European History French Revolution 6

Front 1

Georges Jacques Danton

Back 1

Danton came from a respectable provincial middle class family. He grew
up
on a farm near Troyes. His face was permanently disfigured by
accidents
with a bull and a herd of angry pigs. He came to Paris to become a
lawyer
and ended up becoming a leader of the Cordeliers club. He sought fame
in
the National Assembly, however, he never achieved it because his
motives
were constantly called into question, he was often seen as two faced.
However, the new Insurrectionary Commune gave him the post of Minister
of
Justice. He would encourage the masacres of September 1792.

Front 2

septembriseurs

Back 2

Beginning on September 2 a number of massacres took place throughout Paris
for the following 5 days that were designed to exterminate the opponents of
the revolution. Priests that still had not signed the Constitution of the
Clergy and prisoners from all over the city were brutally murdered. Tribunals were set up to appear to give the defendants a trial; however,
decisions were made mostly at random, often times ending in the killing
of the defendant. At the end of the week more than 1,200 prisoners were murdered, almost half the prison population of Paris. The new government stood by idly while the killings were happening and the deputy-commissioner of the Commune was in support of them. Similar massacres were repeated throughout the country. The people who committed these murders were
later to be known as Septemberists.

Front 3

Battle of Valmy

Back 3

An important battle the French won over the Prussians and Austrians.

Front 4

Montagnards

Back 4

The name given to the Jacobins in the new National Convention.
Literally meaning "mountain", the Jacobins got this name because they occupied
the highest seats in the Convention hall.

Front 5

citoyen

Back 5

"Citizen", used in place of Monsieur or Madame. An example of how the
revolution changed social customs in Paris.

Front 6

enrages

Back 6

An extremist faction which demanded the common ownership of goods and
the strictest economic controls.

Front 7

Louis Capet

Back 7

The real name of King Louis XVI which people began to use more and more
as the King lost power and was jailed.

Front 8

Who was Danton and why did he become an influential figure in revolutionary France?

Back 8

Danton was a lawyer who became Minister of Justice under the Insurrectionary
Commune. He was a great speaker and had a lot of power with the Cordeliers club who also had a huge influence on the public.

Front 9

What led to organized and violent attacks on French prisons in September 1792?

Back 9

Fear that royalists and their supporters were going to converge on Paris and
defeat the revolution.

Front 10

How excessive were the actions of the septembriseurs? What helped
facilitate the carnage?

Back 10

From pg. 174, "Charged with having mutilated her lover, she herself was mutilated, her breasts were cut off, her feet were nailed to the ground and a bonfire was set alight between her spreadeagled legs." From pg. 175, "'Do you want to see the heart of an aristocrat?' asked one assassin, opening a corpse, tearing out a heart, squeezing some of the blood into a glass, drinking some, and offering part of the rest to those who would drink with him. 'Drink this, if you want to save your father's life.'"

The killings were helped by the fact that the authorities did little to
stop them, in fact the one of the members of the commune openly endorsed and
encouraged the killings.

Front 11

What were some of the revolutionary measures passed by the National Convention?

Back 11

They declared the monarchy abolished and created a new calendar where 22 of september was the beginning of the the 1st year of the French Republic.

Front 12

Was there any political tension within the Convention?

Back 12

Yes, between the Jacobins and the Girondins.

Front 13

Describe the trial of Louis Capet. Did anyone speak on his behalf?

Back 13

The Girondins wanted to spare his life, but he was convicted of his crime
unanimously.

Front 14

What were your impressions of Louis' execution? Do you think it was a sad or happy day for France?

Back 14

It was probobly a day of mixed emotions. Some people were no doubt happy to
see the king dead because it helped them feel better about the security of the revolution; however, there were surely some people who still liked the king despite his unpopular moves.