Western History 135: What significant events occurred during the National Convention Period?

The last acts of the Legislative Assembly included the abolition of last religious orders, the introduction of civil marriage and permission to divorce. 

In the Paris Commune the word Citizen was first used. Meanwhile in the countryside Royalist uprisings persisted as Austrian troops pressed deeper into France.  Royalist uprising in the countryside.

Elections were held on the 20^th of September, 1792 for the National Convention with the Jacobins taking 113 out of the 784 seats on offer.

On the 20^th of September the French Revolutionary Army secured a major victory when they defeated the coalition troops at the Battle of Valmy. In October the Revolutionary forces would take Nice, Savoy, Basel, Frankfurt and Brussels. 

National Convention 1792 source: historycrunch.com

Maximilien Robespierre continued to make the case for the Death Penalty for King Louis XVI. His argument was strengthened by the discovery of the iron box at the Tuileries that contained letters  detailing the King’s correspondence with foreign powers.  Marat proposed a vote on the issue with the Trial of the King beginning on December 11^th.

On the 15^th of January 1793 the National Convention found the King guilty of conspiracy  by a vote of 707 to zero. On January 27^th  by the narrow vote of 361 to 360 the deputies voted for the Death Penalty. Louis was executed on the 21st of January by guillotine at the Place de la Concorde

The execution of Louis XVI Source: brittanica.com

France was now in full scale war with Britain, Holland and Spain as well. However there were problems on several other fronts.  The  War of the Vendee flared up in the countryside driven by Royalist insurrections. In Paris hardcore revolutionary group such as the Enragés , led by Jacques Roux rose up in Paris. Roux  had much success in mobilizing the sans-culottes (the army of the working class).

Fault lines were common. Charles François Dumouriez, hero of the Battle of Valmy clashed with the Convention as it took a more radical turn. Jean Paul Marat was now in control of the Jacobin club. However he would fall afoul of the Convention who accused him of using his paper to stir up trouble. Conflict arose as well between the Jacobins and more moderate Girondins.



Charles Dumouriez source: alphahistory

In May 1793 the Convention fixed the price of grain while Robespierre and Marat simultaneously advocated against the Convention and its Girondist elements. By early June the Jacobins, following an insurrection, would be in control of the National Convention.

Girondist strength was on the decline. Robespierre and Jacques René Hébert  (another radical journalist) also succeeded in isolating Jacques Roux. A new Constitution was ratified by the Convention.


Jacques Herbert source: brittanica.com

In July Queen Marie Antoinette had her child Louis XVII taken away from her. She would later be executed. In the same month  Marat was killed in the bath by Girondist sympathizer Charlotte Corday. She would be sentenced to death and guillotined. Her famous last words  - "I killed one man to save a hundred thousand"

Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat by Charlotte Corday source: France revisited

With the Death of Marat Robespierre’s power continued to grow as the Jacobin kingpin. His vehicle of power secured with an election win that brought him access to the influential  Committee of Public Safety. He would later become President of the National Convention.

The committee of Public Safety source: alpha history

At the same time that France adopted the metric system rebellion breaks out in Lyon. A revolutionary  army made up of sans-culottes was created as the British moved on Toulon