The Great French Revolution, 1789-1793

Chapter 69 : Conclusion
When one sees that terrible and powerful Convention wrecking itself in 1794-1795, that proud and strong Republic disappearing, and France, after the demoralizing régime of the Directory, falling under the military yoke of a Bonaparte, one is impelled to ask: "What was the good of the Revolution if the nation had to fall back again under despotism?" In the course of the nineteenth century, this question has been constantly put, and the timid and conservative have worn it threadbare as an argument against revolutions in general. The preceding pages supply the answer. Those who have seen in the Revolution only a change in the Government, those who are ignorant of its economic as well as its educational work, those alone could put such a question. The France we see during the last days of the eighteenth century, at the moment of the coup d'etat on the 18th Brumaire, is not the France that existed before 1789. Would it have been possible fo... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Chapter 68 : The 9th Thermidor--Triumph of Reaction
Causes of overthrow of Robespierre -- Evils of transfer of land--Republican successes abroad -- Terror continues -- Dantonists, Girondins and "Marsh" unite to overthrow Robespierre -- Unpopularity of Committee of Public Welfare -- Robespierre attacks Barère and Fouché -- His speech in Convention -- Effect of speech -- 9th Thermidor -- Arrest of Robespierre and his associates -- Efforts of Commune -- Capture of Hôtel de Ville -- Execution of Robespierre and Terrorists -- End of Revolution -- Reactionaries continue executions -- Attempted rising of workers -- Execution of last of Montagnards -- Triumph of middle classes -- Royalist manifestations -- Massacres of revolutionists -- Reaction succeeded by Directory -- Final effort of revolutionists -- Napoleon proclaims himself Emperor If Robespierre had many admirers, who adored him, he had also quite as many enemies, who utterly detested him and lost no opportunity of... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Chapter 67 : The Terror
Steps taken by committees to increase their power -- War with England--Condition of provinces -- Burning of Bedouin -- Special commission formed to deal with arrested citizens -- Robespierre's law of 22nd Prairial -- Effect of law -- Aim of Robespierre -- Attempts on his life -- Arrests and executions -- Terror -- Hatred of Jacobin government After the downfall of their enemies of the Left and of the Right, the committees continued to concentrate more and more power in their own hands. Up to that time there had been six Government departments, which were indirectly subordinate to the Committee of Public Welfare through the intermediary of the Executive Committee composed of six ministers. On the 12th Germinal (April 1) the State departments were suppressed and their place taken by twelve Executive Commissions, each of them under the supervision of a section of the committee.1 Furthermore, the Committee of Public Welfare obta... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Chapter 66 : Robespierre and his Group
Position and influence of Robespierre -- Causes of his power -- His incorruptibility -- His fanaticism -- His accusation against Fabre -- His character and policy Robespierre has been often mentioned as a dictator; his enemies in the Convention called him "the tyrant," and it is true that as the Revolution drew to a close Robespierre acquired so much influence that he came to be regarded both in France and abroad as the most important person in the Republic. It would, however, be incorrect to represent Robespierre as a dictator, though certainly many of his admirers desired a dictatorship for him.1 We know, indeed, that Cambon exercised considerable authority within his special domain, the Committee of Finance, and that Carnot wielded extensive powers in matters concerning the war, despite the ill-will borne him by Robespierre and Saint-Just. But the Committee of Public Safety was too jealous of its controll... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Chapter 65 : Fall of the Hebertists--Danton Executed
Struggle between revolutionists and counter-revolutionists continues -- Robespierre and commissioners of Convention -- Triumph of Hébertists -- Great speech of Saint-Just -- He advocates Terrorism -- His attack on Dantonists -- Action of Cordeliers -- Arrest of Hébertist leaders -- Further arrests of Chaumette, Pache, Clootz and Leclerc -- Success of the Government -- Execution of Hébertists and others -- Royalist rejoicing -- End of struggle between committees and Commune -- Committees arrest Danton, Desmoulins, Phélippeaux and Lacroix -- They are executed -- Effect of executions on Paris -- End of Revolution in sight The winter thus passed in veiled struggles between the revolutionists and the counter-revolutionists, who every day lifted their heads higher and more boldly. In the beginning of February, Robespierre made himself the mouthpiece of a movement against certain commissioners, of the C... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

The "Districts" and the "Sections" of Paris
Creation of Communes -- Their power -- Village Communes -- Municipal Communes -- Commune of Paris -- Soul of Revolution -- Erroneous conception of Communes -- Electoral divisions of Paris -- Districts useful for organization of Revolution -- Varied constitution of districts -- Germ of Commune-Lacroix on districts -- Independence of districts -- Link between Paris and provincial towns -- Sections become instruments of federation We have seen how the Revolution began with popular risings ever since the first months of 1789. To make a revolution it is not, however, enough that there should be such risings--more or less successful. It is necessary that after the risings there should be left something new in the institutions, which would permit ... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

The End of the Communist Movement
Montagnards and communists -- Attitude of Hébert -- Of Billaud-Varenne -- Obstacles to communism -- Assemblies and land -- Communal land given to well-to-do peasants -- Jacques Roux and Robespierre -- Roux prosecuted -- Reply to communism of Committee of Public Welfare -- Resolutions passed by communists -- Convention defends middle class and suppresses communism Previous to May 31, when the Montagnards saw the Revolution brought to a standstill by the opposition of the Girondins, they sought the support of the communists, and of the Enragés in general. In those days, Robespierre, in the proposed Declaration of Rights which he read before the Convention on April 21, 1793, expressed himself in favor of a limitation of the right... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Feudal Legislation in 1790
New laws support feudal system -- Sagnac's opinion of them -- Attempts to collect feudal dues resisted-Insurrection spreads -- Spurious decrees excite further risings -- Peasants demand "Maximum" and restoration of communal lands -- Revolution fixes price of bread -- Middle-class suppressions -- Draconian laws against peasants (June 1790) -- Tithes to be paid one year longer -- Summary of laws to protect property -- Articles of peasants' demands Thus it was that the National Assembly, profiting by the temporary lull in the peasant insurrections during the winter, passed in 1790, laws which in reality gave a new legal basis to the feudal system. Lest it should be believed that this is our own interpretation of the legislation of the Assembly... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

The Communist Movement
Egalité de fait -- Socialistic problems -- Proposition of Billaud-Varenne--Communalist movement -- Means of subsistence and land question -- Leading apostles of communism -- Jacques Roux -- Leclerc -- Varlet-- Boissel -- Babeuf In the cahiers of 1789, ideas were already to be found which, as Chassin has pointed out, would to-day be classed as socialistic. Rousseau, Helvetius, Mably, Diderot and others had already dealt with the inequalities of fortunes and the accumulation of superfluous wealth in the hands of the few, as the great obstacle to the establishment of democratic liberty. These ideas came once more to the front during the first hours of the Revolution. Turgot, Sieyès and Condorcet asserted that the equality of poli... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

The Consequences of July 14 at Versailles
fête at Versaille -- State of Court -- Conduct of people -- Middle classes -- King visits Paris-His plans of armed resistance come to nothing -- Insurrection in Paris spread-Emigration of nobles -- Founlon and others put to death When a revolution has once begun, each event in it not merely sums up the events hitherto accomplished; it also contains the chief elements of what is to come; so that the contemporaries of the French Revolution, if they could only have freed themselves from the momentary impressions, and separated the essential from the accidental, might have been able, on the morrow of July 14, to foresee whither events as a whole were thenceforth trending. But even on the evening of the 13th, the Court attached no importan... (From : Anarchy Archives.)