not glorious, and that Louis XVI was a progressive king with vision", "The Royalists are deeply divided over who is the legitimate successor to the French throne. But that question is not pertinent, for now anyway, says Dominique Emele(ph), the director of the Alliance Royale, the monarchist political party. The Royalists have practically no political support and no members in parliament, but Emele believes that one day the Party will be able to convince the French to restore a constitutional monarchy."; their beliefs: "One of the biggest problems in France today is that our president is the head of a political party. So he doesn't represent all the French. Only a king can truly represent the people, unify the nation, and solve the long-term problems of France."

FR/Reflections on the FR (1790)

 * Edmund Burke: Believed in "conservatism", thoroughly believed that change is "gradual" and "evolutionary".
 * “All it takes for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”
 * Insurrection of 10 August 1792 - "defining event of the French Revolution, when armed revolutionaries in Paris, increasingly in conflict with the French monarchy, stormed the Tuileries Palace. The conflict led France to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic."
 * September Massacres - " a series of killings of prisoners in Paris [by Cordellies, a faction of Jacobin before they challenged Robespierre for power] that occurred from 2–6 September 1792 during the French Revolution [because of "obsession with a prison conspiracy, desire for revenge, fear of advancing Prussians, ambiguity over who was in control"]."
 * French First Republic - 1792-95

The National Convention

 * 1792-95
 * The Decree of Fraternity - Offered French assistance to any people who desired to throw the government out.

People

 * 1) Maximilien Robespierre
 * 2) Jean Paul Marat
 * 3) Georges Danton - "a leading figure in the early stages of the French Revolution, in particular as the first president of the Committee of Public Safety. Danton's role in the onset of the Revolution has been disputed; many historians describe him as "the chief force in the overthrow of the French monarchy and the establishment of the First French Republic". He was guillotined by the advocates of revolutionary terror after accusations of venality and leniency toward the enemies of the Revolution." Some historians blame Danton for the 1792 September prison massacres.

War in the Vendée
"The War in the Vendée (1793; French: Guerre de Vendée) was a counter-revolution in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately south of the Loire River in western France. Initially, the war was similar to the 14th-century Jacquerie peasant uprising, but quickly acquired themes considered by the Jacobin government in Paris to be counter-revolutionary, and Royalist. The uprising headed by the newly formed Catholic and Royal Army was comparable to the Chouannerie, which took place in the area north of the Loire."

Religion had no place in a secular republic: De-Christianization Period of 1793-94

 * New Republican Calendar: abolished Sundays and holidays, months named after seasons, 7-day weeks --> 10-day decades, started from September 1792 [creation of the republic]. This was when the Convention symbolically separated from the Catholic Church.
 * Public use of religion was banned.

Backlash

 * Alienated the French population

The Jacobins

 * "was the most influential political club during the French Revolution of 1789"
 * History: "The Jacobin Club was heterogeneous and included both prominent parliamentary factions of the early 1790s, The Mountain and the Girondins. In 1792–1793, the Girondins were more prominent in leading France, the period when France declared war on Austria and on Prussia, overthrew the monarchy and set up the French First Republic. In May 1793 the leaders of the Mountain faction led by Maximilien Robespierre succeeded in sidelining the Girondin faction and controlled the government until July 1794. Their time in government featured high levels of political violence, and for this reason the period of the Jacobin/Mountain government is identified as the Reign of Terror. In October 1793, 21 prominent Girondins were guillotined. The Mountain-dominated government executed 17,000 opponents nationwide, as a way to suppress the Vendée insurrection and the Federalist revolts and to deter recurrences. In July 1794 the National Convention pushed the administration of Robespierre and his allies out of power and had Robespierre and 21 associates executed. In November 1794 the Jacobin Club closed."
 * "became identified with extreme egalitarianism and violence" https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jacobin-Club

Beliefs

 * 1) Campaigned for universal manhood suffrage: all adult male citizens are allowed to vote.
 * 2) Abolition of "celibacy for the clergy" ("requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried. These religions consider that, outside of marriage, deliberately indulging in sexual thoughts and behavior is sinful") and "slavery".
 * 3) Political voice for those unrepresented
 * 4) Carry arms for self-defense
 * 5) Ended French monarchy and created the w:National Convention: "created after the great insurrection of 10 August 1792, it was the first French government organized as a republic, abandoning the monarchy altogether."
 * 6) Goals: "united and indivisible France, equality before the law, to abolish prerogatives and to defend the principles of direct democracy"

Committee of Public Safety (CPS)
"Formed the provisional government in France, led mainly by Maximilien Robespierre, during the Reign of Terror (1793–1794), a phase of the French Revolution. Supplementing the Committee of General Defence created after the execution of King Louis XVI in January 1793, the Committee of Public Safety was created in April 1793 by the National Convention and restructured in July 1793. It was charged with protecting the new republic against its foreign and domestic enemies, fighting the First Coalition and the Vendée revolt. As a wartime measure, the committee was given broad supervisory and administrative powers over the armed forces, judiciary and legislature, as well as the executive bodies and ministers of the Convention."

Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible. -- Robespierre

Legislation Passed

 * 1) Law of General Maximum - Proper wages and limited prices of bread
 * 2) Law of Suspects - Basically anyone who wasn't passionately supported the CPS was arrested.

The First Coalition and the Brunswick Manifesto

 * Brunswick Manifesto - Declaration sent by Charles William Ferdinand of Austria and Prussia on July 25, 1972: "If the French royal family is harmed, so will the civilians". This declaration was rejected and sent France in a series of uprisings out of fear and chaos. The National Legislative Assembly (France) ordered citizens to get ready for war. With the French's failure to comply, France entered a series of military conflicts from 1792 to 1802 against counter-revolution countries (including England, HRE [Prussia], Russia, Portugal, etc.).

Defeat of Austria

 * French Victory at Fleures, 1794

Thermidorian Reaction, 1794

 * Robespierre incites negative feelings towards himself after giving a new speech in July for new plots. He alienated many CPS members through this speech, thus resulting in his execution days later.
 * Danton is also executed.