Paris Commune (1789–1795)
The violence provoked by the Jacobins and their excesses meant that the power of the Commune would end up being limited by increasing support for more moderate revolutionary forces until the Thermidorian Reaction and the execution of its leaders led to its disestablishment in 1795.[3] This coupled with the perceived frivolity of royal spending encouraged popular anger, and radical pamphleteering and meetings started to become a key part of the Parisian bourgeois intellectual culture.Amidst this anger and the wider contemporary social upheavals in France, on 25 June 1789, 12 representatives from three different parts of the city voted in favour of creating a united Parisian municipality.On 24 February 1792 the Conseil Général de la Commune was installed: it consisted of 24 members, under whom were Etienne Clavière, Pierre-Joseph Cambon, Sergent-Marceau, René Levasseur and the King.On the night of 9 August 1792 (spurred by the issue of the Brunswick Manifesto on 25 July) a new revolutionary Commune, led by Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins and Jacques Hébert took possession of the Hôtel de Ville.During the ensuing constitutional crisis, the collapsing Legislative Assembly of France was heavily dependent on the Commune for the effective power that allowed it to continue to function as a legislature.On 16 August, Robespierre presented a petition to the Legislative Assembly from the Paris Commune to demand the establishment of a provisional Revolutionary Tribunal that had to deal with the "traitors" and "enemies of the people".[13] On Sunday morning 2 September the members of the Commune, gathering in the town hall to proceed the election of deputies to the National Convention, decided to maintain their seats and have Rolland and Brissot arrested.[22] The after-effects of the massacres were severe, and the assassination of Marat by Charlotte Corday (a Girondin sympathiser) on 13 July 1793, who blamed him for the violence, triggered an even further wave of radicalisation amongst Jacobins, as a cult of martyrdom emerged around him.[32] The Commune took charge of routine civic functions but is best known for mobilizing the people towards direct democracy and insurrection when it deemed the Revolution to be in danger, as well as for its campaign to dechristianize the country.This campaign of dechristianization was spearheaded by many prominent figures within the Commune, such as the minister of war Jean-Nicolas Pache who sought to disseminate the profoundly anti-clerical work of Jacques Hébert by purchasing thousands of copies of his books and his radical newspaper Le Père Duchesne for free distribution to the public.The massacres of tens of thousands of people in the royalist Vendée uprising exposed just how deep the divides between urban and rural France were, how little practical control the Girondins had over a unified French republic, and how ineffective they were at holding true to democratic principles.In response to this, the Girondins launched a political assault on the Paris Commune as an institution, arresting Hébert for an inflammatory article he had published in his paper, and two other Jacobin Communards.They spent much of 2 June fiercely denouncing the Jacobins and the Paris Commune itself through speeches, arguing for its suppression, but as the Vendée fell to rebels, inspiring revolutionary outrage, Francois Hanriot ordered the National Guard to march on the convention and join those Communard forces to oust the Girondins who had lost the faith of republicans.[37] On 27 July the Paris Commune gave orders to close the gates (and to ring the tocsin), and summoned an immediate meeting of the sections to consider the dangers threatening the fatherland.[40] After a whole evening spent waiting in vain for action by the Commune, losing time in fruitless deliberation, without supplies or instructions, the armed sections began to disperse.In response to this, Francois-Noel Babeuf and democratic militants associated with him - organised through a newly created Electoral Club - demanded the restoration of the Commune, but were unsuccessful in achieving their aims.Similar to Mme Roland, Olympe de Gouges was associated with the bourgeois republicans and has favoured the idea of the constitutional monarchy, causing her to criticise Robespierre and the Montagnards after the execution of Louis XVI.[55] De Gouges’ criticism of the revolutionary movement in her writing and her affiliation to the Girondins led to her being convicted of treason and she was executed along with other party members (including Madame Roland) in November 1793.
Paris Commune (1871)Hôtel de Ville, Paris9 ThermidorFrenchFrench RevolutionHôtel de Villestorming of the BastilleJean Sylvain BaillyFeuillantPétion de VilleneuveNational GuardChamp de MarsJacobinsLegislative AssemblySelf-Denying OrdinanceThermidorian ReactionLouis XVIVersaillesNicolas de BonnevilleBourgeois GuardBastilleThird Estaterevolutionary sections of Parissans-culottesEtienne ClavièrePierre-Joseph CambonSergent-MarceauRené Levasseurprocureur of the communeJan ten BrinkFeuillantsGirondinConstitutional Cabinet of Louis XVIBrunswick ManifestoGeorges DantonCamille DesmoulinsJacques HébertAntoine Galiot Mandat de GranceyTuileriesAntoine Joseph Santerreassailed the TuileriesPlace VendômeMaximilien de RobespierreRevolutionary Tribunalenemies of the peopledepartmentTempleSeptember MassacresJean-Paul MaratJean-Lambert TallienCharlotte CordayMaximin IsnardNational PalaceGirondinsInsurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793General MaximumReign of TerrorJean-Nicolas PacheLe Père DuchesneNotre-DameTemples of ReasonCult of ReasonMontagnardPierre Gaspard ChaumetteInsurrection of 31 May - 2 June 1793JacobinNational ConventionMontagnardsWar in the VendéeRobespierreJean-Francois VarletFrancois HanriotCommittee of Public SafetyJean-Baptiste Fleuriot-LescotMinisters of the French National ConventionCommissioners of the Committee of Public SafetyHotel de VilleWhite TerrorFrancois-Noel BabeufFrench DirectoryParis CommuneHippolyte TaineWomen's March on VersaillesMaximilien RobespierreMadame RolandOlympe de GougesDeclaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female CitizenDeclaration of the Rights of Man and of the CitizenFirst RepublicFrench ConsulateFirst EmpireNapoleonProvisional Government of 1814First restorationHundred DaysProvisional Government of 1815RestorationTalleyrandRichelieu (1)DessollesDecazesRichelieu (2)VillèleMartignacPolignacMortemartJuly MonarchyParis Municipal CommissionProvisional MinistryFirst ministry of Louis-PhilippeLaffitteCasimir PerierSoult (1)GérardMortierde BroglieThiers (1)Molé (1)Molé (2)Transitional cabinet of 1839Soult (2)Thiers (2)Soult (3)GuizotSecond RepublicProvisional Government