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The French Revolution: The Rise of the Sans-Culottes and Jacobins

• August massacre of the Swiss guards and imprisonment of the royal family led to new hostility toward the revolutionary government across Europe
• The Paris Commune compelled the Legislative Assembly to call for the election of a new assembly to write a democratic constitution
• The Convention, meeting on September 21, 1792, declared France a republic
• The sans-culottes, comprising shopkeepers, artisans, wage earners, and some factory workers, sought relief from food shortages and rising prices through price controls
• The sans-culottes were intensely hostile to the aristocracy and resented social inequality
• The Parisian tradespeople and artisans sought a community of small property owners and were strongly republican
• The Paris Commune organized in the previous summer was the chief political vehicle for the sans-culottes
• The Jacobins, republicans seeking representative government, were not wholly compatible with the goals of the sans-culottes
• More extreme Jacobins began to cooperate with the Parisian sans-culottes and the Paris Commune to overthrow the monarchy
• The Mountain, a faction of the Jacobins, dominated the Convention and the revolution
• Louis XVI was put on trial, convicted, and executed in January 1793
• The revolution found itself at war with most of Europe and faced a royalist revolt in the Vendée, while the Girondists had led the country into the war but were unable to win it or suppress the enemies of the revolution at home

The French Revolution: 1791-1792

• The National Constituent Assembly completed the reconstruction of the government and administration of France in September 1791.
• The resistance to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, the king's flight, and the Declaration of Pillnitz posed challenges for the new Legislative Assembly.
• The Jacobins, a politically advanced group, pressed for a republic and drew inspiration from radical Enlightenment thought, particularly Rousseau's emphasis on equality and popular sovereignty.
• The Girondists, a group of Jacobins, assumed leadership of the Legislative Assembly and opposed counterrevolutionary forces, leading to the declaration of war on Austria in 1792.
• The war radicalized French politics and led to demands for the right to bear arms, the participation of women in the National Guard, and challenges to traditional social roles.
• The Paris Commune, an independent political force, gained dominance and acted as the protector of the gains of the revolution against internal and external enemies.
• In August 1792, a large crowd invaded the Tuileries palace, leading to extensive violence and the imprisonment of the royal family, effectively ending the constitutional monarchy.
• The September Massacres in 1792 saw the Paris Commune execute about 1,200 people in city jails, including aristocrats, priests, and common criminals, under the assumption that they were all counterrevolutionaries.

Test your knowledge of the French Revolution's pivotal moments with a quiz on the rise of the Sans-Culottes and Jacobins. Explore the key events, factions, and societal dynamics that shaped this revolutionary period in France.