The National Convention &
The End of French Monarchy
The French Revolution
Part 3
1792-1799
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National Convention elected by
Universal Male Suffrage!
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Sept. 20, 1792, First meeting.
– First order of business: French
Monarchy officially abolished.
– France was declared a Republic

December 1792: Trial of Louis
XVI for violating the liberty of his
subjects.

January 21, 1793: Louis XVI
executed.
– The Radical Phase has Begun!
The Execution of Louis XVI
Louis’ instructions to the Clergy:
Will you give this seal to my
son…the wedding ring to the
Queen. Tell her that I leave her
with a great deal of pain. This
little package contains locks of
Hair of all my family. Give it
to her too. Tell the Queen, tell
my Dear children, that I had
promised to see them this
morning, but that I had
Wanted to spare them the pain
of such a Cruel separation.
A description of the execution by Mercier,
a deputy to the Convention.:
His blood flows; cries of joy from 80,000
armed men rend the air. His blood flows
and there are people who dip a fingertip,
a quill, a scrap of paper in it. One tastes
it: ‘It is vilely salt!’ An executioner at the
scaffold side sells small bundles of his
hair; people buy the ribbon that tied it.
Everyone carries off a small bundle of
his clothing or some other bloodstained remnant. The whole populace go
by, arm in arm, laughing and talking as if
from some festivity .The taverns on the
bloody square had their wine bottles
emptied as usual. They sold cakes and
patties around the beheaded body, which
was put in the wicker basket of a
common criminal.
A description of the execution by Bernard,
a supporter of Louis.
Louis XVI lost his life on Monday at half past
ten in the morning, and to the very last he
maintained the greatest possible courage. He
wished to speak to the people from the
scaffold, but was seized by the executioners,
who were following their orders, and who
pushed him straight under the fatal blade. He
was able to speak only these words: “I forgive
my enemies; I trust that my death will be for
the happiness of my people, but I grieve for
France and I fear that she may suffer the
anger of the Lord.”
The King took off his coat himself at the foot
of the scaffold, and when someone sought to
help him he said cheerfully, “I do not need
any help.” He also refused help to climb onto
the scaffold, and went up with a firm, brisk
step. After his death his body and head were
immediately taken to the parish cemetery
and thrown into a pit fifteen feet deep, where
they were consumed by quicklime. And so
there remains nothing of this unhappy prince
except the memory of his virtues and his
misfortune.
The Execution of Louis
XVI
Extracts from a modern
historian’s account of the
execution.
He (Louis) pronounced these
unforgettable words: “I die
innocent of all the crimes
with which I am charged. I
forgive those that are guilty
of my death, and I pray God
that the blood you are about
to shed will never be
required of France.”…The
king’s last words were
drowned out by the
drummers…
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Decree by Convention, April 1793 on the
Committee of Public Safety.
The Committee of Public Safety
“The Committee shall talk in secret; it shall be
responsible for watching over the work of the
government…under the critical circumstances it
is authorised to take measures to defend the
revolution against internal and external enemies.”
Extract from a law introduced by the Committee for
Public Safety September 17, 1793, to deal with
suspects brought to tribunals.
Jean-Paul
Marat
Georges Danton
• March 11, 1793:
• April 6, 1793:
• June 2, 1793:
• June 10, 1793:
• June 24, 1793:
Revolutionary Tribunal established.
Committee of Public Safety Established.
Girondins in National Convention arrested
by Jacobins.
Jacobins take control of the Committee of
Public Safety
Ratification of new Constitution.
Assassination of Marat
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July 13, 1793
Charlotte Corday
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“ Suspects shall be locked up…. The proof
necessary to convict enemies…can be any
kind of evidence….If proof already exists there
need be no further witnesses….The penalty for
all offences under the law of revolutionary
tribunal is death.”
•Francois Bertrand, aged 37, publican, convicted of having
provided the defenders of the country with sour wine.
Condemned to death and executed the same day
•Jean Julien, wagoner, having been sentenced to 12 years
hard labor, took it into his head to cry “long live the King.”
Brought back to the Tribunal and condemned to death.
From the Execution Record,
1793
•Jean-Baptiste Henry. Aged 18,
journeyman tailor. Convicted of
having sawn down a tree of
liberty, executed September 6,
1793
•Marie Plaisant, seamstress,
convicted of having exclaimed
that she was an aristocrat and
that she did not care a fig for the
nation. Condemned to death and
executed the same day.
•Henriette Francoise Marboeuf,
aged 55. Convicted of having
hoped for the arrival of the
Austrians and Prussians and of
keeping food for them.
Condemned to death and
executed the same day
August 23, 1793
Levée en masse
Girondin
from a family with
royalist ties
two brothers were
émigrés
Thousands of royalists
and Girondins were
executed for treason
because of her
She was guillotined
July 17, 1793
During her trial:
 "I killed one man to
save 100,000."
Robespierre was
elected to the
Committee of Public
Safety on the day of
her execution.
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The Reign of Terror Begins
September 5, 1793
October 16, 1793
Marie Antoinette killed
Above: The Prison where Marie Antoinette
was held
Right: Marie Antoinette awaiting execution.
Artist: Jacques-Louis David
1793 Declaration of the
Rights of Women
 Guillotined During the Reign of Terror for being a
Girondist sympathizer, Nov. 3, 1793
Man, are you capable of being just? It is a woman
who poses the question; you will not deprive her of
that right at least. Tell me, what gives you
sovereign empire to oppress my sex? Your
strength? Your talents?
November 10, 1793:
Celebration of
the “goddess
of Reason”
held at Notre
Dame
(renamed,
“The
Temple of
Reason”)
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June 8, 1794
Festival of the Supreme Being Day
June 10, 1794: Law of 22 Prairial
Every citizen is empowered to seize
conspirators and counterrevolutionaries,
and to bring them before the magistrates.
He is required to denounce them as soon
as he knows of them.
The End of the Radical Phase –
movement towards conservatism
July 27-28, 1794
End of the Reign of Terror
The Thermidorian Reaction: Arrest and
Execution of Robespierre
[The committee of general security] ordered
that he [Robespierre] be taken to the
prison... His trial was short. On the
following day he was guillotined… It was
quite a distance from the Palais de Justice
to the scaffold…. Along the whole course,
the people pursued Robespierre with hoots
and maledictions… [H]is face half covered
by a dirty, bloodstained cloth which
enveloped his jaw. It may be said that this
man, who had brought so much anguish to
others, suffered during these twenty-four
hours all the pain and agony that a mortal
can experience.
- French lawyer Durand de Maillane
November 11, 1794: The Jacobin Club is closed.
May 31, 1795: Suppression of the Paris
Revolutionary Tribunal
August 22, 1795: The 1795 Constitution is
ratified
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Bicameral government
Executive = The Directory of five.
Elected by land owners only.
November 2, 1795: The Directory takes power

This unpopular government will continue until
Napoleon’s coup d’etat (1799)
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