The National Convention: The Moderates, the Radicals and Those Who Refuse to Wear Breeches
The National Assembly was born out of shared interest in autonomy , equality and trade union , but as the French Revolution wore on , divergence in political ideologies became more obvious . Essentially , the fabrication – known from Sept. 20 , 1792 , on as theNational Convention– separate into two major faction : the moderateGirondinsand the radicalJacobins(the most prominent of whom was Robespierre ) . On the city streets of Paris , another political faction was gaining steam . Thesans - culottes , or " those without knickers , " became the leaders of local government activity while the convention govern the entire res publica of France . These localized rebels were typically artisans who discover themselves by wearing full - length pants rather than the knee - duration breeches that the panache of the Old Regime had dictate .
On Sept. 21 , 1792 , the Convention officially declared France a commonwealth [ source : Encarta ] .
To cut tie completely with the Old Regime , the Convention even created a new Republican calendar for France . All computer address to religious belief find in the previous calendar ’s name were stricken , and the Second Coming of a 10 - day week was think to make Frenchcitoyens(citizens ) blank out about Sunday , the proverbial day of adoration and rest .
One of the first major issues to divide the Convention was the trial of Louis XVI , now known by the egalitarian family name Capet . Louis Capet had no allies in the Convention , but the Girondin at least want to spare his life . The Jacobins would n’t hear of it ; Louis must die . Robespierre convinced the people that the crowned head must kick the bucket for the republic to live . Louis ominously prophesy , " I confide that my death will be for the happiness of my hoi polloi , but I grieve for France … " On Jan. 20 , 1793 , he was guillotined .
Louis ' death did n’t put to rest any controversies within the Convention , though . The ill waged French Revolutionary Wars against Austria and Prussia only fraction the factions further . While the warfare commence in an effort to protect France ’s borders from other European monarchy who would seek to restore Louis to the potty , they ’d become an ideological commission of pass around rotatory fervor through Europe .
The Jacobins were part on the matter of war . Georges Danton and Robespierre , once political ally , deny to see eye to heart . Danton was a rotund , good-time humans with jarring opinions and a gimcrack voice . His priority was the battlefield while Robespierre come to himself with more immediate threat in the city of Paris . The menace of foreign troop encroaching on French land finally win over the Convention to post radical militia to the outskirts of France , and the metropolis of Paris thereby became innocent of protection .
Marat tread in again to rally the people to action . This time , the Jacobin journalist ’s directive was straight : Kill all the political prisoners . He feared that with thepopulationof Paris outnumbered by the immure counter - revolutionaries , the rotation would be squelched . The sans - culottes rebel to the juncture and pass over out thousands of captive – work force and women , aristocrats and clergy – in just a few day . The bloodletting became know as theSeptember Massacre .
The massacre brought Europe ’s decisive gaze zeroing in on France . Was this still a revolution for republic , or was it just gratuitous bloodshed ? The French reconsidered their stance , too . In the outlying province , the rural Gallic people were outraged by urban furiousness . Robespierre decided that someone would have to govern the frenzied French . And for a time , Robespierre , known by his coevals as the " Incorruptible , " was a steady and righteous leader . But even he turn a loss his aplomb in the subsequent years .
