Hymn of 9 Thermidor
This hymn commemorates the overthrow of Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety by the men of the National Convention. It had its debut performance on the first anniversary of that event (27 July 1795).
1795-07-27
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/617/
617
Hymn of 21 January
With lyrics drawn from a <em>Republican Ode </em>composed by the revolutionary poet Lebrun in 1793, this hymn commemorates the execution of Louis XVI.
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/616/
616
Patriotic Song on the Unveiling of the Busts of Marat and Le Pelletier (1793)
This song illustrates the fluid boundary between "high" and "popular" musical forms. Althought these lyrics were set to a new composition by Joseph Gossec, they could also be sung to a tune already familiar to many French men and women. The song honors journalist Jean–Paul Marat and deputy Michel LePelletier, both of whom had been assasinated and were considered martyrs to the Revolution.
1793
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/621/
621
Song of the Marseillaise of the Federation of 10 August, Year II
One of many hymns that was composed by rhyming new lyrics to the wildly popular tune of the "Marseillaise," this song was performed at a festival celebrating the first anniversary of the republican revolution of August 10.
1793-08-10
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/615/
615
The Carmagnole
Sharing its name with a popular dance, this song heaps scorn upon the queen<em> (Madame Veto),</em> believed to be a traitor, and the "aristocrats" who support her. Like "It’ll Be Okay", the simple tune of the "Carmagnole" permitted even the illiterate to learn lyrics with which to proclaim their conviction in the Revolution’s progress.
1792-08-00
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/624/
624
Discussion of Women’s Political Clubs and Their Suppression, 29–30 October 1793
On 29 October 1793, a group of women appeared in the National Convention to complain that female militants had tried to force them to wear the red cap of liberty as a sign of their adherence to the Revolution, but they also presented a petition demanding the suppression of the women’s club behind these actions. Their appearance provided the occasion for a discussion of women’s political activity more generally. Philippe Fabre d’Eglantine (1755–94) gave a speech denouncing both the agitation about dress and the women’s clubs. Fabre, a well–known poet and playwright, took an active role in the dechristianization movement that was getting under way in the fall of 1793. He went to the guillotine in April 1794, supposedly for financial fraud but really for opposing Robespierre’s policies. (Robespierre distrusted the dechristianization movement) The National Convention immediately passed a decree reaffirming liberty of dress but put off to the next day consideration of the clubs. On 30 October 1793, Jean–Baptiste Amar (1755–1816) spoke for the Committee of Public Security and proposed a decree suppressing all women’s political clubs, which passed with virtually no discussion. He outlined the government’s official policy on women: women’s proper place was in the home, not in politics. Broad agreement about the role of women did not prevent internal dissension among the men. Amar himself denounced Fabre a few months later and then joined the opposition to Robespierre in July 1794, which ended in Robespierre’s own execution. The club at issue in the October debate was the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women, founded in May 1793 to agitate for firmer measures against the country’s enemies. The club supported the establishment of companies of amazons, armed to fight internal enemies, but it did not advance specifically feminist demands such as the demand for the right to vote. Nonetheless, the deputies found any organized women’s political activity threatening and forbade it henceforth.
The materials listed below appeared originally in <i>The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History, </i>translated, edited, and with an introduction by Lynn Hunt (Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1996), 135–138.
October 29, 1793
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/294/
294
<i>Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen</i> from the Constitution of the Year I (1793)
The National Convention drew up this new declaration of rights to attach to the republican constitution of 1793. The constitution was ratified in a referendum, but never put into operation. It was suspended for the duration of the war and then replaced by a new constitution in 1795. Note the contrast with the original <i>Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen</i>; this one places more emphasis on welfare and public assistance (see article 21).
Frank Maloy Anderson, ed., <i>The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Illustrative of the History of France 1789–1901</i> (Minneapolis: H. W. Wilson, 1904), 170–74.
1793
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/297/
297
Execution of the King (21 January 1793)
After voting unanimously to find the King guilty, the deputies held a separate vote on his punishment. By a single vote, Louis was sentenced to death, "within twenty–four hours." Thus, on 21 January 1793, Louis Capet, formerly King of France was beheaded by the guillotine. For the first time in a thousand years, the French people were not ruled by a monarch. The passage below, from a letter by Philippe Pinel, describes the execution—and shows great admiration for Louis’s serenity in the face of a humiliating, public death.
Georges Pernoud and Sabine Flaissier, <i>The French Revolution</i>, translated by Richard Graves (New York: Capricorn Books, 1960), 201–3.
January 21, 1793
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/327/
327
Desmoulins Attacks the Queen (June 1791)
This article appeared in the newspaper <i>Revolutions of France and Brabant</i>, under the headline: "Horrible maneuvers of the Austrians at the Tuileries Palace to bring civil war to France . . ." and discusses various rumors making the rounds that the King would soon flee France and initiate an invasion led by former aristocrats to undo the evolution. Camile Desmoulins’s reference to the "Austrian Committee" implied that Marie Antoinette was conspiring with other members of her Habsburg family who ruled in Austria.
<i>Les Révolutions de France et de Brabant</i>, no. 18 (June 1791), 137–40.
June 1791
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/330/
330
Execution of the Queen (16 October 1793)
At the conclusion of the trial, the Queen was found guilty and sentenced to death. The newspaper of record, <i>The Moniteur</i> describes the Queen’s response to the verdict and her execution the next morning with a good deal of sympathy and respect.
<i>Le Moniteur,</i> no. 36 (27 October 1793), 145–46.
October 16, 1793
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/334/
334