Political pressures

• Marat attacked the Girondins, claiming that the were complicit to Dumouriez‘ betrayal. He also published a circular sent to all provincial Jacobin clubs, demanding the dismissal of all Girondins who had voted against the execution of Louis.
• The atmosphere in the Convention was so bad that in April 1793, physical fight broke out between Girondin and Jacobin deputies. The Girondins counter-attacked when a leading Girondin called for Marat’s trial before the revolutionary tribunal.
• The Girondins managed to push through the Convention to order Marat’s arrest and trial. Their victory was short lived as Marat’s crimes were all acquitted in one day.
• On 26 May 1793, Robespierre called for the sans-culottes to those up in insurrection against the Girondin deputies. The Paris Commune mobilised an army of 80000 National Guards and sans-culottes who surrounded the Convention.
• This called for the Girondins to be arrested and the maximum price cap on all essential goods and the establishment of a sans-culottes revolutionary army to deal with bread hoarders and counter-revolutionaries.
• Couthon (wheel-chair bound) proposed a vote within the Convention on the arrest of 29 Girondin deputies. The majority voted in favour and they were arrested.
• Marat’s assassination:

  • Charlotte Corday visited Marat whilst he was taking his medical bath.
  • She asked to pass a note, but she drew a large knife and killed Marat in one stab.
  • His heart was removed and hung in the Jacobin club.
• Federalist revolt:

  • series of protests and riots in opposition to the Girondins purge and Jacobin dominance.
  • This was an anti-Jacobin revolt.
  • Revolts tended to be led by the better educated.
  • French national forced besieged the town.
  • Napoleon Bonaparte devised a strategy to bring the town into submission.
  • Lyon posed the greatest threat.
  • De Wimpffen threaten to raise an army of 60000, however, he raised just 2500.
• A group of extremists called the Enragés emerged. They’d demanded for action to alleviate poverty and starvation. They proposed radical solutions such as taxes for the rich and execution from hoarders.
• Levée en masse was declared by the Convention on 23rd August 1793 which was the announcement of total war.
• All unmarried men aged 18-25 were to be conscripted for army, and metal goods such as church bells were melted down into cannons. The government also enforced controls on overseas trade. This was organised by Carnot.
• The war did not improve things for the sans-culottes so thousands of them marched on the Convention. To appease the crowd, the Convention agreed to some of the sans-culottes demands, such as, permitting the formation of armees revolutionnaires and seizing grain supplies.
• The Convention also announced the law of general maximum which set a maximum price on all basic commodities.