CXFCRC PAPERBACKS

I
GEuRGE RUDE
HISTORY

How were the crowds composed that stormed the Bastille, march�d
to Versailles to fetch the King and Queen to the capital in October,
overthrew the monarchy in August 1792, or silently witnessed the
downfall of Robespierre in Thermidor? Who led them or influenced
them? What were the motives that prompted them?

Here a first attempt is made, with the aid of poli:e records and
other research materials, to bring the Parisian revolutiona:)' crowds
of 1787 to 1795 to life, by identifying the various social groups that
composed them and the ideas and motives that prompted ar,d i,,·
spired them.

'It may seem incredible that in a century and a hall of massive

studies nobody before Dr. Rude ever tried to lind out systematically
who actually stormed the Bast ille, but it is a fact. ... This is in every
respect an excellent book, and an important contribution to the
history 01 the R evolution.'
E. J. Hobsbawm, New Statesman.

'Dr. Rude holds the reader's interest by a masterly handling of a

mass of material, and by making the Parisian crowds live again.'
The Times Literary Supplement.

George Rude is Professor 01 History in the University of Adelaide.

His social study of 1763 to 1773, Wilkes and Liberty, is also avail·
able in Oxford Paperbacks.

The engraving used In the cover

design is at the march of the
women of Versailles, 5 October 1789.
It is reproduced, with permission,
tram the Mansell Collection, London.

OXFORD PAPERBACK NO. 129

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

(885014/6/67)

- :. net
U.K. ONLY
 THE CROWD
IN THE FRENCH
REVOLUTION
BY

GEORGE RUDE

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

,

LONDON OXFORD NEW YORK

 THE CROWD
IN THE FRENCH
REVOLUTION
BY

GEORGE RUDE

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

,

LONDON OXFORD NEW YORK

 C Olfford Uttionril,1 hus 1959

TO

GEORGES LEFEBVRE

FIIGT PUBUSIIED BY TilE C....RENDON

.. PRESS 1959
FIRST ISSUED AS AN OXFORD U NIVERSITY PRF.SS PAI'ERIiACI> 1967
PRINTED IN TilE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
 C Olfford Uttionril,1 hus 1959

TO

GEORGES LEFEBVRE

FIIGT PUBUSIIED BY TilE C....RENDON

.. PRESS 1959
FIRST ISSUED AS AN OXFORD U NIVERSITY PRF.SS PAI'ERIiACI> 1967
PRINTED IN TilE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
 PREFACE

HIS book is the outcome of frequent visits to Paris and to

T Parisian archives and libraries during the past nine years.

I should like, therefore, to express my warmest apprecia­
tion to the archivists and staff of the Archives Nationales,
Archives de la Prefecture de Police, the departmental archives
of the Seine, Seine-et-Oise, and Sdne-et-Mame, and of the
Bibliotheque Nationale and Bibliotheque Historique de la Ville
de Paris for their never-failing co-operation, sympathetic inter·
est, good humour, and goodwill.
More particularly my thanks arc due to my friends and
collaborators, Richard Cobb and Albert Sohoul, who have
always been lavish with ideas, advice, and information and
generous in putting at my disposal the fruits of their own re­
searches. Our collaboration has, indeed, been so close in recent
years that it is difficult to determine precisely, in the present
instance, where their particular contribution ends and my own
begins. In a real sense, therefore, this book is an expression of
collective, rather than of purely individual, enterprise. And by
no means least has been the contribution made to it by Professor
Georges Lefebvre, whose example, wi� counsel, and friendly

I encouragement have placed me, as countless other students of

the French Revolution, deeply in his debt.
I also wish to thank Professor Alfred Cobban for his help and
guidance over a number of years, and Mr. Alun Davies for much
helpful advice and for sharing with me the ungrateful task of
proof-reading. And finally, my special gratitude is due to my

being have made the writing of this book a pleasure rather than
wife, whose patience, understanding, and concern for my well­

a burden.
G.R.
 PREFACE

HIS book is the outcome of frequent visits to Paris and to

T Parisian archives and libraries during the past nine years.

I should like, therefore, to express my warmest apprecia­
tion to the archivists and staff of the Archives Nationales,
Archives de la Prefecture de Police, the departmental archives
of the Seine, Seine-et-Oise, and Sdne-et-Mame, and of the
Bibliotheque Nationale and Bibliotheque Historique de la Ville
de Paris for their never-failing co-operation, sympathetic inter·
est, good humour, and goodwill.
More particularly my thanks arc due to my friends and
collaborators, Richard Cobb and Albert Sohoul, who have
always been lavish with ideas, advice, and information and
generous in putting at my disposal the fruits of their own re­
searches. Our collaboration has, indeed, been so close in recent
years that it is difficult to determine precisely, in the present
instance, where their particular contribution ends and my own
begins. In a real sense, therefore, this book is an expression of
collective, rather than of purely individual, enterprise. And by
no means least has been the contribution made to it by Professor
Georges Lefebvre, whose example, wi� counsel, and friendly

I encouragement have placed me, as countless other students of

the French Revolution, deeply in his debt.
I also wish to thank Professor Alfred Cobban for his help and
guidance over a number of years, and Mr. Alun Davies for much
helpful advice and for sharing with me the ungrateful task of
proof-reading. And finally, my special gratitude is due to my

being have made the writing of this book a pleasure rather than
wife, whose patience, understanding, and concern for my well­

a burden.
G.R.
 CONTENTS

PART 1

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

II. PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION IO

PART 11

The Revolutionary Crowd in Action

III. PRELUDE. TO REVOLUTION '7

IV. JULY 1789 45

V. THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES 6,

VI. THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHAMP DE MARS 80

VII. THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY 95

VIII. THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN

,
IX. THERMIDOR

X. GERMiNAL·PRAIRIAL

XI. VENDtMIAIRE

PART III

Tlu Anatomy of the Revolutionary Crowd

XII. THE COMPOSITION OF REVOLUTIONARY

CROWDS, t 787-95 178

Xlii. THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 191

2 10
XIV. THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY
, ACTIVITY

XV. THE 'REVOLUTIONARY CROWD' IN HISTORY 232

 CONTENTS

PART 1

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

II. PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION IO

PART 11

The Revolutionary Crowd in Action

III. PRELUDE. TO REVOLUTION '7

IV. JULY 1789 45

V. THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES 6,

VI. THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHAMP DE MARS 80

VII. THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY 95

VIII. THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN

,
IX. THERMIDOR

X. GERMiNAL·PRAIRIAL

XI. VENDtMIAIRE

PART III

Tlu Anatomy of the Revolutionary Crowd

XII. THE COMPOSITION OF REVOLUTIONARY

CROWDS, t 787-95 178

Xlii. THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 191

2 10
XIV. THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY
, ACTIVITY

XV. THE 'REVOLUTIONARY CROWD' IN HISTORY 232

 CONTENTS
•

Paris Sections of 1790-5

APPEN DIXES

PART I
'4'
population of the Paris Seclions in 1791-5
I.
II. The '4'
III. Paris Sections and Insurgents of 1787--95 '44
IV. Paris Trades and Insurgents of 1787--95 '46 Introduction
v. Parisian Insurgents and Rioters of 1775--95 '49
VI. The Revolutionary Calendar '50
VII. Prices and Wages in Paris '789--93 '5' I
GLOSSARY '53
I N T R O D UCTI O N

NE
BIBLIOGRAPHY '58

aspect of the French Revolution that has been largely

neglected by historians is the nature of the revolutionary
O
INDEX

MAP OF REVOLUTIONARY PARIS at end

crowd. It has, of course, long been recognized that the
Revolution was not only a political, but a profound social up­
heaval, to the course and outcome of which masses of ordinary
Frenchmen, both in the towns and countryside, contributed. Not
least in Paris; and, in the history of revolutionary Paris, a parti­
cular importance has beenjustly ascribed to the greatjournitS, or
popular insurrections and demonstrations, which, breaking out
intermittently between I789 and I795, profoundly affected the
relations of political parties and groups and drew many
thousands of Parisians into activity.
So much is common knowledge and has long been commonly
accepted. But how were the crowds composed that stormed the
Bastille in July 1789, marched to Versailles to fetch the king and
queen to the capital in October, that overthrew the monarchy
in August 1792, or silently witnessed the downfall of Robespierre
on 9 Thermidor? Who led them or influenced them? What were
the motives that prompted them? What was the particular
significance and outcome of their intervention? It is not
suggested that the great historians of the Revolution have had
no answers to these questions: far from it; but, for lack of more
precise inquiry, they have tended to answer them according
to their own social ideals, political sympathies, or ideological
preoccupations. In this respect we may distinguish between
those writers who, like Burke and Taine, adopted a distinctly
hostile attitude to the Revolution and everything that it stood
for; Republican historians like Michelet and Aulard, for whom
 CONTENTS
•

Paris Sections of 1790-5

APPEN DIXES

PART I
'4'
population of the Paris Seclions in 1791-5
I.
II. The '4'
III. Paris Sections and Insurgents of 1787--95 '44
IV. Paris Trades and Insurgents of 1787--95 '46 Introduction
v. Parisian Insurgents and Rioters of 1775--95 '49
VI. The Revolutionary Calendar '50
VII. Prices and Wages in Paris '789--93 '5' I
GLOSSARY '53
I N T R O D UCTI O N

NE
BIBLIOGRAPHY '58

aspect of the French Revolution that has been largely

neglected by historians is the nature of the revolutionary
O
INDEX

MAP OF REVOLUTIONARY PARIS at end

crowd. It has, of course, long been recognized that the
Revolution was not only a political, but a profound social up­
heaval, to the course and outcome of which masses of ordinary
Frenchmen, both in the towns and countryside, contributed. Not
least in Paris; and, in the history of revolutionary Paris, a parti­
cular importance has beenjustly ascribed to the greatjournitS, or
popular insurrections and demonstrations, which, breaking out
intermittently between I789 and I795, profoundly affected the
relations of political parties and groups and drew many
thousands of Parisians into activity.
So much is common knowledge and has long been commonly
accepted. But how were the crowds composed that stormed the
Bastille in July 1789, marched to Versailles to fetch the king and
queen to the capital in October, that overthrew the monarchy
in August 1792, or silently witnessed the downfall of Robespierre
on 9 Thermidor? Who led them or influenced them? What were
the motives that prompted them? What was the particular
significance and outcome of their intervention? It is not
suggested that the great historians of the Revolution have had
no answers to these questions: far from it; but, for lack of more
precise inquiry, they have tended to answer them according
to their own social ideals, political sympathies, or ideological
preoccupations. In this respect we may distinguish between
those writers who, like Burke and Taine, adopted a distinctly
hostile attitude to the Revolution and everything that it stood
for; Republican historians like Michelet and Aulard, for whom
 INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION •

August 1792, who drove Louis XVI from

10
the: RevaI·'
UuOn marked. a
•
great regenerative upsurge of the The insurgents of
h people; and, again, a RomanUc · like CarI yIe Wh0, the Tuileries, become:
Presque tous de la derniere plebe, ou entre
F
w �r;
broadly sympathetic to the 'Nether Sansculottic World', tenus par des metiers in·
was toen between admiration for its 'heroism' and fascinated
sang . . . des aventurien intrepides et teroces de toute provenance,
fames, spadassins et sUppOts de mauvais lieux, accoutumes au
horror at the 'World-Bedlam' or 'anarchy' that it appeared to
unleash. Marseillais et etrangen, Savoyards, Italiens, Espagnols, chasses de
To Burke the revolutionary crowd was purely destructive and leur pays.'
presumed to be composed of the most undesirable social de­
menu: the crowds that invaded the ,MuGU of Versailles in
Following Taine, such terms as 'la canaille', 'Ia derniere plebe',
'bandits', and 'brigands' have been commonly applied to the
October 1789 are 'a band of cruel ruffians and assassins, reeking
participants in these and similar events up to the present day.l
with ...blood'; and the royal family, on their return journey
to Paris, are escorted by 'all the unutterable abominations of
On the other hand, Michelet and the upholders of the Re·

the funes of hell in the abased shape of the vilest of women'.

publican tradition have presented the revolutionary crowd in

ksembly, having transferred

entirely different terms.Whenever it advanced, or appeared to
The National to the capital, is
compelled to deliberate: 'amidst the tumultuous cries of a
advance, the aims of the revolutionary bourgeouei , it has been
presented as the embodiment of all the popular and Republican
mixed mob of ferocious men, and of women lost to shame'.l
virtues. To Michelet the Bastille ceased to be a fortress that had
Yet Burke's invective is far outmatched by Taine, the former
Liberal of 1848, soured by his experiences of 1871, whose
to be reduced by force of arms: it became the personification of
evil, over which virtue (in the shape of the People) inevitably
vocabulary of expletives has served the conservative historians
triumphs: 'La Bastille ne fut pas prise ... elle se livra. Sa
of the Revolution ever since. The provincial insurgents of the
mauvaise conscience la troubla, la rendit folie et lui fit perdre
early summer of 1789 are presented as 'contre·bandiers, faux·
l'esprit.' And who captured it? 'I.e peuple, Ie peuple tout
entier.' Similarly, on 5 October, while the revolutionary leaden
3auniers, braconniers, vagabonds, mendiants, repris de jU!tice'.
The Paris revolutionaries and the captors of the Bastille are the
are groping for a solution to the crisis: 'Le peuple seul trouve un
lowest social scum:
La lie de la societe monte a la surface ... la capitale ilemble
remecle: il va chercher Ie Roi.' The role of the women takes on

livrec a la derniere plebe et aux bandits

a more than merely casual significance: 'Ce qu'it y a dans Ie

plwieun 'presque nw', la plupart annes comme des sauva �,

Vagabonds, deguenilles, peuple de plus peuple, je veux dire de plus instinctif, de plus
a coup sur, les femmes.'l Louis Blanc, though
. • .

d'une physionomie effrayante, ils sont 'de ceux qu'on ne se souvlcnt

inspire, ce sont,

pas d'avoir renconues au grand jour'.

The market women and others who marched to Versailles in
October are thus described:
Les filles du Palais Royal ... ajoutez des blanchWeuses, des
mendiants, des femmes sans soulien, des poissardes raccolecs depuis
plusieurs jours a prix d'argent ...Ia troupe s'incorpore les femmes
mcme des bourgeoises.Joignez a cela des gens sans aveu, des
qu'elle rencontre, portieres, couturieres, femmes de menage, et
entassee a Paris et qui !urnage a chaque secousse Voila la fange
rOdeurs de rue, des bandits, des voleurs, toute cette lie qui s'est
lacking Michelet's exaltation, follows him c1osely;4 and Aulard,
the Radical professor of the Sorbonne, for all his sobriety of Ian·
guage and wealth of documentary learning, is in the same tradi·
tion: 'Paris se leva, tout entier, s'arma, s'empara de la Bastille.'5
, H. Taine, Lu a,itiM. th. u. F,allU umWnfJ4>ttJw. LA RlDDlIOlu." (3 vob., PariJ,
18]6), i. 18,53·54,'30,272.
• See, for example, L. Madelin, who fre.c:ly uses the temu 'bandits' and 'brigandi'
in rdation to Ihe Pari, iruurgents ofJuly 178g (JA RJuo/uJiM (Paru, '9'4), pp. 60,
66,68); and P. Gaxotte, fA RJI,)/lI�limaj,lUIftJiu (Pam, 19f8), p.usim.
'J. Michelet, Us RJUDJoaiottj'lUOftJi. (9 vob., Pam, 1868-1900), i. 248, 377-9.
The original edtion
i dates from 1847 to 18S3.
• L. Blanc, Hu",;" de u. RJ!JtIluJu."j,tJ"ftJu, (Ill VOI,., Paris, ,868-70), ii. 352-3;

, A. Auiard, Hu"';" poIil'li '" de III RJDOIoaitt"fiUlfllis, {q8g--/&l41 (Pam, I 90S),

iii. '14. The fint edition is dated 184,-62.
. • .

qui, en arriere, en avant, roule avec Ie Aeuve populaire.

, E. Burke, &jlldi#ms_ 1M Rnt!lut..." ill. F,IIIIU (London, 1951), pp. 66-6g. P· 37·
 INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION •

August 1792, who drove Louis XVI from

10
the: RevaI·'
UuOn marked. a
•
great regenerative upsurge of the The insurgents of
h people; and, again, a RomanUc · like CarI yIe Wh0, the Tuileries, become:
Presque tous de la derniere plebe, ou entre
F
w �r;
broadly sympathetic to the 'Nether Sansculottic World', tenus par des metiers in·
was toen between admiration for its 'heroism' and fascinated
sang . . . des aventurien intrepides et teroces de toute provenance,
fames, spadassins et sUppOts de mauvais lieux, accoutumes au
horror at the 'World-Bedlam' or 'anarchy' that it appeared to
unleash. Marseillais et etrangen, Savoyards, Italiens, Espagnols, chasses de
To Burke the revolutionary crowd was purely destructive and leur pays.'
presumed to be composed of the most undesirable social de­
menu: the crowds that invaded the ,MuGU of Versailles in
Following Taine, such terms as 'la canaille', 'Ia derniere plebe',
'bandits', and 'brigands' have been commonly applied to the
October 1789 are 'a band of cruel ruffians and assassins, reeking
participants in these and similar events up to the present day.l
with ...blood'; and the royal family, on their return journey
to Paris, are escorted by 'all the unutterable abominations of
On the other hand, Michelet and the upholders of the Re·

the funes of hell in the abased shape of the vilest of women'.

publican tradition have presented the revolutionary crowd in

ksembly, having transferred

entirely different terms.Whenever it advanced, or appeared to
The National to the capital, is
compelled to deliberate: 'amidst the tumultuous cries of a
advance, the aims of the revolutionary bourgeouei , it has been
presented as the embodiment of all the popular and Republican
mixed mob of ferocious men, and of women lost to shame'.l
virtues. To Michelet the Bastille ceased to be a fortress that had
Yet Burke's invective is far outmatched by Taine, the former
Liberal of 1848, soured by his experiences of 1871, whose
to be reduced by force of arms: it became the personification of
evil, over which virtue (in the shape of the People) inevitably
vocabulary of expletives has served the conservative historians
triumphs: 'La Bastille ne fut pas prise ... elle se livra. Sa
of the Revolution ever since. The provincial insurgents of the
mauvaise conscience la troubla, la rendit folie et lui fit perdre
early summer of 1789 are presented as 'contre·bandiers, faux·
l'esprit.' And who captured it? 'I.e peuple, Ie peuple tout
entier.' Similarly, on 5 October, while the revolutionary leaden
3auniers, braconniers, vagabonds, mendiants, repris de jU!tice'.
The Paris revolutionaries and the captors of the Bastille are the
are groping for a solution to the crisis: 'Le peuple seul trouve un
lowest social scum:
La lie de la societe monte a la surface ... la capitale ilemble
remecle: il va chercher Ie Roi.' The role of the women takes on

livrec a la derniere plebe et aux bandits

a more than merely casual significance: 'Ce qu'it y a dans Ie

plwieun 'presque nw', la plupart annes comme des sauva �,

Vagabonds, deguenilles, peuple de plus peuple, je veux dire de plus instinctif, de plus
a coup sur, les femmes.'l Louis Blanc, though
. • .

d'une physionomie effrayante, ils sont 'de ceux qu'on ne se souvlcnt

inspire, ce sont,

pas d'avoir renconues au grand jour'.

The market women and others who marched to Versailles in
October are thus described:
Les filles du Palais Royal ... ajoutez des blanchWeuses, des
mendiants, des femmes sans soulien, des poissardes raccolecs depuis
plusieurs jours a prix d'argent ...Ia troupe s'incorpore les femmes
mcme des bourgeoises.Joignez a cela des gens sans aveu, des
qu'elle rencontre, portieres, couturieres, femmes de menage, et
entassee a Paris et qui !urnage a chaque secousse Voila la fange
rOdeurs de rue, des bandits, des voleurs, toute cette lie qui s'est
lacking Michelet's exaltation, follows him c1osely;4 and Aulard,
the Radical professor of the Sorbonne, for all his sobriety of Ian·
guage and wealth of documentary learning, is in the same tradi·
tion: 'Paris se leva, tout entier, s'arma, s'empara de la Bastille.'5
, H. Taine, Lu a,itiM. th. u. F,allU umWnfJ4>ttJw. LA RlDDlIOlu." (3 vob., PariJ,
18]6), i. 18,53·54,'30,272.
• See, for example, L. Madelin, who fre.c:ly uses the temu 'bandits' and 'brigandi'
in rdation to Ihe Pari, iruurgents ofJuly 178g (JA RJuo/uJiM (Paru, '9'4), pp. 60,
66,68); and P. Gaxotte, fA RJI,)/lI�limaj,lUIftJiu (Pam, 19f8), p.usim.
'J. Michelet, Us RJUDJoaiottj'lUOftJi. (9 vob., Pam, 1868-1900), i. 248, 377-9.
The original edtion
i dates from 1847 to 18S3.
• L. Blanc, Hu",;" de u. RJ!JtIluJu."j,tJ"ftJu, (Ill VOI,., Paris, ,868-70), ii. 352-3;

, A. Auiard, Hu"';" poIil'li '" de III RJDOIoaitt"fiUlfllis, {q8g--/&l41 (Pam, I 90S),

iii. '14. The fint edition is dated 184,-62.
. • .

qui, en arriere, en avant, roule avec Ie Aeuve populaire.

, E. Burke, &jlldi#ms_ 1M Rnt!lut..." ill. F,IIIIU (London, 1951), pp. 66-6g. P· 37·

•
INTRODUCTION
schools on
Great as has been the influence of these two rival
Revolutio n in France,
the historiography and teaching of the
been
in this country perhaps an even greater influence has
exerted on generations of students, teachers, and textbook
writers by the striking imagery of Carlyle. The social forces
unleashed by the Revolution and composing the active elements
in each one of its decisive phases are variously described as an
'enraged National Tiger'; 'the World Chimera, bearing fire';
'Victorious Anarchy'; and 'the funeral flame, enveloping all
things ... the Death·Bird of a World'. With all this, it is
perhaps not surprising that he should gravely warn his readers
against attempting a more precise analysis: 'But to gauge and
measure this immeasurable Thing, and what is called account
for it, and reduce it to a dead logic-formula, attempt not.'1
Yet, widely dife f rent as these interpretations arc and the
influences they have exerted, there is one common thread run­
ning through them all: whether the revolutionary crowd is rep­
resented as 'Ia canaille' or 'swinish multitude' by Taine and
Burke; as 'Victorious Anarchy' by Carlyle; or as 'Ie peuple' or
'tout Paris' by Michelet and Aulard-it has been treated by
one and all as a disembodied abstraction and the personifica­
tion of good or evil, according to the particular fancy or preju­
dice of the writer. This should perhaps not surprise us as, in
the nineteenth century, to which most of these writers belonged,
the debate on the French Revolution was conducted almost
exclusively in political or ideological terms. This applied equally
to constitutional monarchists like Mignet and Thiers in the
1820'S; to those, like Michelet and Louis Blanc, who drew
their inspiration from the events of February 1848; to a dis­
gruntled Liberal like Taine in the 1870's; and even, though less
obviously, to a Radical of the Third Republic like Aulard.
Though dife f ring profoundly in their attitude to the revolu­
tionary tradition and in their hostility or reverence for the
leaders or victims of the great Revolution, they have all been
inclined to view these events and their participants 'from above':
• T. C&rlyle, TM F,ettU. &vD/wiDn (, volll., London, 186g), i. 226, 2,58, 264...(;
303. II is oflome interett to note that Carlyle.
' fint edition of 1831 bore the mb­
• The phrase has been frequently used in this connexion by Georgetl Lefcbvr..,
title 'A Hillory of Sansculottism'.
molt recently in hU prefaee to W. Markov and A. Soboul, Di. Sanscu/.ollm """
PIJrn (Berlin, 19,57), p. viii.
,5
INTRODUCTION
_that is, from the elevation of the committee room of the
Committee of Public Safety, of the rostrum of the National
Assembly or Jacobin Club, or of the columns of the revolu­
tionary press. This being the case, the revolutionary crowd,
whose voice was seldom refl«:ted in the speeches of the politicians
or the writings of the pamphleteers and journalists, tended to be
lost sight of as a thing of flesh and blood and to assume whatever
complexion accorded with the interests, opinions, Or ideals of
the revolutionary leaders, their critics, or adherents.
During the past half·century, however, the work of a number
of eminent historians hall made it possible to approach the
subject in a mOre detached, or scientific, spirit. It is not so much
that they have unearthed new archival materials that were
unknown or inaccessible to their predecessors, This has some­
times been so, though, in the case of Paris, at least, rather the
opposite is true: important materials that were available to
Michelet and Mortimer-Ternaux, the historian of the Terror,
have subsequently been destroyed, It is rather that the new
social patterns and problems of the twentieth century have
prompted historians to seek answers to new questions and, as the
result of these considerations, to view the history of the Revolu­
tion from a new angle. An important consequence of their
inquiries has been that the popular elements composing the
Jans-culotw-the peasants, craftsmen,journeymen, and labourers
-have begun to appear as social groups with their own dis­
tinctive identity, interests, and aspirations, whose actions and
attitudes can no longer be treated as mere echoes or reflections
of the ideas, speeches, and decrees of the journalists, lawyers,
orators, and politicians established in the capital.This new
conception of the Revolution-seen as it were from below­
was first given expression by Jaures in his Histoire sociaiiste tit ia
Revolution frllllfaise which, in spite of its tendentious titie, won
the unstinting praise of Aulard, then holding the chair of
French Revolution studies at the Sorbonne.1 During the next
fifty years this field of inquiry has been enonnously widened by
Albert Mathiez's work on the Parisian social movements of
1792-94,: Professor Labrousse's researches on prices and wages
'�.Jaurtl, L'His/oire s«ialisle th fa Rlw/uliQlljra"faist (4 volt" Pari., 1901-4.
ReviKa e diton, 8 vols., '922-4),
La V.. ,hir, If U IIICIIU.'tmIIII s«uu sow la Tmlll1' (Paris, 1927)'
i
• A, Mathiez,

•
INTRODUCTION
schools on
Great as has been the influence of these two rival
Revolutio n in France,
the historiography and teaching of the
been
in this country perhaps an even greater influence has
exerted on generations of students, teachers, and textbook
writers by the striking imagery of Carlyle. The social forces
unleashed by the Revolution and composing the active elements
in each one of its decisive phases are variously described as an
'enraged National Tiger'; 'the World Chimera, bearing fire';
'Victorious Anarchy'; and 'the funeral flame, enveloping all
things ... the Death·Bird of a World'. With all this, it is
perhaps not surprising that he should gravely warn his readers
against attempting a more precise analysis: 'But to gauge and
measure this immeasurable Thing, and what is called account
for it, and reduce it to a dead logic-formula, attempt not.'1
Yet, widely dife f rent as these interpretations arc and the
influences they have exerted, there is one common thread run­
ning through them all: whether the revolutionary crowd is rep­
resented as 'Ia canaille' or 'swinish multitude' by Taine and
Burke; as 'Victorious Anarchy' by Carlyle; or as 'Ie peuple' or
'tout Paris' by Michelet and Aulard-it has been treated by
one and all as a disembodied abstraction and the personifica­
tion of good or evil, according to the particular fancy or preju­
dice of the writer. This should perhaps not surprise us as, in
the nineteenth century, to which most of these writers belonged,
the debate on the French Revolution was conducted almost
exclusively in political or ideological terms. This applied equally
to constitutional monarchists like Mignet and Thiers in the
1820'S; to those, like Michelet and Louis Blanc, who drew
their inspiration from the events of February 1848; to a dis­
gruntled Liberal like Taine in the 1870's; and even, though less
obviously, to a Radical of the Third Republic like Aulard.
Though dife f ring profoundly in their attitude to the revolu­
tionary tradition and in their hostility or reverence for the
leaders or victims of the great Revolution, they have all been
inclined to view these events and their participants 'from above':
• T. C&rlyle, TM F,ettU. &vD/wiDn (, volll., London, 186g), i. 226, 2,58, 264...(;
303. II is oflome interett to note that Carlyle.
' fint edition of 1831 bore the mb­
• The phrase has been frequently used in this connexion by Georgetl Lefcbvr..,
title 'A Hillory of Sansculottism'.
molt recently in hU prefaee to W. Markov and A. Soboul, Di. Sanscu/.ollm """
PIJrn (Berlin, 19,57), p. viii.
,5
INTRODUCTION
_that is, from the elevation of the committee room of the
Committee of Public Safety, of the rostrum of the National
Assembly or Jacobin Club, or of the columns of the revolu­
tionary press. This being the case, the revolutionary crowd,
whose voice was seldom refl«:ted in the speeches of the politicians
or the writings of the pamphleteers and journalists, tended to be
lost sight of as a thing of flesh and blood and to assume whatever
complexion accorded with the interests, opinions, Or ideals of
the revolutionary leaders, their critics, or adherents.
During the past half·century, however, the work of a number
of eminent historians hall made it possible to approach the
subject in a mOre detached, or scientific, spirit. It is not so much
that they have unearthed new archival materials that were
unknown or inaccessible to their predecessors, This has some­
times been so, though, in the case of Paris, at least, rather the
opposite is true: important materials that were available to
Michelet and Mortimer-Ternaux, the historian of the Terror,
have subsequently been destroyed, It is rather that the new
social patterns and problems of the twentieth century have
prompted historians to seek answers to new questions and, as the
result of these considerations, to view the history of the Revolu­
tion from a new angle. An important consequence of their
inquiries has been that the popular elements composing the
Jans-culotw-the peasants, craftsmen,journeymen, and labourers
-have begun to appear as social groups with their own dis­
tinctive identity, interests, and aspirations, whose actions and
attitudes can no longer be treated as mere echoes or reflections
of the ideas, speeches, and decrees of the journalists, lawyers,
orators, and politicians established in the capital.This new
conception of the Revolution-seen as it were from below­
was first given expression by Jaures in his Histoire sociaiiste tit ia
Revolution frllllfaise which, in spite of its tendentious titie, won
the unstinting praise of Aulard, then holding the chair of
French Revolution studies at the Sorbonne.1 During the next
fifty years this field of inquiry has been enonnously widened by
Albert Mathiez's work on the Parisian social movements of
1792-94,: Professor Labrousse's researches on prices and wages
'�.Jaurtl, L'His/oire s«ialisle th fa Rlw/uliQlljra"faist (4 volt" Pari., 1901-4.
ReviKa e diton, 8 vols., '922-4),
La V.. ,hir, If U IIICIIU.'tmIIII s«uu sow la Tmlll1' (Paris, 1927)'
i
• A, Mathiez,
• INTRODUCTION
during the eighteenth century,' and, above all, by Professor
Georges Lefebvre's studies on the peasantry, the psychology
of revolutionary crowds, and on the revolutionary panics of
1789.1
Without the new direction and stimulus that such work has
given to French Revolution studies, the present volume might
never have been attempted. Another determining factor has
been, of course, the availability of suitable documentation. It is
evident that the mass of participants in the great popular
movements of the Revolution have, unlike the journalisu and
politicians, left few permanent records of their activities and
aspirations in the form of letters, pamphlets, speeches, or
committee minutes. In the case of Paris, too, a valuable source
great bulk of municipal and fiscal records, whose survival might
has been removed by the destruction by fire in 187' of the
have yielded valuable information on the incomes, tax-assess­
ments, and working capital of the craftsmen and shopkeepers,
from whom the most militant elements among the Parisian
sans-culottes were to be drawn. Yet an important source, perhaps
even more valuable for the present purpose, remains to us­
the police records of the Archives Nationales and the Paris
Prefecture de Police; these have setved as the main documen­
tary basis for this volume. The French police system of the
eighteenth century was far more developed than that of this
country and has consequently left far more substantial archives,
In �ddition the method of cross-examination conducted by
the police, with its recording in the traditional protts-uerbal,
provides the historian with detailed information regarding a
prisoner's occupation, address, province of origin, age, and his
degree of literacy and previous criminal record. Already fifty
years ago Alexandre Tuetey and Marcel Rouff', in a number
of studies, illustrated the great value of such records as a
source for social history,l Yet, unaccountably, they were neg-
• C.-K Labrol,USe, EsqllisM all _"",tnt au pI/au rtmIW m Fr(UfU till XYIII'
siJd. (� vols., Paris, '933); u. Criu d. l'Iwnomufrtu/flliu .! lafin ddanrim rl,iwutt
till "bill a� til RIvollltiOtl (Paris, 19+4).
• G. u e bvre, UI Pa,Y11UIS all Nttra pmdtJ1tI ill R/voIutiM frallfaise (Parit-Lille,
f , The most useful of these is the list of 662 NinqlJ.tll1S d, la BIIS/iU, among the
'924); 'Foulel' livolutionnaira', AnMlu /rislDriql4s d, I.. Rkolutilm fra1l{aise, xi
(1934), 1-26; LtJ Grand, />tUT d� 1789 (Paris, 1932).
lits SOurcel m41IUJa'ita dl j'/risloi'l Ik Ptuispmdmd ill RJwiu/iMJ'IllIf«iu (II vola., Paris,
• See, for example, A. Tue,cy's Introduction to volume I of his RlpntoiTf ,InIr.,J
INTRODUCTION ,
lected by Mathiez and his pupils,l and it is only in recent years
that historians have begun to turn to them again. In the present
instance, I have drawn largely on the proch-uerbaux drawn up
by the commwaires de police of the Paris Chatelet for 1787-go:
and of theParis Sections for 1790-5,3 and-to a lesser extent­
on the equivalent reports of the Committee of General Security
of 1793-5,'4 These documents help to throw a new light on
several of the popular movements arising on the eve of, and
during, the Revolution in Paris, often inadequately treated by
previous historians; and, above all, they make it possible to
present a fuller and more accurate picture of the varying social
elements that took part in them, While, of course, they relate
only to a small minority of the participants-those arrested,
killed, or wounded, or against whom information is laid with
the police-the samples thus provided are often sufficiently
large to allow one to draw general conclusions from them, For
the participants in the major revolutionary movements of the
period, however-those of July 1789, August 1792, May-June
1793, and the revolts ofPrairial of the Year ]II and Vendc:miaire
of the Year IV (1795}-it has been found necessary to tum to
other, additional, sources: to the lists of the uainquturs de iaBtlJtille,J
to those of the claimants for pensions in August 17926 and for
compensation for time lost under arms in June 1793,7 and to the
records of the military tribunals set up to judge the insurgents
of Prairial and Vendemiaire.8
While the composition of revolutionary crowds may emerge,
more or less clearly, from such records, it is, perhaps not
surprisingly, more difficult to determine the motives that drew
18g0-1914); also M. Rouff, 'Le Penonnel des prcmi�res bneutes de '8g il Paris',
LtJ RkDlulu", F'lUIflliu, Ivii (Igog), �13-31.
I Thus, even a great work of tocial history lki e u. V04 drJr, tI Ie ""'U� soritJ
IOIU U. Terrtur is based almost entirely on reports of spea::hes in the National Con.
vention, the Paris Commune, and thcJacobin Club.
• Archives National"", series Y: archives du Chitde! dc Paris; series Z: juridic_
tion, '¢eiales ct ordinaires.
verbaux de, commisuira de police.
• Auhives dc la P1if«tun: dc Police, series AJ..: sections dc Paris. Prods.
• Arehives National"", series F> (police gtntrale).
Cuelin papen o f thc Archives Nationalel', ICries T 514(1).
• Arch. Nat., F" 3267-74; F" 4426.
• Arch. Nat., BB'60.
I Auh. Nat., W �6-8, 556-8.
• INTRODUCTION
during the eighteenth century,' and, above all, by Professor
Georges Lefebvre's studies on the peasantry, the psychology
of revolutionary crowds, and on the revolutionary panics of
1789.1
Without the new direction and stimulus that such work has
given to French Revolution studies, the present volume might
never have been attempted. Another determining factor has
been, of course, the availability of suitable documentation. It is
evident that the mass of participants in the great popular
movements of the Revolution have, unlike the journalisu and
politicians, left few permanent records of their activities and
aspirations in the form of letters, pamphlets, speeches, or
committee minutes. In the case of Paris, too, a valuable source
great bulk of municipal and fiscal records, whose survival might
has been removed by the destruction by fire in 187' of the
have yielded valuable information on the incomes, tax-assess­
ments, and working capital of the craftsmen and shopkeepers,
from whom the most militant elements among the Parisian
sans-culottes were to be drawn. Yet an important source, perhaps
even more valuable for the present purpose, remains to us­
the police records of the Archives Nationales and the Paris
Prefecture de Police; these have setved as the main documen­
tary basis for this volume. The French police system of the
eighteenth century was far more developed than that of this
country and has consequently left far more substantial archives,
In �ddition the method of cross-examination conducted by
the police, with its recording in the traditional protts-uerbal,
provides the historian with detailed information regarding a
prisoner's occupation, address, province of origin, age, and his
degree of literacy and previous criminal record. Already fifty
years ago Alexandre Tuetey and Marcel Rouff', in a number
of studies, illustrated the great value of such records as a
source for social history,l Yet, unaccountably, they were neg-
• C.-K Labrol,USe, EsqllisM all _"",tnt au pI/au rtmIW m Fr(UfU till XYIII'
siJd. (� vols., Paris, '933); u. Criu d. l'Iwnomufrtu/flliu .! lafin ddanrim rl,iwutt
till "bill a� til RIvollltiOtl (Paris, 19+4).
• G. u e bvre, UI Pa,Y11UIS all Nttra pmdtJ1tI ill R/voIutiM frallfaise (Parit-Lille,
f , The most useful of these is the list of 662 NinqlJ.tll1S d, la BIIS/iU, among the
'924); 'Foulel' livolutionnaira', AnMlu /rislDriql4s d, I.. Rkolutilm fra1l{aise, xi
(1934), 1-26; LtJ Grand, />tUT d� 1789 (Paris, 1932).
lits SOurcel m41IUJa'ita dl j'/risloi'l Ik Ptuispmdmd ill RJwiu/iMJ'IllIf«iu (II vola., Paris,
• See, for example, A. Tue,cy's Introduction to volume I of his RlpntoiTf ,InIr.,J
INTRODUCTION ,
lected by Mathiez and his pupils,l and it is only in recent years
that historians have begun to turn to them again. In the present
instance, I have drawn largely on the proch-uerbaux drawn up
by the commwaires de police of the Paris Chatelet for 1787-go:
and of theParis Sections for 1790-5,3 and-to a lesser extent­
on the equivalent reports of the Committee of General Security
of 1793-5,'4 These documents help to throw a new light on
several of the popular movements arising on the eve of, and
during, the Revolution in Paris, often inadequately treated by
previous historians; and, above all, they make it possible to
present a fuller and more accurate picture of the varying social
elements that took part in them, While, of course, they relate
only to a small minority of the participants-those arrested,
killed, or wounded, or against whom information is laid with
the police-the samples thus provided are often sufficiently
large to allow one to draw general conclusions from them, For
the participants in the major revolutionary movements of the
period, however-those of July 1789, August 1792, May-June
1793, and the revolts ofPrairial of the Year ]II and Vendc:miaire
of the Year IV (1795}-it has been found necessary to tum to
other, additional, sources: to the lists of the uainquturs de iaBtlJtille,J
to those of the claimants for pensions in August 17926 and for
compensation for time lost under arms in June 1793,7 and to the
records of the military tribunals set up to judge the insurgents
of Prairial and Vendemiaire.8
While the composition of revolutionary crowds may emerge,
more or less clearly, from such records, it is, perhaps not
surprisingly, more difficult to determine the motives that drew
18g0-1914); also M. Rouff, 'Le Penonnel des prcmi�res bneutes de '8g il Paris',
LtJ RkDlulu", F'lUIflliu, Ivii (Igog), �13-31.
I Thus, even a great work of tocial history lki e u. V04 drJr, tI Ie ""'U� soritJ
IOIU U. Terrtur is based almost entirely on reports of spea::hes in the National Con.
vention, the Paris Commune, and thcJacobin Club.
• Archives National"", series Y: archives du Chitde! dc Paris; series Z: juridic_
tion, '¢eiales ct ordinaires.
verbaux de, commisuira de police.
• Auhives dc la P1if«tun: dc Police, series AJ..: sections dc Paris. Prods.
• Arehives National"", series F> (police gtntrale).
Cuelin papen o f thc Archives Nationalel', ICries T 514(1).
• Arch. Nat., F" 3267-74; F" 4426.
• Arch. Nat., BB'60.
I Auh. Nat., W �6-8, 556-8.
 8 INTRODUCTION
them together and led thousands of Parisians to participate in
these movements. For this purpose, too, the police records have
been a far more fruitful source than the usually tendentious
i ts, deputies, and government
accounts of memorialists, journals
reporters. In addition to the police archivesjust cited, a valuable
source is provided by the collections of rapports, or public-opinion
surveys, of police agents of the Paris Commune, the Central
Bureau oCPelice and the Ministry of the Interior, variously com­
piled by Schmidt, Caron, and Aulard for the period 1792 to 1795.'
These reports are a mine of information on the reactions of small
property-owners and wage-earners, in particular, to the events
of these years, For the earlier years, there is no exact equivalent,
though Hardy's manuscript Journal is more than an adequate
substitute for the eve and outbreak of the Revolution.1
The police surveys are, besides, a useful source for the move­
ments of prices and wages, which play a considerable part in
the present volume. The main source for these, however, are
the various statistical lists and occasional data found in series
Fu and Fil of the Archives Nationales.l
It may perhaps seem surprising that fuller use has not been
made of the callin's de doliancts of 1789 and of the papers of the
Paris Sections of 1790-5. which have been listed and (for the
'Year II') used to such good advantage by Albert Soboul..
But it must be remembered that the sans-culottes, from whom
the great bulk of rioters and insurgents were drawn, had little
to say in the drafting of the cahitrs-least of all in Paris. Again,
they played little or no part in the general assemblies or com­
mittees of the Sections until after August 1792 and a pre­
dominant part only during the brief period June 1793 to July
1794; and this, being a period of strong government, was,
with the single exception of September 1793, a phase of the
, A. Schmidt, TdktlllZ t4 u. RllIIIlldion /rmrtoiu (4 vob., Leipzig, 1867-71);
P. Caron, Puis jJeIIdmIl u. TurWT. &P/I«ts du oKmU J«r.1s d", MiN,I,.,u flllllri,..,.
(4 vob., Paris, 1910-49); A. Aulard, Pflris pnu/4rrJ u. """'ion tJrmnidtw,mn. It JtlIlS U
• S. Hardy, /I{os lam,l, �",jMmusI d',r:InnnmJ.s his q",'iis /HJnMnNnl d mtl ((mM.-ssone<
Dim/Qi,. (5 vob., Pam, 18g8-190'),
(MS.in8YOu.,Paris, 1"£4-8g.BibliolhtqueNationale, fonds fran�ail, nOl. 6680-7).
4 A. Soboul, Lu Ptlpins dos s.cliDIII,u Ptlris (I7!JCH1" IV) (Pari., '9�); Ln $/IJU_
, For a fuller record o{lOurces ICC Bibliography.
CuIDI/'S parisiens ttl I'an fl. lI[ou<"<Imtfll ""pula" ••, Goullrl"lUlJUnt rlvo/utionnair. II juin
'793-9 thm"jdor I'anll (Paris, '958); (with W. Markov), Du S/lIIUuloUITI VOn Paris:
Dokwnmh zur GtSthichlt dOT Volksh.u.�gUJtg '793-1794 (Berlin, 1957).
INTRODUCTION •
Revolution in Paris singularly unmarked by mass political
In the present volume, while dealing in the main with the
disturbance.
revolutionary movements of 1789-95, I have attempted to
bring into the picture the popular movements of the years
1787 and 1788 which, th� ugh precedi� g the outbr� ak of 1789,
.
were a significant expresSion of the SOCial and pohtlcal ferment
out of which the Revolution arose. Earlier historians, while
appreciating the role of � he rivoltt nobiliairt of those � ears as a
.
curtain-raiser (if not an mtegral part) of the Revolution Itself,
have tended to neglect these movements-as they have tended,
a t the other end of the story, to neglect that of Vendemiaire of
the Year IV (October 1795) which, though essentially a rising
of middle-class property-owners, yet provoked a significant
response from the Parisian sans-culottes. The present study may
therefore p�rhaps claim to be original in so far as it attempts to
present the Parisian revolutionary crowd (in its broadest sense)
I
throughout the period 787-95-showing how it behaved, how
it was composed, how it was drawn into activity, what it set
out to achieve, and how far its aims were realized. To do this
it is proposed, in the first place, to relate those episodes of the
Revolution in Paris, and of the years immediately preceding,
in which a decisive factor was the mass intervention, in streets
and markets, of mainly ordinary men and women: these out­
bursts were, with the exception of the year 1790 (a period of
remarkable social calm), an almost continuous feature of the
life of the capital during the first six years of the Revolution and
for nearly two years before its outbreak, Following this, some
general conclusions will be dravm from the composition, be­
haviour, springs of action, and aims of the crowds engaged in
these various movements.
But first the reader must be introduced, if only briefly, to the
social and historical background against which the events of
the Revolution in Paris took place.
 8 INTRODUCTION
them together and led thousands of Parisians to participate in
these movements. For this purpose, too, the police records have
been a far more fruitful source than the usually tendentious
i ts, deputies, and government
accounts of memorialists, journals
reporters. In addition to the police archivesjust cited, a valuable
source is provided by the collections of rapports, or public-opinion
surveys, of police agents of the Paris Commune, the Central
Bureau oCPelice and the Ministry of the Interior, variously com­
piled by Schmidt, Caron, and Aulard for the period 1792 to 1795.'
These reports are a mine of information on the reactions of small
property-owners and wage-earners, in particular, to the events
of these years, For the earlier years, there is no exact equivalent,
though Hardy's manuscript Journal is more than an adequate
substitute for the eve and outbreak of the Revolution.1
The police surveys are, besides, a useful source for the move­
ments of prices and wages, which play a considerable part in
the present volume. The main source for these, however, are
the various statistical lists and occasional data found in series
Fu and Fil of the Archives Nationales.l
It may perhaps seem surprising that fuller use has not been
made of the callin's de doliancts of 1789 and of the papers of the
Paris Sections of 1790-5. which have been listed and (for the
'Year II') used to such good advantage by Albert Soboul..
But it must be remembered that the sans-culottes, from whom
the great bulk of rioters and insurgents were drawn, had little
to say in the drafting of the cahitrs-least of all in Paris. Again,
they played little or no part in the general assemblies or com­
mittees of the Sections until after August 1792 and a pre­
dominant part only during the brief period June 1793 to July
1794; and this, being a period of strong government, was,
with the single exception of September 1793, a phase of the
, A. Schmidt, TdktlllZ t4 u. RllIIIlldion /rmrtoiu (4 vob., Leipzig, 1867-71);
P. Caron, Puis jJeIIdmIl u. TurWT. &P/I«ts du oKmU J«r.1s d", MiN,I,.,u flllllri,..,.
(4 vob., Paris, 1910-49); A. Aulard, Pflris pnu/4rrJ u. """'ion tJrmnidtw,mn. It JtlIlS U
• S. Hardy, /I{os lam,l, �",jMmusI d',r:InnnmJ.s his q",'iis /HJnMnNnl d mtl ((mM.-ssone<
Dim/Qi,. (5 vob., Pam, 18g8-190'),
(MS.in8YOu.,Paris, 1"£4-8g.BibliolhtqueNationale, fonds fran�ail, nOl. 6680-7).
4 A. Soboul, Lu Ptlpins dos s.cliDIII,u Ptlris (I7!JCH1" IV) (Pari., '9�); Ln $/IJU_
, For a fuller record o{lOurces ICC Bibliography.
CuIDI/'S parisiens ttl I'an fl. lI[ou<"<Imtfll ""pula" ••, Goullrl"lUlJUnt rlvo/utionnair. II juin
'793-9 thm"jdor I'anll (Paris, '958); (with W. Markov), Du S/lIIUuloUITI VOn Paris:
Dokwnmh zur GtSthichlt dOT Volksh.u.�gUJtg '793-1794 (Berlin, 1957).
INTRODUCTION •
Revolution in Paris singularly unmarked by mass political
In the present volume, while dealing in the main with the
disturbance.
revolutionary movements of 1789-95, I have attempted to
bring into the picture the popular movements of the years
1787 and 1788 which, th� ugh precedi� g the outbr� ak of 1789,
.
were a significant expresSion of the SOCial and pohtlcal ferment
out of which the Revolution arose. Earlier historians, while
appreciating the role of � he rivoltt nobiliairt of those � ears as a
.
curtain-raiser (if not an mtegral part) of the Revolution Itself,
have tended to neglect these movements-as they have tended,
a t the other end of the story, to neglect that of Vendemiaire of
the Year IV (October 1795) which, though essentially a rising
of middle-class property-owners, yet provoked a significant
response from the Parisian sans-culottes. The present study may
therefore p�rhaps claim to be original in so far as it attempts to
present the Parisian revolutionary crowd (in its broadest sense)
I
throughout the period 787-95-showing how it behaved, how
it was composed, how it was drawn into activity, what it set
out to achieve, and how far its aims were realized. To do this
it is proposed, in the first place, to relate those episodes of the
Revolution in Paris, and of the years immediately preceding,
in which a decisive factor was the mass intervention, in streets
and markets, of mainly ordinary men and women: these out­
bursts were, with the exception of the year 1790 (a period of
remarkable social calm), an almost continuous feature of the
life of the capital during the first six years of the Revolution and
for nearly two years before its outbreak, Following this, some
general conclusions will be dravm from the composition, be­
haviour, springs of action, and aims of the crowds engaged in
these various movements.
But first the reader must be introduced, if only briefly, to the
social and historical background against which the events of
the Revolution in Paris took place.
 PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION II

Its importance in this respect may be judged by the fact t at ?

•
in 1,89 the Paris customs yielded no I� than 26-30 ��on
.
II
livrtsof a national total of 70 millions.I ThiS, of course, did hule
PARIS O N T H E EVE O F THE to add to the popularity of CaIonne, the ministe� promoting
the scheme, or of the Fanners General to whom Its construc­
REVOLUTION
�
UTW
tion and its administration had been entrust , 'Le mur mu�a:nt
.
ARD LY, on the eve ortbe Revolution, Paris was being
Paris rend Paris murmurant', wrote the Wits.: ThIS hOSbhty
de
radically transfonned. It was not the first time in her his­
O
was soon to be voiced in the cllhiers doUanets
of the clergy

tory. The medieval city, once enclosed by the stout walls

of Paris 'beyond the walls' and by the Third t a!e of several :::S
electoral districts.] It was also to find expression In the more
erected by Philippe-Auguste in the thirteenth century, had
been pushed farther outwards by Charles V who, in the four­
violent action of the Parisian and themenu ptuplt, borriires
were to fall a victim to popular fury bef?re even the hated
teenth, had built tbe Bastille to guard its eastern approaches.
Bastille.4
Under Louis XIII, a new ttluinJe, or barrier of customs posts, The new limits of Paris enclosed a population, whose size,
to mark the official point of entry into the city, had been con­
for all the statistical experiments that marked the period, has
structed along the line of the present Inner Boulevards.1 I n
defied calculation: the most reliable estimates range between
and 660 OOO,S One of the great difficulties, as Necker
the eighteenth century the rapid pace of building and enhanced
5'4000
. Iy sett
"
tempo of commercial and social life had necessitated further
saw, was to determine not only the relauve e popuIaUon
Id · '
changes: the houses on the old bridges were pulled down or
(variously computed according to births and deaths, hou se­
allowed to crumble; work was begun on the new Pont LoUIS .
holds, bread cards, or police reports), but the far mo,re e1us�ve
XVI-the present Pont de la Concordc; medieval cemetries
floating population of the hotels and chombres gornus,
which
I M. Marion, DiclioMD.irf tks ll
were cleared from the city centre; street lamps began to replace
the grim old /tmlmres on the street-comers; and pavements were
i ltilutions .u III Fr/IIIU aIL\" XVII' tI XYIII' siklu

• Babeau, op. cit., p. 28. .

(Paris, '923). pp. 402-4.

• C..L. Chassin, Us thelions d us ,d/rin",.u PDris,1I '7* .. "' A.........--:I )

slowly beginning to appear in imitation of London.: Above all,

410. 4�;u, 425, 432, 4411-3, 444. 448, 45.5, ¥is, .519 ; iv. +06, 4.5"
the boundaries of the city were further extended; and, in 1785, (4 vols., Pans, ' ....
work was completed on the new mctinu, a ring of fifty-four
•

4 See pp. 4B-49 below.

ii.

inhabitants (StaJisli'ltu.u III F,_" vol. 3: T,",

customs posts, linked by a wall ten feet high, which encircled • The census of 178U-g, bued on thc eou� ti � g of hou�holds, yiclded .5�4,186
.

Neckcr's privatc calculation of 1784 had been 640,�,ooo (J. Necker. D,

the capital over a span of eighteen miles. Not only did it push
the city limits outwards to enclose the Faubourg Saint-Antoine
to the east and the Faubourgs Saint-Martin and Saint-Denis
to the north; but, for the first time, it added to the capital the
villages of Passy and Chaillot to the west and the old
/Di¥,. PapuJlJl_ (P1om, 1837,)' p. 277)·
l'''''minisl,lJlitn! du fiNSNU d. 113 F,/IIIU (3 vois., Paris, 1784). i. 277)· A cc�us of
'79"a gavt: a population of 635,504 (N. �cv� L4 Dauiu .u III ;<>pllltJtum Ju
dijfirtllul J"lions d. PD,;r pnu1�nJ l� RlllDiu/,01I (Pans, '912), pp. 14�1.5). Two c�n­
SUlCI of 179.5, thc on� partly bU«! on rcgUU"ations for brcad-car?s' th� othcr on ��
faubourgs
VII R".numtll/ .u I'.AII Jl (Paris, 1918), pp. 33-34. ArchiVes Nal1onal<:ll, F" 3688 ).
number of eonsum�n, yi�lded 6-a6,582 and 636.772 � pccl1,:dy {Po MC"Uro�I,

For a discussion of the possi bl� reliability of these �.,.rious estimates � C. Rud4!,
of Saint-Victor, Saint-Marcel, Saint-Jacques, and Saint-Ger­

Tiv """ 1M illSU""lioMry "JII'�' ?f IJB[;-gt

main to thesouth.l But the new barrier was intended to do more
P(1.ri,illll W"g••&r,ulll PopuwliDft
than merely mark the new contours of the city: its prime object
London Univ., '950), i. 34-43' For estlmales of the population
[hercafter citro as PmisWI W"l"'&rn<:r'} (unpublished Ph, D. thesn m 2 �.,
was to tighten up the system of internal customs and, by . of thc forty-c>ght

• Thc tcrm 'ICtded' is, of COUrJC. used only in a "dative 1ICf\IC. Thcre was �
checking smuggling, to increase substantially the royal revenues. Parisian Sections in '7gG--,600 � Appendix II below.

I A. Dcmangeon, P(1.rU. La Yill . II S(1. banti.tu (Paris, '933). p. 16 . eon.inuOUJ movement of population to and from Paris (th�ugh mostly to Pa�1
A. Babeau, Ptuis In 'llig (Pam, ISSg), p. 113; H. Monin, L'tltJI. J. Ptuis from'the provinces) throughout the century. Rccords of poh� and other �bhc
authorities reveal the high proportion of provincial·bom among the rcadent
• til
17* (Pam, 188g), pp. '0-'3. , Dcmangeon,iO(;. cit.
Parisian population or thc revolutionary period.
 PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION II

Its importance in this respect may be judged by the fact t at ?

•
in 1,89 the Paris customs yielded no I� than 26-30 ��on
.
II
livrtsof a national total of 70 millions.I ThiS, of course, did hule
PARIS O N T H E EVE O F THE to add to the popularity of CaIonne, the ministe� promoting
the scheme, or of the Fanners General to whom Its construc­
REVOLUTION
�
UTW
tion and its administration had been entrust , 'Le mur mu�a:nt
.
ARD LY, on the eve ortbe Revolution, Paris was being
Paris rend Paris murmurant', wrote the Wits.: ThIS hOSbhty
de
radically transfonned. It was not the first time in her his­
O
was soon to be voiced in the cllhiers doUanets
of the clergy

tory. The medieval city, once enclosed by the stout walls

of Paris 'beyond the walls' and by the Third t a!e of several :::S
electoral districts.] It was also to find expression In the more
erected by Philippe-Auguste in the thirteenth century, had
been pushed farther outwards by Charles V who, in the four­
violent action of the Parisian and themenu ptuplt, borriires
were to fall a victim to popular fury bef?re even the hated
teenth, had built tbe Bastille to guard its eastern approaches.
Bastille.4
Under Louis XIII, a new ttluinJe, or barrier of customs posts, The new limits of Paris enclosed a population, whose size,
to mark the official point of entry into the city, had been con­
for all the statistical experiments that marked the period, has
structed along the line of the present Inner Boulevards.1 I n
defied calculation: the most reliable estimates range between
and 660 OOO,S One of the great difficulties, as Necker
the eighteenth century the rapid pace of building and enhanced
5'4000
. Iy sett
"
tempo of commercial and social life had necessitated further
saw, was to determine not only the relauve e popuIaUon
Id · '
changes: the houses on the old bridges were pulled down or
(variously computed according to births and deaths, hou se­
allowed to crumble; work was begun on the new Pont LoUIS .
holds, bread cards, or police reports), but the far mo,re e1us�ve
XVI-the present Pont de la Concordc; medieval cemetries
floating population of the hotels and chombres gornus,
which
I M. Marion, DiclioMD.irf tks ll
were cleared from the city centre; street lamps began to replace
the grim old /tmlmres on the street-comers; and pavements were
i ltilutions .u III Fr/IIIU aIL\" XVII' tI XYIII' siklu

• Babeau, op. cit., p. 28. .

(Paris, '923). pp. 402-4.

• C..L. Chassin, Us thelions d us ,d/rin",.u PDris,1I '7* .. "' A.........--:I )

slowly beginning to appear in imitation of London.: Above all,

410. 4�;u, 425, 432, 4411-3, 444. 448, 45.5, ¥is, .519 ; iv. +06, 4.5"
the boundaries of the city were further extended; and, in 1785, (4 vols., Pans, ' ....
work was completed on the new mctinu, a ring of fifty-four
•

4 See pp. 4B-49 below.

ii.

inhabitants (StaJisli'ltu.u III F,_" vol. 3: T,",

customs posts, linked by a wall ten feet high, which encircled • The census of 178U-g, bued on thc eou� ti � g of hou�holds, yiclded .5�4,186
.

Neckcr's privatc calculation of 1784 had been 640,�,ooo (J. Necker. D,

the capital over a span of eighteen miles. Not only did it push
the city limits outwards to enclose the Faubourg Saint-Antoine
to the east and the Faubourgs Saint-Martin and Saint-Denis
to the north; but, for the first time, it added to the capital the
villages of Passy and Chaillot to the west and the old
/Di¥,. PapuJlJl_ (P1om, 1837,)' p. 277)·
l'''''minisl,lJlitn! du fiNSNU d. 113 F,/IIIU (3 vois., Paris, 1784). i. 277)· A cc�us of
'79"a gavt: a population of 635,504 (N. �cv� L4 Dauiu .u III ;<>pllltJtum Ju
dijfirtllul J"lions d. PD,;r pnu1�nJ l� RlllDiu/,01I (Pans, '912), pp. 14�1.5). Two c�n­
SUlCI of 179.5, thc on� partly bU«! on rcgUU"ations for brcad-car?s' th� othcr on ��
faubourgs
VII R".numtll/ .u I'.AII Jl (Paris, 1918), pp. 33-34. ArchiVes Nal1onal<:ll, F" 3688 ).
number of eonsum�n, yi�lded 6-a6,582 and 636.772 � pccl1,:dy {Po MC"Uro�I,

For a discussion of the possi bl� reliability of these �.,.rious estimates � C. Rud4!,
of Saint-Victor, Saint-Marcel, Saint-Jacques, and Saint-Ger­

Tiv """ 1M illSU""lioMry "JII'�' ?f IJB[;-gt

main to thesouth.l But the new barrier was intended to do more
P(1.ri,illll W"g••&r,ulll PopuwliDft
than merely mark the new contours of the city: its prime object
London Univ., '950), i. 34-43' For estlmales of the population
[hercafter citro as PmisWI W"l"'&rn<:r'} (unpublished Ph, D. thesn m 2 �.,
was to tighten up the system of internal customs and, by . of thc forty-c>ght

• Thc tcrm 'ICtded' is, of COUrJC. used only in a "dative 1ICf\IC. Thcre was �
checking smuggling, to increase substantially the royal revenues. Parisian Sections in '7gG--,600 � Appendix II below.

I A. Dcmangeon, P(1.rU. La Yill . II S(1. banti.tu (Paris, '933). p. 16 . eon.inuOUJ movement of population to and from Paris (th�ugh mostly to Pa�1
A. Babeau, Ptuis In 'llig (Pam, ISSg), p. 113; H. Monin, L'tltJI. J. Ptuis from'the provinces) throughout the century. Rccords of poh� and other �bhc
authorities reveal the high proportion of provincial·bom among the rcadent
• til
17* (Pam, 188g), pp. '0-'3. , Dcmangeon,iO(;. cit.
Parisian population or thc revolutionary period.
 " INTRODUCTION
varied from one season to another and for which official re�
tums only rarely provided.' Bearing this in mind, Necker's
private estimate o f a population of between 640,000 and 66o,oooJ
may be nearer to the truth than the lower figure of 524,000
yielded by the census of 1788--9 and accepted by several writers
as a reasonable computation,l
In either case, the privileged, or wealthier classes, formed but
a small proportion of the population as a whole. Leon Cahen,
who made some attempt to calculate the size of the various
social groups or orders inhabiting Paris in the mid-eighteenth
century, concluded that the clergy numbered about 10,000,
the nobility 5,000, and the financial, commercial, manufactur­
bourgeoisie about 40,000;4 the rest-the
ing, and professional
great majority-were the small shopkeepers, petty traden,
craftsmen, journeymen, labourers, vagrants, and city poor,
who formed what later became known as the stmS-cuiottes.J
To a large extent it was to promote the economic interests
and to flatter the social ambitions of the nobility and wealthy
bourgeoisie that the outward face of Paris was being transformed
and its fashionable centre was moving westwards; the clergy
had too large a stake in the 140 religious houses that still lay
scattered over the old city and Jau.bourgsfJ to indulge in large­
scale plans of extension: it was even said that Louis XV's inten­
tion to demolish and rebuild the Cite had been blocked by
,
clerical obstruction.1 Aristocrats, banken, and wealthy mer-
, Thl:' numbcrof"",.-t!(//tIuiliis-thOSl:' Jiving in MJeu ,amis and lodgings ofvariou.l
typ<";S-aTl:' rewrd<:d in the lint of thl:' IWO ccnsusa of 179,S, but only in thl:' case of
• Neckc-r, Gp. cit. i. 277.
, Sec, for ex&mpl�, F. Bnach, /...4 Comm..,., tIu '0 Moit '79!l (Pari., 1911). p. 14j
2,S of thl:' ¥I Sections (Mcuriol. op. Cil., p. 32).
A. Landry, 'La mmognphil:' dl:' l'anci�n Paris', ]oU¥NJI tU Ia loculi tU JIi1.IUr;qw tU
Paru, lxxvi (1935), 34-45· MeuriOI, however, favoun the higher figure (op. cit.,
• L. Clhen, 'La Population parisienne au milieu du 18Ii�de', /...4 Rmw.u PtIris,
PP·34-3 5)·
19'9, pp. 146-7°.
• MIce June 1792,this lerm was to lake on a political sense, as ....ell, and to be
appli<:d 10 CXlrem': Republicans in gene,al--cven 10 those of penonal wealth. I
.
• Ae<:ording 10 Edmt Vemiquet'l map of Pari. in 178g {published by the Paris
have tried, however, in the course of thililudy, to usc il in alOCial sense only.
Municip.al Council in 188g} there were, at this lim�, 68 'COUVCOQ <:1 communautb'
fot men and 73 for women.
7 Ba�au, op. cit., p. 19. There wo:re, however, "",,eeplions: thw, the abbess and
,treel, a market, and fountain on their atate, lying can of the liastiUe (Monin.
communny of Ihl:' Abbaye Royale de Saint-Anloine_da_Champo buill a new
���..
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION ·s
chants had no such qualms and had long vied with one another
in building new town houses in the more fashionable western
quarters of the Palais Royal, the Cours-Ia-Reine, and the
Faubourg Saint.Honore, which had begun to spring up with
the court's removal to Venailles under Louis XIV.' The
Marais, the old aristocratic quarter of the Right Bank which,
in the time of Henri IV and Louis XIII, had been the centre
of fashion, was becoming deserted; in the 1780's Sebastien
Mercier described it as 'un triste quartier',: where the tower of
the Hotel de Bourgogne and the Hotels de Sens and de Cluny,
both converted to commercial uses, bore witness to past, rather
than present, glories.]
Meanwhile, wrote Mercier, in the last twenty-five years,
10,000 houses had been constructed and one-third of Paris had
been rebuilt.4 Regiments of building workers had been enrolled
from the central provinces and the speed of construction was
often phenomenal: the Opera was built in seventy-five days
and the Chateau de Bagatelle in six weeks_s Whole new streets
were being opened up, specially in the northern and western
districts_ MoDin, the historian of Paris in 1789, gives us some
idea of the scale and speed of this development during the last
fifteen years of the old regime. Off the Champs Elysees, which
then marked the extreme western fringe of the new fashionable
residential areas, the Comte d'Artois, the king's younger
brother, opened up the rues de Berry and d'Angouleme, which
were soon followed by the rues du Colisee and Milet (the present
("de Matignon). In the adjoining Faubourg Saint-Honore, the
rue d'Astorg was planned-though uncompleted by 1789;
farther north and east beyond the boulevards, the banker
Laborde obtair).ed letters patent for building the rues de Pro­
vence, d'Artois (today's rue Laffitte), Taitbout, and Houssaye;
and, farther eastwards still, followed the rues Martel, Richer,
Saint-Nicolas, Montholon, de Buffault, and de Lancry. Near
the Palais Royal, the Marquis de Chabanais and the Marquis
de Louvois gave their names to streets constructed on the site
of their town howes. The sale of a part af the Due de ChoiseuI's
• Dcmangron, op. cit., p.
L. S_ Mercier, TlIliuau.u Parir (12 vob., Amsterdam,
16.
j
• 17B3). i. 25B-fi1-
Mercier, op. cil., viii. 19o.
Babeau, op. cit., p. lB.
• Babeau, op. dL, p. 17.
 " INTRODUCTION
varied from one season to another and for which official re�
tums only rarely provided.' Bearing this in mind, Necker's
private estimate o f a population of between 640,000 and 66o,oooJ
may be nearer to the truth than the lower figure of 524,000
yielded by the census of 1788--9 and accepted by several writers
as a reasonable computation,l
In either case, the privileged, or wealthier classes, formed but
a small proportion of the population as a whole. Leon Cahen,
who made some attempt to calculate the size of the various
social groups or orders inhabiting Paris in the mid-eighteenth
century, concluded that the clergy numbered about 10,000,
the nobility 5,000, and the financial, commercial, manufactur­
bourgeoisie about 40,000;4 the rest-the
ing, and professional
great majority-were the small shopkeepers, petty traden,
craftsmen, journeymen, labourers, vagrants, and city poor,
who formed what later became known as the stmS-cuiottes.J
To a large extent it was to promote the economic interests
and to flatter the social ambitions of the nobility and wealthy
bourgeoisie that the outward face of Paris was being transformed
and its fashionable centre was moving westwards; the clergy
had too large a stake in the 140 religious houses that still lay
scattered over the old city and Jau.bourgsfJ to indulge in large­
scale plans of extension: it was even said that Louis XV's inten­
tion to demolish and rebuild the Cite had been blocked by
,
clerical obstruction.1 Aristocrats, banken, and wealthy mer-
, Thl:' numbcrof"",.-t!(//tIuiliis-thOSl:' Jiving in MJeu ,amis and lodgings ofvariou.l
typ<";S-aTl:' rewrd<:d in the lint of thl:' IWO ccnsusa of 179,S, but only in thl:' case of
• Neckc-r, Gp. cit. i. 277.
, Sec, for ex&mpl�, F. Bnach, /...4 Comm..,., tIu '0 Moit '79!l (Pari., 1911). p. 14j
2,S of thl:' ¥I Sections (Mcuriol. op. Cil., p. 32).
A. Landry, 'La mmognphil:' dl:' l'anci�n Paris', ]oU¥NJI tU Ia loculi tU JIi1.IUr;qw tU
Paru, lxxvi (1935), 34-45· MeuriOI, however, favoun the higher figure (op. cit.,
• L. Clhen, 'La Population parisienne au milieu du 18Ii�de', /...4 Rmw.u PtIris,
PP·34-3 5)·
19'9, pp. 146-7°.
• MIce June 1792,this lerm was to lake on a political sense, as ....ell, and to be
appli<:d 10 CXlrem': Republicans in gene,al--cven 10 those of penonal wealth. I
.
• Ae<:ording 10 Edmt Vemiquet'l map of Pari. in 178g {published by the Paris
have tried, however, in the course of thililudy, to usc il in alOCial sense only.
Municip.al Council in 188g} there were, at this lim�, 68 'COUVCOQ <:1 communautb'
fot men and 73 for women.
7 Ba�au, op. cit., p. 19. There wo:re, however, "",,eeplions: thw, the abbess and
,treel, a market, and fountain on their atate, lying can of the liastiUe (Monin.
communny of Ihl:' Abbaye Royale de Saint-Anloine_da_Champo buill a new
���..
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION ·s
chants had no such qualms and had long vied with one another
in building new town houses in the more fashionable western
quarters of the Palais Royal, the Cours-Ia-Reine, and the
Faubourg Saint.Honore, which had begun to spring up with
the court's removal to Venailles under Louis XIV.' The
Marais, the old aristocratic quarter of the Right Bank which,
in the time of Henri IV and Louis XIII, had been the centre
of fashion, was becoming deserted; in the 1780's Sebastien
Mercier described it as 'un triste quartier',: where the tower of
the Hotel de Bourgogne and the Hotels de Sens and de Cluny,
both converted to commercial uses, bore witness to past, rather
than present, glories.]
Meanwhile, wrote Mercier, in the last twenty-five years,
10,000 houses had been constructed and one-third of Paris had
been rebuilt.4 Regiments of building workers had been enrolled
from the central provinces and the speed of construction was
often phenomenal: the Opera was built in seventy-five days
and the Chateau de Bagatelle in six weeks_s Whole new streets
were being opened up, specially in the northern and western
districts_ MoDin, the historian of Paris in 1789, gives us some
idea of the scale and speed of this development during the last
fifteen years of the old regime. Off the Champs Elysees, which
then marked the extreme western fringe of the new fashionable
residential areas, the Comte d'Artois, the king's younger
brother, opened up the rues de Berry and d'Angouleme, which
were soon followed by the rues du Colisee and Milet (the present
("de Matignon). In the adjoining Faubourg Saint-Honore, the
rue d'Astorg was planned-though uncompleted by 1789;
farther north and east beyond the boulevards, the banker
Laborde obtair).ed letters patent for building the rues de Pro­
vence, d'Artois (today's rue Laffitte), Taitbout, and Houssaye;
and, farther eastwards still, followed the rues Martel, Richer,
Saint-Nicolas, Montholon, de Buffault, and de Lancry. Near
the Palais Royal, the Marquis de Chabanais and the Marquis
de Louvois gave their names to streets constructed on the site
of their town howes. The sale of a part af the Due de ChoiseuI's
• Dcmangron, op. cit., p.
L. S_ Mercier, TlIliuau.u Parir (12 vob., Amsterdam,
16.
j
• 17B3). i. 25B-fi1-
Mercier, op. cil., viii. 19o.
Babeau, op. cit., p. lB.
• Babeau, op. dL, p. 17.
 14 INTRODUCTION
estates on the boulevards paved the way for the erection of the
Comedie Italienne and the opening of the rues Neuve Saint­
Marc, Toumante, d'Amboise, and de la Terrasse. Two years
before the Revolution. the rues de Breteuil, Baynes. and Crosne
were built in the former grounds of the Hotel de Boynes.' Even
more spectacular was the construction by the Duke of Orleans,
wealthiest and most popular of the princes of the blood, of the
magnificent arcades and gardens of the Palais Royal, shortly to
become a centre of lavish entertainment and a meeting place
ofjoumalists. pamphleteers, and political gossipsj while, on the
Left Bank, the Theatre Franfijais (the later Odeon) was built
in 1789 on the site of the Hotel Conde, recently purchased for
3 million Livres.1 Yet from all this feverish construction, Jaures
noted, it was the wealthy hourgeoisie that emerged as the largest
holders of real estate in the capital : 'Sauf quelques centaines de
grandes familIes: he wrote, 'Ia noblesse elle-meme etait locataire
de la bourgeoisie'; and he concluded: 'La bourgeoisie parisienne
etait, a 1a veille de 1 789, la force souveraine de propriete. de
production et de consommation.'l
Yet, for all these changes, the old medieval Paris remained
substantially intact, and was to remain so for seventy-five years
to come. The splendours ofNotre Dame and the Sainte-Chapelle
still dominated the approaches to the Cite; the numerous
religious houses and the Temple and Chatelet prisons vied with
the Bastille, with its eight towers and eighty-foot walls, as
survival, from a feudal past. Above all there still remained
the old tenements. the courtyards and alleys, workshops, and
lodging houses in which nine out of every ten Parisians lived
and worked-in the Cite and central market districts and in the
fauhourgs lying east of the great pilgrims' way and thoroughfare,
formed by the rues Saint-Martin, Saint-Jacques, and their ex­
tensions and cutting the city in two from the barriere Saint­
Martin in the north to the barriere Saint-Jacques in the south.
There were as yet no distinctive working-class areas: these
only fully emerged under the Second Empire.• At most, there
, Monin, op. cit., pp. 15-16. See abo Babcau, op. cil., pp. 1-3S,
• Babcau, op. cil., p. il4.
I J. Jaurb, L'HiJkIi" -wiJt. u III RJIJIIlIllUirr/rllnflJw (8 vob., ParU, 19i1�-4), i.
• L. Chevalier, fA FormatWn d, /IJPOPWIJJ;OflpilriJinurI IJII X/){I IiJeh (Pam, 1 950)
, FrIJ"', 'dlnomiqlll dtuu IIJ " roM, lI'IfIiliJ <I" II/' sucu (Cou", pro� • la Facult� de
149-50.
pp. lil� el aeq.
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION 1.5
were streets of lodging houses and chamhres gami es, like the rue
de la MorteUerie, adjoining the Hotel de Ville, or the rues
Galande and des Jardins, a stone's throw from Notre Dame,
where riverside work('fS, porters, stonemasons, and other
seasonal workers lived closely huddled in lodgings at one to four
sous a night.1 But, generally, small masters, independent crafts­
)
men, and journeymen lived cheek by owl: during the Paris
.
revolution, we shall find masters and Journeymen settmg out
from the same house in the rue de Lappe or in the rue du
Faubourg Saint-Antoine to join in the siege o� the Bas i11e.l �
In this fauhourg even wealthy manufacturers hke Revelllon,
who owned a 'manufactory' employing 350 workers in the rue
de Montreuil, and the famous brewer, Antoine-Joseph San�
terre, lived in close proximity to their workpeople. In such
districts. it was not so much the wage-earners, but the whole
menu peuple of shopkeepers, craftsmen, and labourers, who could,
broadly speaking, be identified by their lodging, speech. and
dress their mode of living, and their weekly outings to the
wine:shops and taverns of La Courtille, Les POTcherons, or La
Nouvelle France.l
Yet certain districts had taken on a distinctive character from
the trades and occupations of their inhabitants. There were.
of course, the famous fish-wives or market-women, the poissardes
or dames de La halle, of the Place Maubert and the central
markets· there were the goldsmiths andjewellers of the quai de
�
I'Horlo e, the quai des Orfevres, and the Place Dauphine in
the Cite, or in the arcades of the Palais Royal. The newly
developed Faubourg de Chaillot was famous for the PerieT
Brothers' Compagnie des Eaux de Paris, equipped with steam­
power and the first firm in France to manufacture steam­
engines based on James Watt's mode1.4 The area north of the
markets formed by the rue des Lombards, the rue Saint-Denis,
and the rue des Gravilliers was the main commercial centre,
where lived also a large proportion of the city's home-workers,
, These amounts appear in various police reports (or Ihe period 1 7B9-9�; s<:c
1 See pp. 58-59 below.
• A. Soboul, 'La SaN-CUlottCl pa...weru en I'an II', /IIir,,;r dl fltiJlqjrt.July 1956,
aho Babcau, op. cit., p. ISS.
• By 1791, Ihey had produced forty and had begun to export {A. Malhiez, fA
PP· 9 1'"'99.
Lettres de Par.., 19i17-8, pow Ie ('".erl. d'tt. Sup. d'}litl. Mod., Paris, 19i1S), p. 84·
 14 INTRODUCTION
estates on the boulevards paved the way for the erection of the
Comedie Italienne and the opening of the rues Neuve Saint­
Marc, Toumante, d'Amboise, and de la Terrasse. Two years
before the Revolution. the rues de Breteuil, Baynes. and Crosne
were built in the former grounds of the Hotel de Boynes.' Even
more spectacular was the construction by the Duke of Orleans,
wealthiest and most popular of the princes of the blood, of the
magnificent arcades and gardens of the Palais Royal, shortly to
become a centre of lavish entertainment and a meeting place
ofjoumalists. pamphleteers, and political gossipsj while, on the
Left Bank, the Theatre Franfijais (the later Odeon) was built
in 1789 on the site of the Hotel Conde, recently purchased for
3 million Livres.1 Yet from all this feverish construction, Jaures
noted, it was the wealthy hourgeoisie that emerged as the largest
holders of real estate in the capital : 'Sauf quelques centaines de
grandes familIes: he wrote, 'Ia noblesse elle-meme etait locataire
de la bourgeoisie'; and he concluded: 'La bourgeoisie parisienne
etait, a 1a veille de 1 789, la force souveraine de propriete. de
production et de consommation.'l
Yet, for all these changes, the old medieval Paris remained
substantially intact, and was to remain so for seventy-five years
to come. The splendours ofNotre Dame and the Sainte-Chapelle
still dominated the approaches to the Cite; the numerous
religious houses and the Temple and Chatelet prisons vied with
the Bastille, with its eight towers and eighty-foot walls, as
survival, from a feudal past. Above all there still remained
the old tenements. the courtyards and alleys, workshops, and
lodging houses in which nine out of every ten Parisians lived
and worked-in the Cite and central market districts and in the
fauhourgs lying east of the great pilgrims' way and thoroughfare,
formed by the rues Saint-Martin, Saint-Jacques, and their ex­
tensions and cutting the city in two from the barriere Saint­
Martin in the north to the barriere Saint-Jacques in the south.
There were as yet no distinctive working-class areas: these
only fully emerged under the Second Empire.• At most, there
, Monin, op. cit., pp. 15-16. See abo Babcau, op. cil., pp. 1-3S,
• Babcau, op. cil., p. il4.
I J. Jaurb, L'HiJkIi" -wiJt. u III RJIJIIlIllUirr/rllnflJw (8 vob., ParU, 19i1�-4), i.
• L. Chevalier, fA FormatWn d, /IJPOPWIJJ;OflpilriJinurI IJII X/){I IiJeh (Pam, 1 950)
, FrIJ"', 'dlnomiqlll dtuu IIJ " roM, lI'IfIiliJ <I" II/' sucu (Cou", pro� • la Facult� de
149-50.
pp. lil� el aeq.
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION 1.5
were streets of lodging houses and chamhres gami es, like the rue
de la MorteUerie, adjoining the Hotel de Ville, or the rues
Galande and des Jardins, a stone's throw from Notre Dame,
where riverside work('fS, porters, stonemasons, and other
seasonal workers lived closely huddled in lodgings at one to four
sous a night.1 But, generally, small masters, independent crafts­
)
men, and journeymen lived cheek by owl: during the Paris
.
revolution, we shall find masters and Journeymen settmg out
from the same house in the rue de Lappe or in the rue du
Faubourg Saint-Antoine to join in the siege o� the Bas i11e.l �
In this fauhourg even wealthy manufacturers hke Revelllon,
who owned a 'manufactory' employing 350 workers in the rue
de Montreuil, and the famous brewer, Antoine-Joseph San�
terre, lived in close proximity to their workpeople. In such
districts. it was not so much the wage-earners, but the whole
menu peuple of shopkeepers, craftsmen, and labourers, who could,
broadly speaking, be identified by their lodging, speech. and
dress their mode of living, and their weekly outings to the
wine:shops and taverns of La Courtille, Les POTcherons, or La
Nouvelle France.l
Yet certain districts had taken on a distinctive character from
the trades and occupations of their inhabitants. There were.
of course, the famous fish-wives or market-women, the poissardes
or dames de La halle, of the Place Maubert and the central
markets· there were the goldsmiths andjewellers of the quai de
�
I'Horlo e, the quai des Orfevres, and the Place Dauphine in
the Cite, or in the arcades of the Palais Royal. The newly
developed Faubourg de Chaillot was famous for the PerieT
Brothers' Compagnie des Eaux de Paris, equipped with steam­
power and the first firm in France to manufacture steam­
engines based on James Watt's mode1.4 The area north of the
markets formed by the rue des Lombards, the rue Saint-Denis,
and the rue des Gravilliers was the main commercial centre,
where lived also a large proportion of the city's home-workers,
, These amounts appear in various police reports (or Ihe period 1 7B9-9�; s<:c
1 See pp. 58-59 below.
• A. Soboul, 'La SaN-CUlottCl pa...weru en I'an II', /IIir,,;r dl fltiJlqjrt.July 1956,
aho Babcau, op. cit., p. ISS.
• By 1791, Ihey had produced forty and had begun to export {A. Malhiez, fA
PP· 9 1'"'99.
Lettres de Par.., 19i17-8, pow Ie ('".erl. d'tt. Sup. d'}litl. Mod., Paris, 19i1S), p. 84·
 ,.
INTRODUCTION
like those '20,000' ribbon-weavers who, in November 179',
petitioned the Legislative Assembly in protest against the
introduction of mechanical frames,' The greater number of the
new textile manufactories, several of which employed 400 or
5�ven 800-workpeople, lay in the northemftmbourgs on
either side of the rue Saint-Martin and the rue Saint-Denis.'
Porters, dockers, and seasonal building workers gave a distinc­
tive quality to the busy, teeming streets around the Hotel de
Vj!le and the Place de Greve. The Faubourg Saint-Antoine,
the traditional focal point of popular agitation,] had several
brewtries and a glassworks employing 500, but was, above all,
a typical centre of petty crafts-particularly of small workshops
engaged in furnishing and upholstery.•
More variegated and (some thought) even more turbulent
was the population composing the Faubourg Saint-Marcel and
the adjoining faubourgs of Saint-Jacques and Saint-Victor. For
long its most conspicuous industry had been the tanneries,
expelled by Colbert from the quays of the Cite to the slopes of
the Montagne Sainte-Genevieve a hundred years previously;
yet they appear to have declined in the yean before the Revolu­
tion, as a return of 179' records the exi3tence ofa mere dozen
masters employing less than 200 assistants.5 Other trades
included dyeing, cloth-making and laundries, besides the famous
Gobelins tapestry works installed by Louis XIV in 1662.6
, Many of the dyers and cloth-makers were of Flemish or Dutch
origin, and beer flowed freely in the ale-houses dotted along the
faubourg's main thoroughfare, the rue Mouffetard, which wound
its way up from the barriere de Fontainebleau to the place
Contrescarpe on the Montagne Sainte-Genevieve. 'Ce peuple
boit pour huit jours,' wrote Mercier, who thought them
dangerous-'plus mechant, plus inflammable, plw querelleur,
& plus dispose a la mutinerie que dans les autres quartiers.'7
These faubou.rgs included some of the poorest districts in the
city and were frequently the recipients of me largest amounts of
• Arc:h. NaL, F" 1430; cited by F. Braetch, La C-_ liN IOaoGl I7!P, p. 24'
� F. BraClCh, 'Un Eaai do: .tatistiquo: do: la population ouvrihe de Paris vcrs
1791', La RJuHulianfrwlfgiJf, lxi
I C. Ldeuve, Lu AMifMu m4iSDftl th Paril. L'nuf(1i" th Paris, rw par nil, tMiJOfI
ii (1912), 269-321.
j1Qr lnII iJ<Ift (,S volJ., Paris, 1875), vol. i, pp. m, 147.
• F. Braesch, La Co,nm""" JIl IO /UJIl1 '?!P, pp. 6-8.
I Braach, op. cit., p. 10. ' Ibid. ' MCTciCT, op. cit., i. 2's7-8.
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION "
poor-relief that were dilItributed from time to time during both
the old regime and the Revolution, When, for example, in
February 1790 the Paris Commune voted 64,000 liures for
distribution to the poor, 7,000 liurts were allotted to the Dis­
trict of Saint-ttienne-du-Mont, lying between the Faubourgs
Saint-Marcel and Saint-Jacques; 5,300 liures to the Val-de-Grace
and Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas Districts in the Faubourg
Saint-Jacques; and sums of 5,100 and 4,800 liures respectively
to the Enfants-Trouves and Sainte-Marguerite Districtll of the
Faubourg Saint-Antoine: these were by far the largest alloca­
tions.' And, in 179I,
nearly one-quarter of all those receiving
poor-relief resided in the four sections of the Faubourg Saint­
Marcel.l
It may be considerations such as these that have led even
recent historians to speak of these faubourgs, soon to play so
prominent a part in the Revolution, as working-class suburbs.)
The term is misleading for more than one reason. In the first
place, as M. Braesch has shown, the largest concentrations of
wage-earners were to be found in the central market area and
the nonhernfaubourgs of the capital-and not in the Faubourg
Saint-Marcel, still less in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, or any
other district in which the petty crafts predominated, This
emerges from the results of an inquiry which the Paris Muni­
cipality conducted in early 1791
to determine the number of
workers employed by each industrial undertaking in the forty­
eight Sections of the capital." The retums-though not fully com­
plete-suggest that the total wage-eaming population (workers
and their families) at this time fell little short of 300,000. By
relating the figures for each Section to those yielded by the
, A. Tuelcy, L'Asrul4Nf pllbliqw d Paril pmJanJ la RlooirdiOfl (4 VOII., Paril,
• 27,'58 out of 118,784 (Chabrol de Volvic, R,rMrrMS s/atisliq!l# J, la vilu dI
1895-7), vol. i, pp. cxxxiii-v.
15,000 of 68,000 recipients of poor·rcIicf"rcsided in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine
Paris (4 VOII., Paris, 1821-9), vol. i, Table 43). In April 1794 it Wall reporled that
alone (Sohoul, op. cil., p. g6).
s 5«, e.g., J. M. Thompson, TM FrOlCIt RenNIlI«m (Oxford, '9-13), pp. 49, 66 .
• F. BraClCh, 'Un Es.a.i de atatistique de la population ouvntre de Paria vers
1791', La Rluolulilmjr41ltdiH, heiii (1912), 28g-3�1. M. Braach'l findings are based
asn"gMu
on the returns made by 4' of the 4B ScctiOIll n
i response to a request by the Paris
Municipality late in '790 for information as to the numbCT of (rcvolu·
The returns are in Arch. Nat., F'o, nos. 109"""24, 129, 13 [-4. 13&-60. For a docw•
tiona,), pIper-money) oflow denomination required for dislribution to employers.
siou of Braesch's calculations and a�umplions secl'ariJilm Wage-Eanu-fs i. 46-51.
 ,.
INTRODUCTION
like those '20,000' ribbon-weavers who, in November 179',
petitioned the Legislative Assembly in protest against the
introduction of mechanical frames,' The greater number of the
new textile manufactories, several of which employed 400 or
5�ven 800-workpeople, lay in the northemftmbourgs on
either side of the rue Saint-Martin and the rue Saint-Denis.'
Porters, dockers, and seasonal building workers gave a distinc­
tive quality to the busy, teeming streets around the Hotel de
Vj!le and the Place de Greve. The Faubourg Saint-Antoine,
the traditional focal point of popular agitation,] had several
brewtries and a glassworks employing 500, but was, above all,
a typical centre of petty crafts-particularly of small workshops
engaged in furnishing and upholstery.•
More variegated and (some thought) even more turbulent
was the population composing the Faubourg Saint-Marcel and
the adjoining faubourgs of Saint-Jacques and Saint-Victor. For
long its most conspicuous industry had been the tanneries,
expelled by Colbert from the quays of the Cite to the slopes of
the Montagne Sainte-Genevieve a hundred years previously;
yet they appear to have declined in the yean before the Revolu­
tion, as a return of 179' records the exi3tence ofa mere dozen
masters employing less than 200 assistants.5 Other trades
included dyeing, cloth-making and laundries, besides the famous
Gobelins tapestry works installed by Louis XIV in 1662.6
, Many of the dyers and cloth-makers were of Flemish or Dutch
origin, and beer flowed freely in the ale-houses dotted along the
faubourg's main thoroughfare, the rue Mouffetard, which wound
its way up from the barriere de Fontainebleau to the place
Contrescarpe on the Montagne Sainte-Genevieve. 'Ce peuple
boit pour huit jours,' wrote Mercier, who thought them
dangerous-'plus mechant, plus inflammable, plw querelleur,
& plus dispose a la mutinerie que dans les autres quartiers.'7
These faubou.rgs included some of the poorest districts in the
city and were frequently the recipients of me largest amounts of
• Arc:h. NaL, F" 1430; cited by F. Braetch, La C-_ liN IOaoGl I7!P, p. 24'
� F. BraClCh, 'Un Eaai do: .tatistiquo: do: la population ouvrihe de Paris vcrs
1791', La RJuHulianfrwlfgiJf, lxi
I C. Ldeuve, Lu AMifMu m4iSDftl th Paril. L'nuf(1i" th Paris, rw par nil, tMiJOfI
ii (1912), 269-321.
j1Qr lnII iJ<Ift (,S volJ., Paris, 1875), vol. i, pp. m, 147.
• F. Braesch, La Co,nm""" JIl IO /UJIl1 '?!P, pp. 6-8.
I Braach, op. cit., p. 10. ' Ibid. ' MCTciCT, op. cit., i. 2's7-8.
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION "
poor-relief that were dilItributed from time to time during both
the old regime and the Revolution, When, for example, in
February 1790 the Paris Commune voted 64,000 liures for
distribution to the poor, 7,000 liurts were allotted to the Dis­
trict of Saint-ttienne-du-Mont, lying between the Faubourgs
Saint-Marcel and Saint-Jacques; 5,300 liures to the Val-de-Grace
and Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas Districts in the Faubourg
Saint-Jacques; and sums of 5,100 and 4,800 liures respectively
to the Enfants-Trouves and Sainte-Marguerite Districtll of the
Faubourg Saint-Antoine: these were by far the largest alloca­
tions.' And, in 179I,
nearly one-quarter of all those receiving
poor-relief resided in the four sections of the Faubourg Saint­
Marcel.l
It may be considerations such as these that have led even
recent historians to speak of these faubourgs, soon to play so
prominent a part in the Revolution, as working-class suburbs.)
The term is misleading for more than one reason. In the first
place, as M. Braesch has shown, the largest concentrations of
wage-earners were to be found in the central market area and
the nonhernfaubourgs of the capital-and not in the Faubourg
Saint-Marcel, still less in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, or any
other district in which the petty crafts predominated, This
emerges from the results of an inquiry which the Paris Muni­
cipality conducted in early 1791
to determine the number of
workers employed by each industrial undertaking in the forty­
eight Sections of the capital." The retums-though not fully com­
plete-suggest that the total wage-eaming population (workers
and their families) at this time fell little short of 300,000. By
relating the figures for each Section to those yielded by the
, A. Tuelcy, L'Asrul4Nf pllbliqw d Paril pmJanJ la RlooirdiOfl (4 VOII., Paril,
• 27,'58 out of 118,784 (Chabrol de Volvic, R,rMrrMS s/atisliq!l# J, la vilu dI
1895-7), vol. i, pp. cxxxiii-v.
15,000 of 68,000 recipients of poor·rcIicf"rcsided in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine
Paris (4 VOII., Paris, 1821-9), vol. i, Table 43). In April 1794 it Wall reporled that
alone (Sohoul, op. cil., p. g6).
s 5«, e.g., J. M. Thompson, TM FrOlCIt RenNIlI«m (Oxford, '9-13), pp. 49, 66 .
• F. BraClCh, 'Un Es.a.i de atatistique de la population ouvntre de Paria vers
1791', La Rluolulilmjr41ltdiH, heiii (1912), 28g-3�1. M. Braach'l findings are based
asn"gMu
on the returns made by 4' of the 4B ScctiOIll n
i response to a request by the Paris
Municipality late in '790 for information as to the numbCT of (rcvolu·
The returns are in Arch. Nat., F'o, nos. 109"""24, 129, 13 [-4. 13&-60. For a docw•
tiona,), pIper-money) oflow denomination required for dislribution to employers.
siou of Braesch's calculations and a�umplions secl'ariJilm Wage-Eanu-fs i. 46-51.
 INTRODUCTION
.8
census of 1792 1 we find that the wage-earners and their families
accounted for some two-thirds of the resident population in
seven northern and north-central Sectionsz and for nearly half
the population in four Sections of the central market area,J
while accounting for only one-third to one-half the population
of the Faubourgs Saint-Antoine and Saint-Marcel.4
But, even when they formed a majority of the local popula­
tion, the wage-earners lacked the attributes of a distinctive
social class. In eighteenth-century France, the term ournin- might
be applied as readily to independent craftsmen, small work­
shop masters--or even, on occasion, to substantial manu­
facturers-as to ordinary wage-earners; in its most frequent
use itwas synonymous with artisan.s Such usage corresponded to
the social realities of the time, when the wage-earner had as
yet no defined and distinctive status as a producer and there
were often numerous intermediate stages between workman
and employer. The typical unit of production was still the small
workshop, which generally employed but a small number of
journeymen and apprentices. Even in Paris, where the propor�
rion of workers to employers was larger and the restrictions
imposed by the guild-system had become more relaxed than
elsewhere,6 the journeyman still often ate at his master's table
and slept under his roof.' The distinction between a wage­
earning journeyman and an independent craftsman, or even a
workshop master, was ill defined: the 2,000 Parisian stocking�
weavers who struck against wage-cuts in 1724, while depending
, N. Karf:iev, op. cit., pp. '4-15.
These a.n:: Bcaubourg, Gravillicn, Ponttau, Mauoonseil, Bonne Nouvelle,
•
PoiDonnim, Faubourg Saini-Denis.
1 The,e are: Louvre, Oratoire, March9 des Innocents (later Hailes), Lombards.
I The D;dimrMi" de j'A,tldlmu. FrlUlflJiu (17711 ed.) defines an 1JIUlIi" as 'ttlui
• See Paririatc Wap-EameTs, i. 52-53, 1I17-80 (Appendix A).
that the term 'se dit en genual de tout artisan qui travaille de que1que �tier que
qui travaille de la main et fait que1que ouvrage'; and Diderot'l Encydopidu explains
tt lOit'. The earliest edition of the DietimuuJu i df rArodimu which defines the term
in ib modem sense of a wage-eamer is that of 1935. For a recent discus&on of the
difficulties of definition in the Itudy of $OCial history see Alfred Cobban, 'The
Vocabulary ofSocial History', Polilid &imt;. QUII,lerg, Ixxi ( 1956), 14.
• A. Franklin, La VU privle d'tlul,ifDil; WIII1mTI/ on d'!!mil;1 pa1roII (Paris, 1889),
7 Besides the evidence of the poliee rl:COnh we find the assertion in a Motion
pp. 1I8'-4·
.us arlislls, artis/IIU 1/ ouurins du dislrid .us WpuriM tU Itl Ciliuml, d'Allti.. of July
178g: 'Nolr<: domicile est chez nOl maitrel, nOlI pecCI ou en chambre gamie'
(Bibliothl:que Nationale, nouvel.les acqW$itioou fra�aisa, no. la6411, fols. 13-15).
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION 19
for their living on a wage, still rented their frames from their
employers and worked in their own homes; 1 and, in August
1789, we shall find a substantial body of hairdressers' journey­
men in Paris insisting on their right to set up in business on their
own irrespective of their masters' wishes.1
About one-third of all the wage-earners recorded in the 1791
return were in the building trades ;l they were largely composed
of seasonal workers or recent immigrants from the Creuse and
Limoges-hence their nick-name of limousins-and lodged in
barely furnished rooms in the rue Mouffetard or the city centre.4
Among them, too, we find the joumeyman�employer, or
maitre-ouuner who, while himself living on a wage paid by the
building contractor, hired his own compagnons or garfons at a
daily or seasonal rate.S The great mass of porters, carriers, and
riverside workers, often recent immigrants from Picardy, Savoy,
or Auvergne, and lodging around the markets or in the
neighbourhood of the docks, are harder to define ; yet there
must have been numerous grades and distinctions separating
the common labourers from such highly organized communautis
as formed by the forts de la halle or the more aristocratic of the
various types of gagne-denins.'> Even more variegated were the
14,000 inmates of the hOpiltlJJX and alms�houses,7 soon to be
reinforced by the many thousands of workless peasants, small
tradesmen, and country-workers who flocked into the capital on
the eve of revolution and were herded into the ateliers de chan'U
on the hill of Montmartre and elsewhere.s It is, in fact, only
I F. Fund,-Brentana, 'La Ql.Iestion ouvriere soW! l'Ancien R�me', JUuw
rllTo.pecl;w, xvii ( 1 8911). l-la4.
l For this and other categories ofwockeC$ in Paris at this time I« PIJrisilJ1l WIJgt_
• Arch. Nat., T 5'4 (').
£amm, ii. 1177-80 (Appendix A).
• G. Mauco, La Afigral;olU ou.,. • i/ruell FrtlllCe au dlbw du X/){I file/, (Paris, 19311),
, J..J. Letrait, 'La Communaut� dr:s maitre! ma�ons de Paris au XVII" et au
pp. la9-3'·
XVIII· sitele', JU/JUI his/Qr;tpa d. droit /rDrlfais II /tranger, '94:', pp. 1156-7; ' 948,
pp. 1 13-' 7·
RtvUl hisloriq..., ev (1910), 3311-48. None of the,e categories of workers appear in
• For the latter, see M. Rouff, 'Une GN:ve de gagne-denieC$ en 1786 a Paria',
;. This is the figure far 179' (C. Bloch and A. Tuetey, Pr��s'lJIf/uJ.wc II rapports du
the returna of '791 analysed by Braesch.
cam,l/ de mnrdiril/ d. la Co..s/;tumI1e, 17!JfrlJ9r (Paris, 1911), p. ¥Jla).
I Lafayette estimated the number of 'brangers OU gens sans aveu' in Paris in
1he wetk following the eaptun: of the Ba�nil!e at 'over 30,000'; yet thia may have
been exaggerated for partisan enw (MbN;;rts, rorrtspondana II 1/IlUUI.UT;ls du GmirIJ/
La/aft/Ie (6 vok, Paris, 1837), i. la7la-3).
 INTRODUCTION
.8
census of 1792 1 we find that the wage-earners and their families
accounted for some two-thirds of the resident population in
seven northern and north-central Sectionsz and for nearly half
the population in four Sections of the central market area,J
while accounting for only one-third to one-half the population
of the Faubourgs Saint-Antoine and Saint-Marcel.4
But, even when they formed a majority of the local popula­
tion, the wage-earners lacked the attributes of a distinctive
social class. In eighteenth-century France, the term ournin- might
be applied as readily to independent craftsmen, small work­
shop masters--or even, on occasion, to substantial manu­
facturers-as to ordinary wage-earners; in its most frequent
use itwas synonymous with artisan.s Such usage corresponded to
the social realities of the time, when the wage-earner had as
yet no defined and distinctive status as a producer and there
were often numerous intermediate stages between workman
and employer. The typical unit of production was still the small
workshop, which generally employed but a small number of
journeymen and apprentices. Even in Paris, where the propor�
rion of workers to employers was larger and the restrictions
imposed by the guild-system had become more relaxed than
elsewhere,6 the journeyman still often ate at his master's table
and slept under his roof.' The distinction between a wage­
earning journeyman and an independent craftsman, or even a
workshop master, was ill defined: the 2,000 Parisian stocking�
weavers who struck against wage-cuts in 1724, while depending
, N. Karf:iev, op. cit., pp. '4-15.
These a.n:: Bcaubourg, Gravillicn, Ponttau, Mauoonseil, Bonne Nouvelle,
•
PoiDonnim, Faubourg Saini-Denis.
1 The,e are: Louvre, Oratoire, March9 des Innocents (later Hailes), Lombards.
I The D;dimrMi" de j'A,tldlmu. FrlUlflJiu (17711 ed.) defines an 1JIUlIi" as 'ttlui
• See Paririatc Wap-EameTs, i. 52-53, 1I17-80 (Appendix A).
that the term 'se dit en genual de tout artisan qui travaille de que1que �tier que
qui travaille de la main et fait que1que ouvrage'; and Diderot'l Encydopidu explains
tt lOit'. The earliest edition of the DietimuuJu i df rArodimu which defines the term
in ib modem sense of a wage-eamer is that of 1935. For a recent discus&on of the
difficulties of definition in the Itudy of $OCial history see Alfred Cobban, 'The
Vocabulary ofSocial History', Polilid &imt;. QUII,lerg, Ixxi ( 1956), 14.
• A. Franklin, La VU privle d'tlul,ifDil; WIII1mTI/ on d'!!mil;1 pa1roII (Paris, 1889),
7 Besides the evidence of the poliee rl:COnh we find the assertion in a Motion
pp. 1I8'-4·
.us arlislls, artis/IIU 1/ ouurins du dislrid .us WpuriM tU Itl Ciliuml, d'Allti.. of July
178g: 'Nolr<: domicile est chez nOl maitrel, nOlI pecCI ou en chambre gamie'
(Bibliothl:que Nationale, nouvel.les acqW$itioou fra�aisa, no. la6411, fols. 13-15).
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION 19
for their living on a wage, still rented their frames from their
employers and worked in their own homes; 1 and, in August
1789, we shall find a substantial body of hairdressers' journey­
men in Paris insisting on their right to set up in business on their
own irrespective of their masters' wishes.1
About one-third of all the wage-earners recorded in the 1791
return were in the building trades ;l they were largely composed
of seasonal workers or recent immigrants from the Creuse and
Limoges-hence their nick-name of limousins-and lodged in
barely furnished rooms in the rue Mouffetard or the city centre.4
Among them, too, we find the joumeyman�employer, or
maitre-ouuner who, while himself living on a wage paid by the
building contractor, hired his own compagnons or garfons at a
daily or seasonal rate.S The great mass of porters, carriers, and
riverside workers, often recent immigrants from Picardy, Savoy,
or Auvergne, and lodging around the markets or in the
neighbourhood of the docks, are harder to define ; yet there
must have been numerous grades and distinctions separating
the common labourers from such highly organized communautis
as formed by the forts de la halle or the more aristocratic of the
various types of gagne-denins.'> Even more variegated were the
14,000 inmates of the hOpiltlJJX and alms�houses,7 soon to be
reinforced by the many thousands of workless peasants, small
tradesmen, and country-workers who flocked into the capital on
the eve of revolution and were herded into the ateliers de chan'U
on the hill of Montmartre and elsewhere.s It is, in fact, only
I F. Fund,-Brentana, 'La Ql.Iestion ouvriere soW! l'Ancien R�me', JUuw
rllTo.pecl;w, xvii ( 1 8911). l-la4.
l For this and other categories ofwockeC$ in Paris at this time I« PIJrisilJ1l WIJgt_
• Arch. Nat., T 5'4 (').
£amm, ii. 1177-80 (Appendix A).
• G. Mauco, La Afigral;olU ou.,. • i/ruell FrtlllCe au dlbw du X/){I file/, (Paris, 19311),
, J..J. Letrait, 'La Communaut� dr:s maitre! ma�ons de Paris au XVII" et au
pp. la9-3'·
XVIII· sitele', JU/JUI his/Qr;tpa d. droit /rDrlfais II /tranger, '94:', pp. 1156-7; ' 948,
pp. 1 13-' 7·
RtvUl hisloriq..., ev (1910), 3311-48. None of the,e categories of workers appear in
• For the latter, see M. Rouff, 'Une GN:ve de gagne-denieC$ en 1786 a Paria',
;. This is the figure far 179' (C. Bloch and A. Tuetey, Pr��s'lJIf/uJ.wc II rapports du
the returna of '791 analysed by Braesch.
cam,l/ de mnrdiril/ d. la Co..s/;tumI1e, 17!JfrlJ9r (Paris, 1911), p. ¥Jla).
I Lafayette estimated the number of 'brangers OU gens sans aveu' in Paris in
1he wetk following the eaptun: of the Ba�nil!e at 'over 30,000'; yet thia may have
been exaggerated for partisan enw (MbN;;rts, rorrtspondana II 1/IlUUI.UT;ls du GmirIJ/
La/aft/Ie (6 vok, Paris, 1837), i. la7la-3).
.0 INTRODUCTION
among the workers in the new textile manufactories of the
northemfaubourgs, who may have amounted to a quarter or a
fifth of the total working population, I that we begin to find the
distinctive characteristics of a modem industrial working class;
but, as we shall see, unlike the small craftsmen andjourneymen,
they were to play a relatively minor role in the events of the
Revolution.
Yet, for all their lack of cohesion as a social class, the Parisian
journeymen and labourers had long since learned to express
their particular economic demanrls-often by violent means.
With the break-down in the purposes and organization of the
old medieval guild, the journeyman had found himself reduced
to the status of a wage-earner with nothing but the slenderest
chance of ever becoming a master.1 This gradual divergence in
the material interests of masters and journeymen is reflected
in the increasingly bitter strikes and social movements of the
century, becoming aU the more bitter as prices tended pro­
gressively to outstrip wages.l To take a few examples. In 17'24
there was a strike of stocking-frame weavers against a reduction
of wages, which was broken by the arrest of their leaders.4 In
1737 the journeymen weavers rebelled against the new regula­
t.:...ns governing, and restricting. entry to the maitrise.5 In 1 749
the journeymen hatters were forbidden by an arTlt of the Paris
to interfere with their employers' freedom to hire
Par/emenl
labour;6 and, in 1765, a similar arrlt forbade these workers to
carry swords and hunting-knives.' In 1776 there was a feneral
strike among bookbinders for a fourteen-hour day.' In 1 785
workers in the building trades, striking against a wage-cut
imposed by the cont�actors. won a notable victory: the Parle­
menl declared in their favour after several hundred of them had
, PMi.tillll W�g....Eanrns, i. 58, and nOle 83.
Profeuor ubrowae h.u .hown that whereas the prices 01 food and other
• A. Franklin, cp. cit., pp. 90-95, 173-'217.
I J
'7�6-4' and 177,-8g, nomina.! waga increased by only �� IX'r cent. between the
eatentiaJ. of popular eoruumption increased by 6� per ccnt. betwccn the periods
.ame periodt (C.·E. ubrowae, EslJuisu tIu mollMllflll du prix II Ju "lit"'" 0/1 Fr4IIU
_.. XVlIl' Si�e/I, ii. 597-&8).
• Funek.BN:ntano, cp. cit.
6 A. Franklin, DiJ:IWMiJi,. JIS lITis, milins II P"'flSSions until JaIlS P.ris J,pui.t II
• Routl', op. cit., p. 333.
I S. Hardy, Mu wi.tirs, oujounuJ J'IMwmmls .uts qu'iis plUllimNm a /II<Z <0-'11_
XliI' .iull (Paria, '(06). p. 37�. ' Ibid., p. 573·
(MS. in 8 vob., Paria, 176.t--8g. Bib. Nat., fooda fran�aiI, no.. 6680-7), iii. 1181.
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION "
argued with Lenoir, the lieutenant of police, and others had
marched in search of the king at the chiiteau de Bounoy.1 The
following year, Sebastien Hardy, the bookseller-diarist, reported
a far wider movement embracing carpenters, farriers, lock­
smiths, bakers, and stonemasons;1 and, the same year, striking
parten and carriers, protesting against a rival monopoly set
up by court favourites, marched to Versailles to petition the
king and aroused widespread popular sympathy) In June
1789. on the very eve of the Paris revolution, there was a further
strike ofhatters-this time over rivaljourneymen's associations.4
Such movements may, as Marcel Rouff has suggested, have
contributed to the revolutionary temper of 1 789;5 but they were
not decisive. In the conditions of the time conflicts between
capital and labour were generally of secondary importance and
the wage�earner was usually more concerned with the price of
food-particularly of bread-than with the amount of his
earnings. This was partly due to the absence of large-scale
capitalist industry and of a national trade union movement:
more particularly, it was due to the large part played by bread
in the budget of the wage-earners, as of all small property_
owners. In Paris, in 1789. a labourer's daily wage might bt
20 30 sous,
to a journeyman mason might earn and 40 sous,
a carpenter or locksmith 50 sous.6
According to Professor
Labrousse an eighteenth-century French worker would nor­
mally spend something like 50 per cent. of his income on bread;
1 6 per cent. on vegetables, fau, and wine; 15 per cent. on
clothing; 5 per cent. on fuel; and I per cent. on lighting.'
Thus the wage-earners, and other sma11 income-earners, were
vitally interested in the price of bread which, in Paris, in
'normal' times, would be eight or nine sous
for the 4-lb. loaf.
Should its price, as all too frequently happened, rise sharply to
I Ibid. vi. 149-50.
4 Arch. Nat., Y 13016 (li: June '769).
• Ibid. vi. 31,5.
Rouff, cp. cit., p. 3].4.
I Routl', op. cit., p. 3-4.7.
Revolution', Economic Histqry Rluim., vol. vi, no. 3, 19,5.4, p. �¥I. The worker',
• G. Ru<U, 'Priu:s, Wages and Popular Movement. in Pari. during the French
average 'effective' eamin� weN:. however, cOllliderably lea than this owing to the
..t da)'J during the old ngime: Ihese amounlcd to about I I I per
year (ibid.). See also Appendix VII.
large number offe
.' Lal]rowse, op. cit. ii. 597-608; G. Lefebvre, 'Le Mouvement des prix et les
.
o�,gme:s de la R�volution fran�aUe', AMlIlls hi.tIori'lwl d, kl Rioo/uli01l fra",.isl,
XIV ('937), 1ISg-s�9.
.0 INTRODUCTION
among the workers in the new textile manufactories of the
northemfaubourgs, who may have amounted to a quarter or a
fifth of the total working population, I that we begin to find the
distinctive characteristics of a modem industrial working class;
but, as we shall see, unlike the small craftsmen andjourneymen,
they were to play a relatively minor role in the events of the
Revolution.
Yet, for all their lack of cohesion as a social class, the Parisian
journeymen and labourers had long since learned to express
their particular economic demanrls-often by violent means.
With the break-down in the purposes and organization of the
old medieval guild, the journeyman had found himself reduced
to the status of a wage-earner with nothing but the slenderest
chance of ever becoming a master.1 This gradual divergence in
the material interests of masters and journeymen is reflected
in the increasingly bitter strikes and social movements of the
century, becoming aU the more bitter as prices tended pro­
gressively to outstrip wages.l To take a few examples. In 17'24
there was a strike of stocking-frame weavers against a reduction
of wages, which was broken by the arrest of their leaders.4 In
1737 the journeymen weavers rebelled against the new regula­
t.:...ns governing, and restricting. entry to the maitrise.5 In 1 749
the journeymen hatters were forbidden by an arTlt of the Paris
to interfere with their employers' freedom to hire
Par/emenl
labour;6 and, in 1765, a similar arrlt forbade these workers to
carry swords and hunting-knives.' In 1776 there was a feneral
strike among bookbinders for a fourteen-hour day.' In 1 785
workers in the building trades, striking against a wage-cut
imposed by the cont�actors. won a notable victory: the Parle­
menl declared in their favour after several hundred of them had
, PMi.tillll W�g....Eanrns, i. 58, and nOle 83.
Profeuor ubrowae h.u .hown that whereas the prices 01 food and other
• A. Franklin, cp. cit., pp. 90-95, 173-'217.
I J
'7�6-4' and 177,-8g, nomina.! waga increased by only �� IX'r cent. between the
eatentiaJ. of popular eoruumption increased by 6� per ccnt. betwccn the periods
.ame periodt (C.·E. ubrowae, EslJuisu tIu mollMllflll du prix II Ju "lit"'" 0/1 Fr4IIU
_.. XVlIl' Si�e/I, ii. 597-&8).
• Funek.BN:ntano, cp. cit.
6 A. Franklin, DiJ:IWMiJi,. JIS lITis, milins II P"'flSSions until JaIlS P.ris J,pui.t II
• Routl', op. cit., p. 333.
I S. Hardy, Mu wi.tirs, oujounuJ J'IMwmmls .uts qu'iis plUllimNm a /II<Z <0-'11_
XliI' .iull (Paria, '(06). p. 37�. ' Ibid., p. 573·
(MS. in 8 vob., Paria, 176.t--8g. Bib. Nat., fooda fran�aiI, no.. 6680-7), iii. 1181.
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION "
argued with Lenoir, the lieutenant of police, and others had
marched in search of the king at the chiiteau de Bounoy.1 The
following year, Sebastien Hardy, the bookseller-diarist, reported
a far wider movement embracing carpenters, farriers, lock­
smiths, bakers, and stonemasons;1 and, the same year, striking
parten and carriers, protesting against a rival monopoly set
up by court favourites, marched to Versailles to petition the
king and aroused widespread popular sympathy) In June
1789. on the very eve of the Paris revolution, there was a further
strike ofhatters-this time over rivaljourneymen's associations.4
Such movements may, as Marcel Rouff has suggested, have
contributed to the revolutionary temper of 1 789;5 but they were
not decisive. In the conditions of the time conflicts between
capital and labour were generally of secondary importance and
the wage�earner was usually more concerned with the price of
food-particularly of bread-than with the amount of his
earnings. This was partly due to the absence of large-scale
capitalist industry and of a national trade union movement:
more particularly, it was due to the large part played by bread
in the budget of the wage-earners, as of all small property_
owners. In Paris, in 1789. a labourer's daily wage might bt
20 30 sous,
to a journeyman mason might earn and 40 sous,
a carpenter or locksmith 50 sous.6
According to Professor
Labrousse an eighteenth-century French worker would nor­
mally spend something like 50 per cent. of his income on bread;
1 6 per cent. on vegetables, fau, and wine; 15 per cent. on
clothing; 5 per cent. on fuel; and I per cent. on lighting.'
Thus the wage-earners, and other sma11 income-earners, were
vitally interested in the price of bread which, in Paris, in
'normal' times, would be eight or nine sous
for the 4-lb. loaf.
Should its price, as all too frequently happened, rise sharply to
I Ibid. vi. 149-50.
4 Arch. Nat., Y 13016 (li: June '769).
• Ibid. vi. 31,5.
Rouff, cp. cit., p. 3].4.
I Routl', op. cit., p. 3-4.7.
Revolution', Economic Histqry Rluim., vol. vi, no. 3, 19,5.4, p. �¥I. The worker',
• G. Ru<U, 'Priu:s, Wages and Popular Movement. in Pari. during the French
average 'effective' eamin� weN:. however, cOllliderably lea than this owing to the
..t da)'J during the old ngime: Ihese amounlcd to about I I I per
year (ibid.). See also Appendix VII.
large number offe
.' Lal]rowse, op. cit. ii. 597-608; G. Lefebvre, 'Le Mouvement des prix et les
.
o�,gme:s de la R�volution fran�aUe', AMlIlls hi.tIori'lwl d, kl Rioo/uli01l fra",.isl,
XIV ('937), 1ISg-s�9.
 INTRODUCTION
"
12 or 15 (or even to 20) sow, it is evident that the bulk of the
wage-earners faced sudden disaster. It is not surprising, there­
fore, that they tended to think in terms of cheaper and more
plentiful bread-rather than in terms of higher wages and
better workshop conditions; and, with rare exceptions, this
continued to be the case during the Revolution as wel!.1 In
consequence it was the food riot rather than the strike that was
still the traditional and typical form of popular protest; and in
this not only journeymen, labourers, and city poor, but small
shopkeepers, craftsmen, and workshop masters joined in com­
mon opposition to farmers, millers, bakers, hoarders, grain­
merchants, and city authorities. This basic identityofinterest was
to prove one of the most solid of the links that bound together
the social groups forming the sans-culottes of the Revolution.
Paris, like other big cities, had, throughout the century, been
continually threatened with such outbreaks. To avert them an
elaborate system had been devised to ensure the regular and
adequate supply of wheat to suburban millers and flour to the
Paris bakers-often at the expense of the supplying areas them­
selves, or at the reputed expense of the villages lying on the
rivers and roads along which food-convoys bound for the
capital travelled.1 But the margin ofsafety was rarely sufficient
to withstand the onslaught or vagaries of bad harvests, drought,
hail, frost, poor communications, or the peculations of grain­
monopolists and speculators. In such cases the system broke
down and panic-buying led to steep rises in the price of bread
and outbursts of anger and violence by the Parisian menu peuple.
In the great famine year of '709 the break-down had been so
nearly complete and so protracted that hundreds had died of
starvation.' In August 1 725 the Marquis d'Argenson recorded
, Thil lendeney it cleuly rdla:ted in lhe few provincial win. tit dOUllJlt# of
wage_urnen; that have come down to us. In Pam .here ;s no such evidcnce, in
properly-ownen from the Parisian preliminary �mblics (ChUllin, op. cit. i.
view of the special regulations drawn up to exclude wage�amcn and small
• L. Cahen, 'La Quotion du pain a Paris a l a fin du XVIII" si�cJe', Cahi"s tit la
373�)·
frequent attacks on Paris-hound convO)'ll by road and river in the period t75�-
RllltJlulioq/rllllfaUt, no. t (1934), pp. 51-76. For the Parisian supply-routo and Ihe
119, tee R. C. Cobb, 'Lea DiRtto de \'an II et de I'an III dans Ie district de Manta
et la yall�e de la Basse-Seine', Mtmhim dt la fUtmliOll dts soci/lis Ju'swriquts 1/
DrelrJologiqtJtlS d, Pllris tI dt 1'f1t-d._Franu, iii (1954), pp. 227-:J:J.
) A. de Boi,lille, 'Le Grand Hiver et la di3eue de 1709', R,vld dtS quutiDJU
historiqllU, luiii (June '!/OJ), 44l1-509; IxxiY (Da:embc:r 19(3), 486-54�.
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION '3
that the price of bread had risen higher than in 1 709 and that
to appease popular anger ('iI y avait eu a Paris des seditions
serieuses') M. d'Ombreval, the minister responsible, had been
relieved of his post.1 In September 1 740 the price of the 4-lb.
loaf rose to 20 SOIlS (equivalent to the daily wage of an unskilled
worker) ; the king was assailed with cries of 'Misere! du pain!
du pain !'; Cardinal Fleury was mobbed by a crowd of angry
women; and fifty prisoners at Bicetre were shot dead after
rioting in protest against a reduction in their bread-ration.�
In December 1752 bread riots were coupled with angry demon­
strations against the Archbishop of Paris who had refused the
sacrament to a dying nun suspected ofJansenism;l six months
later the price of bread was still abnormally high and seditious
leaflets were circulated, bearing the inscription, 'Vive Ie Parle­
ment! meurent Ie Roi et Ies eveques!'4 It was the same king­
Louis XV-who was popularly believed to have devised the
sinister pacte defamine.s
More widespread and even more alarming to the authorities
were the food riots that broke out in Paris and its adjoining
provinces in the spring of 1775. Turgot had been appointed
Comptroller-General in August 1774. He started with no
particular record of unpopularity as far as the common people
were concerned: in fact, his predecessor and most vocal oppo­
nent, the abbe Terray, was, soon after his appointment,
burned in effigy in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.' Yet, to the
delight of his enemies at court, he was soon to lose any sem­
blance of popular favour by his over-haste in applying Physio­
cratic doctrine to the grain-trade : an arrll of '3 September
, }tnn'IUll d mImoirtJ du Marquis d'ArpIUOJI (9 vol,., Pari., ,859), i. 54. According
to another memonali3t, the lawyer Barbier, the price of the 4-1b. loaf had risen
to the almost fantastic sum of lIB-:!lI SlItIS (E. J. F. Barbier, ]IIIITfW hutorif{W �I
a1l«dotiqut du rtgM de lAuis XV (4 vois., Paris, ,847), i. �24-5).
• D'A�nson, op. cit. iii. 169-73.
• Ibid. viii. 35.
, L. Biollay, u PDi:� dtfami". ti ltS ophll/iDJU Sur lu ,rai"s (Pari., ,885),
1 Ibid. vii. 353, 3::'7.
6 M<!tra, CcrmpondaltCt StCTt/t, fK1/itiqlll d rjlUrDi" . . . drpuu la mtnl th LDuu XV
of �tatc-intervention in the grain_trade; and as ill administration, during lW
(18 Yols., London, 1787-90), i. 87. Terray, unlike Turgot, Wllll an areh-cxponent
�nod of office, had been largely in the hands of a group ofweahhy 'monopoli3ts',
h,s name had become popularly associated with Ihe notorious pacil d. famjru. In
flScn to ,6 SOUl, and minor disturbances had followed (S. Lacroix, Ac�s dt la
�ovem1r'r 1768, while Tcrray wM in office, the price of the 4-lb. loafin Paris had
Commuru dt Paris (2nd serio, 8 vois., Paris, 1900-14), vi. 3gB).
 INTRODUCTION
"
12 or 15 (or even to 20) sow, it is evident that the bulk of the
wage-earners faced sudden disaster. It is not surprising, there­
fore, that they tended to think in terms of cheaper and more
plentiful bread-rather than in terms of higher wages and
better workshop conditions; and, with rare exceptions, this
continued to be the case during the Revolution as wel!.1 In
consequence it was the food riot rather than the strike that was
still the traditional and typical form of popular protest; and in
this not only journeymen, labourers, and city poor, but small
shopkeepers, craftsmen, and workshop masters joined in com­
mon opposition to farmers, millers, bakers, hoarders, grain­
merchants, and city authorities. This basic identityofinterest was
to prove one of the most solid of the links that bound together
the social groups forming the sans-culottes of the Revolution.
Paris, like other big cities, had, throughout the century, been
continually threatened with such outbreaks. To avert them an
elaborate system had been devised to ensure the regular and
adequate supply of wheat to suburban millers and flour to the
Paris bakers-often at the expense of the supplying areas them­
selves, or at the reputed expense of the villages lying on the
rivers and roads along which food-convoys bound for the
capital travelled.1 But the margin ofsafety was rarely sufficient
to withstand the onslaught or vagaries of bad harvests, drought,
hail, frost, poor communications, or the peculations of grain­
monopolists and speculators. In such cases the system broke
down and panic-buying led to steep rises in the price of bread
and outbursts of anger and violence by the Parisian menu peuple.
In the great famine year of '709 the break-down had been so
nearly complete and so protracted that hundreds had died of
starvation.' In August 1 725 the Marquis d'Argenson recorded
, Thil lendeney it cleuly rdla:ted in lhe few provincial win. tit dOUllJlt# of
wage_urnen; that have come down to us. In Pam .here ;s no such evidcnce, in
properly-ownen from the Parisian preliminary �mblics (ChUllin, op. cit. i.
view of the special regulations drawn up to exclude wage�amcn and small
• L. Cahen, 'La Quotion du pain a Paris a l a fin du XVIII" si�cJe', Cahi"s tit la
373�)·
frequent attacks on Paris-hound convO)'ll by road and river in the period t75�-
RllltJlulioq/rllllfaUt, no. t (1934), pp. 51-76. For the Parisian supply-routo and Ihe
119, tee R. C. Cobb, 'Lea DiRtto de \'an II et de I'an III dans Ie district de Manta
et la yall�e de la Basse-Seine', Mtmhim dt la fUtmliOll dts soci/lis Ju'swriquts 1/
DrelrJologiqtJtlS d, Pllris tI dt 1'f1t-d._Franu, iii (1954), pp. 227-:J:J.
) A. de Boi,lille, 'Le Grand Hiver et la di3eue de 1709', R,vld dtS quutiDJU
historiqllU, luiii (June '!/OJ), 44l1-509; IxxiY (Da:embc:r 19(3), 486-54�.
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION '3
that the price of bread had risen higher than in 1 709 and that
to appease popular anger ('iI y avait eu a Paris des seditions
serieuses') M. d'Ombreval, the minister responsible, had been
relieved of his post.1 In September 1 740 the price of the 4-lb.
loaf rose to 20 SOIlS (equivalent to the daily wage of an unskilled
worker) ; the king was assailed with cries of 'Misere! du pain!
du pain !'; Cardinal Fleury was mobbed by a crowd of angry
women; and fifty prisoners at Bicetre were shot dead after
rioting in protest against a reduction in their bread-ration.�
In December 1752 bread riots were coupled with angry demon­
strations against the Archbishop of Paris who had refused the
sacrament to a dying nun suspected ofJansenism;l six months
later the price of bread was still abnormally high and seditious
leaflets were circulated, bearing the inscription, 'Vive Ie Parle­
ment! meurent Ie Roi et Ies eveques!'4 It was the same king­
Louis XV-who was popularly believed to have devised the
sinister pacte defamine.s
More widespread and even more alarming to the authorities
were the food riots that broke out in Paris and its adjoining
provinces in the spring of 1775. Turgot had been appointed
Comptroller-General in August 1774. He started with no
particular record of unpopularity as far as the common people
were concerned: in fact, his predecessor and most vocal oppo­
nent, the abbe Terray, was, soon after his appointment,
burned in effigy in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.' Yet, to the
delight of his enemies at court, he was soon to lose any sem­
blance of popular favour by his over-haste in applying Physio­
cratic doctrine to the grain-trade : an arrll of '3 September
, }tnn'IUll d mImoirtJ du Marquis d'ArpIUOJI (9 vol,., Pari., ,859), i. 54. According
to another memonali3t, the lawyer Barbier, the price of the 4-1b. loaf had risen
to the almost fantastic sum of lIB-:!lI SlItIS (E. J. F. Barbier, ]IIIITfW hutorif{W �I
a1l«dotiqut du rtgM de lAuis XV (4 vois., Paris, ,847), i. �24-5).
• D'A�nson, op. cit. iii. 169-73.
• Ibid. viii. 35.
, L. Biollay, u PDi:� dtfami". ti ltS ophll/iDJU Sur lu ,rai"s (Pari., ,885),
1 Ibid. vii. 353, 3::'7.
6 M<!tra, CcrmpondaltCt StCTt/t, fK1/itiqlll d rjlUrDi" . . . drpuu la mtnl th LDuu XV
of �tatc-intervention in the grain_trade; and as ill administration, during lW
(18 Yols., London, 1787-90), i. 87. Terray, unlike Turgot, Wllll an areh-cxponent
�nod of office, had been largely in the hands of a group ofweahhy 'monopoli3ts',
h,s name had become popularly associated with Ihe notorious pacil d. famjru. In
flScn to ,6 SOUl, and minor disturbances had followed (S. Lacroix, Ac�s dt la
�ovem1r'r 1768, while Tcrray wM in office, the price of the 4-lb. loafin Paris had
Commuru dt Paris (2nd serio, 8 vois., Paris, 1900-14), vi. 3gB).
 " INTRODUCTION
restored freedom of trade in grain and flour. This, combined
with a bad haIVest, led to a shortage and a rapid increase in the
price of corn, flour, and bread in the following spring and
summer. The price of the 4-1b. loaf in Paris ros.e to I i �olLS
in early March and to lsi sous at the end of Apnl. Gram nots
had already broken out at Bordeaux, Dijon, Tours, Meu,
Rheims, and Montauban-and in their wake sprang up that
particular series of riots known to history as 'la guerre des
farines'. The movement spread from market to market and took
the form of a popular price-control of wheat, flour, and bread­
the price of bread being generally fixed at 2 sous a pound, that
of flour at 20 sous a bushel, and wheat at 12 francs a setitT (two
quintals) . Starting on 27 April at Beaumont-�ur-Oise, twenty
miles north of the capital, it reached PontOise on the 29th,
Saint-Germain on 1 May, Versailles on the 2nd, and Paris
itself on the srd. Here the central flour and bread-markets
were ransacked and bakers in the city centre and faubourgs
pillaged or compelled to sell at the popular price, before the
troops were called out and order was restored. The movement
then spread eastwards and southwards up the valleys of the
Seine and Marne, lingered for several days in the markets and
villages of Brie, reached Beaumont-en-Gatinais (fifty miles
south of Paris) on the 9th, and petered out somewhere near
Melun on the IOth.1
These riots gave a remarkable foretaste of certain episodes
, of the Revolution-notably of popular price-control, or laxa­
tion populajre, of essential commodities, which became a regular
.
feature of the years 1789 to 1793. Yet they were far from belng
.
directed against the existing order: they were rather a massIVe
protest against the new-fangled principle ofallowi�g food-prices
to find their natural or market level, Instead ofbemg regulated
by considerations of social justice. It is perhaps hardly sur­
�
prising that the movement yielded no tangi le results. I � was
essentially a movement of wage-earners, artisans, and V illage
and city poor : neither the bourgeoisie nor the bulk ofthe peasantry
played any part. However, it gave a severe jolt to the govern­
ment and 'respectable' classes : twelve years later, Hardy, w o
had witnessed the invasion of markets and bakers' shops In
• G. Rud�, 'La Taxation populaire de m:ai 1775 a Pari. et danl la rtgion
p arUienne',ANIllles hutoriquu <h III RJool"lilmjr/l1JfIlUt, Apri
1956, pp. lI39-79.
l -June
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION lI5
Paris, referred to the dangers ofa repetition ofthe scenes enacted
in May 1 775.1
In Paris, at least, this was the last ofthe great popular revolts
�
of the old regime. The twelve yean that followed were years of
comparatively stable food·prices and social peace.' The most
that Hardy records are protests against the newly erected
bam'tw, some grumbling in the markets about the price of
meat and firewood, and a few significant incidents expressive of
anti·clerical feeling.l For all their latent turbulence the inhabi­
tants of the central markets and the faubourgs were no more
prone to violence and disorder than the contemporary popula­
tion ofSouthwark, Westminster, and the metropolitan parishes
of Middlesex, who had rioted against Excise and the Gin Act
under Walpole and, in the 60's and 70'S, acclaimed 'Wilkes and
Liberty'. Paris, at all events, had a far more efficient and
centralized police system, with considerably larger forces at
its beck and call, than the cities of London and Westminster
and the county of Middlesex, where the limited powers ofmagis­
trates and constables and the scattered and unwieldy machinery
of repression were an almost standing invitation to riot and
disorder.
In Paris, on the other hand, the lieutenant of police, whose
jurisdiction extended over the whole area of the capital, and
the forty-eight commissioners of the Chatelet, who exercised
powers of police in the various quarters of the city, had at their
disposal substantial forces to deal with both crime and civil
commotion. These included the 150 archers du Cult; three com­
panies of the Garde de Paris, amounting to nearly 1,000 men;
and 300 to 400 exempts-in all, some 1,500 men at their im.
mediate command; with a further military reseIVe of 5,000 to
6,000 Gardes Fran�aises, Suisses, and Musketeers-the great
majority stationed in the capital-who could be called upon
in an emergency.4 While these combined forces were greatly
inferior to those later available to the revolutionary authorities,
, Hardy, ]DIlTfIIl,l vii. 123.
� • During this period, the price of the 4·lb. loaf remained remarkably Itcady,
generally ranging between 8 and 9 SOUSj it rote to loi or II UJUS only {or briefspell,
in 1784 (ibid., vok 3-7, prusim).
• H!de Montb:as, La PoIu, paririntM sour Louu XVI (Puis, 1(49), pp. 7a-s...,
J Ibid. v. 322-3, 394-5, 410; vi. 16, 35, 330, 3 2, 435, 479.
3
93-101. See abo Monin,op. cit.,pp. 479, :143.
 " INTRODUCTION
restored freedom of trade in grain and flour. This, combined
with a bad haIVest, led to a shortage and a rapid increase in the
price of corn, flour, and bread in the following spring and
summer. The price of the 4-1b. loaf in Paris ros.e to I i �olLS
in early March and to lsi sous at the end of Apnl. Gram nots
had already broken out at Bordeaux, Dijon, Tours, Meu,
Rheims, and Montauban-and in their wake sprang up that
particular series of riots known to history as 'la guerre des
farines'. The movement spread from market to market and took
the form of a popular price-control of wheat, flour, and bread­
the price of bread being generally fixed at 2 sous a pound, that
of flour at 20 sous a bushel, and wheat at 12 francs a setitT (two
quintals) . Starting on 27 April at Beaumont-�ur-Oise, twenty
miles north of the capital, it reached PontOise on the 29th,
Saint-Germain on 1 May, Versailles on the 2nd, and Paris
itself on the srd. Here the central flour and bread-markets
were ransacked and bakers in the city centre and faubourgs
pillaged or compelled to sell at the popular price, before the
troops were called out and order was restored. The movement
then spread eastwards and southwards up the valleys of the
Seine and Marne, lingered for several days in the markets and
villages of Brie, reached Beaumont-en-Gatinais (fifty miles
south of Paris) on the 9th, and petered out somewhere near
Melun on the IOth.1
These riots gave a remarkable foretaste of certain episodes
, of the Revolution-notably of popular price-control, or laxa­
tion populajre, of essential commodities, which became a regular
.
feature of the years 1789 to 1793. Yet they were far from belng
.
directed against the existing order: they were rather a massIVe
protest against the new-fangled principle ofallowi�g food-prices
to find their natural or market level, Instead ofbemg regulated
by considerations of social justice. It is perhaps hardly sur­
�
prising that the movement yielded no tangi le results. I � was
essentially a movement of wage-earners, artisans, and V illage
and city poor : neither the bourgeoisie nor the bulk ofthe peasantry
played any part. However, it gave a severe jolt to the govern­
ment and 'respectable' classes : twelve years later, Hardy, w o
had witnessed the invasion of markets and bakers' shops In
• G. Rud�, 'La Taxation populaire de m:ai 1775 a Pari. et danl la rtgion
p arUienne',ANIllles hutoriquu <h III RJool"lilmjr/l1JfIlUt, Apri
1956, pp. lI39-79.
l -June
PARIS ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION lI5
Paris, referred to the dangers ofa repetition ofthe scenes enacted
in May 1 775.1
In Paris, at least, this was the last ofthe great popular revolts
�
of the old regime. The twelve yean that followed were years of
comparatively stable food·prices and social peace.' The most
that Hardy records are protests against the newly erected
bam'tw, some grumbling in the markets about the price of
meat and firewood, and a few significant incidents expressive of
anti·clerical feeling.l For all their latent turbulence the inhabi­
tants of the central markets and the faubourgs were no more
prone to violence and disorder than the contemporary popula­
tion ofSouthwark, Westminster, and the metropolitan parishes
of Middlesex, who had rioted against Excise and the Gin Act
under Walpole and, in the 60's and 70'S, acclaimed 'Wilkes and
Liberty'. Paris, at all events, had a far more efficient and
centralized police system, with considerably larger forces at
its beck and call, than the cities of London and Westminster
and the county of Middlesex, where the limited powers ofmagis­
trates and constables and the scattered and unwieldy machinery
of repression were an almost standing invitation to riot and
disorder.
In Paris, on the other hand, the lieutenant of police, whose
jurisdiction extended over the whole area of the capital, and
the forty-eight commissioners of the Chatelet, who exercised
powers of police in the various quarters of the city, had at their
disposal substantial forces to deal with both crime and civil
commotion. These included the 150 archers du Cult; three com­
panies of the Garde de Paris, amounting to nearly 1,000 men;
and 300 to 400 exempts-in all, some 1,500 men at their im.
mediate command; with a further military reseIVe of 5,000 to
6,000 Gardes Fran�aises, Suisses, and Musketeers-the great
majority stationed in the capital-who could be called upon
in an emergency.4 While these combined forces were greatly
inferior to those later available to the revolutionary authorities,
, Hardy, ]DIlTfIIl,l vii. 123.
� • During this period, the price of the 4·lb. loaf remained remarkably Itcady,
generally ranging between 8 and 9 SOUSj it rote to loi or II UJUS only {or briefspell,
in 1784 (ibid., vok 3-7, prusim).
• H!de Montb:as, La PoIu, paririntM sour Louu XVI (Puis, 1(49), pp. 7a-s...,
J Ibid. v. 322-3, 394-5, 410; vi. 16, 35, 330, 3 2, 435, 479.
3
93-101. See abo Monin,op. cit.,pp. 479, :143.
26 INTRODUCTION
as long as they remained loyal to the government and its local
agents they constituted a far more formidable force than that
which lay within easy call of the London magistrates.
So, when the Gordon Riots broke out in June 1780 and large
parts of London were, for several days on end, at the mercy of
the 'No Popery' rioters, French observers could afford to be
complacent. Being wise after the event, we may laugh at the
nailltte of Sebastien Mercier who, commenting on the London
disturbances, wrote nine years before the assault on the Bastille
that such terrors and alarms as were spread by Lord George
Gordon in London would be inconceivable in a city as well
policed as Paris ;' yet, at the time of writing, he appeared to
have reasonable grounds for self-satisfaction.
However, behind the apparent calm there were forces matur.
ing, not immediately discernible to even the most enlightened
and far-seeing observers, that would soon shatter these illusions
and involve Parisians in events far more cataclysmic than any
experienced in the preceding century. Though, in their out­
come, these events left the outward appearance of Paris
singularly untouched/ they drastically disturbed the lives and
properties of its citizens.
, Mercier, op. cil., vi. 2�-25.
8aJtille, which WIIlI I)'II<:malically drnlQlished in 178g-g ..
• Monin, op. cil. pp. 11-12. The one notable exception w.,., of cou.-.e, the
PART II
The Revolutionary Crowd in Action
III
P R E L U D E T O R E V O LUTI O N
RADITIONALLY
the French Revolution has been treated
T �
as one single protracted episode, whic opened with the
.
meeting of the States General at Versrulles m May 1789,
or with the fall of the Bastille in July. In recent years, however,
historians have tended to revise this view and both to present
the Revolution as a series of distinct, though interrelated,
episodes and to ante-date its outbreak by two years-to May
1787, when the dismissal of the Assembly of Notables unleashed
the 'revolte nobiliaire' or 'revolution aristocratique'.1 The
arguments in favour of presenting the Revolution as a gradual
unfolding of minor revolutions, by a sort of chain-reaction of
revolutionary explosions, need not detain us here; but a word
should be said about the date of its outbreak. The 'revolte
nobiliaire', it has been urged, must be seen as an intrinsic part
of the Revolution, as it was the aristocracy and the Parlnnmts­
the nohlesse de rohe-that forced the king to convene the States
General, without which there would have been no revolution
of 1789; and it was they also who, by their open challenge to
the monarchy, drew into activity the classes mainly engaged in
the Revolution-the hourgeoisU and the peasant and urban
masses.l 'Les patriciens', wrote Chateaubriand, 'commencerent
la revolution, Ies plebeiens l'acheverent.'l This thesis contains an
important general truth in so far as every great revolution is
attended by deep divisions and crises within the governing
classes: students of the seventeenth century will find interesting
, � A. Mathiez, fA. RillOluli()IIfTlJIIfiJiJ, (3 vob., PatU, 1922-7), vol. i, chaps:
and 2; G. Lefebvre, Q/IiJln-vi",t-M�f (Paril, 1939), pp. II ff.
I
• Mathia, loc. cit. ' Cited. by Lefebvre, op. cit., p. 7.
r
26 INTRODUCTION
as long as they remained loyal to the government and its local
agents they constituted a far more formidable force than that
which lay within easy call of the London magistrates.
So, when the Gordon Riots broke out in June 1780 and large
parts of London were, for several days on end, at the mercy of
the 'No Popery' rioters, French observers could afford to be
complacent. Being wise after the event, we may laugh at the
nailltte of Sebastien Mercier who, commenting on the London
disturbances, wrote nine years before the assault on the Bastille
that such terrors and alarms as were spread by Lord George
Gordon in London would be inconceivable in a city as well
policed as Paris ;' yet, at the time of writing, he appeared to
have reasonable grounds for self-satisfaction.
However, behind the apparent calm there were forces matur.
ing, not immediately discernible to even the most enlightened
and far-seeing observers, that would soon shatter these illusions
and involve Parisians in events far more cataclysmic than any
experienced in the preceding century. Though, in their out­
come, these events left the outward appearance of Paris
singularly untouched/ they drastically disturbed the lives and
properties of its citizens.
, Mercier, op. cil., vi. 2�-25.
8aJtille, which WIIlI I)'II<:malically drnlQlished in 178g-g ..
• Monin, op. cil. pp. 11-12. The one notable exception w.,., of cou.-.e, the
PART II
The Revolutionary Crowd in Action
III
P R E L U D E T O R E V O LUTI O N
RADITIONALLY
the French Revolution has been treated
T �
as one single protracted episode, whic opened with the
.
meeting of the States General at Versrulles m May 1789,
or with the fall of the Bastille in July. In recent years, however,
historians have tended to revise this view and both to present
the Revolution as a series of distinct, though interrelated,
episodes and to ante-date its outbreak by two years-to May
1787, when the dismissal of the Assembly of Notables unleashed
the 'revolte nobiliaire' or 'revolution aristocratique'.1 The
arguments in favour of presenting the Revolution as a gradual
unfolding of minor revolutions, by a sort of chain-reaction of
revolutionary explosions, need not detain us here; but a word
should be said about the date of its outbreak. The 'revolte
nobiliaire', it has been urged, must be seen as an intrinsic part
of the Revolution, as it was the aristocracy and the Parlnnmts­
the nohlesse de rohe-that forced the king to convene the States
General, without which there would have been no revolution
of 1789; and it was they also who, by their open challenge to
the monarchy, drew into activity the classes mainly engaged in
the Revolution-the hourgeoisU and the peasant and urban
masses.l 'Les patriciens', wrote Chateaubriand, 'commencerent
la revolution, Ies plebeiens l'acheverent.'l This thesis contains an
important general truth in so far as every great revolution is
attended by deep divisions and crises within the governing
classes: students of the seventeenth century will find interesting
, � A. Mathiez, fA. RillOluli()IIfTlJIIfiJiJ, (3 vob., PatU, 1922-7), vol. i, chaps:
and 2; G. Lefebvre, Q/IiJln-vi",t-M�f (Paril, 1939), pp. II ff.
I
• Mathia, loc. cit. ' Cited. by Lefebvre, op. cit., p. 7.
r
 18 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
parallels in our own national history. Yet the argument is not
fully convincing: the divisions between the monarchy and
privileged orders who launched the 'revolte nobiliaire', though
deep, were not fundamental; and these divisions were rapidly
healed as soon as the Third Estate----<:omprising both the
bourgeoisie and the masses of town and countryside-joined
forces in support of their own, more far·reaching, claims, as
they began to do in the spring of '78g. According to this view,
the real point of revolutionary outbreak was only reached when
the separate and scattered actions of peasants, urban craHsmen
and bourgeois journalists, lawyers. and deputies merged in
common struggle in July 1 789,I
In this study, therefore, the 'revolte nobiliaire' is presented as
a prelude or curtain-raiser, rather than as the opening act of
the revolutionary drama. Yet its profound significance and its
particular importance for the present subject are not denied :
not only did it pave the way directly for the triumph of the
Third Estate but, by drawing the urban masses into activity, it
ended the period of social peace which, in the case of Paris, had
lasted, more or less undisturbed, since the 'guerre des farines'
twelve years before. This new period. of intense social struggle
was to include both six years of revolution and the two years
preceding it. This is therefore the point at which our study of the
Parisian revolutionary crowd, in its wider context, must begin.
, Ever since the American War, in which France became
engaged in 1778, the country's finances had been in a desperate
condition. In February 1787 an almost empty exchequer and
a mounting deficit compelled the government to resort to
drastic remedies : the Assembly of Notables was convened with
the express purpose of finding some immediate solution to the
financial crisis. Calonne, as Comptroller-General, proposed a
number of far-reaching measures, including an extension of the
stamp-duty and a new general tax on landed estates: the privi­
leged orders were, in fact being invited, as by Turgot and Necker
on earlier occasions, to make a belated contribution to save the
State from bankruptcy. The Notables, with grievances and pre­
tensions of their own, refused to co-operate. Calonne was dismissed
on 8 April and succeeded by Lomenie de Brienne, Archbishop of
Pul and Pru'�I, November 1955, pp.
, For .. fuller treatmenl lee G. RlId�, 'The Outbreak of the Yn:nch Revolution
',
28-42.
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION 29
Sens and Toulouse, and soon to be promoted Cardinal. Brienne's
proposals being nomoreacceptable than Calonne's and being met
with similar obstruction, the Notables in turn were dismissed on
25 May, and the 'revolte nobiliaire' followed. k so often in the
past, it was the Paro Parlemrnt, with its vaguely defined consti­
tutional powers, that fired the opening shot. While accepting
Brienne's plan to relax controls on the sale and export of grain
and endorsing, under protest, the stamp-duty, the Pa,lnnrnJ re­
fused categorically to tegister the decree on the land-tax and
demanded that the States General be convened to deal with the
matter. When the decrees were, none the less, promulgated in a
lit dt justue
in August, the provincial Par/mlenu rallied to the
support of Paris, and Brienne was forced to capitulate: the
decrees on the land-tax and stamp·duty were withdrawn on
21 September and the Paris Par/mlent, whose memben had
been exiled, was reinstated a few days later.t
The return of the Parlmlenl to the capital was the occasion of
wildscenesofjubilationin the Place Dauphine, the ruedu Harlay,
and other approaches to the Law Courts. Anti-royalist tracts had
begun to appear in AugusP and the authorities were prepared
for trouble: the Palais de Justice was ringed with 500 Gardes de
Paris, supported by a regiment of Gardes Frantyaises. Hardy,
himself a supporter of the Parlemrnt, tells us that 'une jeunesse
eA'rc�nee', composed of the clerks of the Palais and the appren­
tices and journeymen ofthe luxury trades ofthe Place Dauphine.
crowded the Pont Neuf and its approaches. fired squibs and
fireworks, and pelted the troops with stones. On 28 September,
the climax of the disturbances, some soldien were stung to open
fire; the order was given by a sergeant of the Gardes Frantyaises
in the brutally eloquent phrase : 'f--moi du plomb dans les
fesses de cette canaille'. There were no casualties, though a
passing lawyer had his coat pierced by a stray bullet. Five
young men were arrested and were escorted, to the accompani­
ment ofjeers and further volleys of stones, to the office of Com­
missioner Ferrand in the rue des Lombards for cross-examina­
tion.3 From his report we learn that the prisoners, four of whom
, For a general account of the 'n!volte nobiliaire' tee Malhie;:, op. cit., vol. "
chaps. '-2; Lefebvre, op. cil., pp. 24-42; A. Goodwin, Tho FmlCh R,lXllulio"
(Lonpon (953), pp. 27-42·
, I Hardy, vii. '78.
' ibid. �5O-I. According to Hardy the IOldiert who had opened fire Were put
.In cells.
 18 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
parallels in our own national history. Yet the argument is not
fully convincing: the divisions between the monarchy and
privileged orders who launched the 'revolte nobiliaire', though
deep, were not fundamental; and these divisions were rapidly
healed as soon as the Third Estate----<:omprising both the
bourgeoisie and the masses of town and countryside-joined
forces in support of their own, more far·reaching, claims, as
they began to do in the spring of '78g. According to this view,
the real point of revolutionary outbreak was only reached when
the separate and scattered actions of peasants, urban craHsmen
and bourgeois journalists, lawyers. and deputies merged in
common struggle in July 1 789,I
In this study, therefore, the 'revolte nobiliaire' is presented as
a prelude or curtain-raiser, rather than as the opening act of
the revolutionary drama. Yet its profound significance and its
particular importance for the present subject are not denied :
not only did it pave the way directly for the triumph of the
Third Estate but, by drawing the urban masses into activity, it
ended the period of social peace which, in the case of Paris, had
lasted, more or less undisturbed, since the 'guerre des farines'
twelve years before. This new period. of intense social struggle
was to include both six years of revolution and the two years
preceding it. This is therefore the point at which our study of the
Parisian revolutionary crowd, in its wider context, must begin.
, Ever since the American War, in which France became
engaged in 1778, the country's finances had been in a desperate
condition. In February 1787 an almost empty exchequer and
a mounting deficit compelled the government to resort to
drastic remedies : the Assembly of Notables was convened with
the express purpose of finding some immediate solution to the
financial crisis. Calonne, as Comptroller-General, proposed a
number of far-reaching measures, including an extension of the
stamp-duty and a new general tax on landed estates: the privi­
leged orders were, in fact being invited, as by Turgot and Necker
on earlier occasions, to make a belated contribution to save the
State from bankruptcy. The Notables, with grievances and pre­
tensions of their own, refused to co-operate. Calonne was dismissed
on 8 April and succeeded by Lomenie de Brienne, Archbishop of
Pul and Pru'�I, November 1955, pp.
, For .. fuller treatmenl lee G. RlId�, 'The Outbreak of the Yn:nch Revolution
',
28-42.
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION 29
Sens and Toulouse, and soon to be promoted Cardinal. Brienne's
proposals being nomoreacceptable than Calonne's and being met
with similar obstruction, the Notables in turn were dismissed on
25 May, and the 'revolte nobiliaire' followed. k so often in the
past, it was the Paro Parlemrnt, with its vaguely defined consti­
tutional powers, that fired the opening shot. While accepting
Brienne's plan to relax controls on the sale and export of grain
and endorsing, under protest, the stamp-duty, the Pa,lnnrnJ re­
fused categorically to tegister the decree on the land-tax and
demanded that the States General be convened to deal with the
matter. When the decrees were, none the less, promulgated in a
lit dt justue
in August, the provincial Par/mlenu rallied to the
support of Paris, and Brienne was forced to capitulate: the
decrees on the land-tax and stamp·duty were withdrawn on
21 September and the Paris Par/mlent, whose memben had
been exiled, was reinstated a few days later.t
The return of the Parlmlenl to the capital was the occasion of
wildscenesofjubilationin the Place Dauphine, the ruedu Harlay,
and other approaches to the Law Courts. Anti-royalist tracts had
begun to appear in AugusP and the authorities were prepared
for trouble: the Palais de Justice was ringed with 500 Gardes de
Paris, supported by a regiment of Gardes Frantyaises. Hardy,
himself a supporter of the Parlemrnt, tells us that 'une jeunesse
eA'rc�nee', composed of the clerks of the Palais and the appren­
tices and journeymen ofthe luxury trades ofthe Place Dauphine.
crowded the Pont Neuf and its approaches. fired squibs and
fireworks, and pelted the troops with stones. On 28 September,
the climax of the disturbances, some soldien were stung to open
fire; the order was given by a sergeant of the Gardes Frantyaises
in the brutally eloquent phrase : 'f--moi du plomb dans les
fesses de cette canaille'. There were no casualties, though a
passing lawyer had his coat pierced by a stray bullet. Five
young men were arrested and were escorted, to the accompani­
ment ofjeers and further volleys of stones, to the office of Com­
missioner Ferrand in the rue des Lombards for cross-examina­
tion.3 From his report we learn that the prisoners, four of whom
, For a general account of the 'n!volte nobiliaire' tee Malhie;:, op. cit., vol. "
chaps. '-2; Lefebvre, op. cil., pp. 24-42; A. Goodwin, Tho FmlCh R,lXllulio"
(Lonpon (953), pp. 27-42·
, I Hardy, vii. '78.
' ibid. �5O-I. According to Hardy the IOldiert who had opened fire Were put
.In cells.
 ,. THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD I N ACTION
were committed to the Force jail, included two apprentices in
small crafts, two journeymen goldsmiths and a master tailor;
two Jived in the immediate vicinity of the Palais, two other! in
the university quarter across the river. '
The disorders continued for a week, during which bonfires
were lit in the square before the Palais, anti-royalist tracts were
distributed, and Calonne and the Comtesse de Polignac, the
governess of the royal children, were burned in effigy.a Finally,
on 3 October, the Parltmtnt issued an arrit, solemnly proscribing
all gatherings and firework displays in the neighbourhood of the
Palais,3 and the movement subsided-although Hardy recorded
a further minor outbreak and the mustering of 600 troops as
late as 12
November.4 Though thus protracted, this had been
a localized affair without widespread repercussions : only a small
part of the bourgeoi sie was engaged ; and the faubourgs and
markets, perhaps because the price of bread remained stable,
were not yet involved.
In the following months, however, the crisis deepened-not
least because the return to Turgot's free-trade measures had
led to a sharp rise in the price of grain. To reach a settlement
of the financial crisis Brienne fell back on the expedient of
raising a loan, which the Paris PaTUmtnt was willing to accept
provided that the Stales General be summoned. But negotia­
tions broke down again in November; the popular Duke of
Orleans and two consnllns were exiled; on his return in April
! the duke was welcomed with another round of fireworks.5 In
May 1788 the Parlement won further popularity by issuing a
declaration condemning the whole system of arbitrary govern­
[litres de cachet.
ment, including the The government riposted
by once more ringing the Palais with troops, forced the parle­
men/aires to surrender their ringleaders to royal justice, and
promulgated six edicts, drafted by Lamoignon, the garde des
sceaux, which restricted the jurisdiction of the Parltments,
reduced the number of corunllers, and vested the royal courts
and officials with greater legal powers; on this occasion only
the presence of troops prevented an angry crowd from burning
, Arch. Nat., Y ' 30 14. In addition, a domestic leTV;mt had been brought
before Commissioner Uger on :I September, charged with inciling the crowd
, Hardy, vii. :1.5:1-.5 J Brit. MUI., :17 d ' 3 (43).
agaiout the Garde de Pari& (Arch. Nal., Y 10634, fol. 6,).
• Hardy, vii. :167. I Ibid. 4'1.
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION ,.
down the Law Courts. 1 A new phase of violence followed-at
first mainly in the provinces : there were mass riots in Gre­
noble and Rennes in June; in Dauphine nobility and Third
Estate joined forces against the Crown in July. Early that
month, angry placards threatening the king with mass revolt
appeared in the Cite : 'Tremblez, Tyrans, votre Regne va
finir' ; and Hardy feared that a serious popular outbreak was
pending.i Anticipating further trouble, the government began,
in early August, to draft new regiments into the villages
adjoining the capital-this time not so much for fear of the
clerks and apprentices of the Palais as of the menu peuple of the
markets and faubourgs. l
These fears proved well founded. The government, com­
pelled to bow before the storm, promised that the States
General should be called in May 1789; on 24 August Brienne
was replaced by Necker and the Parlemtnt was recalled soon
after. This double victory was greeted two days later with
another outburst of celebrations in the Place Dauphine and its
neighbourhood : under the noses of the guards fireworks were
let off in profusion, bonfires were lit, and the occupants of
coaches crossing the Pont Neuf were made to bow low to the
equestrian statue of Henri IV and to shout 'A bas Lamoignon!'
A new factor, however, was to extend these disturbances far
beyond the scope and limits ofthe previous year. On 1 7 August
the price of the 4-lb. loaf, after long remaining at 9 SOUS, rose
to 9t sow, on the 20th to 0 SOUS, on 2 September to lOt SOUS,
1
and on 7 September to I I SOUS.4 After the first increase Hardy
noted. a slight commotion in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine;5
and, on 28 August, the ouvn·ns and menu peuple of the markets
and faubourgs joined the riots started two days earlier by the
Palais clerks in the Place Dauphine, and changed their wh('le
character.6 The next day they became more violent and spread
into other districts : guard-posts on the Pont Neuf and on both
sides of the river were ransacked and burned to the ground.
Meanwhile supreme command of all troops stationed in the
I Ibid. 470. Th� wa.. another minor dilturbance in the rue del Lombards ten
daya later (ibid. 4B').
• Ibid. 4g-66.
' Ibid. viii. 10-1/.
, Ibid. 35, 7�-7J. I Ibid. 49.
� Ibid. 6,-6:1. In HardY'1 words: 'La populace du fbg St. Antoine et celie du
fbg St. Marcel, �tant venue augmenter Ie nombn: del polu.c.ou du quarlier, Ie
d60rdn: ne fail qu'augmenler progl"Qll;vement.'
 ,. THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD I N ACTION
were committed to the Force jail, included two apprentices in
small crafts, two journeymen goldsmiths and a master tailor;
two Jived in the immediate vicinity of the Palais, two other! in
the university quarter across the river. '
The disorders continued for a week, during which bonfires
were lit in the square before the Palais, anti-royalist tracts were
distributed, and Calonne and the Comtesse de Polignac, the
governess of the royal children, were burned in effigy.a Finally,
on 3 October, the Parltmtnt issued an arrit, solemnly proscribing
all gatherings and firework displays in the neighbourhood of the
Palais,3 and the movement subsided-although Hardy recorded
a further minor outbreak and the mustering of 600 troops as
late as 12
November.4 Though thus protracted, this had been
a localized affair without widespread repercussions : only a small
part of the bourgeoi sie was engaged ; and the faubourgs and
markets, perhaps because the price of bread remained stable,
were not yet involved.
In the following months, however, the crisis deepened-not
least because the return to Turgot's free-trade measures had
led to a sharp rise in the price of grain. To reach a settlement
of the financial crisis Brienne fell back on the expedient of
raising a loan, which the Paris PaTUmtnt was willing to accept
provided that the Stales General be summoned. But negotia­
tions broke down again in November; the popular Duke of
Orleans and two consnllns were exiled; on his return in April
! the duke was welcomed with another round of fireworks.5 In
May 1788 the Parlement won further popularity by issuing a
declaration condemning the whole system of arbitrary govern­
[litres de cachet.
ment, including the The government riposted
by once more ringing the Palais with troops, forced the parle­
men/aires to surrender their ringleaders to royal justice, and
promulgated six edicts, drafted by Lamoignon, the garde des
sceaux, which restricted the jurisdiction of the Parltments,
reduced the number of corunllers, and vested the royal courts
and officials with greater legal powers; on this occasion only
the presence of troops prevented an angry crowd from burning
, Arch. Nat., Y ' 30 14. In addition, a domestic leTV;mt had been brought
before Commissioner Uger on :I September, charged with inciling the crowd
, Hardy, vii. :1.5:1-.5 J Brit. MUI., :17 d ' 3 (43).
agaiout the Garde de Pari& (Arch. Nal., Y 10634, fol. 6,).
• Hardy, vii. :167. I Ibid. 4'1.
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION ,.
down the Law Courts. 1 A new phase of violence followed-at
first mainly in the provinces : there were mass riots in Gre­
noble and Rennes in June; in Dauphine nobility and Third
Estate joined forces against the Crown in July. Early that
month, angry placards threatening the king with mass revolt
appeared in the Cite : 'Tremblez, Tyrans, votre Regne va
finir' ; and Hardy feared that a serious popular outbreak was
pending.i Anticipating further trouble, the government began,
in early August, to draft new regiments into the villages
adjoining the capital-this time not so much for fear of the
clerks and apprentices of the Palais as of the menu peuple of the
markets and faubourgs. l
These fears proved well founded. The government, com­
pelled to bow before the storm, promised that the States
General should be called in May 1789; on 24 August Brienne
was replaced by Necker and the Parlemtnt was recalled soon
after. This double victory was greeted two days later with
another outburst of celebrations in the Place Dauphine and its
neighbourhood : under the noses of the guards fireworks were
let off in profusion, bonfires were lit, and the occupants of
coaches crossing the Pont Neuf were made to bow low to the
equestrian statue of Henri IV and to shout 'A bas Lamoignon!'
A new factor, however, was to extend these disturbances far
beyond the scope and limits ofthe previous year. On 1 7 August
the price of the 4-lb. loaf, after long remaining at 9 SOUS, rose
to 9t sow, on the 20th to 0 SOUS, on 2 September to lOt SOUS,
1
and on 7 September to I I SOUS.4 After the first increase Hardy
noted. a slight commotion in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine;5
and, on 28 August, the ouvn·ns and menu peuple of the markets
and faubourgs joined the riots started two days earlier by the
Palais clerks in the Place Dauphine, and changed their wh('le
character.6 The next day they became more violent and spread
into other districts : guard-posts on the Pont Neuf and on both
sides of the river were ransacked and burned to the ground.
Meanwhile supreme command of all troops stationed in the
I Ibid. 470. Th� wa.. another minor dilturbance in the rue del Lombards ten
daya later (ibid. 4B').
• Ibid. 4g-66.
' Ibid. viii. 10-1/.
, Ibid. 35, 7�-7J. I Ibid. 49.
� Ibid. 6,-6:1. In HardY'1 words: 'La populace du fbg St. Antoine et celie du
fbg St. Marcel, �tant venue augmenter Ie nombn: del polu.c.ou du quarlier, Ie
d60rdn: ne fail qu'augmenler progl"Qll;vement.'
3' THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
capital had been given to the Marc::chal de Biron, 'hero' of the
pacification of May 1775, and the Guards were orderr:d to meet
force by force. That night a party of6oo demonstrators, oper�t­
ing in the Place de Greve, was fired on by the Garde de Pam;
seven or eight were killr:d1 and the rest were put to flight. For a
fortnight Paris was comparatively calm.
But the dismissal, on 14 Scptember, of the unpopular
Lamoignon touched off a new round of disturbances that con­
tinued intermittently until the end of the month. The crowds
were allowoo., more or less unmolested, to voice their sati c­ s�a
tion by acclaiming Henri IV on the Pont Neuf and burrung
Lamoignon in effigy in the Place de Greve; but an attempt to
attack the town house of the Chevalier Dubois, commander of
the Garde de Paris, off the rue Saint-Martin, led to an ugly
slaughter, when troops fired on a crowd hemmed in the narrow
rue de Meslai : according to Hardy, fifty were killed and
twenty-five taken prisoner; yet this appears to be an exaggera­
tion.1 The return ofthe Pariement a week later provoked further
disorders : this time, there was a bloody affray in the university
quarter, when 200 young people, carrying lighted torch� and
laurel-branches and chanting 'Vive Henri Quatre ! VlVe Ie
Parlement et au diable les trisles a patte !',l were set upon by
the Gardes Fram;aises in the rue de la Harpe, resulting in
several casualties.4 On 30 September the Chevalier Dubois
tendered his resignation, having been rewarded with a sum of
10,000 liores and the lieutenancy of Peronne, and the distur­
bances came to an end.s
The lists of persons wounde:d, arrested, and sentenced as the
result of these riots, later drawn up by the Par/ement and the
Chatelet, give us some idea of the sort of people taking pa�t in
them and of the districts from which they came. Occupations
appear in some 50 cases : of these, 24 were journeymen,
apprentices, labourers, and other wage-earners ; 10 were master
t Arch Noll., X Ib B98g: extrait du Parlement du 24 scptembre 1788; cited by
.
Monln, op. cil., pp. 41�-7.
• Hardy, viii. 80. According to the police, however, there we...: no deaths, 1+
were wounded in the rue Saint-Martin and the Faubourg Saint·Germain (where
pruaner (Monin, op. cit., p. 486).
another collision took place) and 18 (of which 8 we...: wounded) we...: taken
• Arch. Nat., Y 1 1�06; Hardy, viii. too.
I A common, unflatluing, term for the cavalry.
I Monin, op. cit., p. 489.
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION 33
craftsmen; and 16 were small traders and shopkeepers. The
great majority came from the main centres of disturbance­
the Cite, the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and the central and
northern districts of the capital ; surprisingly, not one was from
the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, in spite of Hardy's insistence that
the mmu peuple of theJaubourg had joined the riots at the end of
August.. In short these records suggest that the Parisian SQn.s­
cu[olhs had entered the struggle against the Government as a
decisive force, but not yet as the ally of the bourgeoisie; the real
revolutionary crisis was still to come.
This developed in the winter of 1 788-9 and was to bring
about a radical realin(:ment of classes. The harvest was
generally bad and, in the Paris region, crops had been flattened
by a freak hailstorm in July. There followed a winter ofpheno­
menal severity which threw thousands out of work and brought
further thousands ofvillagers flocking to the capital ; in December
Hardy wrote of 80,000 unemployed. The price of the 4-lb. loaf
in the Paris markets rose to 1 2 sow on 8 November, to 1 3 .sow
on the 28th, to 14 sow on IJ
December and, finally, to 141 sous
on I February; it was to remain at this level until after the fall
of the Bastille.:
Meanwhile, the bourgeoisie had made its entry on the revolu­
tionary stage. The cause of conflict had its roots deep in the old
regime: while colonial trade, land-values, and luxury spending
had enormously increased in the course of the cemury. capital
investment and expansion of manufacture were everywhere im­
peded by the restrictions imposed by privileged corporations,
feudal landowners. and government on the elementary capitalist
freedoms : the freedom to hire labour, the freedom to produce,
a�d the freedom to buy and sdl. Yet, while the ensuing con­
fllc� owed its eventual sharpness and finality to these deeper
SOCIal antagonisms, the clash between the bourgeoisie and the
privileged orders arose, in the first instance, over representation
and voting in the States General. Already in September the
.
Pans Parlement had begun to lose its reputation as the spokesman
for popular liberties by demanding that the States General be
constituted as in 1 6 1 4-i.e. that each order should have equal
517, 15309-', 18751, ,8795; X Ib B98g {cited by Monin, op. cit., p . 48g.
Bib: Nat., Collection Joly de Fleury, dou. 1113; Arch. Nat., Y 9"91, 9989,
r:�, "
[
I
ardy, viii. '54-5, 168,408, 426.
3' THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
capital had been given to the Marc::chal de Biron, 'hero' of the
pacification of May 1775, and the Guards were orderr:d to meet
force by force. That night a party of6oo demonstrators, oper�t­
ing in the Place de Greve, was fired on by the Garde de Pam;
seven or eight were killr:d1 and the rest were put to flight. For a
fortnight Paris was comparatively calm.
But the dismissal, on 14 Scptember, of the unpopular
Lamoignon touched off a new round of disturbances that con­
tinued intermittently until the end of the month. The crowds
were allowoo., more or less unmolested, to voice their sati c­ s�a
tion by acclaiming Henri IV on the Pont Neuf and burrung
Lamoignon in effigy in the Place de Greve; but an attempt to
attack the town house of the Chevalier Dubois, commander of
the Garde de Paris, off the rue Saint-Martin, led to an ugly
slaughter, when troops fired on a crowd hemmed in the narrow
rue de Meslai : according to Hardy, fifty were killed and
twenty-five taken prisoner; yet this appears to be an exaggera­
tion.1 The return ofthe Pariement a week later provoked further
disorders : this time, there was a bloody affray in the university
quarter, when 200 young people, carrying lighted torch� and
laurel-branches and chanting 'Vive Henri Quatre ! VlVe Ie
Parlement et au diable les trisles a patte !',l were set upon by
the Gardes Fram;aises in the rue de la Harpe, resulting in
several casualties.4 On 30 September the Chevalier Dubois
tendered his resignation, having been rewarded with a sum of
10,000 liores and the lieutenancy of Peronne, and the distur­
bances came to an end.s
The lists of persons wounde:d, arrested, and sentenced as the
result of these riots, later drawn up by the Par/ement and the
Chatelet, give us some idea of the sort of people taking pa�t in
them and of the districts from which they came. Occupations
appear in some 50 cases : of these, 24 were journeymen,
apprentices, labourers, and other wage-earners ; 10 were master
t Arch Noll., X Ib B98g: extrait du Parlement du 24 scptembre 1788; cited by
.
Monln, op. cil., pp. 41�-7.
• Hardy, viii. 80. According to the police, however, there we...: no deaths, 1+
were wounded in the rue Saint-Martin and the Faubourg Saint·Germain (where
pruaner (Monin, op. cit., p. 486).
another collision took place) and 18 (of which 8 we...: wounded) we...: taken
• Arch. Nat., Y 1 1�06; Hardy, viii. too.
I A common, unflatluing, term for the cavalry.
I Monin, op. cit., p. 489.
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION 33
craftsmen; and 16 were small traders and shopkeepers. The
great majority came from the main centres of disturbance­
the Cite, the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and the central and
northern districts of the capital ; surprisingly, not one was from
the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, in spite of Hardy's insistence that
the mmu peuple of theJaubourg had joined the riots at the end of
August.. In short these records suggest that the Parisian SQn.s­
cu[olhs had entered the struggle against the Government as a
decisive force, but not yet as the ally of the bourgeoisie; the real
revolutionary crisis was still to come.
This developed in the winter of 1 788-9 and was to bring
about a radical realin(:ment of classes. The harvest was
generally bad and, in the Paris region, crops had been flattened
by a freak hailstorm in July. There followed a winter ofpheno­
menal severity which threw thousands out of work and brought
further thousands ofvillagers flocking to the capital ; in December
Hardy wrote of 80,000 unemployed. The price of the 4-lb. loaf
in the Paris markets rose to 1 2 sow on 8 November, to 1 3 .sow
on the 28th, to 14 sow on IJ
December and, finally, to 141 sous
on I February; it was to remain at this level until after the fall
of the Bastille.:
Meanwhile, the bourgeoisie had made its entry on the revolu­
tionary stage. The cause of conflict had its roots deep in the old
regime: while colonial trade, land-values, and luxury spending
had enormously increased in the course of the cemury. capital
investment and expansion of manufacture were everywhere im­
peded by the restrictions imposed by privileged corporations,
feudal landowners. and government on the elementary capitalist
freedoms : the freedom to hire labour, the freedom to produce,
a�d the freedom to buy and sdl. Yet, while the ensuing con­
fllc� owed its eventual sharpness and finality to these deeper
SOCIal antagonisms, the clash between the bourgeoisie and the
privileged orders arose, in the first instance, over representation
and voting in the States General. Already in September the
.
Pans Parlement had begun to lose its reputation as the spokesman
for popular liberties by demanding that the States General be
constituted as in 1 6 1 4-i.e. that each order should have equal
517, 15309-', 18751, ,8795; X Ib B98g {cited by Monin, op. cit., p . 48g.
Bib: Nat., Collection Joly de Fleury, dou. 1113; Arch. Nat., Y 9"91, 9989,
r:�, "
[
I
ardy, viii. '54-5, 168,408, 426.
 "
"
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION
THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION

representation and vote separately. �

even more for right t? become the target for the destructive violence of the journey­
.
was vOiced In the men and labourers of the St. Antoine district? Let us consider
insistence on the maintenance of pnvdege
the facts briefly.
Manifesto of the princes of the blood in D«ember. Necker,
however, persuaded the Council to low the .Thi :u Es t
�
� � On 23 April Reveillon made a speech in the Electoral
Assembly of the Sainte-Marguerite District in whlch he re­
double representation; but the question of voung par tete
gretted the high costs of production and the burden imposed on
(as demanded by the bourgeoisie) or 'par orore' (as insisted by
industry by the high level of wages; whether or not he advo­
the nobility and clergy) remained open and led to bloody
cated a reduction of wages is not certain, but he appears to have
lamented the days when workpeople could make do on I S soW"
clashes between nobles and commoners at Rennes. By January
the new alinement of forces was becoming clear and Mallet
a day. Similar views were expressed on the same day by Henriot.
du Pan noted that it was no longer a question of constitutional
a powder manufacturer of the rue de Cotte, in the Assembly of
conflict between the king and the priviUgits but a 'war between
the Enfants-Trouves District, also in the Faubourg Saint­
the Thlrd Estate and the two other orders'.' In February the
Antoine. That these remarks, whatever their intention, aroused
conflict was raised to a higher pitch by the publication of the
abbe Sieyes's pamphlet Q!4'est-ce qut Ie tiers tWa, in which � immediate and spontaneous dissatisfaction among the wage­
e
. earners of thefaubourg is evident from a report seD[ by Thiroux
bourgeoisie for the first time laid claim to control the desumes
de Cresne, Paris lieutenant of police, to Louis XVI on the
of the nation irrespective of the wishes or privileges of the other
following morning :
orders.
It was against this background of developing crisis and poli­ II y a eu hier soir sur les dix heures [he wrote] un peu de rumeur
tical ferment that the ReveiIIon riots took place in the Faubourg dans un canton du raubourg St. Antoine; it n'l�tait que J'etfet du
Saint-Antoine at the end of April; they have been called the mecontentement que quelques ouvriers marquaient contre deux
entrepreneurs de manufacture qui, dans l'assembl«!e de Ste. Mar­
first great popular outbreak of the Revolution,' though they
guerite, avaient fait des observations inconsidh«!es sur Ie taux des
might perhaps with equal justice be termed the last outbreak of
salaires.'
the old regime. Reveillon was a successful manufacturer of wall­
paper, whose main factory in the rue de Montreuil, off the rue After a lull the storm broke on the 27th: being a Monday it
r du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, employed some 350 workers. He was a workers' rest-day. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, reported
had won a Royal Medal for his services to industry. He w� Thiroux de Cresne, five or six hundred ouvriers gathered near
.
wealthy: his library contained 50,000 volu�es, and hiS furn�­ the Bastille; and, having hanged Reveillon in effigy, paraded
ture alone was said to be worth 50,000 itvTes; even after hiS dummy figures of the two manufacturers round different parts
cellan had been ransacked in the riots, we are told that 2,000 of the capital.1 The same afternoon Hardy, whose bookshop,
bottles remained unscathed. He had the reputation of being a
good employer: he claimed to pay none of his workers less than
A Ja Colonne d'Or, in the rue Saint-Jacques was admirably
situated for witnessing such processions, noted in his Journal that
.
25 soW" a day, when it was still common for a labourer to receIVe the 'insurrection' had spread to the Notre Dame district; later. he
no more than 20; and, during the arctic winter of I 788-9, wh�n met several hundred workers, armed with sticks and headed by
industry was almost at a standstill for lack of fuel, he had paId a drummer, in the rue de la Montagne Sainte-Genevieve; having
15 soW" unemployment pay to 200 of his workpeople who had recruited reinforcements in the Faubourg Saint-Marcel, they
been laid off.l Why then did such a solid citizen, good em­ returned to the Place de Greve, before the Hotel de Ville, some
ployer, and resp«ted member of his local Electoral Assembly 3,000 strong.J Three Electors of the Third Estate subsequently

, Cited by Lefebwc, fA RlvoIuliotIfro1lfois. (Paris, '9�), p. • • ,.

, Lefebvre, L4 RlwlllIio:t iii '1119, p. 69· • Ibid., rol. 53.
1 Alch. Nat., C �11,
I Hardy, viii. 197-8.
no. • 60}'46, fol. 58.
, G. Rud�, Pariria WIII""_s, ii. 36.
 "
"
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION
THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION

representation and vote separately. �

even more for right t? become the target for the destructive violence of the journey­
.
was vOiced In the men and labourers of the St. Antoine district? Let us consider
insistence on the maintenance of pnvdege
the facts briefly.
Manifesto of the princes of the blood in D«ember. Necker,
however, persuaded the Council to low the .Thi :u Es t
�
� � On 23 April Reveillon made a speech in the Electoral
Assembly of the Sainte-Marguerite District in whlch he re­
double representation; but the question of voung par tete
gretted the high costs of production and the burden imposed on
(as demanded by the bourgeoisie) or 'par orore' (as insisted by
industry by the high level of wages; whether or not he advo­
the nobility and clergy) remained open and led to bloody
cated a reduction of wages is not certain, but he appears to have
lamented the days when workpeople could make do on I S soW"
clashes between nobles and commoners at Rennes. By January
the new alinement of forces was becoming clear and Mallet
a day. Similar views were expressed on the same day by Henriot.
du Pan noted that it was no longer a question of constitutional
a powder manufacturer of the rue de Cotte, in the Assembly of
conflict between the king and the priviUgits but a 'war between
the Enfants-Trouves District, also in the Faubourg Saint­
the Thlrd Estate and the two other orders'.' In February the
Antoine. That these remarks, whatever their intention, aroused
conflict was raised to a higher pitch by the publication of the
abbe Sieyes's pamphlet Q!4'est-ce qut Ie tiers tWa, in which � immediate and spontaneous dissatisfaction among the wage­
e
. earners of thefaubourg is evident from a report seD[ by Thiroux
bourgeoisie for the first time laid claim to control the desumes
de Cresne, Paris lieutenant of police, to Louis XVI on the
of the nation irrespective of the wishes or privileges of the other
following morning :
orders.
It was against this background of developing crisis and poli­ II y a eu hier soir sur les dix heures [he wrote] un peu de rumeur
tical ferment that the ReveiIIon riots took place in the Faubourg dans un canton du raubourg St. Antoine; it n'l�tait que J'etfet du
Saint-Antoine at the end of April; they have been called the mecontentement que quelques ouvriers marquaient contre deux
entrepreneurs de manufacture qui, dans l'assembl«!e de Ste. Mar­
first great popular outbreak of the Revolution,' though they
guerite, avaient fait des observations inconsidh«!es sur Ie taux des
might perhaps with equal justice be termed the last outbreak of
salaires.'
the old regime. Reveillon was a successful manufacturer of wall­
paper, whose main factory in the rue de Montreuil, off the rue After a lull the storm broke on the 27th: being a Monday it
r du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, employed some 350 workers. He was a workers' rest-day. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, reported
had won a Royal Medal for his services to industry. He w� Thiroux de Cresne, five or six hundred ouvriers gathered near
.
wealthy: his library contained 50,000 volu�es, and hiS furn�­ the Bastille; and, having hanged Reveillon in effigy, paraded
ture alone was said to be worth 50,000 itvTes; even after hiS dummy figures of the two manufacturers round different parts
cellan had been ransacked in the riots, we are told that 2,000 of the capital.1 The same afternoon Hardy, whose bookshop,
bottles remained unscathed. He had the reputation of being a
good employer: he claimed to pay none of his workers less than
A Ja Colonne d'Or, in the rue Saint-Jacques was admirably
situated for witnessing such processions, noted in his Journal that
.
25 soW" a day, when it was still common for a labourer to receIVe the 'insurrection' had spread to the Notre Dame district; later. he
no more than 20; and, during the arctic winter of I 788-9, wh�n met several hundred workers, armed with sticks and headed by
industry was almost at a standstill for lack of fuel, he had paId a drummer, in the rue de la Montagne Sainte-Genevieve; having
15 soW" unemployment pay to 200 of his workpeople who had recruited reinforcements in the Faubourg Saint-Marcel, they
been laid off.l Why then did such a solid citizen, good em­ returned to the Place de Greve, before the Hotel de Ville, some
ployer, and resp«ted member of his local Electoral Assembly 3,000 strong.J Three Electors of the Third Estate subsequently

, Cited by Lefebwc, fA RlvoIuliotIfro1lfois. (Paris, '9�), p. • • ,.

, Lefebvre, L4 RlwlllIio:t iii '1119, p. 69· • Ibid., rol. 53.
1 Alch. Nat., C �11,
I Hardy, viii. 197-8.
no. • 60}'46, fol. 58.
, G. Rud�, Pariria WIII""_s, ii. 36.
 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
,6
that evening
described their meeting with thedemonstraton later
sct out once more for the Faubou rg Saint.Marcel; they
as they
persuaded them to disperse.' But the crowds fe-formed soon
after ncar Reveillon's factory in the rue de Montreuil. Finding
his house guarded by fifty men of the Royal Cravatc Regiment,
they made for Henriot's house in the rue de Cotte nearby and
destroyed his furniture and personal effects. They were then
dispersed by the troops-without loss of life, noted Thiroux de
Crosne. In addition to the Guards posted in Reveillon's house,
100
men were brought in to guard
while a reserve force of 100
two further detachments of
different parts of the faubourg,
mounted troops summoned from Charenton stood by in case
of emergency. With this display offorce, the authorities thought
that the worst was over.Z
But, early next day, the movement started up again and
extended over a wider area, considerably alarming the house­
holders. While more troops were called in, bands of workers
went round the districts recruiting fresh supporters by persua­
sion or intimidation. No work was done that day in the docks;
factory workers and workshop journeymen came out in the
early afiernoon, and many joined the rioters. The police had
given express instructions that the 500 workers of the Royal
Glass Manufactory in the rue de Reuilly-a bare 200 yards from
Rcveillon's factory-should be forcibly kept at work; but
I itinerant bands broke in the doors and persuaded or compelled
the workers to join them. In the Temple district an attempt was
made to fetch workers out from their lodgings.l By 5 o'clock,
noted Hardy, demonstrators were assembling on the Pont
Neuf, the Pont au Change (adjoining the Chatelet), the Porte
Saint-Antoine, and off the boulevards.4
The climax came between six and eight in the evening.
R�veillon's house was stormed, the fifty Guards of the Royal
Cravate Regiment were swept aside, and the destruction of the
previous night was repeated on a vaster scale. The Duc du
Chatelet, commanding the Gardes Franr,;aises, gave the order
, A,1o /Jtltri#tiqu< Ih trois 1Itt:�!I>'$ du Ti
178g), Bib. Nat., Lb 39
m itat (Paris,
1620. • Arch. Nat., C 221, no. 160/146, fols. 49, 54.
) See cfoss-examination of T�t.,ign., (port_worker), Gilles (marble-worker),
(Arch, Nat., Y '3[0', [34;'4, '3;,82, 12218, "033) ; also Arch. Nat., C 22',
Hallier (farrier), Gu�rin (paper_worker), Chdours (journeyman coppersmith)
• Hardy, viii. 299.
no. 160/t46, foJ. 5 1 .
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION "
to fire. In spite of the massacre that followed in the narrow
congested streets with thousands crowding the windows and
roofs, the crowd stood firm and fought back with shouts of
'Liberte . . . nous ne cederons pas.' 1 Others shouted, 'Vive Ie
tiers �tat!', and even 'Vive Ie Roi ! Vive M. Necker !': The battle
lasted until 8 o'clock; at to, Thiroux de Crosne reported to the
king: 'Le calm� continue a se retablir; it parait qu'il ne reste
plus dans Ie faubourg St. Antoine qu� quelques groupes.'J
Hardy feared a repetition on the morrow and wrote that
before dispersing, the rioters had announced 'que Ie lend�mai �
ils feraient grand tapage pour obtenir la diminution du pain'.4
There remained the judicial reckoning. On 29 April Gilbert,
a blanket-maker, and Pourat, a porter, were hanged in the
Place de Greve. Three weeks later Mary, a scrivener, was hanged
at th� Porte Saint-Antoine; a woman, Marie-Jeanne Trumeau
sentenced to share his fate, was found to be pregnant, respited :
and eventually reprieved. Five others, found drunk in R�­
veillon's cellars and guilty of resisting the troops with violence
and abusive language, wer� exhibited in stocks at the Porte
Saint-Antoine alongside Mary's gallows, branded with hot
irons, and sent to the galleys for life. Twenty-six other prisoners
were eventually released, most of them three months later as
'
th� result of public pressure.s
The numbers of killed and wounded in the Reveillon riots
have never been established. In order not to in8ame opinion
further the authorities were careful to play down the number of
victims and, in so doing, gave rise to the wildest rumours and
specul�tion The Marquis de Sillery, deputy for the nobility
ofRhelms, In reportmg the events to his constituents, estimated
: .
better and put the figure above 900.7 Another writer speaks of
the number of killed at 'several hundred'.' Hardy went one
s�venty or eighty corpses being placed in the garden of one
smgle house in the rue de Montreuil.' In contrast, the various
reports of the commissioners of the Chatelet account for a
� J. Collot, 'L'affaire Rt!vt:illon', Rnw dl$ qu<sl;(IfI.l histMiquu, (:XlIi (193....5),
I Arch. Nat., KK 641, fol. '7.
..
l
35 5 ' 239-54·
.. Hardy, viii. 299.
, rch. Nat., C 221, no. 160/'46, fol. 52.
DB" 702,: Hardy, "m.
' Arch Nat., Y [ ?530, fob. 129-33; Y 18795, foJ•. +14-5, 447-50, 457, 462;
. . 303,
• Hardy, viii. 313.
329-3' .
Ltllre au Ro, (Puis, I 78g). Bib. Nal., V, 39 7156, p. '5'
•
• Akh. N:u., KK 141, fol 16.
.
.
 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
,6
that evening
described their meeting with thedemonstraton later
sct out once more for the Faubou rg Saint.Marcel; they
as they
persuaded them to disperse.' But the crowds fe-formed soon
after ncar Reveillon's factory in the rue de Montreuil. Finding
his house guarded by fifty men of the Royal Cravatc Regiment,
they made for Henriot's house in the rue de Cotte nearby and
destroyed his furniture and personal effects. They were then
dispersed by the troops-without loss of life, noted Thiroux de
Crosne. In addition to the Guards posted in Reveillon's house,
100
men were brought in to guard
while a reserve force of 100
two further detachments of
different parts of the faubourg,
mounted troops summoned from Charenton stood by in case
of emergency. With this display offorce, the authorities thought
that the worst was over.Z
But, early next day, the movement started up again and
extended over a wider area, considerably alarming the house­
holders. While more troops were called in, bands of workers
went round the districts recruiting fresh supporters by persua­
sion or intimidation. No work was done that day in the docks;
factory workers and workshop journeymen came out in the
early afiernoon, and many joined the rioters. The police had
given express instructions that the 500 workers of the Royal
Glass Manufactory in the rue de Reuilly-a bare 200 yards from
Rcveillon's factory-should be forcibly kept at work; but
I itinerant bands broke in the doors and persuaded or compelled
the workers to join them. In the Temple district an attempt was
made to fetch workers out from their lodgings.l By 5 o'clock,
noted Hardy, demonstrators were assembling on the Pont
Neuf, the Pont au Change (adjoining the Chatelet), the Porte
Saint-Antoine, and off the boulevards.4
The climax came between six and eight in the evening.
R�veillon's house was stormed, the fifty Guards of the Royal
Cravate Regiment were swept aside, and the destruction of the
previous night was repeated on a vaster scale. The Duc du
Chatelet, commanding the Gardes Franr,;aises, gave the order
, A,1o /Jtltri#tiqu< Ih trois 1Itt:�!I>'$ du Ti
178g), Bib. Nat., Lb 39
m itat (Paris,
1620. • Arch. Nat., C 221, no. 160/146, fols. 49, 54.
) See cfoss-examination of T�t.,ign., (port_worker), Gilles (marble-worker),
(Arch, Nat., Y '3[0', [34;'4, '3;,82, 12218, "033) ; also Arch. Nat., C 22',
Hallier (farrier), Gu�rin (paper_worker), Chdours (journeyman coppersmith)
• Hardy, viii. 299.
no. 160/t46, foJ. 5 1 .
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION "
to fire. In spite of the massacre that followed in the narrow
congested streets with thousands crowding the windows and
roofs, the crowd stood firm and fought back with shouts of
'Liberte . . . nous ne cederons pas.' 1 Others shouted, 'Vive Ie
tiers �tat!', and even 'Vive Ie Roi ! Vive M. Necker !': The battle
lasted until 8 o'clock; at to, Thiroux de Crosne reported to the
king: 'Le calm� continue a se retablir; it parait qu'il ne reste
plus dans Ie faubourg St. Antoine qu� quelques groupes.'J
Hardy feared a repetition on the morrow and wrote that
before dispersing, the rioters had announced 'que Ie lend�mai �
ils feraient grand tapage pour obtenir la diminution du pain'.4
There remained the judicial reckoning. On 29 April Gilbert,
a blanket-maker, and Pourat, a porter, were hanged in the
Place de Greve. Three weeks later Mary, a scrivener, was hanged
at th� Porte Saint-Antoine; a woman, Marie-Jeanne Trumeau
sentenced to share his fate, was found to be pregnant, respited :
and eventually reprieved. Five others, found drunk in R�­
veillon's cellars and guilty of resisting the troops with violence
and abusive language, wer� exhibited in stocks at the Porte
Saint-Antoine alongside Mary's gallows, branded with hot
irons, and sent to the galleys for life. Twenty-six other prisoners
were eventually released, most of them three months later as
'
th� result of public pressure.s
The numbers of killed and wounded in the Reveillon riots
have never been established. In order not to in8ame opinion
further the authorities were careful to play down the number of
victims and, in so doing, gave rise to the wildest rumours and
specul�tion The Marquis de Sillery, deputy for the nobility
ofRhelms, In reportmg the events to his constituents, estimated
: .
better and put the figure above 900.7 Another writer speaks of
the number of killed at 'several hundred'.' Hardy went one
s�venty or eighty corpses being placed in the garden of one
smgle house in the rue de Montreuil.' In contrast, the various
reports of the commissioners of the Chatelet account for a
� J. Collot, 'L'affaire Rt!vt:illon', Rnw dl$ qu<sl;(IfI.l histMiquu, (:XlIi (193....5),
I Arch. Nat., KK 641, fol. '7.
..
l
35 5 ' 239-54·
.. Hardy, viii. 299.
, rch. Nat., C 221, no. 160/'46, fol. 52.
DB" 702,: Hardy, "m.
' Arch Nat., Y [ ?530, fob. 129-33; Y 18795, foJ•. +14-5, 447-50, 457, 462;
. . 303,
• Hardy, viii. 313.
329-3' .
Ltllre au Ro, (Puis, I 78g). Bib. Nal., V, 39 7156, p. '5'
•
• Akh. N:u., KK 141, fol 16.
.
.
,8 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
death·roll of only twenty-five and for twenty-two wounded
survivors. I These figures are almost certainly incomplete,
though we have no means of correcting them.
Yet, despite these deficiencies, these reports help us to establish
both the nature of the rioters and the districts most directly
involved in the disturbances. Historians have not been able to
agree on the latter point. Jaures thought the majority of the
rioters came from outside the Faubourg Saint-Antoine;l while
a more recent writer, J. Collot, has claimed that ,the main
stimulus to them came from the other traditionally turbulent
fau.bourg of Saint-Marcel.3 Collot's contention is supported by
Guerin, one of the accused, who, under cross-examination, told
the police : 'Ce 50nt des gens du faubourg Marcel qui ant
occasionne ce tumulte·lil, qu'il l'a entendu dire a son frere et
autres,'<t Yet it is refuted by other evidence-not only by the
reports of Thiroux de Crosne, who consistently speaks of the
rioters asbeinglargelydrawnfrom the Faubourg Saint-Antoine;!
but, more conclusively perhaps, by the reports ofthe commission­
ers of the Chateleton those killed, wounded, and arrested. In fact,
of sixty-three persons whose addresses appear in these reports,
only five lived in the Faubourg Saint-Marce1.6 This would seem
to clinch the matter-unless, ofcourse, it could be demonstrated
that the people of Saint-Marcel had more than their share ofskill
or good fortune in dodging bullets or escaping detection!
Jaures's contention is nearer the truth : ofthe same sixty-three
persons, only thirty-two are known to have lived in the Faubourg
Saint-Antoine-clearly a bare majority; yet if we add those
residing in the adjoining and closely associated districts of Saint­
Paul and Saint-Gervais, we shall account for a substantial
majority of those whose records have heen preserved. By and
large, then, these riots may be said to have heen largely a Saint­
Antoine affair, drawing their main stimulus and most solid
body of support from the Saint-Antoine districts. Yet as the
I Arch. Nat., Y 11033, 1358�, 15101; C.-L. Chassin, US CaA;err It lu I/ection.r
• Arch. Nat., Y 1�1I18.
de Pa,u m '78g, iii. 7� fr. • Jauro, Hil/o;,e rocja/iste i. 14�'
, Collot, op. cit., pp. 4�-49.
• In a leUer to Commissioner Joron of 8 May 1789, he writes: 'Vow leur fer�
entendre que la plupart do seditieux <!tant du faubourg St. Antoine . . . " &c.
(Arch. Nat., Y 13g81).
447-50, 457. 4611; Chassil1, loe. cll.
• Arch. Nat., Y 10491; 10530, fols. 131-3 ; 13582; 15019; 18795, fob. 444-5
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION "
remarks attributed to Reveillon had a significance in no way
peculiar to the ftwbourg, it proved an easy matter to recruit
support from neighbouring parishes-yet it remained a local
affair and its repercussions were not as widespread as those of
the previous August and September.
The Reveillon riots are unique in the history of the Revolu­
tion in that they represent an insurrectionary movement of
wage-earners. In them alone, of all the insurrections during the
period under review, the wage-earners clearly predominate and
an appeal is made, however confusedly, to the wage-earners as
a social group. The Revolution in Paris was to witness more
than one concerted wages movement of different trades-as in
1791 and I794-but they were never to assume an insurrec­
tionary form. We should certainly hesitate, after the warnings
voiced in the last chapter, to assume that the use of the term
ouvriers by Hardy and Thiroux de Crosne necessarily meant that
the persons so described were wage-earners in our modem
sense of the word;' but, in this instance, the terms prove sub­
stantially to coincide. We have already seen that a direct and
particular appeal was addressed by the demonstrators to
workers in docks, factories, and lodging-houses; and an examina­
tion of the police reports shows that of seventy-one persons
(arrested, wounded, or killed) whose occupations are given, no
less than fifty-eight were wage-eamers-journeymen of the
small crafts of the faubourg, riverside and general workers of
Saint-Paul and Saint-Gervais, a sprinkling of workers in manu­
facture. The remainder included a sculptor, a wine-merchant,
a master upholsterer, and-somewhat incongruously-a Knight
of the Holy Roman Empire_z There was one woman among
them-one of the alleged ringleaders-Marie-Anne Trumeau
by name : she was supposed to have incited the rioters to burn
and loot with cries of 'Allons, vive Ie Tiers Etat!' and 'A la
Reveillon!'; as we saw, it nearly cost her her life.J
• See footl1ote 6, p. 38. In addilion, Hardy records the arrest on � May in the rue
I &e p. 16 above.
do Pretro St. S<!verin, in Ihe universityquarter. oftwo porters in connexionwith this
affair (Hardy, viii. 307). If we add these to the other 35 men and women arn:S1ed
and recorded in the police reports, we find that all many all 32 out of 37 arrested
pecsops Were wage_eullers-an cven more significanl figure than that givel1 above,
the soldiers' bullets.
all th""e people Were presumably more directly involved Ihan the chance victilYlll of
• Arch. Nat., Y 13981, 13454.
,8 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
death·roll of only twenty-five and for twenty-two wounded
survivors. I These figures are almost certainly incomplete,
though we have no means of correcting them.
Yet, despite these deficiencies, these reports help us to establish
both the nature of the rioters and the districts most directly
involved in the disturbances. Historians have not been able to
agree on the latter point. Jaures thought the majority of the
rioters came from outside the Faubourg Saint-Antoine;l while
a more recent writer, J. Collot, has claimed that ,the main
stimulus to them came from the other traditionally turbulent
fau.bourg of Saint-Marcel.3 Collot's contention is supported by
Guerin, one of the accused, who, under cross-examination, told
the police : 'Ce 50nt des gens du faubourg Marcel qui ant
occasionne ce tumulte·lil, qu'il l'a entendu dire a son frere et
autres,'<t Yet it is refuted by other evidence-not only by the
reports of Thiroux de Crosne, who consistently speaks of the
rioters asbeinglargelydrawnfrom the Faubourg Saint-Antoine;!
but, more conclusively perhaps, by the reports ofthe commission­
ers of the Chateleton those killed, wounded, and arrested. In fact,
of sixty-three persons whose addresses appear in these reports,
only five lived in the Faubourg Saint-Marce1.6 This would seem
to clinch the matter-unless, ofcourse, it could be demonstrated
that the people of Saint-Marcel had more than their share ofskill
or good fortune in dodging bullets or escaping detection!
Jaures's contention is nearer the truth : ofthe same sixty-three
persons, only thirty-two are known to have lived in the Faubourg
Saint-Antoine-clearly a bare majority; yet if we add those
residing in the adjoining and closely associated districts of Saint­
Paul and Saint-Gervais, we shall account for a substantial
majority of those whose records have heen preserved. By and
large, then, these riots may be said to have heen largely a Saint­
Antoine affair, drawing their main stimulus and most solid
body of support from the Saint-Antoine districts. Yet as the
I Arch. Nat., Y 11033, 1358�, 15101; C.-L. Chassin, US CaA;err It lu I/ection.r
• Arch. Nat., Y 1�1I18.
de Pa,u m '78g, iii. 7� fr. • Jauro, Hil/o;,e rocja/iste i. 14�'
, Collot, op. cit., pp. 4�-49.
• In a leUer to Commissioner Joron of 8 May 1789, he writes: 'Vow leur fer�
entendre que la plupart do seditieux <!tant du faubourg St. Antoine . . . " &c.
(Arch. Nat., Y 13g81).
447-50, 457. 4611; Chassil1, loe. cll.
• Arch. Nat., Y 10491; 10530, fols. 131-3 ; 13582; 15019; 18795, fob. 444-5
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION "
remarks attributed to Reveillon had a significance in no way
peculiar to the ftwbourg, it proved an easy matter to recruit
support from neighbouring parishes-yet it remained a local
affair and its repercussions were not as widespread as those of
the previous August and September.
The Reveillon riots are unique in the history of the Revolu­
tion in that they represent an insurrectionary movement of
wage-earners. In them alone, of all the insurrections during the
period under review, the wage-earners clearly predominate and
an appeal is made, however confusedly, to the wage-earners as
a social group. The Revolution in Paris was to witness more
than one concerted wages movement of different trades-as in
1791 and I794-but they were never to assume an insurrec­
tionary form. We should certainly hesitate, after the warnings
voiced in the last chapter, to assume that the use of the term
ouvriers by Hardy and Thiroux de Crosne necessarily meant that
the persons so described were wage-earners in our modem
sense of the word;' but, in this instance, the terms prove sub­
stantially to coincide. We have already seen that a direct and
particular appeal was addressed by the demonstrators to
workers in docks, factories, and lodging-houses; and an examina­
tion of the police reports shows that of seventy-one persons
(arrested, wounded, or killed) whose occupations are given, no
less than fifty-eight were wage-eamers-journeymen of the
small crafts of the faubourg, riverside and general workers of
Saint-Paul and Saint-Gervais, a sprinkling of workers in manu­
facture. The remainder included a sculptor, a wine-merchant,
a master upholsterer, and-somewhat incongruously-a Knight
of the Holy Roman Empire_z There was one woman among
them-one of the alleged ringleaders-Marie-Anne Trumeau
by name : she was supposed to have incited the rioters to burn
and loot with cries of 'Allons, vive Ie Tiers Etat!' and 'A la
Reveillon!'; as we saw, it nearly cost her her life.J
• See footl1ote 6, p. 38. In addilion, Hardy records the arrest on � May in the rue
I &e p. 16 above.
do Pretro St. S<!verin, in Ihe universityquarter. oftwo porters in connexionwith this
affair (Hardy, viii. 307). If we add these to the other 35 men and women arn:S1ed
and recorded in the police reports, we find that all many all 32 out of 37 arrested
pecsops Were wage_eullers-an cven more significanl figure than that givel1 above,
the soldiers' bullets.
all th""e people Were presumably more directly involved Ihan the chance victilYlll of
• Arch. Nat., Y 13981, 13454.
 ,0 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
What drove these journeymen, labourers, and petty crafts­
men to such violent outbursts of anger and to behave with such
reckless courage? The immediate cause of the disturbance is, of
course, not in doubt: it flowed directly from the 'inconsiderate'
remarks attributed to Reveillon and Henriot concerning the
high level of wages. Whether they actually advocated a reduc­
tion, as was widely believed; or whether they merely regretted
the passing of happier days, as some of their apologists main­
tained ;' or whether, as they themselves insisted, they never
made the reported remarks at a1l2 does not really make mU'ch
difference. What is important is what they were believed to
have said by the wage-earners of the faubourg and the effect it
had on them. Some of the more coherent of the accused ad�
mitted under cross-examination that it was the veiled threat to
their wages that had made them join in the riots. For example.
the harness-maker, Le Blanc, who confessed to having entered
Reveillon's house and thrown furniture out of the window,
explained his reasons for joining the demonstrators as follows :
Qu'il y a ete par curio!ite et parce qu'il y a ete entraine par la
multitude, qu'il avait aimi que les autres ouvriers du faubourg de
I'humeur contre Ie sr. Revdllon parce qu'il avait dit dans I'assem­
blee du tien etat a Ste. Margueri te que les ouvrien pouvaient vivre
avec quinze sols par jour, qu'il avait chez lui des ouvrien qui
gagnaient vingt sols par jour et avaient la montre dans Ie gousset et
qu'ils scraient bient6t plw riches que lui.
, And he added, perhaps significantly, that it was his own em�
player, Olivier, a well-known porcelain manufacturer of the
rue de la Raquette, who had told him so.)
Taking place when they did, at a time of intense political
ferment, these riots were bound to appear to the authorities as
something more than a mere spontaneous outbreak over wages.
As none of the arrested workers appeared to be a leader, who
then had incited them by bribery, or other means? Hardy
refers to the rioters as '(des) ouvriers . . . souleves par des
, Arch. Nat., KK 6.p, fol. , 6.
1 &/IOJ'JWliJicalif""lI1" k ,uur lYvri/Jon and &poslJWliJictl/if""1I1" Ie linn- H,lUiol
(Paris, I 18g). Bib. Nat., L'> 39 16,8--' 9.
1 Arch. Nat., Y 13319. Similar lIatemenli w<:re made by Deldevae, a lCulptor,
and Verpy, a joiner (Arch. Nat., Y 122'S). O!ivi�r later achieved fame for his
porcelain models of the Bastille (sec 'La Bastille el lei faiencien' in l..tJ R'<'O/wli(nl
T/Ulftl;'t, i (18SI), • •6-IS).
41
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION
brigands' ;I and the author of the pamphlet, Courtes rlflexions
sur l' ivinnnent du .28 auril, points to an aristocratic or clerical plot
in which
i
­
trants, Ics uns par argent, les autres par violence, a suivre cette
un grand nombre d'ouvrien de differcntes professions ont tte con
troupe de (arcenes. 1.
The reports ofall the investigating commissioners show the same
preoccupation with outside agents; and, having failed to obtain
satisfaction on this score from any of the existing prisoners, the
police proceeded to arrest on 3 May the abbe Roy, a man who
had already been publicly denounced as a government agent
and a personal enemy of ReveilJon. But he proved a disappoint­
ing witness and was released a few days later.J The belief in
clerical conspirators seems to have been strong at the Chatelet,
for when one ofthe defendants, the paper-worker Sirier, claimed
to have been given money in the rue Saint-Honore some days
after the riots, he was asked 'si ce n'etait point un abbe ou
d'autres particuliers qui Ie lui avait donne.'. Yet, as in the
riots of 1 775, the beliefin a clerical plot appears to have had no
solid foundation.
Nor did there prove ro be any more substance in another
aspect of the conspiracy theory-that the rioters had been
bribed. Montjoie, the editor of the ultra-royalist L'Ami du Roi,
reported that each of the wounded brought to the Hotel-Dieu
were found to have 12 francs in his possession, in most cases
wrapped in paper as though newly counted.s It appears to
have been a fabrication, as the police, who had every reason for
wishing to confirm their own belief in a clerical, Orleanist, or
other plot, found nothing suspicious on any one ofthe prisoners,
all ofwhom were subjected to a personal search. On the eighteen
corpses taken to Montrouge cemetery and examined by Com­
missioner Odent. not a brass farthing was found-only a few
cheap tobacco-pouches, keys, trade instruments and, in one
instance, a small silver object that may have been stolen.6 The
only person who admitted any monetary payment and who was
I Hardy, viii. 299. • Bib. Nat., Lb 39 115S.
, H.ardy, viii. 308-9; Cha..sin, op. cit., iii. 104; Tuetey, Rlptr/tli" glnba/, vol. i,
pp. xl.'v-v. r ha.ve been unable 10 find Roy'. douier in the a.rchivCl ofthe Chatdet.
: Arch. Nat., Y 141 t9. I Tuetey, op. cit., p. xlv.
Arch. Nat., Y '50'9.
 ,0 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
What drove these journeymen, labourers, and petty crafts­
men to such violent outbursts of anger and to behave with such
reckless courage? The immediate cause of the disturbance is, of
course, not in doubt: it flowed directly from the 'inconsiderate'
remarks attributed to Reveillon and Henriot concerning the
high level of wages. Whether they actually advocated a reduc­
tion, as was widely believed; or whether they merely regretted
the passing of happier days, as some of their apologists main­
tained ;' or whether, as they themselves insisted, they never
made the reported remarks at a1l2 does not really make mU'ch
difference. What is important is what they were believed to
have said by the wage-earners of the faubourg and the effect it
had on them. Some of the more coherent of the accused ad�
mitted under cross-examination that it was the veiled threat to
their wages that had made them join in the riots. For example.
the harness-maker, Le Blanc, who confessed to having entered
Reveillon's house and thrown furniture out of the window,
explained his reasons for joining the demonstrators as follows :
Qu'il y a ete par curio!ite et parce qu'il y a ete entraine par la
multitude, qu'il avait aimi que les autres ouvriers du faubourg de
I'humeur contre Ie sr. Revdllon parce qu'il avait dit dans I'assem­
blee du tien etat a Ste. Margueri te que les ouvrien pouvaient vivre
avec quinze sols par jour, qu'il avait chez lui des ouvrien qui
gagnaient vingt sols par jour et avaient la montre dans Ie gousset et
qu'ils scraient bient6t plw riches que lui.
, And he added, perhaps significantly, that it was his own em�
player, Olivier, a well-known porcelain manufacturer of the
rue de la Raquette, who had told him so.)
Taking place when they did, at a time of intense political
ferment, these riots were bound to appear to the authorities as
something more than a mere spontaneous outbreak over wages.
As none of the arrested workers appeared to be a leader, who
then had incited them by bribery, or other means? Hardy
refers to the rioters as '(des) ouvriers . . . souleves par des
, Arch. Nat., KK 6.p, fol. , 6.
1 &/IOJ'JWliJicalif""lI1" k ,uur lYvri/Jon and &poslJWliJictl/if""1I1" Ie linn- H,lUiol
(Paris, I 18g). Bib. Nat., L'> 39 16,8--' 9.
1 Arch. Nat., Y 13319. Similar lIatemenli w<:re made by Deldevae, a lCulptor,
and Verpy, a joiner (Arch. Nat., Y 122'S). O!ivi�r later achieved fame for his
porcelain models of the Bastille (sec 'La Bastille el lei faiencien' in l..tJ R'<'O/wli(nl
T/Ulftl;'t, i (18SI), • •6-IS).
41
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION
brigands' ;I and the author of the pamphlet, Courtes rlflexions
sur l' ivinnnent du .28 auril, points to an aristocratic or clerical plot
in which
i
­
trants, Ics uns par argent, les autres par violence, a suivre cette
un grand nombre d'ouvrien de differcntes professions ont tte con
troupe de (arcenes. 1.
The reports ofall the investigating commissioners show the same
preoccupation with outside agents; and, having failed to obtain
satisfaction on this score from any of the existing prisoners, the
police proceeded to arrest on 3 May the abbe Roy, a man who
had already been publicly denounced as a government agent
and a personal enemy of ReveilJon. But he proved a disappoint­
ing witness and was released a few days later.J The belief in
clerical conspirators seems to have been strong at the Chatelet,
for when one ofthe defendants, the paper-worker Sirier, claimed
to have been given money in the rue Saint-Honore some days
after the riots, he was asked 'si ce n'etait point un abbe ou
d'autres particuliers qui Ie lui avait donne.'. Yet, as in the
riots of 1 775, the beliefin a clerical plot appears to have had no
solid foundation.
Nor did there prove ro be any more substance in another
aspect of the conspiracy theory-that the rioters had been
bribed. Montjoie, the editor of the ultra-royalist L'Ami du Roi,
reported that each of the wounded brought to the Hotel-Dieu
were found to have 12 francs in his possession, in most cases
wrapped in paper as though newly counted.s It appears to
have been a fabrication, as the police, who had every reason for
wishing to confirm their own belief in a clerical, Orleanist, or
other plot, found nothing suspicious on any one ofthe prisoners,
all ofwhom were subjected to a personal search. On the eighteen
corpses taken to Montrouge cemetery and examined by Com­
missioner Odent. not a brass farthing was found-only a few
cheap tobacco-pouches, keys, trade instruments and, in one
instance, a small silver object that may have been stolen.6 The
only person who admitted any monetary payment and who was
I Hardy, viii. 299. • Bib. Nat., Lb 39 115S.
, H.ardy, viii. 308-9; Cha..sin, op. cit., iii. 104; Tuetey, Rlptr/tli" glnba/, vol. i,
pp. xl.'v-v. r ha.ve been unable 10 find Roy'. douier in the a.rchivCl ofthe Chatdet.
: Arch. Nat., Y 141 t9. I Tuetey, op. cit., p. xlv.
Arch. Nat., Y '50'9.
411: THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION
found to have considerable sums in his pockets was the paper­
bated accapareurs, or food-hoarders, the most ready !arget for
worker Sirier, and his connexion with the case only began a
popular fury The a�thor �fthe pamphlet Lettre,� Rot eems to
have appreciated this mouve when he wrote : Slfe, c est a la
week after the riots ended,l : �
Nor, again, does Taine's charge that the riot�rs wer� 'bri­
gands' stand up to investigation, unless the tenn 1$ us�d 10 the
cherte du pain que l'on doit attribuer nos dernien malheurs.'1
We also note Hardy's entry in his Journal that, after wrecking
widest sense, Among the prisoners, only three had Incurred
previous convictions of any kin � an�, in two cases, these had Reveillon's house, the rioten had announced their intention of
demanding a reduction in the price of bread ;l and it is a re­
merely involved short terms of Impruonment at the Hotel de
markable feature of the riots that the only premises broken
la Force; only one man had a criminal record ofany accoun�­
the port-worker Teteigne, who was found to b� branded Wlth
into, apart from Reveillon's and Henriot's own properties,
, were food-shops.l All the evidence, in fact, points to hunger as
a ·V'.l The majority of these pnsoners appear, In fact, to have
the main motive force behind the disturbances.
been ordinary working men of a variety oftrades, most of them
This does not, of course, rule out altogether the possibility
employed,' and to have come out of the affair without monetary
that other outside agents intervened to fan discontent. Was
gain or loot.
Yet there was a hidden hand behmd these dIsturbances 10 so
. . . popular anger deliberately ��mented and directed agains.t R6-
.
veillon and Henriot by pohbc:al opponents or busmcss nvals?
far as there lay at the back of them deeper economic causes than
The fonner seems unlikely: the rioten, as we saw, c:hanted the
were immediately apparent. A few random remarks on wages
by two local manufacturers could hardly in �emselves h�ve new fashionable slogan, 'Vive Ie Tiers Etat!', as they set about
their work ofdestruction. This may seem all the more incompre­
,
provoked a conflagration ofsuch proportions. It IS also a stnking
hensible, as Rc!veillon himself was a prominent figure in the
fact that not one of Reveillon's 350 workers were among the
local Third Estate. But to the Re!veillon rioters, as to the men
killed wounded or arrested and that no suggestion is made in
f �
any o the repor of attempts to bring them out with the other
who destroyed the Paris c:ustoms posts in the following July, the
words 'Tiers Etat' had a more limited social application: in their
workers on 28 April. It would, therefore, be n�nsense �o try
mouths it appears to have been a rallying cry ofthe poor against
to explain the Reveillon riots in terms of a stnke or SImple
the rich rather than of the nation as a whole against a handful
of privileged persons, as conceived. by the abbe! Sieyes. In this
wages protest against an unpopula: employer. It wa:' much more
a violent, though partly uncoDSClOUS, protest against the pre­
sense, of course, the slogan 'Vive Ie Tiers Etat' could be used
vailing scarcity and high cost ofbread: the 4-lb. loaf, � we sa.w,
against a wealthy manufacturer like Re!veillon.
More mysterious is the attitude of the porcelain·manu.
had since February remained at the phenomenally hIgh pnce
of I41 sow. This protest was directed against Reveillon and
facturer Olivier, said to have reponed Reveillon's indiscretions
in the Sainte-Marguerite District Assembly to his own work­
Henriot but not because they had shown themselves to be bad
;
employ rs or because the workers had been agitated by clerical
. people in the most lurid and provocative terms.4 Had some
or aristocratic agents. Personal eneoues of the two manufac­
local employers a penonal grudge against Re!veillon and did
turers may, as they themselves suspected, have played some
they deliberately stir up their workers and the poor of the
part in stimulating popular anger; but they could only hope for
faubourg against a successful business rival?
It is an interesting possibility, though it would offer no
success because Reveillon's offending remarks about wages had
associated him and his colleague in the public mind with the fundamental explanation: neither business rivals nor clerical

1 Areh. Nat., Y [5101, 13454.

, Areh. Nat., Y [41 [g. adventurers, neither Orleanists nor Knights of the Holy Roman
> Only 5 of 35 prillOners and I of 23 wounded are described as un�mployed.
Empire played more than, at most, a very minor part in the

Nal., Lb 39 1156. 1 Hardy, viii. 299.

,
Some h;$Ioriallll may have been rrWled on this point by the raet thaI the nou began , Bib.
I Arch. Nat., Y 1 1 033, 16005.
• Arcl1. Nat., Y 13319.
in eamcst on a Monday, a workers' reu day.
411: THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION
found to have considerable sums in his pockets was the paper­
bated accapareurs, or food-hoarders, the most ready !arget for
worker Sirier, and his connexion with the case only began a
popular fury The a�thor �fthe pamphlet Lettre,� Rot eems to
have appreciated this mouve when he wrote : Slfe, c est a la
week after the riots ended,l : �
Nor, again, does Taine's charge that the riot�rs wer� 'bri­
gands' stand up to investigation, unless the tenn 1$ us�d 10 the
cherte du pain que l'on doit attribuer nos dernien malheurs.'1
We also note Hardy's entry in his Journal that, after wrecking
widest sense, Among the prisoners, only three had Incurred
previous convictions of any kin � an�, in two cases, these had Reveillon's house, the rioten had announced their intention of
demanding a reduction in the price of bread ;l and it is a re­
merely involved short terms of Impruonment at the Hotel de
markable feature of the riots that the only premises broken
la Force; only one man had a criminal record ofany accoun�­
the port-worker Teteigne, who was found to b� branded Wlth
into, apart from Reveillon's and Henriot's own properties,
, were food-shops.l All the evidence, in fact, points to hunger as
a ·V'.l The majority of these pnsoners appear, In fact, to have
the main motive force behind the disturbances.
been ordinary working men of a variety oftrades, most of them
This does not, of course, rule out altogether the possibility
employed,' and to have come out of the affair without monetary
that other outside agents intervened to fan discontent. Was
gain or loot.
Yet there was a hidden hand behmd these dIsturbances 10 so
. . . popular anger deliberately ��mented and directed agains.t R6-
.
veillon and Henriot by pohbc:al opponents or busmcss nvals?
far as there lay at the back of them deeper economic causes than
The fonner seems unlikely: the rioten, as we saw, c:hanted the
were immediately apparent. A few random remarks on wages
by two local manufacturers could hardly in �emselves h�ve new fashionable slogan, 'Vive Ie Tiers Etat!', as they set about
their work ofdestruction. This may seem all the more incompre­
,
provoked a conflagration ofsuch proportions. It IS also a stnking
hensible, as Rc!veillon himself was a prominent figure in the
fact that not one of Reveillon's 350 workers were among the
local Third Estate. But to the Re!veillon rioters, as to the men
killed wounded or arrested and that no suggestion is made in
f �
any o the repor of attempts to bring them out with the other
who destroyed the Paris c:ustoms posts in the following July, the
words 'Tiers Etat' had a more limited social application: in their
workers on 28 April. It would, therefore, be n�nsense �o try
mouths it appears to have been a rallying cry ofthe poor against
to explain the Reveillon riots in terms of a stnke or SImple
the rich rather than of the nation as a whole against a handful
of privileged persons, as conceived. by the abbe! Sieyes. In this
wages protest against an unpopula: employer. It wa:' much more
a violent, though partly uncoDSClOUS, protest against the pre­
sense, of course, the slogan 'Vive Ie Tiers Etat' could be used
vailing scarcity and high cost ofbread: the 4-lb. loaf, � we sa.w,
against a wealthy manufacturer like Re!veillon.
More mysterious is the attitude of the porcelain·manu.
had since February remained at the phenomenally hIgh pnce
of I41 sow. This protest was directed against Reveillon and
facturer Olivier, said to have reponed Reveillon's indiscretions
in the Sainte-Marguerite District Assembly to his own work­
Henriot but not because they had shown themselves to be bad
;
employ rs or because the workers had been agitated by clerical
. people in the most lurid and provocative terms.4 Had some
or aristocratic agents. Personal eneoues of the two manufac­
local employers a penonal grudge against Re!veillon and did
turers may, as they themselves suspected, have played some
they deliberately stir up their workers and the poor of the
part in stimulating popular anger; but they could only hope for
faubourg against a successful business rival?
It is an interesting possibility, though it would offer no
success because Reveillon's offending remarks about wages had
associated him and his colleague in the public mind with the fundamental explanation: neither business rivals nor clerical

1 Areh. Nat., Y [5101, 13454.

, Areh. Nat., Y [41 [g. adventurers, neither Orleanists nor Knights of the Holy Roman
> Only 5 of 35 prillOners and I of 23 wounded are described as un�mployed.
Empire played more than, at most, a very minor part in the

Nal., Lb 39 1156. 1 Hardy, viii. 299.

,
Some h;$Ioriallll may have been rrWled on this point by the raet thaI the nou began , Bib.
I Arch. Nat., Y 1 1 033, 16005.
• Arcl1. Nat., Y 13319.
in eamcst on a Monday, a workers' reu day.
 ++ THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION

Reveillon affair. The primary cause of the disturbance, as so

often in the riots of the old regime-and of the Revolution­ IV
lay in the shortage and the high price of bread, which already

1789
accounted for something like three-quarters of the wage­
JULY
earner's budget.1 A further cause, which gave the riots their

VISITOR to France in the winter of 1788-g might have

special character, were the indiscreet remarks of the manu­

A
facturers which, by rdating the question of bread to that of
wages, roused the particular fury of the wage-earners. been excused for not anticipating the cataclysm that was
Another important factor was, of course, the current political brewing or even for not observing any particular change
atmosphere, in which the ideas and slogans ofthe revolutionary in the �t�tude of the common people to the problems ofthe day.
bourgeow, already challenging the privileged orders for the The pnvileged orders had, ofcourse, taken resolute and vigorous
control of the States General, were beginning to take root action to assert their claims against the Crown ; but this was
among the menu peuple and to be turned by them to their own part of the traditional pattern and had been done, though less
advantage. This atmosphere was to be raised to an even higher successfully, under Louis XV. Again, the economic crisis had
pitch by the events of the next months. gravely deepened and the small consumers showed obvious
signs of disaffection over the rising price of wheat, flour, and
, G. Rudl!, 'Prices, Wages and Popular Movements in Paris during the French
bread ; but might not this end in much the same way as in 1740,
Revolution', &on. Hill. R,U., vol. vi, no. 3, April 1954, pp. 247-9. See also
Appendix VII. ' 768, or 177S? Even the severe frQst ofJanuary 1 789, which
added to the already alarming industrial unemployment
generally attributed to Vergennes's 'free' Trade Treaty with
England,1 did not substantially alter the picture. The talk of
'revolution', commonly voiced in fashionable-philosophic circles,
hac! been going on for years. The government, it is true, had
lately promised that the States General should meet in May­
and this was certainly an event without recent precedent; but
r might not the Third Estate agree to accept submissively the
humble role prescribed for it by the nobility and bishops who
had taken the initiative in its calling? It was, in fact, not so
much the decision to convene the Estates as the consequences
that flowed (unexpected by its promoters) from this decision
that entirely transformed the situation and the perspective o f
future developments in France.
An intelligent traveller like Arthur Young or a shrewd native
observer like Mallet du Pan could note this difference once the
! hird Estate had decided to accept the challenge-by demand­
Ing not only double representation in the Estates, which was
SOOn conceded, but the right to vote par lite, i.e. as part of a

, C. Schmidt, 'La Crise industrielle de 1788 en Francc', R.uw hislflriqu., xcvii

francOoangiais de 1786-7', R.u. Hill clxxxv (1939). 237-83.

(lgoA), 78-94. For a different view see L. Cahen, 'Unc Nouvelle interprbation
.
du traUl! .•
 ++ THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION

Reveillon affair. The primary cause of the disturbance, as so

often in the riots of the old regime-and of the Revolution­ IV
lay in the shortage and the high price of bread, which already

1789
accounted for something like three-quarters of the wage­
JULY
earner's budget.1 A further cause, which gave the riots their

VISITOR to France in the winter of 1788-g might have

special character, were the indiscreet remarks of the manu­

A
facturers which, by rdating the question of bread to that of
wages, roused the particular fury of the wage-earners. been excused for not anticipating the cataclysm that was
Another important factor was, of course, the current political brewing or even for not observing any particular change
atmosphere, in which the ideas and slogans ofthe revolutionary in the �t�tude of the common people to the problems ofthe day.
bourgeow, already challenging the privileged orders for the The pnvileged orders had, ofcourse, taken resolute and vigorous
control of the States General, were beginning to take root action to assert their claims against the Crown ; but this was
among the menu peuple and to be turned by them to their own part of the traditional pattern and had been done, though less
advantage. This atmosphere was to be raised to an even higher successfully, under Louis XV. Again, the economic crisis had
pitch by the events of the next months. gravely deepened and the small consumers showed obvious
signs of disaffection over the rising price of wheat, flour, and
, G. Rudl!, 'Prices, Wages and Popular Movements in Paris during the French
bread ; but might not this end in much the same way as in 1740,
Revolution', &on. Hill. R,U., vol. vi, no. 3, April 1954, pp. 247-9. See also
Appendix VII. ' 768, or 177S? Even the severe frQst ofJanuary 1 789, which
added to the already alarming industrial unemployment
generally attributed to Vergennes's 'free' Trade Treaty with
England,1 did not substantially alter the picture. The talk of
'revolution', commonly voiced in fashionable-philosophic circles,
hac! been going on for years. The government, it is true, had
lately promised that the States General should meet in May­
and this was certainly an event without recent precedent; but
r might not the Third Estate agree to accept submissively the
humble role prescribed for it by the nobility and bishops who
had taken the initiative in its calling? It was, in fact, not so
much the decision to convene the Estates as the consequences
that flowed (unexpected by its promoters) from this decision
that entirely transformed the situation and the perspective o f
future developments in France.
An intelligent traveller like Arthur Young or a shrewd native
observer like Mallet du Pan could note this difference once the
! hird Estate had decided to accept the challenge-by demand­
Ing not only double representation in the Estates, which was
SOOn conceded, but the right to vote par lite, i.e. as part of a

, C. Schmidt, 'La Crise industrielle de 1788 en Francc', R.uw hislflriqu., xcvii

francOoangiais de 1786-7', R.u. Hill clxxxv (1939). 237-83.

(lgoA), 78-94. For a different view see L. Cahen, 'Unc Nouvelle interprbation
.
du traUl! .•
.. THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
single deliberative body, in which the Tiers would inevitably
carry the day provided it could win over even a small minority
of nobles and c:1ergy. It was to further this demand and to win
support for it beyond the ranks of the bourgeoisie that the abbe
Sieyes wrote his pamphlet Qu'esl-ct que k Tiers £Ial?, and that
there was all this talk about 'Tiers Etat', 'Ia nation') and the
Rights of Man. Once these ideas began to permeate the common
people, as they did in the spring of 1789, a new direction
and purpose were given to popular unrest, already nurtured on
economic hardship and traditional grievances. The very realiza.
tion, indeed, that the States General were about to meet and
that the people's complaints, as voiced in the ,allier! de doUan&ts,
should be heard, aroused what historians have called 'la grande
esperance',
Un evenement si etrange [writes Lefebvre] a eveille I'espoir,
eciatant et nebuleux tout a Ia fois, d'uDe regeneration nationale,
d'uDe ere nouvelle ou Ies hommes seraient plus heureux.'
An oft-quoted example is, of course, that given by Arthur
Young of his meeting with a peasant woman in Champagne
who told him that
It was said that something was to be done by some great folks for
such poor ones, but she did not know who nor how, but God send
better, car Us tailus et Its droits MUS trrasrnt.2
WI
The other side of the picture was the conviction that the
privileged orders would stop at nothing to see that these hopes
were defeated-and so the notion ofthe 'complot aristocratique',
with its deep traditional roots, came simultaneously into being.
How closely it was related to the old notion of the 'pacte de
famine' is illustrated by Hardy, who tells us that when the price
ofbread rose, in February, to 141 sow, people began to say
que les princes avaient accapare les grains tout expres pour mieux
reWlsir a culbuter Ie sieur Necker qu'ils avaient un si grand interet
de renvener.J
The events taking place at Versailles that summer were to
deepen these ft'ars and to stimulate the insurrectionary temper
Arthur Young, TrlWlls ill Frtma tIIId lw./y (Everyman Library, London, '9'$).
, C. Lefebvre, Qpal".oi"l'-IUUj, p. lIil.
•
p. '59. I Hardy, viii. �50·
JULY 1 789
already developing in the capital.' The States General were
deadlocked over the rival claims of the Third Estate-which
soon constituted itselfa National Assembly-and of the majority
of the nobility and bishops, To force the pace and overawe
Paris foreign troops were being concentrated on the outskirts of
the city: on 3
June already Hardy had noted the arrival of
German and Hungarian regiments, brought in on the pretext
of preventing a renewed outburst of rioting in the Faubourg
Saint-Antoine.z The intentions of the Court Party, grouped
around Marie-Antoinette and the king's younger brother, the
Comte d'Anois, were becoming clear : on the night of22 June
the king was persuaded to dismiss Necker and to overawe the
National Assembly by a display of military force. The plot
miscarried: thousands invaded the courtyard of the palace to
demand that Necker be retained in office ; soldien under the
command of the Prince de Conti refused to obey the command
to fire; and the deputies, rallied by Mirabeau in an historic
speech, refused to disperse. The king was compelled to yield.
Up to now the revolutionary temper developing in Paris had
been without effective leadership. With the latest news from
Versailles, however, the professional and commercial classes,
who had hitherto been prepared to wait on events and had
viewed the simmerings in the faubourgs and markets without
sympathy, began to give a direction to affairs without which
the July revolution could hardly have taken place. From this
date the pamphleteers and journalists in the entourage of �e
Duke of Orleans (who had gone over to the Third Estat.c at
Versailles) began to estabish
l a permanent headquarters at the
Palais Royal; here thousands congregated nightly and acquired
the slogans and directives-and, possibly, too, the funds-of
�
w at !fardy called 'the extreme revolutionary party'.] Also at
thiS time the 407 Electors of the Paris Third Estate whose
ori �
inal task it had been to appoint the Parisian deputi to the �
Third Estate at Versailles. began to meet regularly at the Hotel
; For the events ofJune-July '78g, the following authoriliQ have been eon.
���d.: P. Caron, 'Une Tentative de COntr�.r�volulion en juin.juillet 1789', Rzou,
. 'IIt/;)", TIIIHkrn.,. viii (,906--7), 5-34; 649-78; J. Flammermonl, lA Jo�rn" du 14
��s / 17/JrJ (�aru, 18g�); P. Chauvel, 17/JrJ. L'iMllmc/ion fNltisifflM ,I la firin d. la
. �It lPans? 1946) ; C. Lefebvre, op. cit., Pi>. 107-98; J. M. Thompaon, Th#
:
R�lJD/lillOn (Oxford, '943), pp. 45-59. Documentary lOurCei are separaleiy
iFndi
r
cate. • i. 94il.
Hardy, vii ) Ibid. viii. 36il.
.. THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
single deliberative body, in which the Tiers would inevitably
carry the day provided it could win over even a small minority
of nobles and c:1ergy. It was to further this demand and to win
support for it beyond the ranks of the bourgeoisie that the abbe
Sieyes wrote his pamphlet Qu'esl-ct que k Tiers £Ial?, and that
there was all this talk about 'Tiers Etat', 'Ia nation') and the
Rights of Man. Once these ideas began to permeate the common
people, as they did in the spring of 1789, a new direction
and purpose were given to popular unrest, already nurtured on
economic hardship and traditional grievances. The very realiza.
tion, indeed, that the States General were about to meet and
that the people's complaints, as voiced in the ,allier! de doUan&ts,
should be heard, aroused what historians have called 'la grande
esperance',
Un evenement si etrange [writes Lefebvre] a eveille I'espoir,
eciatant et nebuleux tout a Ia fois, d'uDe regeneration nationale,
d'uDe ere nouvelle ou Ies hommes seraient plus heureux.'
An oft-quoted example is, of course, that given by Arthur
Young of his meeting with a peasant woman in Champagne
who told him that
It was said that something was to be done by some great folks for
such poor ones, but she did not know who nor how, but God send
better, car Us tailus et Its droits MUS trrasrnt.2
WI
The other side of the picture was the conviction that the
privileged orders would stop at nothing to see that these hopes
were defeated-and so the notion ofthe 'complot aristocratique',
with its deep traditional roots, came simultaneously into being.
How closely it was related to the old notion of the 'pacte de
famine' is illustrated by Hardy, who tells us that when the price
ofbread rose, in February, to 141 sow, people began to say
que les princes avaient accapare les grains tout expres pour mieux
reWlsir a culbuter Ie sieur Necker qu'ils avaient un si grand interet
de renvener.J
The events taking place at Versailles that summer were to
deepen these ft'ars and to stimulate the insurrectionary temper
Arthur Young, TrlWlls ill Frtma tIIId lw./y (Everyman Library, London, '9'$).
, C. Lefebvre, Qpal".oi"l'-IUUj, p. lIil.
•
p. '59. I Hardy, viii. �50·
JULY 1 789
already developing in the capital.' The States General were
deadlocked over the rival claims of the Third Estate-which
soon constituted itselfa National Assembly-and of the majority
of the nobility and bishops, To force the pace and overawe
Paris foreign troops were being concentrated on the outskirts of
the city: on 3
June already Hardy had noted the arrival of
German and Hungarian regiments, brought in on the pretext
of preventing a renewed outburst of rioting in the Faubourg
Saint-Antoine.z The intentions of the Court Party, grouped
around Marie-Antoinette and the king's younger brother, the
Comte d'Anois, were becoming clear : on the night of22 June
the king was persuaded to dismiss Necker and to overawe the
National Assembly by a display of military force. The plot
miscarried: thousands invaded the courtyard of the palace to
demand that Necker be retained in office ; soldien under the
command of the Prince de Conti refused to obey the command
to fire; and the deputies, rallied by Mirabeau in an historic
speech, refused to disperse. The king was compelled to yield.
Up to now the revolutionary temper developing in Paris had
been without effective leadership. With the latest news from
Versailles, however, the professional and commercial classes,
who had hitherto been prepared to wait on events and had
viewed the simmerings in the faubourgs and markets without
sympathy, began to give a direction to affairs without which
the July revolution could hardly have taken place. From this
date the pamphleteers and journalists in the entourage of �e
Duke of Orleans (who had gone over to the Third Estat.c at
Versailles) began to estabish
l a permanent headquarters at the
Palais Royal; here thousands congregated nightly and acquired
the slogans and directives-and, possibly, too, the funds-of
�
w at !fardy called 'the extreme revolutionary party'.] Also at
thiS time the 407 Electors of the Paris Third Estate whose
ori �
inal task it had been to appoint the Parisian deputi to the �
Third Estate at Versailles. began to meet regularly at the Hotel
; For the events ofJune-July '78g, the following authoriliQ have been eon.
���d.: P. Caron, 'Une Tentative de COntr�.r�volulion en juin.juillet 1789', Rzou,
. 'IIt/;)", TIIIHkrn.,. viii (,906--7), 5-34; 649-78; J. Flammermonl, lA Jo�rn" du 14
��s / 17/JrJ (�aru, 18g�); P. Chauvel, 17/JrJ. L'iMllmc/ion fNltisifflM ,I la firin d. la
. �It lPans? 1946) ; C. Lefebvre, op. cit., Pi>. 107-98; J. M. Thompaon, Th#
:
R�lJD/lillOn (Oxford, '943), pp. 45-59. Documentary lOurCei are separaleiy
iFndi
r
cate. • i. 94il.
Hardy, vii ) Ibid. viii. 36il.

.. THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
de Ville in the heart of the capital. These two bodies were
play distinctive, yet complementary, parts in the events ofJuly.
In the early days, however, it was the Palais Royal alone
gave a positive direction to the popular movement. Whereas
Hotd de Ville contented itself with drafting paper schemes for
the institution of a milice bourgeoise, or citizens' militia, the
PaJais Royal took effective measures, by public agitation and
liberal expenditure, to win over the Gardes Franc;aises from
their loyalty to the court. On 30 June crowds directed from the
Palais Royal forcibly released from the Abbaye prison eleven
guardsmen who had been jailed for refusing to fire on the
people at Versailles on the night Of22-23]um:.I Tracts support·
iog the standpoint of the Third Estate were distributed among
the Paris garrisons: on 8 July a newsvendor was arrested for
trying to sell such materials to officers and men encamped at
the Champ de Mars.Z On 10 July eighty artillerymen, who had
broken out of their barracks in the Hotel des Invalides, were
publicly feted in the Palais Royal and the Champs Elysees.
Reacting to these developments, the Court Party attempted
a show·down: on 1 1 July Necker was sent into exile and re·
placed by the Baron de Breteuil. This proved to be the spark
that touched off the insurrection in Paris. The news reached the
capital at noon on the 12th. During the afternoon Parisians
flocked to the Palais Royal, where orators-the young Camille
, Desmoulins among them-gave the call to arms. Groups of
marchers quickly formed ; the busts of Necker and the Duke of
Orleans, the heroes of the hour, were paraded on the boule·
vards; theatres were compelled to close as a sign of mourning;
in the Place Louis XV demonstrators clashed with cavalry
commanded by the Prince de Lambesc, who had been ordered
to clear the TuiJeries gardens. Besenval, commander of the
Paris garrison, withdrew to the Champ de Mars; the capital
As the tocsin pealed-soon to become a frequent and familiar
was in the hands of the people.
sound to Parisians-bands of insurgents joined those who, twO
days earlier, had begun to burn down the hated barrieres, whose
exactions were bitterly resented by shopkeepers, wine·mer­
chants, and small consumers and which had already been the
, JUlalwn th " qui lutfu:sli d l'Ahbaye St. Gmnain (Pam, 17Bg). Bib. Nat. Lb
188�; Hardy, viii. 373, 383. • Arch. Nat., Y IS818.
JULY 1789 ..
scene offre�uent disturbance and attempted smuggling.1 From
the proceedings opened against the raiders nine months later,
in the course of which more than eighty witnesses were heard,
we learn that no less than forty of the fifty·four customs posts
were destroyed by fire in the course offour days' rioting.1 The
destruction was systematic: documents, registers, and customs
receipts were burned, iron railings were pulled down, offices and
furniture were fired, and the customs officers-where they had
not already taken flight-were forcibly expelled. Many, taken
by surprise, had no time to remove their personal belongings
j and suffered considerable loss : one official of the barriere du
Trone later claimed for the loss of property valued at 25,413
firJTts, including 8,1 00 liurlS in cash ; another for losses amount·
ing to 27,470 livres, fO sous.) Yet looting was not part of the
plan as conceived by its organizers : at the barriere S�int.
Martin, a looter was thus reprimanded by a fellow rioter:
'Bnilons, s'il Ie faut, puisque ceJa nous est ordonne, mais ne
volons (pas), puisque cela nous est defendu.' From such and
even more specific evidence it is clear that the Palais Royal had
a hand in the affair: it is no doubt significant that two posts
said to belong to the Duke of Orleans were deliberately spared
by the incendiaries. It does not appear that the main purpose
of 'the extreme revolutionary party' was so much to give free
entry of consumers' goods into the capital-though this inevit·
ably followed-as to destroy the monopoly of the Farmers
General and to control the entry and exit of arms and penons.
�ut
the people carrying out their orders-and often acting
mdependcntly of them-had their own accounts to settle with
an institution that added substantially to the cost of wine,
fi�ewood, eggs, and livestock: they were the petty traders,
wm,:-merchants, barrel and building workers, dockers, water·
earners, labourers, and workers employed on public-works
schem�, who, the documents tell us, played a large part in this
operation and, no doubt, affected its outcome.
That same night, teo, armed civilians, Gardes Fran'Yaises
and local poor broke into the monastery of the Saint-Lazare
, On 1 May ten smuggle.. had been alTClted at Ihe barrihe Saint·Denis and
�nat.,6 May, two othe.. for causing a dinurbance and in,ulling the officials (Arch�
Y 18795, pp. 446-7 ; (8763).
1'"
.. Arch. Nat., Y 1 '9117. 15403.
Ar� . Nac, Z'" 886. (See apedally Ihe document entitled in/l#malitJn fMt;muml
'IIC.Nf"d Barribts. "9"",rl, IJ9Qtlj$UTUuili<J1\l.) 1

.. THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
de Ville in the heart of the capital. These two bodies were
play distinctive, yet complementary, parts in the events ofJuly.
In the early days, however, it was the Palais Royal alone
gave a positive direction to the popular movement. Whereas
Hotd de Ville contented itself with drafting paper schemes for
the institution of a milice bourgeoise, or citizens' militia, the
PaJais Royal took effective measures, by public agitation and
liberal expenditure, to win over the Gardes Franc;aises from
their loyalty to the court. On 30 June crowds directed from the
Palais Royal forcibly released from the Abbaye prison eleven
guardsmen who had been jailed for refusing to fire on the
people at Versailles on the night Of22-23]um:.I Tracts support·
iog the standpoint of the Third Estate were distributed among
the Paris garrisons: on 8 July a newsvendor was arrested for
trying to sell such materials to officers and men encamped at
the Champ de Mars.Z On 10 July eighty artillerymen, who had
broken out of their barracks in the Hotel des Invalides, were
publicly feted in the Palais Royal and the Champs Elysees.
Reacting to these developments, the Court Party attempted
a show·down: on 1 1 July Necker was sent into exile and re·
placed by the Baron de Breteuil. This proved to be the spark
that touched off the insurrection in Paris. The news reached the
capital at noon on the 12th. During the afternoon Parisians
flocked to the Palais Royal, where orators-the young Camille
, Desmoulins among them-gave the call to arms. Groups of
marchers quickly formed ; the busts of Necker and the Duke of
Orleans, the heroes of the hour, were paraded on the boule·
vards; theatres were compelled to close as a sign of mourning;
in the Place Louis XV demonstrators clashed with cavalry
commanded by the Prince de Lambesc, who had been ordered
to clear the TuiJeries gardens. Besenval, commander of the
Paris garrison, withdrew to the Champ de Mars; the capital
As the tocsin pealed-soon to become a frequent and familiar
was in the hands of the people.
sound to Parisians-bands of insurgents joined those who, twO
days earlier, had begun to burn down the hated barrieres, whose
exactions were bitterly resented by shopkeepers, wine·mer­
chants, and small consumers and which had already been the
, JUlalwn th " qui lutfu:sli d l'Ahbaye St. Gmnain (Pam, 17Bg). Bib. Nat. Lb
188�; Hardy, viii. 373, 383. • Arch. Nat., Y IS818.
JULY 1789 ..
scene offre�uent disturbance and attempted smuggling.1 From
the proceedings opened against the raiders nine months later,
in the course of which more than eighty witnesses were heard,
we learn that no less than forty of the fifty·four customs posts
were destroyed by fire in the course offour days' rioting.1 The
destruction was systematic: documents, registers, and customs
receipts were burned, iron railings were pulled down, offices and
furniture were fired, and the customs officers-where they had
not already taken flight-were forcibly expelled. Many, taken
by surprise, had no time to remove their personal belongings
j and suffered considerable loss : one official of the barriere du
Trone later claimed for the loss of property valued at 25,413
firJTts, including 8,1 00 liurlS in cash ; another for losses amount·
ing to 27,470 livres, fO sous.) Yet looting was not part of the
plan as conceived by its organizers : at the barriere S�int.
Martin, a looter was thus reprimanded by a fellow rioter:
'Bnilons, s'il Ie faut, puisque ceJa nous est ordonne, mais ne
volons (pas), puisque cela nous est defendu.' From such and
even more specific evidence it is clear that the Palais Royal had
a hand in the affair: it is no doubt significant that two posts
said to belong to the Duke of Orleans were deliberately spared
by the incendiaries. It does not appear that the main purpose
of 'the extreme revolutionary party' was so much to give free
entry of consumers' goods into the capital-though this inevit·
ably followed-as to destroy the monopoly of the Farmers
General and to control the entry and exit of arms and penons.
�ut
the people carrying out their orders-and often acting
mdependcntly of them-had their own accounts to settle with
an institution that added substantially to the cost of wine,
fi�ewood, eggs, and livestock: they were the petty traders,
wm,:-merchants, barrel and building workers, dockers, water·
earners, labourers, and workers employed on public-works
schem�, who, the documents tell us, played a large part in this
operation and, no doubt, affected its outcome.
That same night, teo, armed civilians, Gardes Fran'Yaises
and local poor broke into the monastery of the Saint-Lazare
, On 1 May ten smuggle.. had been alTClted at Ihe barrihe Saint·Denis and
�nat.,6 May, two othe.. for causing a dinurbance and in,ulling the officials (Arch�
Y 18795, pp. 446-7 ; (8763).
1'"
.. Arch. Nat., Y 1 '9117. 15403.
Ar� . Nac, Z'" 886. (See apedally Ihe document entitled in/l#malitJn fMt;muml
'IIC.Nf"d Barribts. "9"",rl, IJ9Qtlj$UTUuili<J1\l.) 1
�o THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
brotherhood on the northern fringe of the city, searched it for
arms, released prisoners, and removed fifty-two cartloads of
grain and Rour to the central grain market.I The search for grain
was the main object of the visit. An unemployed carter, who
was later traced to Charolles in Burgundy, where he had escaped
with 700 louis picked up in the monastery, described how he had
been brought there 'par des gens qui avaient l'air comme it
faut . . . pour conduire les grains qui y etaient a la Halle'.l
Another carter, when questioned by the police, spoke of making
Journey.l While th
�wo such trip� for .which he was paid at the rate of 40 sow per
iS part of the proceedings was directed by the I
Palais Royal, the monastery was also completely ransacked by
the local unemployed and menu peuple-the records speak of
porters and labourers, rarely of workshop journeymen-for
money, food, silver, and hidden treasure. Every conceivable
object of real or imaginary value was pilfered: a butcher's boy,
later convicted for theft, admitted removing a dried ram's
head ; and one zealot even came away with a skeleton which he
."ed up five flights to his room! Such activities provided the
dra
police and the newly fonned militia with a ready excuse for
.
rounding up large numbers of suspects, mainly unemployed
workers and vagrants, many of whom were later charged
participation in this affair."
. with
But the main feature ofthe night of 12-13July was the search
for arms : religious houses were visited and gunsmiths, armourers,
and harness-makers were raided in different parts of the capital.
A number ofstatements drawn up in support of their claims for
compensation have come down to w. Thus, Marcel Arlot,
master gunsmith of the rue Greneta in the parish of Saint-Leu
reported that his shop was broken into at 2 a.m. by a crowd
headed by a journeyman armourer of the rue Jean Robert;
. Ing of the barneres and the sacking of the monastery of Saint­
muskets, putals, sabres, and swords to the value of 24,000 livres
were removed. A harness-maker of the Pont Saint-Michel
reported the theft of belts and shoulder-straps to the value of
390 livres. Brun, master gunsmith and sword-cuder of the rue
Bar-du-Bec, parish of Saint-Jean-en-Greve, in submitting a
• i,ylmftlltitm el llI r�qtJlu '" 1'rowtaafi=l ill BlliJlW.l� t4 SI. �(J", �illi/"' 11B!;.
Arch. Nat., Z' 469 •.
• The name. of about fifty .uch perJOm appear n i Arch. Nat., Y 106'4, fol. 149i
• Arch. Sa6ne-et·Loire, B. 705. • Arch. Nat., Z' 4691.
10649, foil. '7-2' i .8,95, fol. 46�i 1 151B; I�.,oai 1��IBi 14�40; 15101; '568,.
JULY 1.789 ,.
claim for 4.348 livres, stated that his shop had been broken into
no less than thirty times, in the course of which 150 swords,
4 gross of sword-blades, 58 hunting-knives, lO brace of pistols,
and 8 muskets had been removed; while another sword-cutler
of the parish of Saint-Severin complained that his shop had
been invaded several times on both the 1 2 and 13 July and that
a very considerable number of sabres, swords, and unmounted
blades had been taken by persons who refused to pay fOrlhem on
the ground 'that they would serve for the defence of the capital' ;
his losses amounted to 6,684 livres. The total losses eventuallysub­
mitted to the National Assembly by the Parisian gunsmiths
amo�nted t� 1 15,IIB livres. As far as we can tell, they never
received their money: they were among the minor victims of
the Revolution.'
Of considerable interest, too, is the eye-witness account of
the events of that first night of the July revolution given by
Jean-Nicolas Pepin, a tallow-chandler's labourer• who• as a
subpoenaed witness in the Saint-Lazare affair, later told the
story of how he was caught up in the milling throngs ofcivilians
and Gardes �ran(jaises that, all night long, surged through the
streets, shoutmg the newly learned patriotic slogans, ringing the
tocsin, and searching for grain and arms. From his account too
it is doubly clear that, at this time, the guiding centre of th�
revolutionary movement lay in the Palais Royal to which,
rather than to the Hotel de Ville the angry, bewildered, but
elated, citizens looked for leadership and guidance.z
On the morning of the 13th, however. the Electors made a
firm bid to gain control of the silUation. They formed a Per­
manent Committee to act as a provisional government of the
city and detennined to put a stop to the indiscriminate arming
?f the whole population. They had been alarmed by the burn­
Lazare. To them the bands of unemployed and homeless, who
had played some part in these operations, were as great a
m,:nace to the security and properties of the citizens as the
.
pnvlleged orders conspiring at Versailles.l Accordingly the
• Arch. Nat., Y u�18, 116gB; C " 4, doss. B, pike Ui D VI 6, no. 39, piece 19.
I TheK wen:': soon to be increucd by the rc\elUe ofpn.onen from the Force and
Arch. Nat., Z' 4691.
Bicclrc! *Ome of these, however, not appreciating their freedom, lurrendered. to
o
the police the next day (Arch. Nat., Y 13454).
�o THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
brotherhood on the northern fringe of the city, searched it for
arms, released prisoners, and removed fifty-two cartloads of
grain and Rour to the central grain market.I The search for grain
was the main object of the visit. An unemployed carter, who
was later traced to Charolles in Burgundy, where he had escaped
with 700 louis picked up in the monastery, described how he had
been brought there 'par des gens qui avaient l'air comme it
faut . . . pour conduire les grains qui y etaient a la Halle'.l
Another carter, when questioned by the police, spoke of making
Journey.l While th
�wo such trip� for .which he was paid at the rate of 40 sow per
iS part of the proceedings was directed by the I
Palais Royal, the monastery was also completely ransacked by
the local unemployed and menu peuple-the records speak of
porters and labourers, rarely of workshop journeymen-for
money, food, silver, and hidden treasure. Every conceivable
object of real or imaginary value was pilfered: a butcher's boy,
later convicted for theft, admitted removing a dried ram's
head ; and one zealot even came away with a skeleton which he
."ed up five flights to his room! Such activities provided the
dra
police and the newly fonned militia with a ready excuse for
.
rounding up large numbers of suspects, mainly unemployed
workers and vagrants, many of whom were later charged
participation in this affair."
. with
But the main feature ofthe night of 12-13July was the search
for arms : religious houses were visited and gunsmiths, armourers,
and harness-makers were raided in different parts of the capital.
A number ofstatements drawn up in support of their claims for
compensation have come down to w. Thus, Marcel Arlot,
master gunsmith of the rue Greneta in the parish of Saint-Leu
reported that his shop was broken into at 2 a.m. by a crowd
headed by a journeyman armourer of the rue Jean Robert;
. Ing of the barneres and the sacking of the monastery of Saint­
muskets, putals, sabres, and swords to the value of 24,000 livres
were removed. A harness-maker of the Pont Saint-Michel
reported the theft of belts and shoulder-straps to the value of
390 livres. Brun, master gunsmith and sword-cuder of the rue
Bar-du-Bec, parish of Saint-Jean-en-Greve, in submitting a
• i,ylmftlltitm el llI r�qtJlu '" 1'rowtaafi=l ill BlliJlW.l� t4 SI. �(J", �illi/"' 11B!;.
Arch. Nat., Z' 469 •.
• The name. of about fifty .uch perJOm appear n i Arch. Nat., Y 106'4, fol. 149i
• Arch. Sa6ne-et·Loire, B. 705. • Arch. Nat., Z' 4691.
10649, foil. '7-2' i .8,95, fol. 46�i 1 151B; I�.,oai 1��IBi 14�40; 15101; '568,.
JULY 1.789 ,.
claim for 4.348 livres, stated that his shop had been broken into
no less than thirty times, in the course of which 150 swords,
4 gross of sword-blades, 58 hunting-knives, lO brace of pistols,
and 8 muskets had been removed; while another sword-cutler
of the parish of Saint-Severin complained that his shop had
been invaded several times on both the 1 2 and 13 July and that
a very considerable number of sabres, swords, and unmounted
blades had been taken by persons who refused to pay fOrlhem on
the ground 'that they would serve for the defence of the capital' ;
his losses amounted to 6,684 livres. The total losses eventuallysub­
mitted to the National Assembly by the Parisian gunsmiths
amo�nted t� 1 15,IIB livres. As far as we can tell, they never
received their money: they were among the minor victims of
the Revolution.'
Of considerable interest, too, is the eye-witness account of
the events of that first night of the July revolution given by
Jean-Nicolas Pepin, a tallow-chandler's labourer• who• as a
subpoenaed witness in the Saint-Lazare affair, later told the
story of how he was caught up in the milling throngs ofcivilians
and Gardes �ran(jaises that, all night long, surged through the
streets, shoutmg the newly learned patriotic slogans, ringing the
tocsin, and searching for grain and arms. From his account too
it is doubly clear that, at this time, the guiding centre of th�
revolutionary movement lay in the Palais Royal to which,
rather than to the Hotel de Ville the angry, bewildered, but
elated, citizens looked for leadership and guidance.z
On the morning of the 13th, however. the Electors made a
firm bid to gain control of the silUation. They formed a Per­
manent Committee to act as a provisional government of the
city and detennined to put a stop to the indiscriminate arming
?f the whole population. They had been alarmed by the burn­
Lazare. To them the bands of unemployed and homeless, who
had played some part in these operations, were as great a
m,:nace to the security and properties of the citizens as the
.
pnvlleged orders conspiring at Versailles.l Accordingly the
• Arch. Nat., Y u�18, 116gB; C " 4, doss. B, pike Ui D VI 6, no. 39, piece 19.
I TheK wen:': soon to be increucd by the rc\elUe ofpn.onen from the Force and
Arch. Nat., Z' 4691.
Bicclrc! *Ome of these, however, not appreciating their freedom, lurrendered. to
o
the police the next day (Arch. Nat., Y 13454).

,. THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
plan to establish a regular citizens' militia, or milice bourgeoise.
was hastily adopted with the dual object of defending the
capital from the military threat without and from the danger
of 'anarchy' within: it needs hardly be said that it was on the
latter score alone that the king was persuaded to give his con­
sent the next day.1 Householders were summoned to meetings
in the sixty Electoral Districts : each District was to contribute
200 (later 800) men. The same day, wrote Barnave, 13,200
citizens were registered and equipped ;! two days later, he was
happy to claim :
La plus grande partie de la milice de Paris est bonne bourgeoise,
et e'est ce qui la rend aussi sure pour I'ordre public que formidable
pour la tyrannic.]
In fact, while each District drew up its own condition9 of en·
rolment, in most cases property and residential qualifications­
even employers' certificates of good character-were imposed
that virtually debarred a large part of the wage-earning popula­
tion; certainly all unemployed and vagrants were excluded.•
All vagabonds, genssans aveu, and other 'irregulars' were to be im­
mediately disarmed. An English observer, Dr. Rigby, recorded
t",\l this operation had already been largely carried through
by the evening of the same day, 'at which time {he wrote) the
regularly armed citizens almost exclusively occupied the streets'.S
The point is ofinteresl as it illustrates thc degree of authority
quickly asserted by the Electors; yet it is doubtful if the process
of disarming went so far as suggested by Dr. Rigby as long as
the insurrection lasted. Even after its completion, the new city
authorities fell compelled to invite the Paris workers and
craftsmen to surrendcr their arms in return for a payment of
9 [;vres per headj6 and, between 22 July and 3 August, the
, MImoirn d, B4i/ly (li vou. Paris, ,821), i. 267.
recordm thai 30,000 had bc:c:n enrolled (]<nJTMI., viii. 386); on .5 July liarmlye
, Arch. Nat., W 12, fols. 197-9 (leiter of 15 July '789)· On 14 July Hardy
estimatm the enrolment at 48,000 (loc. cit.) and on 18 July at 90,000 (Arch. Nat.,
• Arch. Nat., C '34, dOlI. r .
W 13, foL. 105).
I D•. R1lby'j Lellm frDm F,�, ele. in 1789, ed. Lady Eastlake (London, .9(6),
, Arch. Nal., W .2, fob. 197--8.
Prt!tis·t..,b�/ d,s j/�",u <I dilihi.nlians d, /'�sstmbll, glnl.n{, del I{rtllll'S d, Pn.il,
P· 55·
.Iunil d {'H61./.d._Vi/l" (, '4juiU.l 178t) (3 vots., Paris, 1790), ii. • 5f>-H. Brit. Mus.,
�
•-. 6oll-4. A large part of these minutes ar" r"prooucm in L. G. Wickham Legg,
Srlld Oflnlmtrlh • • • ofI," F.t",11 &",,/UI;an (Oxford, 19(5), i. 49-95.
JULY 1789
District of Saint-Roch alone purchased 250 muskets and 12
pistols in this way.1 Besides, crowds continued to besiege the
Hotel de Ville, demanding arms and gunpowder. Jacques de
Flesselles, privot des marchands and acting head of the provisional
city government, being anxious to limit their distribution, made
vague promises and sent parties off on fruitless expeditions to
the arsenal and the Carthusian monastery; this 'treachery' was
to cost him his life on the morrow. Meanwhile, the Electors had
deputed one of their number, the abbe Lefevre, to guard the
considerable stocks of powder and ammunition that they had
assembled in the vaults of the Hotel de Ville. The abbe dis­
charged his duties conscientiously, but he was compelled by the
half-armed crowds surging round the building to hand out the
powder in his custody with greater haste and less discrimination
than he had wished. He kept a careful account of the transac­
tions : we learn that he distributed 8 barrels of gunpowder on
13 Julyj 46 barrels-three of them 'pour prendre la Bastille'­
on the 14th; and a further 42 barrels on the 15th. At the end of
the record appears the sorrowful addendum:
Cette livraison a be faite avec tant de precipitation qu'il n'a pas
ete possible de faire aJouter aux bons des r�w. Les diu 96 barilll
pesent ensemble 96.000 Iivres.�
The quest for arms and ammunition continued : on the
morning of the 14th, a spectacular raid was made on the Hotel
des Invalides across the river. According to Salmour, the Saxon
ambassador, who witnessed the affair, 7,000
to 8,000 citizens
took part;} many, wrote Hardy, were crushed in the milie.4 The
Governor, the Marquis de Sombreuil, was abandoned by his
troops and forced to open his gates_ He later reported the re­
moval ofmore than 30,000 muskets, ofwhich 12,000 at least had
faUen 'into dangerous hands'.s Meanwhile, the cry had gone u p'
'to the Bastille!'
Royalist historians have scoffed at the picture of thousands of
Parisians hurling themselves at the Bastille in order to release
seven prisoners, all of them either lunatics or of unsavoury
, Bib. Nat., nouy. acq. f�n�., no. 2670, fol. 55.
• Ibid., no. �678, fol. 47.
• A. Mathiez, US Gmndu j�"",,es d, In Gollll;lllanU (/789-91) (Paru., 1913),
I Prrxts-wrbaJ d. l'a.mmbUe du Ile<UII.S, i. 371.
PP· 1I2.1.23• • Hardy, viii. 390.

,. THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
plan to establish a regular citizens' militia, or milice bourgeoise.
was hastily adopted with the dual object of defending the
capital from the military threat without and from the danger
of 'anarchy' within: it needs hardly be said that it was on the
latter score alone that the king was persuaded to give his con­
sent the next day.1 Householders were summoned to meetings
in the sixty Electoral Districts : each District was to contribute
200 (later 800) men. The same day, wrote Barnave, 13,200
citizens were registered and equipped ;! two days later, he was
happy to claim :
La plus grande partie de la milice de Paris est bonne bourgeoise,
et e'est ce qui la rend aussi sure pour I'ordre public que formidable
pour la tyrannic.]
In fact, while each District drew up its own condition9 of en·
rolment, in most cases property and residential qualifications­
even employers' certificates of good character-were imposed
that virtually debarred a large part of the wage-earning popula­
tion; certainly all unemployed and vagrants were excluded.•
All vagabonds, genssans aveu, and other 'irregulars' were to be im­
mediately disarmed. An English observer, Dr. Rigby, recorded
t",\l this operation had already been largely carried through
by the evening of the same day, 'at which time {he wrote) the
regularly armed citizens almost exclusively occupied the streets'.S
The point is ofinteresl as it illustrates thc degree of authority
quickly asserted by the Electors; yet it is doubtful if the process
of disarming went so far as suggested by Dr. Rigby as long as
the insurrection lasted. Even after its completion, the new city
authorities fell compelled to invite the Paris workers and
craftsmen to surrendcr their arms in return for a payment of
9 [;vres per headj6 and, between 22 July and 3 August, the
, MImoirn d, B4i/ly (li vou. Paris, ,821), i. 267.
recordm thai 30,000 had bc:c:n enrolled (]<nJTMI., viii. 386); on .5 July liarmlye
, Arch. Nat., W 12, fols. 197-9 (leiter of 15 July '789)· On 14 July Hardy
estimatm the enrolment at 48,000 (loc. cit.) and on 18 July at 90,000 (Arch. Nat.,
• Arch. Nat., C '34, dOlI. r .
W 13, foL. 105).
I D•. R1lby'j Lellm frDm F,�, ele. in 1789, ed. Lady Eastlake (London, .9(6),
, Arch. Nal., W .2, fob. 197--8.
Prt!tis·t..,b�/ d,s j/�",u <I dilihi.nlians d, /'�sstmbll, glnl.n{, del I{rtllll'S d, Pn.il,
P· 55·
.Iunil d {'H61./.d._Vi/l" (, '4juiU.l 178t) (3 vots., Paris, 1790), ii. • 5f>-H. Brit. Mus.,
�
•-. 6oll-4. A large part of these minutes ar" r"prooucm in L. G. Wickham Legg,
Srlld Oflnlmtrlh • • • ofI," F.t",11 &",,/UI;an (Oxford, 19(5), i. 49-95.
JULY 1789
District of Saint-Roch alone purchased 250 muskets and 12
pistols in this way.1 Besides, crowds continued to besiege the
Hotel de Ville, demanding arms and gunpowder. Jacques de
Flesselles, privot des marchands and acting head of the provisional
city government, being anxious to limit their distribution, made
vague promises and sent parties off on fruitless expeditions to
the arsenal and the Carthusian monastery; this 'treachery' was
to cost him his life on the morrow. Meanwhile, the Electors had
deputed one of their number, the abbe Lefevre, to guard the
considerable stocks of powder and ammunition that they had
assembled in the vaults of the Hotel de Ville. The abbe dis­
charged his duties conscientiously, but he was compelled by the
half-armed crowds surging round the building to hand out the
powder in his custody with greater haste and less discrimination
than he had wished. He kept a careful account of the transac­
tions : we learn that he distributed 8 barrels of gunpowder on
13 Julyj 46 barrels-three of them 'pour prendre la Bastille'­
on the 14th; and a further 42 barrels on the 15th. At the end of
the record appears the sorrowful addendum:
Cette livraison a be faite avec tant de precipitation qu'il n'a pas
ete possible de faire aJouter aux bons des r�w. Les diu 96 barilll
pesent ensemble 96.000 Iivres.�
The quest for arms and ammunition continued : on the
morning of the 14th, a spectacular raid was made on the Hotel
des Invalides across the river. According to Salmour, the Saxon
ambassador, who witnessed the affair, 7,000
to 8,000 citizens
took part;} many, wrote Hardy, were crushed in the milie.4 The
Governor, the Marquis de Sombreuil, was abandoned by his
troops and forced to open his gates_ He later reported the re­
moval ofmore than 30,000 muskets, ofwhich 12,000 at least had
faUen 'into dangerous hands'.s Meanwhile, the cry had gone u p'
'to the Bastille!'
Royalist historians have scoffed at the picture of thousands of
Parisians hurling themselves at the Bastille in order to release
seven prisoners, all of them either lunatics or of unsavoury
, Bib. Nat., nouy. acq. f�n�., no. 2670, fol. 55.
• Ibid., no. �678, fol. 47.
• A. Mathiez, US Gmndu j�"",,es d, In Gollll;lllanU (/789-91) (Paru., 1913),
I Prrxts-wrbaJ d. l'a.mmbUe du Ile<UII.S, i. 371.
PP· 1I2.1.23• • Hardy, viii. 390.
" THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION JULY 1 7 8 9 "
character. I Such criticism falls wide ofits mark. The immediate .
JTl1sed not to fire unless attacked. Up to this point the crowds
aim was not to release prisoners but to find the powder that
of the two courtyards leadmg to the mam draw-
.
'
from the rue Saint-Antoine had penetrated only
was known to have been lately sent there from the arsenal. surgmg in .
. outer
Into the
le. The outer courtyard was, u
Other motives no doubt played a part. It was believed that the .
gate of the Bast Il
b 'dge and
n a1 unguarded; it was separated from the inner Cour du
fortress was heavily manned ; its guns, which that morning
were trained on the rue Saint-Antoine, could play havoc
among the crowded tenements. In the night it had been
�; u ernement by a wall and a drawbridge which de Launay

rumoured that 30,000 royalist troops had marched into the

had, unaccountably, left raised but un�efended. Half a n hour

!
after Thuriot's departure, two men climbed the wall f:o� a
Faubourg Saint-Antoine and had begun to slaughter its c tizens. eighbouring building and lowered the drawbridge. BelIevmg
Besides, though it had ceased to harbour more than a tnckle of
State prisoners, the Bastille was widely hated as a symbol of
� frontal attack to be imminent, de Launay gave the order to
fire. In the affray that followed, the besiegen lost ninety-eight
ministerial despotism : the cahim de do!ioTlus of the Paris Dis­ dead and seventy-three wounded; 1 only one of the defenden
tricts bear witness to this fact.l Yet there does not appear to was struck. Two further deputations, sent to the Bastille in the
have been any serious intention to take it by storm,l least of all
coune oflhis affray, were fired on and failed to gain admittance,
on the part of the Permanent Committee of Electors, who The worthy Electon were now at their wits' end. Their policy
directed operations, with fumbling uncertainty, from the H6tel
of peaceful negotiations had proved a complete failure. Had It
de Ville. They made their intentions clear from the start : to
not been for the angry insistence of the bands of armed citizens
negotiate with the Governor, de Launay, for the surrender of
who swarmed in the rooms of the Hotel de Ville, in the Place de
the gunpowder in his keeping and for the withdrawal of the
Greve outside, and along all the approaches of the Bastille.
guns from his battlements. That this plan failed, and that the
calling for vengeance for blood spilt and suspected treachery,
Bastille fell only after the threat of a frontal assault, was due to
they would certainly have abandoned their efforts. Meanwhile,
circumstances outside their control.
two detachments of Gardes Fran�aises, drawn up outside the
Numerous eye-witness accounts of the siege of the Bastille, or
H6tel de Ville, responded to the summons of Pierre-Augustin
accounts purporting to be such, have come down to us. Fact and
Hulin a former non-commissioned officer, who marched them
fiction are often richly blended in them. Among the most trust­
�
off to he Bastille with five cannon removed from the Invalides
worthy, perhaps, are those left by the Electors themselves.·
that morning. Joined at the fortress by a few hundred armed
From these it appears that the first deputation sent to parley
with de Launay arrived at the Bastille at 1 0 o'clock. Having
civilians, they fought their way under fire to the inner courtyard
and trained their cannon on the main gate. This proved to be
received a friendly welcome and an invitation to dine, they did
decisive. The Governor offered to surrender provided that the
not emerge for some time. The dense crowds waiting outside,
garrison were spared; but the angry crowds would not hear of
fearing a trap, now raised a shout for the surrender or capture
conditions and the siege continued. At this point de Launay
of the fortress. To allay suspicions, a second delegation, sent by
seems to have lost his head and threatened to blow up the
the neighbouring District of La Culture, urged the Governor
fortress. He was, however, dissuaded by the garrison and, in
to surrender. Its leader, Thuriot de la Roziere, brought back
desperation, gave orders for the main drawbridge to be lowered.
word to thc Permanent Committee that the Governor, while So the Bastille fell.
refusing to surrender, had withdrawn his cannon and had pro-
, A. Bq:ilI, U !bgistr. J'krou tU u. &ulilk tU 17B!; .tIl� (Paris, 1880) .
It is perhaps surprising that the angry and triumphant crowds,

• Thae are the provillional figures givm by Duuaulx in his fint official report
• Ch.-L. Chassin, op. (:it. ii. ptwim.
J But .ee Hardy: 'La ouvriers du fauxbourg avaient entl'CprU de faire CJI

prize ti, u. BlUtilk (Paris, 1790), pp. 161-2. Bib. Nat. Lb 39 1972). Hardy'S lower
\0 the Clmltituent Assembly a few months later (D. /'i/UUft'UtiOtt JN2risinuu d ti, III
• The asc:ntial passages appear in Wickham Lcgg, op. cit. i. 49-95.
forme Ie li�gc de (:e (:hateau' (viii. 388).
figures of2o-& killed and 17 wounded were based on early bcanay (viii. 388).
" THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION JULY 1 7 8 9 "
character. I Such criticism falls wide ofits mark. The immediate .
JTl1sed not to fire unless attacked. Up to this point the crowds
aim was not to release prisoners but to find the powder that
of the two courtyards leadmg to the mam draw-
.
'
from the rue Saint-Antoine had penetrated only
was known to have been lately sent there from the arsenal. surgmg in .
. outer
Into the
le. The outer courtyard was, u
Other motives no doubt played a part. It was believed that the .
gate of the Bast Il
b 'dge and
n a1 unguarded; it was separated from the inner Cour du
fortress was heavily manned ; its guns, which that morning
were trained on the rue Saint-Antoine, could play havoc
among the crowded tenements. In the night it had been
�; u ernement by a wall and a drawbridge which de Launay

rumoured that 30,000 royalist troops had marched into the

had, unaccountably, left raised but un�efended. Half a n hour

!
after Thuriot's departure, two men climbed the wall f:o� a
Faubourg Saint-Antoine and had begun to slaughter its c tizens. eighbouring building and lowered the drawbridge. BelIevmg
Besides, though it had ceased to harbour more than a tnckle of
State prisoners, the Bastille was widely hated as a symbol of
� frontal attack to be imminent, de Launay gave the order to
fire. In the affray that followed, the besiegen lost ninety-eight
ministerial despotism : the cahim de do!ioTlus of the Paris Dis­ dead and seventy-three wounded; 1 only one of the defenden
tricts bear witness to this fact.l Yet there does not appear to was struck. Two further deputations, sent to the Bastille in the
have been any serious intention to take it by storm,l least of all
coune oflhis affray, were fired on and failed to gain admittance,
on the part of the Permanent Committee of Electors, who The worthy Electon were now at their wits' end. Their policy
directed operations, with fumbling uncertainty, from the H6tel
of peaceful negotiations had proved a complete failure. Had It
de Ville. They made their intentions clear from the start : to
not been for the angry insistence of the bands of armed citizens
negotiate with the Governor, de Launay, for the surrender of
who swarmed in the rooms of the Hotel de Ville, in the Place de
the gunpowder in his keeping and for the withdrawal of the
Greve outside, and along all the approaches of the Bastille.
guns from his battlements. That this plan failed, and that the
calling for vengeance for blood spilt and suspected treachery,
Bastille fell only after the threat of a frontal assault, was due to
they would certainly have abandoned their efforts. Meanwhile,
circumstances outside their control.
two detachments of Gardes Fran�aises, drawn up outside the
Numerous eye-witness accounts of the siege of the Bastille, or
H6tel de Ville, responded to the summons of Pierre-Augustin
accounts purporting to be such, have come down to us. Fact and
Hulin a former non-commissioned officer, who marched them
fiction are often richly blended in them. Among the most trust­
�
off to he Bastille with five cannon removed from the Invalides
worthy, perhaps, are those left by the Electors themselves.·
that morning. Joined at the fortress by a few hundred armed
From these it appears that the first deputation sent to parley
with de Launay arrived at the Bastille at 1 0 o'clock. Having
civilians, they fought their way under fire to the inner courtyard
and trained their cannon on the main gate. This proved to be
received a friendly welcome and an invitation to dine, they did
decisive. The Governor offered to surrender provided that the
not emerge for some time. The dense crowds waiting outside,
garrison were spared; but the angry crowds would not hear of
fearing a trap, now raised a shout for the surrender or capture
conditions and the siege continued. At this point de Launay
of the fortress. To allay suspicions, a second delegation, sent by
seems to have lost his head and threatened to blow up the
the neighbouring District of La Culture, urged the Governor
fortress. He was, however, dissuaded by the garrison and, in
to surrender. Its leader, Thuriot de la Roziere, brought back
desperation, gave orders for the main drawbridge to be lowered.
word to thc Permanent Committee that the Governor, while So the Bastille fell.
refusing to surrender, had withdrawn his cannon and had pro-
, A. Bq:ilI, U !bgistr. J'krou tU u. &ulilk tU 17B!; .tIl� (Paris, 1880) .
It is perhaps surprising that the angry and triumphant crowds,

• Thae are the provillional figures givm by Duuaulx in his fint official report
• Ch.-L. Chassin, op. (:it. ii. ptwim.
J But .ee Hardy: 'La ouvriers du fauxbourg avaient entl'CprU de faire CJI

prize ti, u. BlUtilk (Paris, 1790), pp. 161-2. Bib. Nat. Lb 39 1972). Hardy'S lower
\0 the Clmltituent Assembly a few months later (D. /'i/UUft'UtiOtt JN2risinuu d ti, III
• The asc:ntial passages appear in Wickham Lcgg, op. cit. i. 49-95.
forme Ie li�gc de (:e (:hateau' (viii. 388).
figures of2o-& killed and 17 wounded were based on early bcanay (viii. 388).
�6 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
pouring through the open gates of the Bastille, did not exact a
more complete and indiscriminate vengeance. They had lived
through day! of nervous tension, continuously subject to the
fear of sudden attack and disaster; they had been betrayed,
they believed, by some of their leaden; over 1 50
of their fellows
had been killed or wounded. Of I 0 members of the defending
1 pu
garrison, six or seven were slaughtered. De Launay, though
promised a safe-conduct to the Hotel de Ville, was struck down
on the way and his head severed with a butcher's knife. His
assassin, Denot, a cook of the rue Campalon, though claiming
that de Launay had first kicked him, later boasted ofhis prowess :
'Que s'il en a agi ainsi, il a cru faire un acte patriotique, et
mcriter une mCdaille." De FJesselles, who had aroused popular
fury by his reluctance to distribute arnu, met a similar fate as he
followed his accusers from the Hotel de Ville.2
Such acts of popular vengeance-followed, a week later, by
the murder of FouUon and Berthier-have, of course been
picked upon to discredit the captors of the Bastille and to
represent them as vagabonds, criminals, or a mercenary rabble
hired in the wine-shops of the Saint-Antoine quarter. This is
a legend that dies hard; yet not only is there no evidence to
support it, but all the available evidence directly Tt.:futes it.
Nor should we, of coune, be satisfied in describing them with
such general terms as 'Ies ouvrien du faubourg St. Antoine', 'Ie
peuple'. or 'tout Paris'. There is, in fact, small excuse for so
doing: those directly involved in the capture of the fortress
were but a few hundred and, in their case at least, sufficient
evidence has survived to enable us to get a reasonably clear
picture.
The vainqutur.s de La Ba.stilu, as they came to be called,
numbered between 800 and goo persons. Those were they who
managed, after careful sifting of evidence, to establish their
claim to have taken a direct part in the capture of the fortress.
Their names were carefully compiled and recorded and have
come down to us in three separate lists, each one of which was,
17go, approved
at various times during by the Constituent
• Arch. Nat., Y '2823. Th!not had, according to his own story, joined his local
milia on 13 July and talten pari in the attaclt on the Invalides.
Z For /irlXb-IHfMwt relaling 10 these variOUll victi
n u I«: Arch. Nat., Y 1128�;
14&4 ; and 10634, fait. 14g-�1.
JULY 1789
Assembly.
1 One of these lists-that drawn up an held by �
.
secretary of the varnqueur.s-<oDSlsts of the
Stanisla! Maillard,
mcsof662 survivors, ofwhom nearly 600 are thoseof CIVl · . ,.lans.�
� though incomplete,l it is the only one that will serve our
rpose as here alone we find recorded the addresses and
,
ccupations, and even the ml.,.Itla
. umts,
. 0fthe persons concerned.
�t is of course, only on the basis of such evidence that it is
i
poss ble to build up a picture of the social or occupational
statuS of the captors of the Bastille without resort to speculation
or vague generalization.
There were few men of wealth among them. AsJaures wrote ;
On ne releve pas dans la liste des combattants les renticrs, les
capitalislcs pour lesquels en partie In Rivolution etait raite.4
Three manufacturers are listed, four merchants, the brewer
Santerre, 3 naval officers, 4 termed 'bourgeois', and perhaps a
handfu! ofwealthy shopkeepers. The rest, apart from 6 , soldiers
and 15
cavalrymen of the marichaur.sie de la garde nationale­
whose civil occupations are not given-are almost all small
tradesmen, artisans, and wage-earners. Of these, about two­
thirds are small workshop masters, craftsmen, and joul"ucymen
drawn from about thirty petty trades ;s the remainder are
engaged in manufacture, distribution, building, the professions,
and general trades.' The wage-earners cannot always be clearly
identified, but they appear to be (as we should expect in this
case) in a decided minority: perhaps 60 in the small crafts and
no. I J 66; Tab/tau aU !Ja;nqutlJ1S a' la DIU/ill, (954 names, many appearing twice)
, Tab/tau aU ci/o)'fflf !JainqutUTI a' la Bas/ill, (871 names), M�e d., Arch. Nal.,
in F. Uoumon, Ln. Bas/ill, (P:;lTis, 1893), pp. �1g-23; NQI1U aU w;/Ujuturs a' Ie
Dallill, (662 names), An:h. Nat., T 514!» .
1 Arch. Nal., T 5'41').
J Among notable omissiOilli arc �nOI, who chopped off de LaunaY'1 head; the
• Jaurk, Hi.J/";u lQCU,fu�. i. 303.
abW, Fauehet; Fournier l'Amtricain; lhe an:hitect Palloy; and Maillard himself.
I These n i clude 49 joi
ncn
sculptors and mOOdlen, " metal-chuen, 10 turners, 10 hairdrnscrs and wiS­
, 4B cabinet·makers, 41 loclumitlu, 28 cobblers, 20
makers, 7 potters, 9 monumental mUOIlll, 9 nailsmiths, 9 dealers in fancy ware,
and 3 uphoblerers. For a similar classification see G. Bord, 'La Con'pin.tion
8 printers, 7 braziers, 9 tailOR, 9 foundeR, 5jewcllcn, 5 goldsmiths, � 'love-makers,
ma(onnique dc '789', u COTTls/Xmdmll, May 1905, pp. 52'-44' M. Bard must have
Thev include I I wine-merchants, 3 eaf<!·proprie,o"" 2 innkeepeR, 21 shop"
used Maillard's lin to arrive al his results, but he gives no reference.
•
keel'el"l, 9 haltel"l, 3 manufacturers, 4 busineamcn, 6 gardeners, 3 CarpenteR, and
7 lIonemasotlll.
�6 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
pouring through the open gates of the Bastille, did not exact a
more complete and indiscriminate vengeance. They had lived
through day! of nervous tension, continuously subject to the
fear of sudden attack and disaster; they had been betrayed,
they believed, by some of their leaden; over 1 50
of their fellows
had been killed or wounded. Of I 0 members of the defending
1 pu
garrison, six or seven were slaughtered. De Launay, though
promised a safe-conduct to the Hotel de Ville, was struck down
on the way and his head severed with a butcher's knife. His
assassin, Denot, a cook of the rue Campalon, though claiming
that de Launay had first kicked him, later boasted ofhis prowess :
'Que s'il en a agi ainsi, il a cru faire un acte patriotique, et
mcriter une mCdaille." De FJesselles, who had aroused popular
fury by his reluctance to distribute arnu, met a similar fate as he
followed his accusers from the Hotel de Ville.2
Such acts of popular vengeance-followed, a week later, by
the murder of FouUon and Berthier-have, of course been
picked upon to discredit the captors of the Bastille and to
represent them as vagabonds, criminals, or a mercenary rabble
hired in the wine-shops of the Saint-Antoine quarter. This is
a legend that dies hard; yet not only is there no evidence to
support it, but all the available evidence directly Tt.:futes it.
Nor should we, of coune, be satisfied in describing them with
such general terms as 'Ies ouvrien du faubourg St. Antoine', 'Ie
peuple'. or 'tout Paris'. There is, in fact, small excuse for so
doing: those directly involved in the capture of the fortress
were but a few hundred and, in their case at least, sufficient
evidence has survived to enable us to get a reasonably clear
picture.
The vainqutur.s de La Ba.stilu, as they came to be called,
numbered between 800 and goo persons. Those were they who
managed, after careful sifting of evidence, to establish their
claim to have taken a direct part in the capture of the fortress.
Their names were carefully compiled and recorded and have
come down to us in three separate lists, each one of which was,
17go, approved
at various times during by the Constituent
• Arch. Nat., Y '2823. Th!not had, according to his own story, joined his local
milia on 13 July and talten pari in the attaclt on the Invalides.
Z For /irlXb-IHfMwt relaling 10 these variOUll victi
n u I«: Arch. Nat., Y 1128�;
14&4 ; and 10634, fait. 14g-�1.
JULY 1789
Assembly.
1 One of these lists-that drawn up an held by �
.
secretary of the varnqueur.s-<oDSlsts of the
Stanisla! Maillard,
mcsof662 survivors, ofwhom nearly 600 are thoseof CIVl · . ,.lans.�
� though incomplete,l it is the only one that will serve our
rpose as here alone we find recorded the addresses and
,
ccupations, and even the ml.,.Itla
. umts,
. 0fthe persons concerned.
�t is of course, only on the basis of such evidence that it is
i
poss ble to build up a picture of the social or occupational
statuS of the captors of the Bastille without resort to speculation
or vague generalization.
There were few men of wealth among them. AsJaures wrote ;
On ne releve pas dans la liste des combattants les renticrs, les
capitalislcs pour lesquels en partie In Rivolution etait raite.4
Three manufacturers are listed, four merchants, the brewer
Santerre, 3 naval officers, 4 termed 'bourgeois', and perhaps a
handfu! ofwealthy shopkeepers. The rest, apart from 6 , soldiers
and 15
cavalrymen of the marichaur.sie de la garde nationale­
whose civil occupations are not given-are almost all small
tradesmen, artisans, and wage-earners. Of these, about two­
thirds are small workshop masters, craftsmen, and joul"ucymen
drawn from about thirty petty trades ;s the remainder are
engaged in manufacture, distribution, building, the professions,
and general trades.' The wage-earners cannot always be clearly
identified, but they appear to be (as we should expect in this
case) in a decided minority: perhaps 60 in the small crafts and
no. I J 66; Tab/tau aU !Ja;nqutlJ1S a' la DIU/ill, (954 names, many appearing twice)
, Tab/tau aU ci/o)'fflf !JainqutUTI a' la Bas/ill, (871 names), M�e d., Arch. Nal.,
in F. Uoumon, Ln. Bas/ill, (P:;lTis, 1893), pp. �1g-23; NQI1U aU w;/Ujuturs a' Ie
Dallill, (662 names), An:h. Nat., T 514!» .
1 Arch. Nal., T 5'41').
J Among notable omissiOilli arc �nOI, who chopped off de LaunaY'1 head; the
• Jaurk, Hi.J/";u lQCU,fu�. i. 303.
abW, Fauehet; Fournier l'Amtricain; lhe an:hitect Palloy; and Maillard himself.
I These n i clude 49 joi
ncn
sculptors and mOOdlen, " metal-chuen, 10 turners, 10 hairdrnscrs and wiS­
, 4B cabinet·makers, 41 loclumitlu, 28 cobblers, 20
makers, 7 potters, 9 monumental mUOIlll, 9 nailsmiths, 9 dealers in fancy ware,
and 3 uphoblerers. For a similar classification see G. Bord, 'La Con'pin.tion
8 printers, 7 braziers, 9 tailOR, 9 foundeR, 5jewcllcn, 5 goldsmiths, � 'love-makers,
ma(onnique dc '789', u COTTls/Xmdmll, May 1905, pp. 52'-44' M. Bard must have
Thev include I I wine-merchants, 3 eaf<!·proprie,o"" 2 innkeepeR, 21 shop"
used Maillard's lin to arrive al his results, but he gives no reference.
•
keel'el"l, 9 haltel"l, 3 manufacturers, 4 busineamcn, 6 gardeners, 3 CarpenteR, and
7 lIonemasotlll.
" THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
85 or go in other occupations, I There was one woman among
them-Marie Charpentier,femme Hauserne, a laundress of the
parish of Saint·Hippolyte in the Faubourg Saint-Marcel.
These were the survivors ; we know less about the ninety­
eight said to have been killed during the siege. Jaures, quoting
the journalist Loustaiot, wrote : 'Plus de trentc: laissaient leur
femme et leun enfanu dans un tel etat de detresse que des
secoun immediats Curent necessaires.'1 There is further evidence
to suggest that those killed included wage-earners and city
poor. Hardy reports a burial service for Charles Dusson, aged
31, a journeyman edge-toolmaker of the rue de la Huchette,
in the church of Saint-Severin on 18 Juiy.J Again, Jean-Marie
Silvain Gorny, aged 17. one of Santerre's brewers, was last seen
alive when he set out for the Bastille under arms on the after­
noon of 14 July.4 Five further corpses of civilians were brought
to the Chatelet for identification : they included a journeyman
5hoe-maker of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and a street-lighter
of the rue des Noyers, off the Place Maubert; the rest remained
unclaimed and unidentified.s
Of the survivors, at least, the great majority were citizens of
the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Four hundred, it is true, of the
635 whose origins have been traced, were of provincial birth;6
yet most of them had become settled inhabitants of the jtJJJ­
bourg: no less than 425, out of 602 whose addresses are given,
lived in one or other of its parishes.7 Of the remainder, 60 came
from Saint-�rvais, Saint-Paul, and other districts adjoining the
Bastille from the west, 30 from the central markets,' perhaps
a dozen from the Faubourg Saint-Marcel. Very few came from
more than a mile or two from the Bastille: among them were a
locksmith from the Faubourg Saint-Honore and a tin5mith from
(7-9). cobblers ($), print and paper worlr.en (4), atocking-weaven (4), pun­
• The largest categories arc: cabim:t·m.akcn (8-10), joinen (8), locbmitbl
workel1 (n), porten (17), riverside worlr.en and bargemen (8), .hipyard worken
($), coachmen (4), Itonemasons ($). stonecutters (4). ribbon weavcn (3)·
• Jaurb, op. cit. i. 303.
• Arch. Nat., Y '4" 9. I Arch. Nat., Y 10634, fol. l$Oi 11I6g8; 10$g8.
' Hardy, viii. 388.
J . Duricux, Us Vain.q1ll1lN tit. Us B<Jilil/, (Pari., 19.1), pp. 261 ff.
• Most ofthac were from the streets adjoining theB:;utille-the rue du Fauboul'I
•
Saint.Antoine and adjacent streets (1I4�), ruede Lappe ($3), rue de Chll.r�:nton (44).
I Fournier l'Am�ricain'l claim, therefore, to have led 400 of hiJ band of 800
rue de Scrcy (Ill), rue de Montreuil (7).
ally (/l-flmoim stcr,l3 u C. FOJlf7lin', Amlricaill, Arch. Nat., P 6$04).
followel1 from the Saint-Eustaehe District to the siege mUJ! n(>t be taken too liter­
• • •
JULY 1 7 8 9 "
the Gros CaiJIou. near the Champ de Mars. And all of these,
whether from the Faubourg Saint-Antoine or elsewhere, far
from being vagrants or down-and-outs, were men of settled
abode and occupation. More surprisingly perhaps, the over­
whelming majority of its captors went to the Bastille under
arms as enrolled members of their local units of the newly
formed mili
a bourgeoise, or Parisian National Guard.' This, of
course, not only serves further to disprove the legend that the
captors were vagrants or social riff-raff-such elements were,
of course, rigorously excluded from the ranks of the militia­
but it also suggests that the operation may have been a far less
spontaneous affair than has usually been claimed.
Yet, in a wider sense, we may agree with Michelet that the
capture of the Bastille was not just the affair of those few
hundred citizens of the Saint-Antoine quarter who were most
immediately involved, but of the people of Paris as a whole. At
the peak of the insurrection there may have been a quarter of
a million Parisians-some thought more-under arms;l and,
taking an even broader view, we should not ignore the part
played by the great mass of Parisian petty craftsmen, tradesmen,
and wage-earners, in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine and else­
where, whose revolutionary temper had been moulded over
many months by the rise in living costs and, as the crisis
deepened, by the growing conviction that the great hopes raised
by the States General were being thwarted by an aristocratic
plot.
Though of little military imponance the capture of the Bastille
had far-reaching political consequences. The National Assem�
bly was saved and received royal recognition. The Court Pany
began to disintegrate and the Comte d'Anois went into volun­
tary exile. In the capital, power passed into the hands of the
Committee of Electors, who set up a City Council with Bailly as
mayor and Lafayette as commander-in-chief of its National
Guard. On 1 7 July the king himself made the journey to Paris,
, In the c:;ue of6 out ofevery 7 civilians on Maillard', list the name ofthc com_
pany and/or battalion of the National Guard il indicated. I have asaumed that the
remainin� t in 7 (they include a boy of '4, another of 16 and a woman) were not
1 �icolas de BonneviUe, the original promoter of the milin bowglOise, later wrote
enroUed In the milic,.
th�t, on '4 July, Pari. had 300,000 mcn under arms (So Lacroix, op. cit., ::nd
lenCl, v. 31); Barnavc, on tSJuly, wrote of 180,000 (Arch. Nat., W I il, fol. tO�).
" THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
85 or go in other occupations, I There was one woman among
them-Marie Charpentier,femme Hauserne, a laundress of the
parish of Saint·Hippolyte in the Faubourg Saint-Marcel.
These were the survivors ; we know less about the ninety­
eight said to have been killed during the siege. Jaures, quoting
the journalist Loustaiot, wrote : 'Plus de trentc: laissaient leur
femme et leun enfanu dans un tel etat de detresse que des
secoun immediats Curent necessaires.'1 There is further evidence
to suggest that those killed included wage-earners and city
poor. Hardy reports a burial service for Charles Dusson, aged
31, a journeyman edge-toolmaker of the rue de la Huchette,
in the church of Saint-Severin on 18 Juiy.J Again, Jean-Marie
Silvain Gorny, aged 17. one of Santerre's brewers, was last seen
alive when he set out for the Bastille under arms on the after­
noon of 14 July.4 Five further corpses of civilians were brought
to the Chatelet for identification : they included a journeyman
5hoe-maker of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and a street-lighter
of the rue des Noyers, off the Place Maubert; the rest remained
unclaimed and unidentified.s
Of the survivors, at least, the great majority were citizens of
the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Four hundred, it is true, of the
635 whose origins have been traced, were of provincial birth;6
yet most of them had become settled inhabitants of the jtJJJ­
bourg: no less than 425, out of 602 whose addresses are given,
lived in one or other of its parishes.7 Of the remainder, 60 came
from Saint-�rvais, Saint-Paul, and other districts adjoining the
Bastille from the west, 30 from the central markets,' perhaps
a dozen from the Faubourg Saint-Marcel. Very few came from
more than a mile or two from the Bastille: among them were a
locksmith from the Faubourg Saint-Honore and a tin5mith from
(7-9). cobblers ($), print and paper worlr.en (4), atocking-weaven (4), pun­
• The largest categories arc: cabim:t·m.akcn (8-10), joinen (8), locbmitbl
workel1 (n), porten (17), riverside worlr.en and bargemen (8), .hipyard worken
($), coachmen (4), Itonemasons ($). stonecutters (4). ribbon weavcn (3)·
• Jaurb, op. cit. i. 303.
• Arch. Nat., Y '4" 9. I Arch. Nat., Y 10634, fol. l$Oi 11I6g8; 10$g8.
' Hardy, viii. 388.
J . Duricux, Us Vain.q1ll1lN tit. Us B<Jilil/, (Pari., 19.1), pp. 261 ff.
• Most ofthac were from the streets adjoining theB:;utille-the rue du Fauboul'I
•
Saint.Antoine and adjacent streets (1I4�), ruede Lappe ($3), rue de Chll.r�:nton (44).
I Fournier l'Am�ricain'l claim, therefore, to have led 400 of hiJ band of 800
rue de Scrcy (Ill), rue de Montreuil (7).
ally (/l-flmoim stcr,l3 u C. FOJlf7lin', Amlricaill, Arch. Nat., P 6$04).
followel1 from the Saint-Eustaehe District to the siege mUJ! n(>t be taken too liter­
• • •
JULY 1 7 8 9 "
the Gros CaiJIou. near the Champ de Mars. And all of these,
whether from the Faubourg Saint-Antoine or elsewhere, far
from being vagrants or down-and-outs, were men of settled
abode and occupation. More surprisingly perhaps, the over­
whelming majority of its captors went to the Bastille under
arms as enrolled members of their local units of the newly
formed mili
a bourgeoise, or Parisian National Guard.' This, of
course, not only serves further to disprove the legend that the
captors were vagrants or social riff-raff-such elements were,
of course, rigorously excluded from the ranks of the militia­
but it also suggests that the operation may have been a far less
spontaneous affair than has usually been claimed.
Yet, in a wider sense, we may agree with Michelet that the
capture of the Bastille was not just the affair of those few
hundred citizens of the Saint-Antoine quarter who were most
immediately involved, but of the people of Paris as a whole. At
the peak of the insurrection there may have been a quarter of
a million Parisians-some thought more-under arms;l and,
taking an even broader view, we should not ignore the part
played by the great mass of Parisian petty craftsmen, tradesmen,
and wage-earners, in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine and else­
where, whose revolutionary temper had been moulded over
many months by the rise in living costs and, as the crisis
deepened, by the growing conviction that the great hopes raised
by the States General were being thwarted by an aristocratic
plot.
Though of little military imponance the capture of the Bastille
had far-reaching political consequences. The National Assem�
bly was saved and received royal recognition. The Court Pany
began to disintegrate and the Comte d'Anois went into volun­
tary exile. In the capital, power passed into the hands of the
Committee of Electors, who set up a City Council with Bailly as
mayor and Lafayette as commander-in-chief of its National
Guard. On 1 7 July the king himself made the journey to Paris,
, In the c:;ue of6 out ofevery 7 civilians on Maillard', list the name ofthc com_
pany and/or battalion of the National Guard il indicated. I have asaumed that the
remainin� t in 7 (they include a boy of '4, another of 16 and a woman) were not
1 �icolas de BonneviUe, the original promoter of the milin bowglOise, later wrote
enroUed In the milic,.
th�t, on '4 July, Pari. had 300,000 mcn under arms (So Lacroix, op. cit., ::nd
lenCl, v. 31); Barnavc, on tSJuly, wrote of 180,000 (Arch. Nat., W I il, fol. tO�).
60 TH E REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION

was received at the H6tel de Ville by the victors and, in token

ofacquiescence in the turn ofevents, donned the red, white, and V
blue cockade of the Revolution. Though to Hardy the 14th had
seemed 'une triste journee', it was a week of public rejoicing
I

and fraternal embraces. Yet it proved short·lived. Though a

T H E M A R C H TO V E R S A I L L E S
decisive step had been taken, the Revolution was far from com­ HE
march to Versailles on 5 October, by ending in the
pleted; and the festivities and rejoicing soon gave way to a new
round of solemn and tragic events.
I Hardy, viii. 3go.
T king's return to the capital, completed the Paris revolution
of July. As long as court and king remained at Versailles
and an active minority of deputies were able, in alliance with
the court, to frustrate the constitutional programme of the
Assembly, effective power still remained divided between the
revolutionary bourgeoisie (supported by a minority of liberal
aristocrats) and the adherents of the old regime. The king's
refusal to give his assent to the Declaration of the Rights of
Man and to the Assembly's famous resolution of 4- August,
which eventually led to the abolition ofthe feudal system ofland­
tenure, the long struggle over the 'veto', and the constant
intrigues to abduct the king to a safe distance from Paris, showed
how precarious as yet were the gains of the July revolution.
The October insurrection was to consolidate these gains. By
placing the king under the watchful eye of the majority in the
National Assembly, the Paris city government, and Districts
and by destroying the influence of the conservative 'English
Party' within the Assembly, it established the ascendancy of the
constitutional monarchists which, in Paris, found its reflection
in the long rule of Bailly as mayor and of Lafayette as com­
mander-in-chief of the National Guard. It must, of course, be
added that by placing the Assembly itself under the equally
watchful eye of the Parisian menu pmple, whose more active
elements began to crowd the tribunes and, often, to influence
its debates, it opened the way for further developments that
were neither foreseen, nor in the event welcomed, by the
victors of October; but this, of course, lay still in the future.
Yet the constitutional monarchists, who were clearly the
immediate beneficiaries of the insurrection, were not eager to
boast of their successes or to show the world how they were
achieved. When the Chatelet inquiry into the events of 6
October was published in March 1790,' it was with the full
I Ft"'Iaure crimilllll. du CMlllot a. Pdf;' fUl' Idjouml. aU 6 «/o.r, (Paru, '790).
Bib. Nat., L< 119 980.
. . .
60 TH E REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION

was received at the H6tel de Ville by the victors and, in token

ofacquiescence in the turn ofevents, donned the red, white, and V
blue cockade of the Revolution. Though to Hardy the 14th had
seemed 'une triste journee', it was a week of public rejoicing
I

and fraternal embraces. Yet it proved short·lived. Though a

T H E M A R C H TO V E R S A I L L E S
decisive step had been taken, the Revolution was far from com­ HE
march to Versailles on 5 October, by ending in the
pleted; and the festivities and rejoicing soon gave way to a new
round of solemn and tragic events.
I Hardy, viii. 3go.
T king's return to the capital, completed the Paris revolution
of July. As long as court and king remained at Versailles
and an active minority of deputies were able, in alliance with
the court, to frustrate the constitutional programme of the
Assembly, effective power still remained divided between the
revolutionary bourgeoisie (supported by a minority of liberal
aristocrats) and the adherents of the old regime. The king's
refusal to give his assent to the Declaration of the Rights of
Man and to the Assembly's famous resolution of 4- August,
which eventually led to the abolition ofthe feudal system ofland­
tenure, the long struggle over the 'veto', and the constant
intrigues to abduct the king to a safe distance from Paris, showed
how precarious as yet were the gains of the July revolution.
The October insurrection was to consolidate these gains. By
placing the king under the watchful eye of the majority in the
National Assembly, the Paris city government, and Districts
and by destroying the influence of the conservative 'English
Party' within the Assembly, it established the ascendancy of the
constitutional monarchists which, in Paris, found its reflection
in the long rule of Bailly as mayor and of Lafayette as com­
mander-in-chief of the National Guard. It must, of course, be
added that by placing the Assembly itself under the equally
watchful eye of the Parisian menu pmple, whose more active
elements began to crowd the tribunes and, often, to influence
its debates, it opened the way for further developments that
were neither foreseen, nor in the event welcomed, by the
victors of October; but this, of course, lay still in the future.
Yet the constitutional monarchists, who were clearly the
immediate beneficiaries of the insurrection, were not eager to
boast of their successes or to show the world how they were
achieved. When the Chatelet inquiry into the events of 6
October was published in March 1790,' it was with the full
I Ft"'Iaure crimilllll. du CMlllot a. Pdf;' fUl' Idjouml. aU 6 «/o.r, (Paru, '790).
Bib. Nat., L< 119 980.
. . .
0, THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
consent of the Assembly's majority; yet, far from throwing a
bright light into dark corners, it served effectively as a smoke­
screen to divert attention from the real authors of the October
'days'. It suited the court, the police, the Paris administ�atjon.
and the dominant party in the Assembly to present the violence
and haste with which the king had been hustled to Paris as the
outcome of a vaguely definro Orleanist plot or of the sinister
machinations of the discredited Mirabeau; it would have been
impolitic to reveal it as the execution of plans long nurtured by
the respectable bourgeois and liberal aristocrats who controlled
the Assembly and Paris city government. Mystery undoubtedly
attaches to the exact part played by Mirabeau, Orleans, or
even Lafayette-a mystery which the Chatelet inquiry succeeded
in deepening. It is not the purpose of the present chapter to
seek to throw a fresh light on the respective guilt, or responsi­
bility, of the various parties concerned: this has .already been
attempted, with remarkable success under the clf.cumstances,
by Albert Mathiez,1 Suffice it here to say �hat It would be
strange indeed if those who benefited most dlfectly from these
events did not have at least as effective a control of the October
insurrection as they had of the Paris revolution ofJuly. With�n
certain limits they would no more hesitate in October t�an 10
July to turn to their advantage the anger and revolutlO.n.ary
energies of the menu prople in order to achieve d�fined political
objectives, Had not Academician Dussaulx, a highly respected
member of the Centre party in the Assembly, told Farmer
General Augeart already on 26 August that the king must be
brought to Paris-by violence if need be?: A".d did not �a�ave's
letters written after the event explain to hiS Dauphmols con­
stituents the necessity for the insurrection-however distasteful
certain ofits features undoubtedly were-and praise the city of
Paris for once more saving 'la liberte publique'?3
So much, in brief, for the main political results and �espon­
sibilities for the October days; but the menu plUple of Pans were
• A. Malhia, '£t\lde eritique sur les joum�es des S el 6 octobre 1789', RlfJ. hist.
bvii (18gB), 241--th; Ixviii (1899). 2�; bix (IBgg). 41---6.6 I have made
eonsiderable usc or this study in puparing this chapter.
I Arch. Nat., W 13, foJ•. 317--18. He, ne"erthdcss, spoke ofil as '�e mouvement
• Quoted by Mathiez. op. cil. Ixvii. 249·
been for
terrible', which, he coruidered, might have ended in disaster, had II not
the p;m played by Wayelle and the Aucmbly (Arch. Nat W 12, fols. 200-1),
.•
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES 0,
no more helpless accessories, willing to stage an insurrection for
the sole benefit ofthe constitutional monarchists in October, than
they had been for the Palais Royal or the Paris Electors in July.
While they might share the general alarm of all 'patriots' at the
neW 'conspiracies' hatching at Versailles, they also had their
own particular preoccupations. Barnave, who often showed a
deeper understanding of social realities than most of his
colleagues, drew attention to this division of interest when he
wrote to his constituents that while, in October, bourgeoisie and
ptuple acted together in a common cause, the former were
actuated solely by the desire to defeat the plots of the aristo­
cracy, whereas the latter, while sharing this desire, were equally
concerned with the scarcityofbread. 1 This duality ofinterest was
by no meanspeculiarto the events ofOctober; but to be aware of
it is to begin, at least, to understand an episode which, in some re­
spects, is more shrouded in mystery than any othersimilareventof
the Revolution. It will perhaps emerge more clearlyifwe first try
to trace the origins of these separate trends, follow their develop­
ment and see how they merged in common action on 5 October.
Again, as in July, it was the menu propie rather than the
bourgeoisi� that was first involved in active protest; nor was their
movement to cease with the realization of the immediate political
objectives. For them the calm following the July revolution
was short-lived. In terms of the political movement, the events
ofJuly and October, though linked by common ties, are clearly
defined and distinctive episodes; in terms of the popular-social
movement however, it would perhaps be more correct to
speak of an almost continuous agitation, springing up in April
or May, rising to a climax in July and again in October, but
not finally subsiding until the early days of November. In this
movement the problem of bread was uppermost, dominated
�U other considerations, and drew together the largest numbers
In common protest. Yet there were other elements which,
though affecting smaller groups, added to the general unrest
and, therefore, must have contributed to the volume of anger
and to the numbers of demonstrators on 5 October.
'. ' Ar�h. Nal., W 12, foil. 200-1. Thepassage rum: 'Pendant que nousd�li�rioru,
I 'mpa .ence des Parisierll l'�tait portee a I'excb;
� la bourgeoisie el Ie peuple, les
UIlI �n'rnb uniquemenl conlU la dernil:rc c(lnduile du
gouvernemcnl el de I'arilto­
crahe, tlus aul,tsy 1IIIItmJ I'inllr/l du pain 'lui CtImmfll(ail
d II,. rart, sc sont a.sacmblb
dans IOUli les districts' (my italics).
0, THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
consent of the Assembly's majority; yet, far from throwing a
bright light into dark corners, it served effectively as a smoke­
screen to divert attention from the real authors of the October
'days'. It suited the court, the police, the Paris administ�atjon.
and the dominant party in the Assembly to present the violence
and haste with which the king had been hustled to Paris as the
outcome of a vaguely definro Orleanist plot or of the sinister
machinations of the discredited Mirabeau; it would have been
impolitic to reveal it as the execution of plans long nurtured by
the respectable bourgeois and liberal aristocrats who controlled
the Assembly and Paris city government. Mystery undoubtedly
attaches to the exact part played by Mirabeau, Orleans, or
even Lafayette-a mystery which the Chatelet inquiry succeeded
in deepening. It is not the purpose of the present chapter to
seek to throw a fresh light on the respective guilt, or responsi­
bility, of the various parties concerned: this has .already been
attempted, with remarkable success under the clf.cumstances,
by Albert Mathiez,1 Suffice it here to say �hat It would be
strange indeed if those who benefited most dlfectly from these
events did not have at least as effective a control of the October
insurrection as they had of the Paris revolution ofJuly. With�n
certain limits they would no more hesitate in October t�an 10
July to turn to their advantage the anger and revolutlO.n.ary
energies of the menu prople in order to achieve d�fined political
objectives, Had not Academician Dussaulx, a highly respected
member of the Centre party in the Assembly, told Farmer
General Augeart already on 26 August that the king must be
brought to Paris-by violence if need be?: A".d did not �a�ave's
letters written after the event explain to hiS Dauphmols con­
stituents the necessity for the insurrection-however distasteful
certain ofits features undoubtedly were-and praise the city of
Paris for once more saving 'la liberte publique'?3
So much, in brief, for the main political results and �espon­
sibilities for the October days; but the menu plUple of Pans were
• A. Malhia, '£t\lde eritique sur les joum�es des S el 6 octobre 1789', RlfJ. hist.
bvii (18gB), 241--th; Ixviii (1899). 2�; bix (IBgg). 41---6.6 I have made
eonsiderable usc or this study in puparing this chapter.
I Arch. Nat., W 13, foJ•. 317--18. He, ne"erthdcss, spoke ofil as '�e mouvement
• Quoted by Mathiez. op. cil. Ixvii. 249·
been for
terrible', which, he coruidered, might have ended in disaster, had II not
the p;m played by Wayelle and the Aucmbly (Arch. Nat W 12, fols. 200-1),
.•
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES 0,
no more helpless accessories, willing to stage an insurrection for
the sole benefit ofthe constitutional monarchists in October, than
they had been for the Palais Royal or the Paris Electors in July.
While they might share the general alarm of all 'patriots' at the
neW 'conspiracies' hatching at Versailles, they also had their
own particular preoccupations. Barnave, who often showed a
deeper understanding of social realities than most of his
colleagues, drew attention to this division of interest when he
wrote to his constituents that while, in October, bourgeoisie and
ptuple acted together in a common cause, the former were
actuated solely by the desire to defeat the plots of the aristo­
cracy, whereas the latter, while sharing this desire, were equally
concerned with the scarcityofbread. 1 This duality ofinterest was
by no meanspeculiarto the events ofOctober; but to be aware of
it is to begin, at least, to understand an episode which, in some re­
spects, is more shrouded in mystery than any othersimilareventof
the Revolution. It will perhaps emerge more clearlyifwe first try
to trace the origins of these separate trends, follow their develop­
ment and see how they merged in common action on 5 October.
Again, as in July, it was the menu propie rather than the
bourgeoisi� that was first involved in active protest; nor was their
movement to cease with the realization of the immediate political
objectives. For them the calm following the July revolution
was short-lived. In terms of the political movement, the events
ofJuly and October, though linked by common ties, are clearly
defined and distinctive episodes; in terms of the popular-social
movement however, it would perhaps be more correct to
speak of an almost continuous agitation, springing up in April
or May, rising to a climax in July and again in October, but
not finally subsiding until the early days of November. In this
movement the problem of bread was uppermost, dominated
�U other considerations, and drew together the largest numbers
In common protest. Yet there were other elements which,
though affecting smaller groups, added to the general unrest
and, therefore, must have contributed to the volume of anger
and to the numbers of demonstrators on 5 October.
'. ' Ar�h. Nal., W 12, foil. 200-1. Thepassage rum: 'Pendant que nousd�li�rioru,
I 'mpa .ence des Parisierll l'�tait portee a I'excb;
� la bourgeoisie el Ie peuple, les
UIlI �n'rnb uniquemenl conlU la dernil:rc c(lnduile du
gouvernemcnl el de I'arilto­
crahe, tlus aul,tsy 1IIIItmJ I'inllr/l du pain 'lui CtImmfll(ail
d II,. rart, sc sont a.sacmblb
dans IOUli les districts' (my italics).
 "
..
THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES

ployed .engaged �? bakers,. wig-makers, tailors, shoe-makers, apothecaries, and

aulllrs de chanti.
In the first place, there were the unem
domestic servants. I n general they were to find the new city
government no more sympathetic to their claims than their
in the
public-works schemes or merely herded
in Augu st, there were
Their numbers were rising sharply and,
shops , of which 18,000 were predecessors : their requests for pennission to hold meetings
already 22 000 in the public work
�
at Montm rtre alone.' They had playe d a certa in
Bastil
part in the
le,�. but to
were curtly refused, sometimes with the aid of the National
Guard ;1 the tailors alone, according to Hardy, won their
m and even at the
July revolution, at the barrie
ution aries they were unwe lcome alhes. So demand for an increase of wages-in this case, of 10 SOUl per
the bourgeois revol
that .when number a
touchy were the authorities on their score day.J
outside the Duke of The wig-�akers and domestic servants, as might be supp05ed,
were suffenng severely from the decline in the luxury trades
of new recruits to Montmartre gathered
Orleans's estate at Monceaux on 9 Augu
st, waiting for a clerk
ed for forming an and the growing volume of emigration. 4-,000 wig-makers met
to bring them work or pay, fifteen were arrest
appea red a pamphlet by in the Champs Elysees to demand a reorganization of their
illegal assembly.l Shortly after there
allegi ng that the Montmartre labour exchanges ; after a scuffle with the National Guard a
the Chevalier de Beaurepaire,
tions for traini ng artille ry on the deputation was received at the Hotel de Ville, a joint meeting
workers were building fortifica
g deput ation from the Distri ct of Petit with the masters was arranged, and a new code was eventually
city.4 Although a visitin
denie d the allega tions in a reassu ring repo�t,S drawn Up.l The servants' demands were, in the main, political:
Saint-Antoine
the workshop. The city they requested full citizen rights, the right to attend District
a demand was raised for the closure of
authorities agreed to do so on t 2 Augu
st, and Lafayette was Assemblies, to enrol in the National Guard (from which as
ers on the subject on servile dependents they were debarred), and the exclusion of
deputed to address the Montmartre work
ed, possib ly b �cause the Sa�oyards fro� their calling. They were persuaded to disperse
the 15th. He was not well receiv
reduc e their wage s.' Dlst�rbances qUietly and did not carry out their original threat to demon­
Assembly had just decided to
mont h two Mont martr e navvles were strate 4-0,000 strong in the Champs Elysees, or on the Place du
followed: later in the
jailed for threatening to kill their works hop mana ger; and ten Temple, the next day.4 Nevertheless, feelings ran high : a few
n, were arrested by days later Eugene Gervais, an unemployed cook, was arrested
Bastille workers, including three wome
martre uneI?plo�ed �t the Palais Royal for inciting domestic servants and workers
Santerre for creating a disorder.' The Mont
back �o their ��llVe In general against the bourgeois National Guard ; he was even­
were duly disbanded, and the majority sent
provinces, with the aid of the lJoiontaires
de ia BastIlle (a mlhtary tually condemned to be branded and to spend nine years in the
the vain q ueurs) ;8 but other work­ galleys, a sentence later commuted to one of two years' prison.s
force not to be confused with
becam e, as we shall sec, perme�ted A feature of the scenes that took place at Versailles on 5
shops remained open and
ion that prece ded the march to Versailles. October, when the women burst in on the meeting of the
by the political agitat
Meanwhile , a numb er of trades had decid ed to t.est the good
by puttmg forward
� Hardy, viii.
434, 438-9, 455; S. Lacroix, OJ). cit., lit .mes, i. 1�3-4, 38.,
41 , .547; G. M. Jafft, U MalWtl>lt>ll oo=Vr II plJriJ pmdtW la RivDlwi4t<f'iJllfaiu
' Hardy, viii. 438-9.
faith of the new municipal authorities (P rol, 19�7)' pp. 65-730
• Ibid., p. 455; Arch. Nat., Y ,8766.
tions. These included : .
claims for bener wages and working condi
I MlmtJiTu u Baill.1, ii. 257. bo
• � bld., p. 439.
'e? Na•., Y 18767. He was reported to h"'ve said, 'Que toute la garde
• Maillard'l lill ofIIfIUlqunuI U 1<1 BdSl/h
i includes four panici�tsfrom thepublle urgeouc et lOuta IQ pcnonnQ qui ponaient I'uniforme ttaicol lOW des j. f. et
.

(Arch. Nat., T 514U»). �ue 'o.ooo domtlliqua ttaient capables de [Ie bal a 10UI la j. [
abul blew :I reven blanc; C1 que tOUll IQ bourg«>iI ttaimt tOUI
j. f. sanl en
workshoE»-two navviQ, a foreman, and a (�fd'atrli#r . qui portaient dca

4 Chevalier deBeaurepaire, RapfKJTl.iMM. d"diJlru:

, Arch. Nat., Y l�o79·
• Bib. N"'t., nQuv. aeq. fran�., no. <1654,
ltW PI/iu MIJ/h",ins.Bib. Nat., �x�cpte, un; C{ que I'on nc voy"it qu'un tu dc freluquetl
y avait 60.000 domaliqua :I Pam qui pourraicnt IC rtuni,
faire des faquins au
fol. 156. a all Royal, et qu'il
L" 4-0 �85.
aux ouv9cn dQ difftrents ttatl ct que I'on vcrrait
having used the exact words• Gervail
6 MirMirts dt Baill.1, ii. 265. tow CQ j. f. sc cacher chcz eux

thing Iirni.Lllr.
• Arch. Nat., Y IS'O�; 18766; 18795. fols. 463, 466-7·
.�cc. leun [ habits.' Though denying
a mIlled saying IOmc
I Jaura, op. cil. i. 356.
 "
..
THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES

ployed .engaged �? bakers,. wig-makers, tailors, shoe-makers, apothecaries, and

aulllrs de chanti.
In the first place, there were the unem
domestic servants. I n general they were to find the new city
government no more sympathetic to their claims than their
in the
public-works schemes or merely herded
in Augu st, there were
Their numbers were rising sharply and,
shops , of which 18,000 were predecessors : their requests for pennission to hold meetings
already 22 000 in the public work
�
at Montm rtre alone.' They had playe d a certa in
Bastil
part in the
le,�. but to
were curtly refused, sometimes with the aid of the National
Guard ;1 the tailors alone, according to Hardy, won their
m and even at the
July revolution, at the barrie
ution aries they were unwe lcome alhes. So demand for an increase of wages-in this case, of 10 SOUl per
the bourgeois revol
that .when number a
touchy were the authorities on their score day.J
outside the Duke of The wig-�akers and domestic servants, as might be supp05ed,
were suffenng severely from the decline in the luxury trades
of new recruits to Montmartre gathered
Orleans's estate at Monceaux on 9 Augu
st, waiting for a clerk
ed for forming an and the growing volume of emigration. 4-,000 wig-makers met
to bring them work or pay, fifteen were arrest
appea red a pamphlet by in the Champs Elysees to demand a reorganization of their
illegal assembly.l Shortly after there
allegi ng that the Montmartre labour exchanges ; after a scuffle with the National Guard a
the Chevalier de Beaurepaire,
tions for traini ng artille ry on the deputation was received at the Hotel de Ville, a joint meeting
workers were building fortifica
g deput ation from the Distri ct of Petit with the masters was arranged, and a new code was eventually
city.4 Although a visitin
denie d the allega tions in a reassu ring repo�t,S drawn Up.l The servants' demands were, in the main, political:
Saint-Antoine
the workshop. The city they requested full citizen rights, the right to attend District
a demand was raised for the closure of
authorities agreed to do so on t 2 Augu
st, and Lafayette was Assemblies, to enrol in the National Guard (from which as
ers on the subject on servile dependents they were debarred), and the exclusion of
deputed to address the Montmartre work
ed, possib ly b �cause the Sa�oyards fro� their calling. They were persuaded to disperse
the 15th. He was not well receiv
reduc e their wage s.' Dlst�rbances qUietly and did not carry out their original threat to demon­
Assembly had just decided to
mont h two Mont martr e navvles were strate 4-0,000 strong in the Champs Elysees, or on the Place du
followed: later in the
jailed for threatening to kill their works hop mana ger; and ten Temple, the next day.4 Nevertheless, feelings ran high : a few
n, were arrested by days later Eugene Gervais, an unemployed cook, was arrested
Bastille workers, including three wome
martre uneI?plo�ed �t the Palais Royal for inciting domestic servants and workers
Santerre for creating a disorder.' The Mont
back �o their ��llVe In general against the bourgeois National Guard ; he was even­
were duly disbanded, and the majority sent
provinces, with the aid of the lJoiontaires
de ia BastIlle (a mlhtary tually condemned to be branded and to spend nine years in the
the vain q ueurs) ;8 but other work­ galleys, a sentence later commuted to one of two years' prison.s
force not to be confused with
becam e, as we shall sec, perme�ted A feature of the scenes that took place at Versailles on 5
shops remained open and
ion that prece ded the march to Versailles. October, when the women burst in on the meeting of the
by the political agitat
Meanwhile , a numb er of trades had decid ed to t.est the good
by puttmg forward
� Hardy, viii.
434, 438-9, 455; S. Lacroix, OJ). cit., lit .mes, i. 1�3-4, 38.,
41 , .547; G. M. Jafft, U MalWtl>lt>ll oo=Vr II plJriJ pmdtW la RivDlwi4t<f'iJllfaiu
' Hardy, viii. 438-9.
faith of the new municipal authorities (P rol, 19�7)' pp. 65-730
• Ibid., p. 455; Arch. Nat., Y ,8766.
tions. These included : .
claims for bener wages and working condi
I MlmtJiTu u Baill.1, ii. 257. bo
• � bld., p. 439.
'e? Na•., Y 18767. He was reported to h"'ve said, 'Que toute la garde
• Maillard'l lill ofIIfIUlqunuI U 1<1 BdSl/h
i includes four panici�tsfrom thepublle urgeouc et lOuta IQ pcnonnQ qui ponaient I'uniforme ttaicol lOW des j. f. et
.

(Arch. Nat., T 514U»). �ue 'o.ooo domtlliqua ttaient capables de [Ie bal a 10UI la j. [
abul blew :I reven blanc; C1 que tOUll IQ bourg«>iI ttaimt tOUI
j. f. sanl en
workshoE»-two navviQ, a foreman, and a (�fd'atrli#r . qui portaient dca

4 Chevalier deBeaurepaire, RapfKJTl.iMM. d"diJlru:

, Arch. Nat., Y l�o79·
• Bib. N"'t., nQuv. aeq. fran�., no. <1654,
ltW PI/iu MIJ/h",ins.Bib. Nat., �x�cpte, un; C{ que I'on nc voy"it qu'un tu dc freluquetl
y avait 60.000 domaliqua :I Pam qui pourraicnt IC rtuni,
faire des faquins au
fol. 156. a all Royal, et qu'il
L" 4-0 �85.
aux ouv9cn dQ difftrents ttatl ct que I'on vcrrait
having used the exact words• Gervail
6 MirMirts dt Baill.1, ii. 265. tow CQ j. f. sc cacher chcz eux

thing Iirni.Lllr.
• Arch. Nat., Y IS'O�; 18766; 18795. fols. 463, 466-7·
.�cc. leun [ habits.' Though denying
a mIlled saying IOmc
I Jaura, op. cil. i. 356.
 .,
66 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES

the ?
contempt and hostility sh wn to the cleric �� Despite their quasi.religious objects, there is already a foretaste
greeted with �houts �f a bas la caloue .
Assembly, was
of the march to Versailles in these great demonstrations of the
�nu peuple of the markets andfauhourgs. Hardy seems
and "d mort Ies calottins !'1 While this hostility had been recently
deputies, who were
.
to have
stimulated by the clergy's refusal to give up theIr ' had,
" tlthe It
�
� sensed these potentialities when he writes of the Faubourg

of course, far deeper roots. Hardy heard the slogan a bas la Saint-Antoine procession in mid.September, in which
people took part:
1,200
caloue!' in the Palais Royal on 12 July;: and, �arly the same
month the pamphlet Prnnier dialogue entre U1le powarde tt un fort Bien des gem trouvaient qu'il avait quelque chose
d'effrayant par
de La lz:Ule showed the degree of disrespect for the ChUTC�
that, son arrangement, sa composition et son immensite. Les personnes
it may be assumed. had by this time become gen eral 10 the sensees tTouvaient bien ridicules ces aetes publics dont it etait
im­
fonnait pas
, possible d'interrompre Ie cours et dont la Piete ne
held on
rnalheureusernent tout Ie motif.1
markets,l A month later Hardy noted that a �rocesslo�
on was threatened In the neIghbou r­
hood of Notre Dame with cries of '3. b� la �alott� !' and 'II
the Feast of the Assumpti

faudrait les mettre ala lanterne !'4 That this anu-dencal feeling
. The price of the 4-1b. loaf had been reduced, on 22
July,
from r4t to 131 sous.2 The period. of calm that followed did not
was on the increase among the mtnU peuple is suggested by the last long. With �rief interludes the popular movement
that
incidents that took place at the end ?f 8epte�ber �t the flared up again over the high price or shortage ofbread
in early
churches of 8aint-Jacques-de-la-Bouchene and Satnt-Nlcolas­ August was to continue until November. It was to
des-Champs, both
in the area of the central markets. When the form ofacts ofviolence against bakers and alleged
take the
hoarders and
curl of Saint-Jacques refused to bury a journeyman carpenter ofprotest meetings or deputations to the municipal
authorities.
without the payment of the full fee of 23 liures, th: church was On 2 August Chatel, the litutenant de maire of Saint-D
enis, to
taken by storm and the curl compelled to suhnut. A solemn the north of Paris, was massacred by an angry
requinn W3..11 sung for the deceased to approving shouts of 'bravo'
crowd of small
tradesmen, craftsmen, and wage-earnen: he
had, they said,
from the assembled crowds. The mood soon changed to on� of caused an artificial scarcity of corn and refused,
in insulting
fury when the choir-leader of the neighbouring cburch of8a1Ot­ and contemptuous terms, to reduce the price
Nicolas--des-Cbamps announced that he
bad been dismissed for 'qu'i\ ne fallait point donner a la canaille du
of bread­
pain a deux sols la
taking part in the service. Tbe cburch was stormed by a large livre'. Chatel, it appears, was chased to the
steeple of the parish
crowd who threatened to hang the curl; it was only dispersed by church, where he was stabbed to death; his
head was severed
the National Guard after the arrest of one of the rioters and the by a soldier ofthe Provence Regiment. As
. a result of the murder
promise that the choir-leader would be reinst.a�ed 5 .This sharp 2 I persons, including 4 women, were arreste d: among
them
hostility to the ministers of the Church-ansmg, m the first
place over such economic issues as the .
payment of tithe or 12
2
were master craftsmen, 4 tradesmen,
9
wage-earners. Another
wage-earners were among 18 others who,
�
funer l expenses-was, of course, highly significant for arrest, were charged in their absence.
In April
having evaded
1790
two ofthese,
future. Hardy had perhaps good cause w.hen he a print worker and ajourneyma
n tailor, were found guilty and
alarm at the discipline, pageantry, and magnttude hanged in effigy.]
daily processions of market w�men, laundrc:sses, On 8 August after great demonstrations
. outside the Hotel de
and workers of different DlStncts that, dunng August
September, wound up the rue Saint-Jacques t? the
Ville, the 4-lb. loaf was furthe
considerable gain. To take
r reduced to 12
SOUS.4 This was a
. two examples : it meant that a
I Ibid., pp. 429, 431, 437-8, 44', 4
built church of Sainte-Genevieve for thanksglVmg services.
43, 445-0, 453, 455-0, 462, 469-70, +73,
·nt·; • Ibid., p. 401.
4 Hardy, Vlli. 435. .<::
• Bib. Nal., Lb 39 .862.
I Mathiez, loc. cil. R.o. hiJI. Ixviii. 261. Hardy, �!!. 385.
...
d.
'
Ar . Nat., Y 1�?.79; '0479; .0649, fol. 27; 10530,
f Ard>. Nal., Y ,0650; .0649, fol. 42 i Hardy, vw.4-93-4,497. • Ibid., p. 4116.
. fot.. • 8'-3i 18795. fols.
....3. . 470-1; Hardy, VUI. 417.
 .,
66 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES

the ?
contempt and hostility sh wn to the cleric �� Despite their quasi.religious objects, there is already a foretaste
greeted with �houts �f a bas la caloue .
Assembly, was
of the march to Versailles in these great demonstrations of the
�nu peuple of the markets andfauhourgs. Hardy seems
and "d mort Ies calottins !'1 While this hostility had been recently
deputies, who were
.
to have
stimulated by the clergy's refusal to give up theIr ' had,
" tlthe It
�
� sensed these potentialities when he writes of the Faubourg

of course, far deeper roots. Hardy heard the slogan a bas la Saint-Antoine procession in mid.September, in which
people took part:
1,200
caloue!' in the Palais Royal on 12 July;: and, �arly the same
month the pamphlet Prnnier dialogue entre U1le powarde tt un fort Bien des gem trouvaient qu'il avait quelque chose
d'effrayant par
de La lz:Ule showed the degree of disrespect for the ChUTC�
that, son arrangement, sa composition et son immensite. Les personnes
it may be assumed. had by this time become gen eral 10 the sensees tTouvaient bien ridicules ces aetes publics dont it etait
im­
fonnait pas
, possible d'interrompre Ie cours et dont la Piete ne
held on
rnalheureusernent tout Ie motif.1
markets,l A month later Hardy noted that a �rocesslo�
on was threatened In the neIghbou r­
hood of Notre Dame with cries of '3. b� la �alott� !' and 'II
the Feast of the Assumpti

faudrait les mettre ala lanterne !'4 That this anu-dencal feeling
. The price of the 4-1b. loaf had been reduced, on 22
July,
from r4t to 131 sous.2 The period. of calm that followed did not
was on the increase among the mtnU peuple is suggested by the last long. With �rief interludes the popular movement
that
incidents that took place at the end ?f 8epte�ber �t the flared up again over the high price or shortage ofbread
in early
churches of 8aint-Jacques-de-la-Bouchene and Satnt-Nlcolas­ August was to continue until November. It was to
des-Champs, both
in the area of the central markets. When the form ofacts ofviolence against bakers and alleged
take the
hoarders and
curl of Saint-Jacques refused to bury a journeyman carpenter ofprotest meetings or deputations to the municipal
authorities.
without the payment of the full fee of 23 liures, th: church was On 2 August Chatel, the litutenant de maire of Saint-D
enis, to
taken by storm and the curl compelled to suhnut. A solemn the north of Paris, was massacred by an angry
requinn W3..11 sung for the deceased to approving shouts of 'bravo'
crowd of small
tradesmen, craftsmen, and wage-earnen: he
had, they said,
from the assembled crowds. The mood soon changed to on� of caused an artificial scarcity of corn and refused,
in insulting
fury when the choir-leader of the neighbouring cburch of8a1Ot­ and contemptuous terms, to reduce the price
Nicolas--des-Cbamps announced that he
bad been dismissed for 'qu'i\ ne fallait point donner a la canaille du
of bread­
pain a deux sols la
taking part in the service. Tbe cburch was stormed by a large livre'. Chatel, it appears, was chased to the
steeple of the parish
crowd who threatened to hang the curl; it was only dispersed by church, where he was stabbed to death; his
head was severed
the National Guard after the arrest of one of the rioters and the by a soldier ofthe Provence Regiment. As
. a result of the murder
promise that the choir-leader would be reinst.a�ed 5 .This sharp 2 I persons, including 4 women, were arreste d: among
them
hostility to the ministers of the Church-ansmg, m the first
place over such economic issues as the .
payment of tithe or 12
2
were master craftsmen, 4 tradesmen,
9
wage-earners. Another
wage-earners were among 18 others who,
�
funer l expenses-was, of course, highly significant for arrest, were charged in their absence.
In April
having evaded
1790
two ofthese,
future. Hardy had perhaps good cause w.hen he a print worker and ajourneyma
n tailor, were found guilty and
alarm at the discipline, pageantry, and magnttude hanged in effigy.]
daily processions of market w�men, laundrc:sses, On 8 August after great demonstrations
. outside the Hotel de
and workers of different DlStncts that, dunng August
September, wound up the rue Saint-Jacques t? the
Ville, the 4-lb. loaf was furthe
considerable gain. To take
r reduced to 12
SOUS.4 This was a
. two examples : it meant that a
I Ibid., pp. 429, 431, 437-8, 44', 4
built church of Sainte-Genevieve for thanksglVmg services.
43, 445-0, 453, 455-0, 462, 469-70, +73,
·nt·; • Ibid., p. 401.
4 Hardy, Vlli. 435. .<::
• Bib. Nal., Lb 39 .862.
I Mathiez, loc. cil. R.o. hiJI. Ixviii. 261. Hardy, �!!. 385.
...
d.
'
Ar . Nat., Y 1�?.79; '0479; .0649, fol. 27; 10530,
f Ard>. Nal., Y ,0650; .0649, fol. 42 i Hardy, vw.4-93-4,497. • Ibid., p. 4116.
. fot.. • 8'-3i 18795. fols.
....3. . 470-1; Hardy, VUI. 417.
 ..
68
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES
Y CROWD IN ACT ION
THE REVOLUTIONAR
On 1 3 September a bread riot took place at Versailles where
�
been
een February and July, had
builder's labourer who, betw an angry c�owd trie to hang a baker for selling good:quality
loaves to his wealthier customers at 18 sow and poor-quality
ings on
cent. of his effective earn
compelled to spend 80 per cen t.
the same amount with 67 per
bread, could now purchase ente r bread to the rest at a cheaper price. The baker was cut down
h or carp
journeyman locksmit
of his income; whereas a now be in the nick of time by the Io:al militia. The king was brought
a Reveillon labourer ) wou ld
(earning twice the wage of t �8 along ,pour calmer les esprits
. . Several people were injured and
.
d where he prevlou�ly spen
I<:>
spending 40 per cent. on brea
wee m twenty-one arrested, ofwhom three were hanged ten days later.[
ing the seco nd and thir d
per cent. Consequently, dur
I
d cn . :
siS By now, the women had begun to take a hand. The bread
report a lull in the brea
August, Hardy was able to .
Im­ crisis was peculiarly their own and, from this time on, it was
the quality of the flour had
�
wer e mor e plen tifu l,
supplies akers' they rather than the men that played the leading role in the
were withdrawn from the
proved and armed guards In full movement. On 1 6 September Hardy recorded that women had
ever, the crisis had returned
shops.' On 2 1 August, how l nged stopped five c�rts laden wi�h grain at Chaillot and brought
n good, but owing to a pro � .
strength : the harvest had bee pnc e of them �o the H�tel de Ville 10 Paris. On the 17th, at midday,
to grind their corn. The
drought, millers were unable hun gry the Hotel de VIlle was besieged by angry women complaining
the resulting scarcity cau sed
bread remained stable, but about the conduct of the bakers ; they were received by Bailly
queues in the mar kets and shop �.
stomachs and ever-lengthening sonn ene a�d the Municipal Council. 'Ces femmes [wrote Hardy]
-maker of the rue de la Cos
On 24 August a master wig ded
.
dlsalent hautement que les hommes n'y entendaient rien et
was charged with thre aten ing a baker with the drea
se du Rem part was .' �
qu elles vo�laient se �eler es affaires.' The next day the
�
the rue Bas
lanttrrll; on the 25th, a cooper of de1i bera te y Hotel de Ville was agam besieged, and promises were made.
city gov ernm ent f or
arrested for blaming the es tlc Th7 s�me evening Hardy saw women hold up a cartload of
; and, two days later, a dom
causing the flour shortage With. gram m the Place des Trois Maries and esCOrt it to the local
a bread-queue and charged
servant was arrested in on
. .
Dlstnct headquarte� 1 This movement was to continue up to
Ano ther brief lull followed ; but, :
causing a disturbance.l and beyon� the p?htlcal demonstration of 5 October.'
1 September, the guards
ers' shop s and
reappeared in the bak .
lie, Meanwhtle, as 10 June, a political movement had begun to
there for x
si teen day s in the month. Meanwh
were to remain ing develop in Paris in response to the new deadlock that had
that he was reduced to buy
Hardy bitterly complained oO,t' .· On
.
�nsen between Court and Assembly at Versailles. Once more
s ayant fort mau vais &:
'Ia moitie d'un pain de 4 livre
3 Sep
rue It was the journalists and lawyers in the entourage of the Duke
tem ber a jour ney man roof -maker was arrested m the
. a party of Orleans, with their headquarters at the Palais Royal that
� �
accu sing Lafa yett e ofb emg
de la Ferronnerie for publicly flour­ too �he l ad. According to Mathiez, the leading part amo g the
and force up the price of ;
to a plot to cause scarcity Panslan patriots' was played by Duport, Desmoulins Danton
and Loustalot, the editor of us RIIJ()/utions de Paris'' M rat, with
falla it Ie
�
l filait sa corde et qu'i t
!
'
'qu'il etait un traitre; qu'i
h ml' du peupIe, played, as usual, a lone hand. It was they who,
a veng e anc e
had returned �ith .
pendre'.5 The pactt de famine hisA
l rough thelr
' press, clubs, and Districts, launched and popu-
kmg men Wai ted In
d, as wor
Nerves were becoming fraye
's pay in cons eque nce. .
queues and lost part of their day Ian�ed the slogan that the king should be removed from the
Hardy) Its hommes plus pressst .
jusqu'a Its
Intngues of the Court at Versailles and brought to Paris.•
Pour y avoir du pain [wrote
cherchaient a ccarter les
femmes et allaient meme
Its premien.6 �
' A ch' s.:',ne-et.Oise, seria B. PrMt� de I'HOte! du Roi. Proc&luret. 17!!g. Fir-
.
maltraiter pour s'en procurer teen a cused (all men) mcluded
. � '"1
:I wheelwrights and a maUras-worker (hanged)'
�
� bu'ld' wo =, 4 porters, 2 waiten, a IOldier, 2 labouren, and a laddie-maker.
• s at y, VIII. 478-80.
during the French �.

R.u.,
Popular Movements in Paris
rdy'" entries for 3-7 and I� October 178g (viii. 499-�O�, �I:I). The
&11. Hisl.
}OUT�� �
I G. Rud�, 'Prica, Waga and
Revolution',
• Hardy, viii. 4�g-40'
vol. vi, no. 3, April [9�4, p. �48.
�
1 Arch. Nat., Y 18'9�, oIS. 46�-7 ..
; �8766.
en on 14 October. • Mathlez, op. cil. Ixvii. �66-8; Ixviii. 269-73.
Hardy. vul. 460.
Arch. Nat .• Y [876,.
• Hardy, viii. 4�8. J
 ..
68
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES
Y CROWD IN ACT ION
THE REVOLUTIONAR
On 1 3 September a bread riot took place at Versailles where
�
been
een February and July, had
builder's labourer who, betw an angry c�owd trie to hang a baker for selling good:quality
loaves to his wealthier customers at 18 sow and poor-quality
ings on
cent. of his effective earn
compelled to spend 80 per cen t.
the same amount with 67 per
bread, could now purchase ente r bread to the rest at a cheaper price. The baker was cut down
h or carp
journeyman locksmit
of his income; whereas a now be in the nick of time by the Io:al militia. The king was brought
a Reveillon labourer ) wou ld
(earning twice the wage of t �8 along ,pour calmer les esprits
. . Several people were injured and
.
d where he prevlou�ly spen
I<:>
spending 40 per cent. on brea
wee m twenty-one arrested, ofwhom three were hanged ten days later.[
ing the seco nd and thir d
per cent. Consequently, dur
I
d cn . :
siS By now, the women had begun to take a hand. The bread
report a lull in the brea
August, Hardy was able to .
Im­ crisis was peculiarly their own and, from this time on, it was
the quality of the flour had
�
wer e mor e plen tifu l,
supplies akers' they rather than the men that played the leading role in the
were withdrawn from the
proved and armed guards In full movement. On 1 6 September Hardy recorded that women had
ever, the crisis had returned
shops.' On 2 1 August, how l nged stopped five c�rts laden wi�h grain at Chaillot and brought
n good, but owing to a pro � .
strength : the harvest had bee pnc e of them �o the H�tel de Ville 10 Paris. On the 17th, at midday,
to grind their corn. The
drought, millers were unable hun gry the Hotel de VIlle was besieged by angry women complaining
the resulting scarcity cau sed
bread remained stable, but about the conduct of the bakers ; they were received by Bailly
queues in the mar kets and shop �.
stomachs and ever-lengthening sonn ene a�d the Municipal Council. 'Ces femmes [wrote Hardy]
-maker of the rue de la Cos
On 24 August a master wig ded
.
dlsalent hautement que les hommes n'y entendaient rien et
was charged with thre aten ing a baker with the drea
se du Rem part was .' �
qu elles vo�laient se �eler es affaires.' The next day the
�
the rue Bas
lanttrrll; on the 25th, a cooper of de1i bera te y Hotel de Ville was agam besieged, and promises were made.
city gov ernm ent f or
arrested for blaming the es tlc Th7 s�me evening Hardy saw women hold up a cartload of
; and, two days later, a dom
causing the flour shortage With. gram m the Place des Trois Maries and esCOrt it to the local
a bread-queue and charged
servant was arrested in on
. .
Dlstnct headquarte� 1 This movement was to continue up to
Ano ther brief lull followed ; but, :
causing a disturbance.l and beyon� the p?htlcal demonstration of 5 October.'
1 September, the guards
ers' shop s and
reappeared in the bak .
lie, Meanwhtle, as 10 June, a political movement had begun to
there for x
si teen day s in the month. Meanwh
were to remain ing develop in Paris in response to the new deadlock that had
that he was reduced to buy
Hardy bitterly complained oO,t' .· On
.
�nsen between Court and Assembly at Versailles. Once more
s ayant fort mau vais &:
'Ia moitie d'un pain de 4 livre
3 Sep
rue It was the journalists and lawyers in the entourage of the Duke
tem ber a jour ney man roof -maker was arrested m the
. a party of Orleans, with their headquarters at the Palais Royal that
� �
accu sing Lafa yett e ofb emg
de la Ferronnerie for publicly flour­ too �he l ad. According to Mathiez, the leading part amo g the
and force up the price of ;
to a plot to cause scarcity Panslan patriots' was played by Duport, Desmoulins Danton
and Loustalot, the editor of us RIIJ()/utions de Paris'' M rat, with
falla it Ie
�
l filait sa corde et qu'i t
!
'
'qu'il etait un traitre; qu'i
h ml' du peupIe, played, as usual, a lone hand. It was they who,
a veng e anc e
had returned �ith .
pendre'.5 The pactt de famine hisA
l rough thelr
' press, clubs, and Districts, launched and popu-
kmg men Wai ted In
d, as wor
Nerves were becoming fraye
's pay in cons eque nce. .
queues and lost part of their day Ian�ed the slogan that the king should be removed from the
Hardy) Its hommes plus pressst .
jusqu'a Its
Intngues of the Court at Versailles and brought to Paris.•
Pour y avoir du pain [wrote
cherchaient a ccarter les
femmes et allaient meme
Its premien.6 �
' A ch' s.:',ne-et.Oise, seria B. PrMt� de I'HOte! du Roi. Proc&luret. 17!!g. Fir-
.
maltraiter pour s'en procurer teen a cused (all men) mcluded
. � '"1
:I wheelwrights and a maUras-worker (hanged)'
�
� bu'ld' wo =, 4 porters, 2 waiten, a IOldier, 2 labouren, and a laddie-maker.
• s at y, VIII. 478-80.
during the French �.

R.u.,
Popular Movements in Paris
rdy'" entries for 3-7 and I� October 178g (viii. 499-�O�, �I:I). The
&11. Hisl.
}OUT�� �
I G. Rud�, 'Prica, Waga and
Revolution',
• Hardy, viii. 4�g-40'
vol. vi, no. 3, April [9�4, p. �48.
�
1 Arch. Nat., Y 18'9�, oIS. 46�-7 ..
; �8766.
en on 14 October. • Mathlez, op. cil. Ixvii. �66-8; Ixviii. 269-73.
Hardy. vul. 460.
Arch. Nat .• Y [876,.
• Hardy, viii. 4�8. J
70 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES 7'

The idea that the king should return to his capital and reside "e-
Palais Royal and the Cafe de FoyI uroing that the ,OCSln
" be
among his subjects in 'la bonne ville de Paris' was not a new ,oundedI ,he D"�tncts
" aIerted, and the citizens called to anns .
one: it had been voiced in the , aheri of the Parisian Third There was certamly no mystery about the precise objects of these
Estate and in a pamphlet inJuly; it was perhaps in the minds of ma�ce�vres ! the �bbe Bernard was specifically cbarged with
many that gave Louis XVI so vociferous a welcome when he saytng m the Cafe de Foy:
visited the revolutionary capital on 1 7 July. Now it was revived, Qu'il fallait all�r chercher Ie Roy et Ie Dauphin 3. Versailles
Its amener .3. Pans, aux Thuileries, soU! la sauve-ganle paris,PO
ur

and with greater insistence, to respond to a new and particular lenne

political situation. The immediate issue was the 'veto'-the
question as to whether the king should have the power, under
the Constitution being debated at Ve�ailles, to amend, suspend,
or permanently reject, the legislative proposals of the National
et de la nallon;
and, though he denied using these words, he admitted that he
. •
had mtended to call the citizens to District mc=etings pour
empecher Ie Veto'..

:a
Assembly. Broadly speaking, the Right, or moderates, wished The project came to nothing because the 'patriots" th
to invest the king with an absolute right of veto; while the �embly had not yet given up hope of a settlement by n: tia�
'patriots', among whom Bamave was emerging as leader, up­ llon; and, even more important, because the project still lacked
held the legislative supremacy of the Assembly; yet, unlike the deg�ee �f sUP rt among the Parisian menu ptuple that alone
r:'
their allies in the Palais Royal, they were prepared to negotiate could gtve It realIty. The situation changed radically during
with the help of a Centre grovp, who favoured a compromise. September. The anger roused by the bread crisis had as we
. direc,ed, l�
saw, b�en
It was while these negotiations were going on, at the end of '
" the first place, against bakers and city
August, that Academician Dussaulx is reported to have made .
authon�� ; at urnes It found expression in violent outbursts of
his declaration that the king must be brought to Paris, if need �
denunClallon .of the Hotel e Ville or the National Guard, or
be by violence, in order to break the deadlock. When, three of Lafayette m person as Its cornmander-in-chief: in August

���
days later, negotiations broke down Duport launched a public and early September numerous arrests on such charges were
campaign against the veto in the Palais Royal, and Des­ of cr� �
ftsme , clerks, servants, and other wage-earners.1
moulins, though without Bamave's approval, put out the slogan t�e e Journalists-both Marat and those associated with
that the king should be made to return to the capital. the Pal�lS Royal-were not averse to allowing Lafayette, whom
Thus the extreme 'patriots' of the Palais Royal, perhaps with
some secret support in the Assembly, tried to force the pace;
� �
hey . dlS sted, to become the target of popular abuse' the
patnots of both Assembly and Paris Districts had a common
the result was the fi�[, abortive, attempt to stage a march to mterest in fi
. . . �usm�
. t
h " d'
JSContent into channels that better
iate political aims The .'..... -ulu were soon to
I
S
Versailles on the last day of August. It is an obscure episode, but SUIted theIr Immed
be seen. In early September Malouet noted ., '0n VI, des por­
•

it appears from the police reports of the Chatelet that the lead­ -
"

ing parts in it were played by the Marquis de Saint-Huruge, 'eurs de chaISe

" a" Ia porte de I' Assemblee d.n, une grande
.gl",�llon sur Ie veto.'l
the Baron Tinto, the abbe Bernard, a certain Saint-Genie and
" ' On the 1 7th Joseph Pergaud, a military
the patrons of the Caf
e Foy, known to the police as 'Ie rendez­
pe�sloner of the rue Troussevache, was arrested. in the Place de
vous de gens vifs et sMitieux qui troublaient la tranquillite Greve on a charge of having said :
Que Ie Roi avait un chateau a Versa ill�
publique', and to others as 'Ie centre des negodants et des

IIall railer chereher et l'amener 3. Paris et qu'il ira

qu" l £:a
- e' un Louvre ' '" Pans'
"
capitalistes'.1 It appears, too, that a deputation tried to persuade .
Ie c'hercher.4
itvolon'
,e
" u':
the Commune to issue a declaration demanding the king's
return to the Louvre ? and that speeches were made in the
: �rch. Nat., Y 18767.
Arch. Nat., Y 18795 foll 463 4 67-9, 10530, fO!I. '49-5' ; 18,66 ; ,8767.
I A h. Nat., Y 18,67·
�
• L'AI'ICitll MGniltur (r/imprmion),
Ii. 4'7; Mathiez, op. cit. lxvii. 25" , JcUmoiru d. Itfa[fJUtr (Pari�, 1868) ,11·3
"� 6
7. • Arch. Nat., Y 18,67.
70 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES 7'

The idea that the king should return to his capital and reside "e-
Palais Royal and the Cafe de FoyI uroing that the ,OCSln
" be
among his subjects in 'la bonne ville de Paris' was not a new ,oundedI ,he D"�tncts
" aIerted, and the citizens called to anns .
one: it had been voiced in the , aheri of the Parisian Third There was certamly no mystery about the precise objects of these
Estate and in a pamphlet inJuly; it was perhaps in the minds of ma�ce�vres ! the �bbe Bernard was specifically cbarged with
many that gave Louis XVI so vociferous a welcome when he saytng m the Cafe de Foy:
visited the revolutionary capital on 1 7 July. Now it was revived, Qu'il fallait all�r chercher Ie Roy et Ie Dauphin 3. Versailles
Its amener .3. Pans, aux Thuileries, soU! la sauve-ganle paris,PO
ur

and with greater insistence, to respond to a new and particular lenne

political situation. The immediate issue was the 'veto'-the
question as to whether the king should have the power, under
the Constitution being debated at Ve�ailles, to amend, suspend,
or permanently reject, the legislative proposals of the National
et de la nallon;
and, though he denied using these words, he admitted that he
. •
had mtended to call the citizens to District mc=etings pour
empecher Ie Veto'..

:a
Assembly. Broadly speaking, the Right, or moderates, wished The project came to nothing because the 'patriots" th
to invest the king with an absolute right of veto; while the �embly had not yet given up hope of a settlement by n: tia�
'patriots', among whom Bamave was emerging as leader, up­ llon; and, even more important, because the project still lacked
held the legislative supremacy of the Assembly; yet, unlike the deg�ee �f sUP rt among the Parisian menu ptuple that alone
r:'
their allies in the Palais Royal, they were prepared to negotiate could gtve It realIty. The situation changed radically during
with the help of a Centre grovp, who favoured a compromise. September. The anger roused by the bread crisis had as we
. direc,ed, l�
saw, b�en
It was while these negotiations were going on, at the end of '
" the first place, against bakers and city
August, that Academician Dussaulx is reported to have made .
authon�� ; at urnes It found expression in violent outbursts of
his declaration that the king must be brought to Paris, if need �
denunClallon .of the Hotel e Ville or the National Guard, or
be by violence, in order to break the deadlock. When, three of Lafayette m person as Its cornmander-in-chief: in August

���
days later, negotiations broke down Duport launched a public and early September numerous arrests on such charges were
campaign against the veto in the Palais Royal, and Des­ of cr� �
ftsme , clerks, servants, and other wage-earners.1
moulins, though without Bamave's approval, put out the slogan t�e e Journalists-both Marat and those associated with
that the king should be made to return to the capital. the Pal�lS Royal-were not averse to allowing Lafayette, whom
Thus the extreme 'patriots' of the Palais Royal, perhaps with
some secret support in the Assembly, tried to force the pace;
� �
hey . dlS sted, to become the target of popular abuse' the
patnots of both Assembly and Paris Districts had a common
the result was the fi�[, abortive, attempt to stage a march to mterest in fi
. . . �usm�
. t
h " d'
JSContent into channels that better
iate political aims The .'..... -ulu were soon to
I
S
Versailles on the last day of August. It is an obscure episode, but SUIted theIr Immed
be seen. In early September Malouet noted ., '0n VI, des por­
•

it appears from the police reports of the Chatelet that the lead­ -
"

ing parts in it were played by the Marquis de Saint-Huruge, 'eurs de chaISe

" a" Ia porte de I' Assemblee d.n, une grande
.gl",�llon sur Ie veto.'l
the Baron Tinto, the abbe Bernard, a certain Saint-Genie and
" ' On the 1 7th Joseph Pergaud, a military
the patrons of the Caf
e Foy, known to the police as 'Ie rendez­
pe�sloner of the rue Troussevache, was arrested. in the Place de
vous de gens vifs et sMitieux qui troublaient la tranquillite Greve on a charge of having said :
Que Ie Roi avait un chateau a Versa ill�
publique', and to others as 'Ie centre des negodants et des

IIall railer chereher et l'amener 3. Paris et qu'il ira

qu" l £:a
- e' un Louvre ' '" Pans'
"
capitalistes'.1 It appears, too, that a deputation tried to persuade .
Ie c'hercher.4
itvolon'
,e
" u':
the Commune to issue a declaration demanding the king's
return to the Louvre ? and that speeches were made in the
: �rch. Nat., Y 18767.
Arch. Nat., Y 18795 foll 463 4 67-9, 10530, fO!I. '49-5' ; 18,66 ; ,8767.
I A h. Nat., Y 18,67·
�
• L'AI'ICitll MGniltur (r/imprmion),
Ii. 4'7; Mathiez, op. cit. lxvii. 25" , JcUmoiru d. Itfa[fJUtr (Pari�, 1868) ,11·3
"� 6
7. • Arch. Nat., Y 18,67.
 72
"
THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD I N ACTION THE MARC H TO VERS AILL ES
The unemployed, too, were being won by the agitation. In a
report; in fact, on its publication, it met with the condemna_
letter to La Tour du Pin, one of the king's ministers at Ver­ tion of the majority of the Paris Districts : in the words of the
sailles, Bailly wrote on 22 September: � rd�liers District, which initiated the protest, 'sur la liste
J'apprends a l'instant que les malheureux employes aux ateliers
. des
te�o�ns, on ne VOlt �ere que des noms aristocratiques'.' While
de charite it l'ecole militaire proposaient de partir pour Versailles, thIS IS �n exaggeratIOn, the ChateJet inquiry had a clearly
pour cda seu! qu'its etaient irutruiu de l'arrivee des troupes.' tendentious purpose and, as such, must be treated with
caution
This hut point is significant: though Barnave and his col­ and supplemented, where possible, from other sources-from
leagues were prepared to compromise on the basis of a 'suspen­ the handful ?f surviving police reports (only two persons
were
arrested dunng these proceedings) and the accou
sive' veto, the Court, supported by the 'moderates' in the nts of other
Assembly, had decided to break the deadlock by a new display witnesses.
On the morningofS October the revolt started
of force. The Flanders Regiment was summoned to cope with simultaneously
.
In the central markets and the Faubourg Saint-Antoi
possible disorders. It had the effect of driving the 'patriots' to ne; in
both cas� women were the leading spirits; and, from
resort to extreme measures and to rouse to a higher pitch the numerous
and varymg accounts, it appears that in the activit
revolutionary movement in the capital. What finally decided ies that fol­
the 'patriots' to act Wa5 the display of royalist arrogance at the
lowed women of every social class took part-
both fishwives
2 and stall-holders of the markets, working women
�
ofthe/aubourg
s it chapeau' ,l In th
banquet ofthe Gardes du Corps held at Versailles on October,
when (it was alleged) the national cockade was trampled
smartly dressed ourgeoists, and 'des femme
markets, accordmg to a eM.telet witness,
;
underfoot and the queen and her children were received with the movement was
started by a small girl, who set out from the
almost mystical fervour. The incident was widely reported in District of Saint­
Eustache be�ting a drum and declaiming
of bread j thiS drew together a large crowd
Paris the next day, and the 'patriot' press called for vengeance. against the scarcity
of women whose
�
Danton carried a resolution in the Cordeliers Club, urging
Lafayette to go to Versailles with an ultimatum; and Des­ ;
numbers rapi ly increased.l Fournier l'Ame
�
ricain, Ca tain of
moulins repeated his call to Parisians to fetch the king to the
t e local NatIonal Guard and the leadin
g agitator of the Dis­
capital. On Sunday, 4 October, groups of women 'of the
trict, heard the tocsin at 7 o'clock and
rushed to the Town
Hall.· Meanwhile, in the Faubourg Saint-
�
middling sort' were seen in the Palais Royal; one, in her middle Antoine women
thirties and 'dont la mise indiquait une femme d'une classe
c�mpelled e bellringer of the Sainte-Marguerite c
TI�g the tocsm and call the citizens to arms;
urch to h
au-dessus du mediocre', addressed a meeting; there was talk among them, he
sa�d, were two well dressed men and
of going to Versailles on the morrow.1. So the OCtober insurrec­ a woman, 'qui ne parais­
Salt pas etre du commun' ,s Between 7 and
/
tion began. 8 o'clock a lawyer of
___ 'Fhe main source for the events of 5 and 6 October is the
the aubourg saw a crowd of forty to fifty wome
n, who were
inquiry conducted by the Ch3.telet and published in March
crymg out for bread at the Porte Saint-
Antoine,' Almost simul­
tane?usly Stanislas Maillard led
1790 after 388 witnesses had been heard. Such a report would a squad of volontaires de La
BastIlle to quell a disturbance amon
seem to provide admirable material for a study of not only the g the Bastille demolition

' Emflil dn rk1iblrfllw.u tit r�1k m.

DinrUt dn (A,lklim ( po"_ ,,_I
events themselves, but of the composition and aims of the
M_ L � -- - B "·,
�
participants. Taine, indeed, made ample use of it for his descrip­
• See PrtKItlrin m.m,�/'
"', w,tnCIICII no
•. 62, 35. gl, g�, 1'9, 126; Hardy, viii.
.506: the Mafqtm de Paroy'.leuer 10 flU wire 0(6 October '78g (Rmw Ik Ifl
.
�.:'
tions of the men and women who fetched the royal family back .

01 .
to Paris.l Yet, as we noted before, it is an extremely one·sided
: �'a�e rnmw/il . .
111I0Il, I (1883), 1-7).

witnCII no. 62; Mathia, op. cit. Ixviii. lI92-4,

, Ar<:h. Nat., C 31, no. 26�, rol. 3.
hrtflirtl l«Tth a, Fllimlia AmiriuWc. �"
..-b. N.,., c·
� 6�.
, witneu no. 43.
• Taine, Lu OritiMJ rU 14 Fr_ anrlmIJmllW. L4 RII1Iutilm, I I'ruddun . . .' ... �
.
• Proddlll, rnmiMlI,. M
�
. . •

• Ibid., witnCII no. '2.

Il i. 130-6. •
• • • WltnCII no. 92.
 72
"
THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD I N ACTION THE MARC H TO VERS AILL ES
The unemployed, too, were being won by the agitation. In a
report; in fact, on its publication, it met with the condemna_
letter to La Tour du Pin, one of the king's ministers at Ver­ tion of the majority of the Paris Districts : in the words of the
sailles, Bailly wrote on 22 September: � rd�liers District, which initiated the protest, 'sur la liste
J'apprends a l'instant que les malheureux employes aux ateliers
. des
te�o�ns, on ne VOlt �ere que des noms aristocratiques'.' While
de charite it l'ecole militaire proposaient de partir pour Versailles, thIS IS �n exaggeratIOn, the ChateJet inquiry had a clearly
pour cda seu! qu'its etaient irutruiu de l'arrivee des troupes.' tendentious purpose and, as such, must be treated with
caution
This hut point is significant: though Barnave and his col­ and supplemented, where possible, from other sources-from
leagues were prepared to compromise on the basis of a 'suspen­ the handful ?f surviving police reports (only two persons
were
arrested dunng these proceedings) and the accou
sive' veto, the Court, supported by the 'moderates' in the nts of other
Assembly, had decided to break the deadlock by a new display witnesses.
On the morningofS October the revolt started
of force. The Flanders Regiment was summoned to cope with simultaneously
.
In the central markets and the Faubourg Saint-Antoi
possible disorders. It had the effect of driving the 'patriots' to ne; in
both cas� women were the leading spirits; and, from
resort to extreme measures and to rouse to a higher pitch the numerous
and varymg accounts, it appears that in the activit
revolutionary movement in the capital. What finally decided ies that fol­
the 'patriots' to act Wa5 the display of royalist arrogance at the
lowed women of every social class took part-
both fishwives
2 and stall-holders of the markets, working women
�
ofthe/aubourg
s it chapeau' ,l In th
banquet ofthe Gardes du Corps held at Versailles on October,
when (it was alleged) the national cockade was trampled
smartly dressed ourgeoists, and 'des femme
markets, accordmg to a eM.telet witness,
;
underfoot and the queen and her children were received with the movement was
started by a small girl, who set out from the
almost mystical fervour. The incident was widely reported in District of Saint­
Eustache be�ting a drum and declaiming
of bread j thiS drew together a large crowd
Paris the next day, and the 'patriot' press called for vengeance. against the scarcity
of women whose
�
Danton carried a resolution in the Cordeliers Club, urging
Lafayette to go to Versailles with an ultimatum; and Des­ ;
numbers rapi ly increased.l Fournier l'Ame
�
ricain, Ca tain of
moulins repeated his call to Parisians to fetch the king to the
t e local NatIonal Guard and the leadin
g agitator of the Dis­
capital. On Sunday, 4 October, groups of women 'of the
trict, heard the tocsin at 7 o'clock and
rushed to the Town
Hall.· Meanwhile, in the Faubourg Saint-
�
middling sort' were seen in the Palais Royal; one, in her middle Antoine women
thirties and 'dont la mise indiquait une femme d'une classe
c�mpelled e bellringer of the Sainte-Marguerite c
TI�g the tocsm and call the citizens to arms;
urch to h
au-dessus du mediocre', addressed a meeting; there was talk among them, he
sa�d, were two well dressed men and
of going to Versailles on the morrow.1. So the OCtober insurrec­ a woman, 'qui ne parais­
Salt pas etre du commun' ,s Between 7 and
/
tion began. 8 o'clock a lawyer of
___ 'Fhe main source for the events of 5 and 6 October is the
the aubourg saw a crowd of forty to fifty wome
n, who were
inquiry conducted by the Ch3.telet and published in March
crymg out for bread at the Porte Saint-
Antoine,' Almost simul­
tane?usly Stanislas Maillard led
1790 after 388 witnesses had been heard. Such a report would a squad of volontaires de La
BastIlle to quell a disturbance amon
seem to provide admirable material for a study of not only the g the Bastille demolition

' Emflil dn rk1iblrfllw.u tit r�1k m.

DinrUt dn (A,lklim ( po"_ ,,_I
events themselves, but of the composition and aims of the
M_ L � -- - B "·,
�
participants. Taine, indeed, made ample use of it for his descrip­
• See PrtKItlrin m.m,�/'
"', w,tnCIICII no
•. 62, 35. gl, g�, 1'9, 126; Hardy, viii.
.506: the Mafqtm de Paroy'.leuer 10 flU wire 0(6 October '78g (Rmw Ik Ifl
.
�.:'
tions of the men and women who fetched the royal family back .

01 .
to Paris.l Yet, as we noted before, it is an extremely one·sided
: �'a�e rnmw/il . .
111I0Il, I (1883), 1-7).

witnCII no. 62; Mathia, op. cit. Ixviii. lI92-4,

, Ar<:h. Nat., C 31, no. 26�, rol. 3.
hrtflirtl l«Tth a, Fllimlia AmiriuWc. �"
..-b. N.,., c·
� 6�.
, witneu no. 43.
• Taine, Lu OritiMJ rU 14 Fr_ anrlmIJmllW. L4 RII1Iutilm, I I'ruddun . . .' ... �
.
• Proddlll, rnmiMlI,. M
�
. . •

• Ibid., witnCII no. '2.

Il i. 130-6. •
• • • WltnCII no. 92.
" THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES
"
the Assembly to provide bread for Paris.' As they set out, in the
workers nearby; the workers, doubtless remembering that the
same force had forcibly dispersed their comrades at Montmartre
early afternoon. they removed the cannon from the Chatelet
a few weeks earlier, were inclined to be truculent; but Maillard
and (wrote Hardy) compelled every son and condition
woman that they met-'m€me des femmes a chape
(so he tells us) was able to persuade them to disperse without of
au'-to
bloodshed. '
join them.l
From these beginnings the women now converged on the Thus reinforced, the contingents crossed the river
to the Cite
:
Hotel de Ville.l Their first object was bread, the second followed the quai des Orfevres to the Pont Neuf. crossed
ove
probably arms and ammunition for their men. A �erchant again to the Louvre. passed through the Tuileries Garde
ns and
draper, passing by the old market hall at half put eight, saw halted, 6.000 or 7.000 strong. in the Place Louis XV.
At the
groups of women stopping strangers in the streets and co�pell­
ing them to go with them to e Town Hall, 'oil l'or� devrut aller
�
Place des Armes in the Champs �lysees. Maillard tells
us, the
women agreed to go on unarmed. According to the
. traditional
pour se faire donner du pam . The guards wer� disarmed and account. the marchers then continued along the Right
Bank to
their arms handed to the men who followed behmd the women ChaiIlot, and so to Shrres, Viroflay, and Versailles.l
However.
and urged them on. Another eyewitness, a cashier in the Hotel it would seem from other evidence that, while the main body
of
de Ville, described how, about half past nine, larg� numbers of mar�hers accompanied Maillard through Chaill
ot. another
women, with men amongst them, rushed up the strurs and broke contmgent may have broken off at the Place des
Armes and
into all the offices of the building. One witneS! said they bore followed the southern route via Vaugirard. This is
suggested.
sticks and pikes, while another itlSisted they were armed with at least, by the statement made to the Versailles
:
axes, crowbars, bludgeons. and muskets. A cuhler, wh h�d
,
? Bernard Salabert. a mill-worker at the �cole Milita
police by
ire and one
the temerity to remonstrate with the invaders, was told qu I1s of two wage-earners arrested for looting sword
s and other
etaient les maitres et maitresses dud. Hotel de Ville'. In their weapons at the Hotel des Gardes du Corps at
Versailles. From
search for arms and powder the demonstrators tore up docu­ this it appears that Salabert was picked up at Vaugi
he was having his dinner. by a band of 3.000
rard. where
ments and ledgers. and a wad of a hundred I,ooo-liures notes �f
or 4.000 women
the Caisse des Comptes disappeared from a cabinet. But their who compelled him to join them on the march
.4
object was neither money nor loot: the City Treasurer later Arriving at Versailles in the early evenin
g, the marchers
told the police that something over 3 i million livm in cash and made straight for the meeting of the Assembly.
crowded into the
notes were left untouched; and the �issing banknotes we:e benches alongside the stanled deputies and,
with swords and
returned intact a few weeks later. HavlOg sounded the tocslO hunting-knives slung from their skirts,5 waited
for Maillard to
from the steeple. the demonstrators retired to the Place de present their petition. In his speech, Mailla
Greve outside at about I I o'c1ock.l
rd quoted liberally
from the new popular pamphlet Q.uand
aurons-nous du pain?
It was at this stage that Maillard and his voiontaires arrived.on In which the authorities rather than the
bakers were held
I For thiI and much that rollow. ICe Prod,,," uimiNlk " ' , witnes
the scene. According to his account, tile women were threaterung
the lives of Bailly and Lafayette. Whether it was to avert such (Maillard). . s no. 81
I Thts wnlon, based on Maillard'.cvidcnoe befon: the Chltelct,
Hardy, viii. 5�.
by M. L. Batiffol, Lt.s JtnImiu du 5 II 6 IIdlJIm '78tJ
a disaster or merely to promote the political aims of the .

�
'patriots', Maillard let himself be persuade to lead t em on � u thai followed
.. VmaiJkJ (Paris, III!}I),
• ,llIkrrt)ta/Qir� du NI &llllHrt. 6 &" r;8tJ.
. pp. '5- '7·
Arch. Scine.et·Oise, series 8. Prt\'Ot<!
the twelve-miles march to Versailles to pelltlon the kmg and
de I HOtel du Roi, Greffe '711!}. Us RlwllI/i
, Ibid., witneu no. 8. (Stanishu Maillard). Q1U u Paris,
Hardy, however, describes it mer�ly as 'une insu�rcc��?n de femmes des Hailes
. while not mentioning Vaugi.
rard, also maintained that the womcn divided
et de diff<!rents march<!l accourues it. I HOtel de Vi. lle (VIII. SOt).
1
into two separate contingents taking
M:pa�ale routes: 'Ies unes avaient pau� par Saint·Cloud;
les autrCl avaicnl prilla
y '33'9; see allO Tuetcy, R!pn/Qirt, vol. i, no. 950·
, For the above account sce the evidence or twelve witnCUCI in Arch. N!lt., rOUle de Sev�' (no. xiii, 3-10 Octob '789,
er p. 15).
• Hardy, viii. 506.
" THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES
"
the Assembly to provide bread for Paris.' As they set out, in the
workers nearby; the workers, doubtless remembering that the
same force had forcibly dispersed their comrades at Montmartre
early afternoon. they removed the cannon from the Chatelet
a few weeks earlier, were inclined to be truculent; but Maillard
and (wrote Hardy) compelled every son and condition
woman that they met-'m€me des femmes a chape
(so he tells us) was able to persuade them to disperse without of
au'-to
bloodshed. '
join them.l
From these beginnings the women now converged on the Thus reinforced, the contingents crossed the river
to the Cite
:
Hotel de Ville.l Their first object was bread, the second followed the quai des Orfevres to the Pont Neuf. crossed
ove
probably arms and ammunition for their men. A �erchant again to the Louvre. passed through the Tuileries Garde
ns and
draper, passing by the old market hall at half put eight, saw halted, 6.000 or 7.000 strong. in the Place Louis XV.
At the
groups of women stopping strangers in the streets and co�pell­
ing them to go with them to e Town Hall, 'oil l'or� devrut aller
�
Place des Armes in the Champs �lysees. Maillard tells
us, the
women agreed to go on unarmed. According to the
. traditional
pour se faire donner du pam . The guards wer� disarmed and account. the marchers then continued along the Right
Bank to
their arms handed to the men who followed behmd the women ChaiIlot, and so to Shrres, Viroflay, and Versailles.l
However.
and urged them on. Another eyewitness, a cashier in the Hotel it would seem from other evidence that, while the main body
of
de Ville, described how, about half past nine, larg� numbers of mar�hers accompanied Maillard through Chaill
ot. another
women, with men amongst them, rushed up the strurs and broke contmgent may have broken off at the Place des
Armes and
into all the offices of the building. One witneS! said they bore followed the southern route via Vaugirard. This is
suggested.
sticks and pikes, while another itlSisted they were armed with at least, by the statement made to the Versailles
:
axes, crowbars, bludgeons. and muskets. A cuhler, wh h�d
,
? Bernard Salabert. a mill-worker at the �cole Milita
police by
ire and one
the temerity to remonstrate with the invaders, was told qu I1s of two wage-earners arrested for looting sword
s and other
etaient les maitres et maitresses dud. Hotel de Ville'. In their weapons at the Hotel des Gardes du Corps at
Versailles. From
search for arms and powder the demonstrators tore up docu­ this it appears that Salabert was picked up at Vaugi
he was having his dinner. by a band of 3.000
rard. where
ments and ledgers. and a wad of a hundred I,ooo-liures notes �f
or 4.000 women
the Caisse des Comptes disappeared from a cabinet. But their who compelled him to join them on the march
.4
object was neither money nor loot: the City Treasurer later Arriving at Versailles in the early evenin
g, the marchers
told the police that something over 3 i million livm in cash and made straight for the meeting of the Assembly.
crowded into the
notes were left untouched; and the �issing banknotes we:e benches alongside the stanled deputies and,
with swords and
returned intact a few weeks later. HavlOg sounded the tocslO hunting-knives slung from their skirts,5 waited
for Maillard to
from the steeple. the demonstrators retired to the Place de present their petition. In his speech, Mailla
Greve outside at about I I o'c1ock.l
rd quoted liberally
from the new popular pamphlet Q.uand
aurons-nous du pain?
It was at this stage that Maillard and his voiontaires arrived.on In which the authorities rather than the
bakers were held
I For thiI and much that rollow. ICe Prod,,," uimiNlk " ' , witnes
the scene. According to his account, tile women were threaterung
the lives of Bailly and Lafayette. Whether it was to avert such (Maillard). . s no. 81
I Thts wnlon, based on Maillard'.cvidcnoe befon: the Chltelct,
Hardy, viii. 5�.
by M. L. Batiffol, Lt.s JtnImiu du 5 II 6 IIdlJIm '78tJ
a disaster or merely to promote the political aims of the .

�
'patriots', Maillard let himself be persuade to lead t em on � u thai followed
.. VmaiJkJ (Paris, III!}I),
• ,llIkrrt)ta/Qir� du NI &llllHrt. 6 &" r;8tJ.
. pp. '5- '7·
Arch. Scine.et·Oise, series 8. Prt\'Ot<!
the twelve-miles march to Versailles to pelltlon the kmg and
de I HOtel du Roi, Greffe '711!}. Us RlwllI/i
, Ibid., witneu no. 8. (Stanishu Maillard). Q1U u Paris,
Hardy, however, describes it mer�ly as 'une insu�rcc��?n de femmes des Hailes
. while not mentioning Vaugi.
rard, also maintained that the womcn divided
et de diff<!rents march<!l accourues it. I HOtel de Vi. lle (VIII. SOt).
1
into two separate contingents taking
M:pa�ale routes: 'Ies unes avaient pau� par Saint·Cloud;
les autrCl avaicnl prilla
y '33'9; see allO Tuetcy, R!pn/Qirt, vol. i, no. 950·
, For the above account sce the evidence or twelve witnCUCI in Arch. N!lt., rOUle de Sev�' (no. xiii, 3-10 Octob '789,
er p. 15).
• Hardy, viii. 506.
 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
re5ponsible for the shortage. I He ended with twO demands-the
provision of bread for the capital and �he punishment of the
. least, who had lost a day's work to accompany Lafayette to
ganus du corps who had insulted the nauonal cockade. Vanous
deputies gave reassuring replies. There were angry shouts of
'A bas la calotte!' at the clergy; but Robespierre was heard in
respectful silence, and there were calls for 'notre petite �ere.
Mirabeau'.z A deputation of six women were elected to walt on
the king-the Marquis de Paroy considered two of them
'assez bien'J-and the meeting broke up in more or less orderly
fashion.
Meanwhile, in Paris, the National Guard, summoned by
tocsin, had crowded into the place de Greve. There were cnes
of 'To Versailles!' The intentions of Lafayette in this episode are
obscure. It seems that he hesitated for many hours to put him­
self at the head of what was only too clearly an armed insurrec­
tion; he temporized and, according to Fournier, made long
speeches; but in the end, in response to popular clamour, he
gave the order to march.� The forces that entered Versailles
that night, between ten and midnight, consisted of three com­
panies of grenadiers, one company of fuseliers, with three can­
�
non, 20,000 National Guards of e Paris Distri�t.s, and a �otley
band of 700 to 800 men armed With muskets, sucks, and pikes.
Early next morning there was a clash between the Parisians
and the garties du corps guarding the palace. Some demon­
strators had managed to enter the chtitlau and penetrated as far
as the antechamber to the queen's apartments. In the course
of this incident, a garde du corps, from a window, shot dead
Jer6me Lheritier, a 17-year-old volunteer and journeyman
cabinet-maker of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, who was in the
courtyard below.s Provoked to anger, the crowd slaughtered
two of the gardts du corps and cut off their heads.6 Order was
restored by the Parisian National Guard, while great crowds
I Bib. Nat. L" 39 113+4; Mathiez, op. cit. lxix. 411-43'
• Prrtddun critni..nu . . . , witness no. 81; Taine, op. cit. i.
13t.
, Rnrw dt 1,. RJv«�litm, i (1B83), 1-7.
• Mimoim ,, I. Sec
d, Foltmilr, A""",iI alJo Barnavc (AN;h.
urn/s
fol. 1101).
o B. PrMu! de I'H6tei du Roi, Greffe, 178g·
• Arch. Scine-ct·Oise, seri
Lh�ritier'l burial, U well u that of the two ,IJfdtl tiu _P', il recorded m Ihe
1U,ulro ties /UIeJ til sipwlllf' tie I,. p,.nXsJ# &Y/JI, " IIDI•• DdtrU ti, VlrsdiUes, fol. 811
6
(Arch. S.-CI'O., series E). Of the three, LMritier alone ra:cived full mi
honoun.
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES 77
surged outside the chateau. awaiting a solution. To the National
Guard-to the tradesmen, small masters, and journeymen at
Versailles-there could only be one solution: the king must be
made to come back to Paris, whether their commander-in­
chief was willing or not.1 So much appears, too, from the
evidence of Elizabeth Girard, 'bourgeoise de Paris', who later
told the Chatelet
qu'A Versailles tout Ie peuple indistinctement, et principalement des
compagnons serruriers au grand nombre, disaient qu'ils avaient
�e perdu leur jou:nee ; que si Ie roi ne venait pas a Paris, et les gardes
du corps n'etalent pas tues, it fa1lait mettre la tete de Lafayette au
bout d'une pique.'
The women may have needed more persuading. At any rate,
�
F�urn er thought it necessary to indoctrinate a group of fish­
WJves to the language that he thought they would most readily
understand: 'Sac . . . B . . . esses, vous ne voyes pas que Lafayette
et Ie Roi vous couillonnent. . . . II faut emmener a Paris toute
la sacree boutique.') However that may be, when the king,
queen, and Lafayette appeared on the palace balcony, there
was a great shout of 'To Paris !' A few hours later the royal
.
family, escorted by the Parisian National Guard and the march­
ing women, made their triumphal return to the capital.
I Mathia! op. cit. lxix. "�-46. In 'hit ropect, it would be of great interetl !O
know the 1OC\.&1 or occupatI.onal compolilion ofthe Parisian National Guard .1.1 this
.
ome; but unforlUnately only a handful ortists have IUrvived to enlighten UI. The
.
battaholl& of the Faubourg Saint_Anloine and of the central market Districts
who were probably the main promoten of the anned iruumxtion of the Naliona i
Cuard on 5 Oclober, appear 10 have included a fair sprinkling of journeymen,
ponen, and labouren as well as a majorilY of Ihopkeepen and masten or indc­
pend��t (:raftsmen. We know, for example, that the journeyman cabinet.maker
Lho!nuer wu a volunteer of the Sainte_Marguerite District and that Edm�
Farey, a journeyman goldsmith, abo arrested for pillaging the H61e1 des Gardea
du Corps, was a volu�lteer of the neighbouring Dittricl of Saint·Gervais. Bc:sidea,
the enrolments m �e In AUluJl 178g 10 the Battalion of Sainte-Opportune, inthe
central markets, >Deluded, together with a host of small mUle... and tra
�6 men::h�t'l derks, .. tIImtn� and .. mployls, II market·pone..., a journeym�
domt:/l
�Iler, a JOUrneym..an gunsmIth, and ajourneymangilder (Bril. Mus.,F. 830 (6)).
By way of oontnut, of 10� grenadiers �ruited to the Baualion ofLes Filla S.int.
Nat., W ill,
Thomas, ne,ar the Bounc, in November 178g, II� were 'bourgeois' (usually applied
to a man ofIndependent means), 119civiJ servants,6lawyen 7 merchants 'l banken
and 3 Itock exchange jobbers, while only 16 were ttad�men-and �ot one or
th� wage·earne... (Arch. Nat., W 357, no. 750, 1st part, pi�ce 100).
h(J(:Irillft crimilllih . . . , witnell no. go.
, M'"",i"s sIDe/s " FDurrUtr. A�u..
l itary
 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
re5ponsible for the shortage. I He ended with twO demands-the
provision of bread for the capital and �he punishment of the
. least, who had lost a day's work to accompany Lafayette to
ganus du corps who had insulted the nauonal cockade. Vanous
deputies gave reassuring replies. There were angry shouts of
'A bas la calotte!' at the clergy; but Robespierre was heard in
respectful silence, and there were calls for 'notre petite �ere.
Mirabeau'.z A deputation of six women were elected to walt on
the king-the Marquis de Paroy considered two of them
'assez bien'J-and the meeting broke up in more or less orderly
fashion.
Meanwhile, in Paris, the National Guard, summoned by
tocsin, had crowded into the place de Greve. There were cnes
of 'To Versailles!' The intentions of Lafayette in this episode are
obscure. It seems that he hesitated for many hours to put him­
self at the head of what was only too clearly an armed insurrec­
tion; he temporized and, according to Fournier, made long
speeches; but in the end, in response to popular clamour, he
gave the order to march.� The forces that entered Versailles
that night, between ten and midnight, consisted of three com­
panies of grenadiers, one company of fuseliers, with three can­
�
non, 20,000 National Guards of e Paris Distri�t.s, and a �otley
band of 700 to 800 men armed With muskets, sucks, and pikes.
Early next morning there was a clash between the Parisians
and the garties du corps guarding the palace. Some demon­
strators had managed to enter the chtitlau and penetrated as far
as the antechamber to the queen's apartments. In the course
of this incident, a garde du corps, from a window, shot dead
Jer6me Lheritier, a 17-year-old volunteer and journeyman
cabinet-maker of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, who was in the
courtyard below.s Provoked to anger, the crowd slaughtered
two of the gardts du corps and cut off their heads.6 Order was
restored by the Parisian National Guard, while great crowds
I Bib. Nat. L" 39 113+4; Mathiez, op. cit. lxix. 411-43'
• Prrtddun critni..nu . . . , witness no. 81; Taine, op. cit. i.
13t.
, Rnrw dt 1,. RJv«�litm, i (1B83), 1-7.
• Mimoim ,, I. Sec
d, Foltmilr, A""",iI alJo Barnavc (AN;h.
urn/s
fol. 1101).
o B. PrMu! de I'H6tei du Roi, Greffe, 178g·
• Arch. Scine-ct·Oise, seri
Lh�ritier'l burial, U well u that of the two ,IJfdtl tiu _P', il recorded m Ihe
1U,ulro ties /UIeJ til sipwlllf' tie I,. p,.nXsJ# &Y/JI, " IIDI•• DdtrU ti, VlrsdiUes, fol. 811
6
(Arch. S.-CI'O., series E). Of the three, LMritier alone ra:cived full mi
honoun.
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES 77
surged outside the chateau. awaiting a solution. To the National
Guard-to the tradesmen, small masters, and journeymen at
Versailles-there could only be one solution: the king must be
made to come back to Paris, whether their commander-in­
chief was willing or not.1 So much appears, too, from the
evidence of Elizabeth Girard, 'bourgeoise de Paris', who later
told the Chatelet
qu'A Versailles tout Ie peuple indistinctement, et principalement des
compagnons serruriers au grand nombre, disaient qu'ils avaient
�e perdu leur jou:nee ; que si Ie roi ne venait pas a Paris, et les gardes
du corps n'etalent pas tues, it fa1lait mettre la tete de Lafayette au
bout d'une pique.'
The women may have needed more persuading. At any rate,
�
F�urn er thought it necessary to indoctrinate a group of fish­
WJves to the language that he thought they would most readily
understand: 'Sac . . . B . . . esses, vous ne voyes pas que Lafayette
et Ie Roi vous couillonnent. . . . II faut emmener a Paris toute
la sacree boutique.') However that may be, when the king,
queen, and Lafayette appeared on the palace balcony, there
was a great shout of 'To Paris !' A few hours later the royal
.
family, escorted by the Parisian National Guard and the march­
ing women, made their triumphal return to the capital.
I Mathia! op. cit. lxix. "�-46. In 'hit ropect, it would be of great interetl !O
know the 1OC\.&1 or occupatI.onal compolilion ofthe Parisian National Guard .1.1 this
.
ome; but unforlUnately only a handful ortists have IUrvived to enlighten UI. The
.
battaholl& of the Faubourg Saint_Anloine and of the central market Districts
who were probably the main promoten of the anned iruumxtion of the Naliona i
Cuard on 5 Oclober, appear 10 have included a fair sprinkling of journeymen,
ponen, and labouren as well as a majorilY of Ihopkeepen and masten or indc­
pend��t (:raftsmen. We know, for example, that the journeyman cabinet.maker
Lho!nuer wu a volunteer of the Sainte_Marguerite District and that Edm�
Farey, a journeyman goldsmith, abo arrested for pillaging the H61e1 des Gardea
du Corps, was a volu�lteer of the neighbouring Dittricl of Saint·Gervais. Bc:sidea,
the enrolments m �e In AUluJl 178g 10 the Battalion of Sainte-Opportune, inthe
central markets, >Deluded, together with a host of small mUle... and tra
�6 men::h�t'l derks, .. tIImtn� and .. mployls, II market·pone..., a journeym�
domt:/l
�Iler, a JOUrneym..an gunsmIth, and ajourneymangilder (Bril. Mus.,F. 830 (6)).
By way of oontnut, of 10� grenadiers �ruited to the Baualion ofLes Filla S.int.
Nat., W ill,
Thomas, ne,ar the Bounc, in November 178g, II� were 'bourgeois' (usually applied
to a man ofIndependent means), 119civiJ servants,6lawyen 7 merchants 'l banken
and 3 Itock exchange jobbers, while only 16 were ttad�men-and �ot one or
th� wage·earne... (Arch. Nat., W 357, no. 750, 1st part, pi�ce 100).
h(J(:Irillft crimilllih . . . , witnell no. go.
, M'"",i"s sIDe/s " FDurrUtr. A�u..
l itary
 '
,8 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES 79
The traditional account of the women's march to Versailles
the regular supply offiour to bakers was ensured. There followed
has it that, as they marched, the women chanted, 'Allons
a remarkabl: period of social calm, while the Assembly con­
tinued, rel�tlvely undisturb..-d, with its task of giving the nation
chercher Ie boulanger, la boulangere et Ie petit mitron!' It was
supposed that the king would, by his very presence among his .
a constltuUon. The first Festival of the Federation, celebrated in
subjects, ensure a plentiful supply of bread. These hopes were
the Champs de Mars on 1 4 July 1 790, was a great symbol of
not immediately realized: the bread crisis continued for another . .
natlonal uruty and peaceful advance. To most it must have
seemed that the Revolution was all but completed.
month. The day after the royal family's return, crowds of
women invaded the corn-market and dumped 150 barrels of
rotten flour into the river after samples had been shown to the
king.1 On 2 1 October, during a bread riot in the Hotel de Ville
area, the baker Fran�ois was hanged from the notorious lamp­
post on the Place de Greve ; for his murder, F. Blin, a market
porter, was sentenced to death and]. Advenel, a metal-gilder,
to nine years' prison.l The next day in the rue Thibault-au-de,
off the central markets, women caused a riot by insisting on
searching a house for hidden grain and fiour.l On 2 November
Bailly had to order military protection for a baker in the
Marche Saint-Germain;4 the next day a woman was arrested
for causing a disturbance outside a baker's shop in the rue des
Cordeliers.5 Finally, ten days later, Nicolas Billon, a mill­
worker, was arrested on a charge of creating riots and threaten­
ing to hang the baker at the Ecole Militaire on two occasions in
October and November.6
But the majority in the Assembly, having driven out the
'moderates' and established itself in the capital, had no further
use for the insurrectionary energies of the menu peuple : these had
served their purpose. Accordingly, on 2 1 October new measures
were introduced to curb social disorder and the agitation con­
ducted by Marat's du peuple: they included the death
Ami
penalty for 'rebellion', a press censorship and martial law. The
first victim of these restraints on liberty, Michel Adrien, a
Bastille labourer, was hanged the same day for attempting to
stir up a 'sedition' in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.7
But, simultaneously, energetic measures were taken by both
Commune and Assembly to solve the food crisis. Though the
price of bread remained at 12 sous for many months to come,
I Hardy, viii. 505.
I Arch. Nat., Y ,<1.795, Cob. 4,6-,; 10530, fob. 157--9; 18766.
, Arch. Nat., Y 18768. • Arch. Nat., AF" 48, no. 375, fo]. �.
I Arch. Nat., Y 131'�, 6 Arch. Nat. Y 18,69·
� Arch. Nat., Y 10530, fol. 157; 18768·
 '
,8 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES 79
The traditional account of the women's march to Versailles
the regular supply offiour to bakers was ensured. There followed
has it that, as they marched, the women chanted, 'Allons
a remarkabl: period of social calm, while the Assembly con­
tinued, rel�tlvely undisturb..-d, with its task of giving the nation
chercher Ie boulanger, la boulangere et Ie petit mitron!' It was
supposed that the king would, by his very presence among his .
a constltuUon. The first Festival of the Federation, celebrated in
subjects, ensure a plentiful supply of bread. These hopes were
the Champs de Mars on 1 4 July 1 790, was a great symbol of
not immediately realized: the bread crisis continued for another . .
natlonal uruty and peaceful advance. To most it must have
seemed that the Revolution was all but completed.
month. The day after the royal family's return, crowds of
women invaded the corn-market and dumped 150 barrels of
rotten flour into the river after samples had been shown to the
king.1 On 2 1 October, during a bread riot in the Hotel de Ville
area, the baker Fran�ois was hanged from the notorious lamp­
post on the Place de Greve ; for his murder, F. Blin, a market
porter, was sentenced to death and]. Advenel, a metal-gilder,
to nine years' prison.l The next day in the rue Thibault-au-de,
off the central markets, women caused a riot by insisting on
searching a house for hidden grain and fiour.l On 2 November
Bailly had to order military protection for a baker in the
Marche Saint-Germain;4 the next day a woman was arrested
for causing a disturbance outside a baker's shop in the rue des
Cordeliers.5 Finally, ten days later, Nicolas Billon, a mill­
worker, was arrested on a charge of creating riots and threaten­
ing to hang the baker at the Ecole Militaire on two occasions in
October and November.6
But the majority in the Assembly, having driven out the
'moderates' and established itself in the capital, had no further
use for the insurrectionary energies of the menu peuple : these had
served their purpose. Accordingly, on 2 1 October new measures
were introduced to curb social disorder and the agitation con­
ducted by Marat's du peuple: they included the death
Ami
penalty for 'rebellion', a press censorship and martial law. The
first victim of these restraints on liberty, Michel Adrien, a
Bastille labourer, was hanged the same day for attempting to
stir up a 'sedition' in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.7
But, simultaneously, energetic measures were taken by both
Commune and Assembly to solve the food crisis. Though the
price of bread remained at 12 sous for many months to come,
I Hardy, viii. 505.
I Arch. Nat., Y ,<1.795, Cob. 4,6-,; 10530, fob. 157--9; 18766.
, Arch. Nat., Y 18768. • Arch. Nat., AF" 48, no. 375, fo]. �.
I Arch. Nat., Y 131'�, 6 Arch. Nat. Y 18,69·
� Arch. Nat., Y 10530, fol. 157; 18768·
 THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHAMP DE MARS BI
I
for the first time since early 1788, to its nonnal level oCS sow.
It was not to rise appreciably again until August 1791-a
VI month after the Champ de Man affray. In this case at least

THE
the price or supply of bread was to play no great �art as �
T H E 'M A S S A C R E' O F stimulant to revolutionary activity.

CHAMP DE MARS The first serious breach of the peace occurred on 28 February,
when an attempt was made to demolish a part ofthe Chlteau de

HE violent affray that too plac � e on the C amp de ••

lmportant stage 10 the ,
� Vincen�es. which was being converted into a temporary over�
.

e�:�:.���:t�
tru 1e flow pnson for the capital. With memories ofits former use as a
prison for those detained by lettres de caclut, 'patriots' began to
T in July 179 1 marked an
for power between co�titu
and Jacobins. betw een hbe ral
tional mo�archists�
.
bourgeotIU a?d r .
ly
protest and, on 2S January, there was talk in theJacobin Club
of a projected assault by 'one of the faubourgs',: A month later
directly to the eclipse of Bail
democrats. In Paris it led
Lafayette as the leaders aft
he city adm inis tr �tio � ; ye t,
. s
i,
n the movement came to a head when over 1,000 oumlT! of the
. stltu tlon alIst Faubourg Saint.Antoine, among whom Bastille demolition
eat of the con
National Assembly, the def . workers were in evidence,l placed Santerre as commander of
by the outb reak ofwar and was not completed u�tll
delayed . al the Enfants-Trouves battalion of the National Guard in much
ust 1792 In terms of the SOCi
fall of the monarchy in Aug the same position as Lafayette had found himself in in October
affair both repr ese�ted

�
Ma rs
tory of Paris the Champ de

:;��: :�:����
1789: they eo�pelled him to lead them, escorted by his
Third Estate-the growmg
first bloody clash within the .
battahon, to Vmcennes, where they proceeded to demolish
already been noted-" aDdl the �
sians within which have l the tfonjan. Before long, however, Lafayette arrived with 1 200
tion of several months of soci
al upheaval and
k
c
. troops, publicly reprimanded Santerre, and marched bac to
Pari� with sixty-four prisoners and to the accompaniment of
ts or anize d in
ch the democra �
agitation, at the end of whi l...den
bs appear as the u �dlsputed
Jacobin and CordtHers Clu eme nt the Jeers of the people of Saint-Antoine.• The prisoners were
cour se of thiS mov
t�l
In the
of the Parisian sam-culottes.
i eD ,., ·ge lodged in the Conciergerie, whence they were released three

,;�:�:: �
e-ea rner s f the cap
tradesmen, artisans, and wag � .
In weeks later after considerable agitation by the democrats
which the malO protagomsts
more clearly as elements amo�g whom a prominent part was played by Buirette�
struggle for power cann ot afford to ignore ..nd whose
Vemeres, Santerre's defence·counsel and a leading figure in
at least, must affect to . .
the revolutionary democrats, the Cordeliers Club.s
then , the Cha mp de Mar s demonstr�uon
In this sense, This is but one example ofthe continuous efforts made by the
ion ofa process and, as tn the
, £"" 'I!;I dll r.gU'" du dllihbtJIilms du mpi mllllkipol. A"ill collttrntllll u prix " lo.
should be seen as the culminat
, treated in the context of the
of the October insurrection
nt that pr�cede it. � ""'.k �W/>lljn (17 August 1791). Brk Mus., r. �9· (18).
social and political moveme
d, wtth mmor en,pljOl". u � Des B,b. Nat., nouv. �. f�., no. 26�6 fob. 1�g-62 (account of day'l evenu by
B�b. Nat., fonds fran�, no. I 16g7, P .130 (Bailly-Lafayette correspondence).
The period of social calm laste � .
t I A.D.C.) . According to one eyewimas the� W� also
I
. ha �
�Ie f�om the Faubourg! $,aint.Man::e! and Saint-Martin among them (H.IlTU
Q90 the pnce of mottes, La fay<:te
the spring of 1 7 9 1 . InJune
to I I sow; soon after, control SG I: )MInt/, dwllllioMai,. dll �f't";" 179'. MS. aocount by Alexis Houuau•
""!'
e
s were removed and the pnc

pitc: plus ardente It . Nkur now •1ft the CUI"'"y oeM. o . ".-
"",taUC-l ofFontenay-tOua-Bois' to whom I am
�:
";'��� �'::�' lrId.,bled 'for itil use).
<!d"
u iJun�e �ormidable du
I In Jaure.' worm: 'En obligeant la faction bour
dans Ie pwple ui contr e p • For an 'official' account.ee P/�. tk I'I� flTTit.>ld VillMtllU, U lund; �fllJ'i"
pwb/il /JtIr l'ordu dt II! mlmiriptJill U Vi",mIIU, f IMrl 1791. Arch. Nat., F>.62,
d'app I
bourgeois, les divisiom de la bour
un point �
geoiSIe �randusalent �e rMe des
en�alent i apparaltr<: comme
:�?', . '
ccux-ci, bien faiblement encore, comm 2,0 1 ,; for an apologia by Santern: lee Rapporl dt }.I. SIIIIJtrT• • • • " Ialil!mlnll d
I'Gff,G,,, III V.1I&tIIIUJ (ibid., fol. 202),
,
op . cit. i. 367). I Ulume that the
• Arch. Nat., F> 4622, fob. I�I� (Verritra papen).
possibles de la R�volution' (Jaur k,
uJolks or I7UIUI ",up/., rathcr than
l�taira' il hen: intended to me.n slUls-c
eamerl'.
 THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHAMP DE MARS BI
I
for the first time since early 1788, to its nonnal level oCS sow.
It was not to rise appreciably again until August 1791-a
VI month after the Champ de Man affray. In this case at least

THE
the price or supply of bread was to play no great �art as �
T H E 'M A S S A C R E' O F stimulant to revolutionary activity.

CHAMP DE MARS The first serious breach of the peace occurred on 28 February,
when an attempt was made to demolish a part ofthe Chlteau de

HE violent affray that too plac � e on the C amp de ••

lmportant stage 10 the ,
� Vincen�es. which was being converted into a temporary over�
.

e�:�:.���:t�
tru 1e flow pnson for the capital. With memories ofits former use as a
prison for those detained by lettres de caclut, 'patriots' began to
T in July 179 1 marked an
for power between co�titu
and Jacobins. betw een hbe ral
tional mo�archists�
.
bourgeotIU a?d r .
ly
protest and, on 2S January, there was talk in theJacobin Club
of a projected assault by 'one of the faubourgs',: A month later
directly to the eclipse of Bail
democrats. In Paris it led
Lafayette as the leaders aft
he city adm inis tr �tio � ; ye t,
. s
i,
n the movement came to a head when over 1,000 oumlT! of the
. stltu tlon alIst Faubourg Saint.Antoine, among whom Bastille demolition
eat of the con
National Assembly, the def . workers were in evidence,l placed Santerre as commander of
by the outb reak ofwar and was not completed u�tll
delayed . al the Enfants-Trouves battalion of the National Guard in much
ust 1792 In terms of the SOCi
fall of the monarchy in Aug the same position as Lafayette had found himself in in October
affair both repr ese�ted

�
Ma rs
tory of Paris the Champ de

:;��: :�:����
1789: they eo�pelled him to lead them, escorted by his
Third Estate-the growmg
first bloody clash within the .
battahon, to Vmcennes, where they proceeded to demolish
already been noted-" aDdl the �
sians within which have l the tfonjan. Before long, however, Lafayette arrived with 1 200
tion of several months of soci
al upheaval and
k
c
. troops, publicly reprimanded Santerre, and marched bac to
Pari� with sixty-four prisoners and to the accompaniment of
ts or anize d in
ch the democra �
agitation, at the end of whi l...den
bs appear as the u �dlsputed
Jacobin and CordtHers Clu eme nt the Jeers of the people of Saint-Antoine.• The prisoners were
cour se of thiS mov
t�l
In the
of the Parisian sam-culottes.
i eD ,., ·ge lodged in the Conciergerie, whence they were released three

,;�:�:: �
e-ea rner s f the cap
tradesmen, artisans, and wag � .
In weeks later after considerable agitation by the democrats
which the malO protagomsts
more clearly as elements amo�g whom a prominent part was played by Buirette�
struggle for power cann ot afford to ignore ..nd whose
Vemeres, Santerre's defence·counsel and a leading figure in
at least, must affect to . .
the revolutionary democrats, the Cordeliers Club.s
then , the Cha mp de Mar s demonstr�uon
In this sense, This is but one example ofthe continuous efforts made by the
ion ofa process and, as tn the
, £"" 'I!;I dll r.gU'" du dllihbtJIilms du mpi mllllkipol. A"ill collttrntllll u prix " lo.
should be seen as the culminat
, treated in the context of the
of the October insurrection
nt that pr�cede it. � ""'.k �W/>lljn (17 August 1791). Brk Mus., r. �9· (18).
social and political moveme
d, wtth mmor en,pljOl". u � Des B,b. Nat., nouv. �. f�., no. 26�6 fob. 1�g-62 (account of day'l evenu by
B�b. Nat., fonds fran�, no. I 16g7, P .130 (Bailly-Lafayette correspondence).
The period of social calm laste � .
t I A.D.C.) . According to one eyewimas the� W� also
I
. ha �
�Ie f�om the Faubourg! $,aint.Man::e! and Saint-Martin among them (H.IlTU
Q90 the pnce of mottes, La fay<:te
the spring of 1 7 9 1 . InJune
to I I sow; soon after, control SG I: )MInt/, dwllllioMai,. dll �f't";" 179'. MS. aocount by Alexis Houuau•
""!'
e
s were removed and the pnc

pitc: plus ardente It . Nkur now •1ft the CUI"'"y oeM. o . ".-
"",taUC-l ofFontenay-tOua-Bois' to whom I am
�:
";'��� �'::�' lrId.,bled 'for itil use).
<!d"
u iJun�e �ormidable du
I In Jaure.' worm: 'En obligeant la faction bour
dans Ie pwple ui contr e p • For an 'official' account.ee P/�. tk I'I� flTTit.>ld VillMtllU, U lund; �fllJ'i"
pwb/il /JtIr l'ordu dt II! mlmiriptJill U Vi",mIIU, f IMrl 1791. Arch. Nat., F>.62,
d'app I
bourgeois, les divisiom de la bour
un point �
geoiSIe �randusalent �e rMe des
en�alent i apparaltr<: comme
:�?', . '
ccux-ci, bien faiblement encore, comm 2,0 1 ,; for an apologia by Santern: lee Rapporl dt }.I. SIIIIJtrT• • • • " Ialil!mlnll d
I'Gff,G,,, III V.1I&tIIIUJ (ibid., fol. 202),
,
op . cit. i. 367). I Ulume that the
• Arch. Nat., F> 4622, fob. I�I� (Verritra papen).
possibles de la R�volution' (Jaur k,
uJolks or I7UIUI ",up/., rathcr than
l�taira' il hen: intended to me.n slUls-c
eamerl'.
82 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHA
MP DE MARS 83
democrats in the course of the spring and summer of 1791 work�rs had been continuously engaged since
in mid-June, the. Constitu�nt Assembly decreed the g
July 178g' and
indoctrinate and to win the allegiance of the small tn,d'''n''''.
craftsmen, and employed and unemployed workers of � dosu�e of the ale/,m de chant/, while making
nera � i
certain indefinite
capital. This agitation was to culminate in the great m'ot,;nl! o'n promises to open other .workshops to abso
17 July, when people gathered from all parts of the city for
rb the unemployed,l
The workers, faced With the prospect oflo
�
sing their bare sub­
purely political purpose of signing a petition drawn up by sistence o 20 SOIlS a day, reacted vigorously ; the
Bastille workers,
Cordeliers Club.! though dupersed by troops, carried on a
lively agitation for
Among the many persons arrested in Paris during this some weeks to come and sought Support amon
period, one is struck by the large number ofunemployed, ",,«01
g the journey_
men of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.1 The
closure of the other
of them from the public workshops maintained by the workshops aroused a far greater
commotion in which th
cipality, arrested and imprisoned for their declared hostility
the city administration and the National Guard.
.
democrats in theJacobin and Cordeliers
part. Three separate petitions were prese
Clubs �layed a certai �
nted to the Assembl
both the development ofa certain political consciousness urging them to reeonsider thei decision.
!
� The first, presented o !
:��:�
2B �ne and draft�d WIth .
the wage-earners and the growth of unemployment in a the aid ofthe Point Central des Arts
�
1;:
et
of trades : one finds, among such persons, former �ue:s, a Cordeliers Club affiliate,
was extremely moderate :
sculptors, tailors, barbers, domestic servants, jewell�"' It Ju�ufied th� event�al closure of the atdim
in the interest of
public sec
and basket-makers.1 Meanwhile the numbers of those �?ty, while begging for a postponement,J The
to the public workshops were continually increasing: i� second peuUon was presented by
Camille Desmouliru in the
Bailly put their number at 24,000 ; by June it had risen name of the Bastille workers on 3 July
h,e and had, he claimed
3 1 ,000.3 Apart from the expense of their maintenance �n app�ved by Robespierre : it demanded subsistence as
CItizen' s ng t and suggested that
� �
were seen as a constant threat to the newly established the workshops be maintained
they were widely believed to be the ready tools of coun'Ie'· from a portlon of the profits accr
uing from the sale of Church
revolutionary intrigue (even extreme democrats like lands.4 � third petjti�n, fOllOwing closely after
the second, was
shared this view);4 they were frequently involved in ,ki"ni"h. threaterung, almost VIolent, in tone
: the workers (it declared)
with customs officials at the barritres, which the authorities must have bread by one mea
ns or another ' 'c'est Ie besoin
c'est le plus pressant besoin, et rien
hoped to keep in being;S and such episodes as the march of
parel.l langage' ,5
autre qui' leur fait tenir u �
Bastille workers to Vincennes did little to allay public di','q"iet
In brief the administration did not need much persuasion The Assembly took no notice;
but, meanwhile, the unem­
decide on their dispersal : on 8 May Bailly announced �
ployed ha res.orted to more
direct forms of pressure. In a
demonstrauon In the Place Vend
decision to close down the Bastille workshop, where ome, on 24 June, there had
, For the bat detailed acoount of thi, process 'C,
been calls for a Republic.6 Afte
COrt/tUtTl /HM
r,��;,���t�£:�:��r{if�'�� ;;.i�,::,'� follow109
A. M.
" hi, r two more demonstrations in the
allt la ,rise de
Ie<:
' we�k, there was laIk of a projecte
d tum-out of 22,000
unem loyed I� the rue Sain
'en, �!i
• Or�38 penons t i i
� t-Honore on 3July.7 Two days later
a hOstile gOSSip-sheet,
Lt Bahillard, reported a march of
1791, and whose occ upal ions are gi\ �
unemployed rrom other tradal, 10 of them 400
them then: i
, Dioliothbjue Hinorique de la Ville de
de Police, series Aa (various cartons) I . Nat., ,on....
.� ,' n�ll,
ra . no. I ,6g7, pp. �54-g.
and several Pan. MS. 1044/ ' Areh. Nat C "
, A
1'IO· 6g5 '
" ,
) Bib. Nat., nouv. acq. rrant;., no.
' B'b
rc"h. Nat., C 7 1 , no.
' op. Cit., �nd lCn.es, v. 261; Arch. Nat. F' 46�2 plaq
700.

• L'A",i dU/!tuple, no. 42�, 7 April 1791, p. 6.

C 71, no. 695.
• S Lacro,,,,
I
•
.
" . I , fol. 14.
14'BdillD,d, no. xxi, 25 June 1791
Arch. Nat., DXX1Xb 36, no. 376.
1"'''"''''' -'''''''''
'
•
I Bib, Nat., fonds franp.is, no. 1 1697, pp. 235, �39, 2,.&-8 , Arch. Nal., , pp. 6-7.
correspondence). DXXlXb 36, no. 376, fol. 28.
82 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHA
MP DE MARS 83
democrats in the course of the spring and summer of 1791 work�rs had been continuously engaged since
in mid-June, the. Constitu�nt Assembly decreed the g
July 178g' and
indoctrinate and to win the allegiance of the small tn,d'''n''''.
craftsmen, and employed and unemployed workers of � dosu�e of the ale/,m de chant/, while making
nera � i
certain indefinite
capital. This agitation was to culminate in the great m'ot,;nl! o'n promises to open other .workshops to abso
17 July, when people gathered from all parts of the city for
rb the unemployed,l
The workers, faced With the prospect oflo
�
sing their bare sub­
purely political purpose of signing a petition drawn up by sistence o 20 SOIlS a day, reacted vigorously ; the
Bastille workers,
Cordeliers Club.! though dupersed by troops, carried on a
lively agitation for
Among the many persons arrested in Paris during this some weeks to come and sought Support amon
period, one is struck by the large number ofunemployed, ",,«01
g the journey_
men of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.1 The
closure of the other
of them from the public workshops maintained by the workshops aroused a far greater
commotion in which th
cipality, arrested and imprisoned for their declared hostility
the city administration and the National Guard.
.
democrats in theJacobin and Cordeliers
part. Three separate petitions were prese
Clubs �layed a certai �
nted to the Assembl
both the development ofa certain political consciousness urging them to reeonsider thei decision.
!
� The first, presented o !
:��:�
2B �ne and draft�d WIth .
the wage-earners and the growth of unemployment in a the aid ofthe Point Central des Arts
�
1;:
et
of trades : one finds, among such persons, former �ue:s, a Cordeliers Club affiliate,
was extremely moderate :
sculptors, tailors, barbers, domestic servants, jewell�"' It Ju�ufied th� event�al closure of the atdim
in the interest of
public sec
and basket-makers.1 Meanwhile the numbers of those �?ty, while begging for a postponement,J The
to the public workshops were continually increasing: i� second peuUon was presented by
Camille Desmouliru in the
Bailly put their number at 24,000 ; by June it had risen name of the Bastille workers on 3 July
h,e and had, he claimed
3 1 ,000.3 Apart from the expense of their maintenance �n app�ved by Robespierre : it demanded subsistence as
CItizen' s ng t and suggested that
� �
were seen as a constant threat to the newly established the workshops be maintained
they were widely believed to be the ready tools of coun'Ie'· from a portlon of the profits accr
uing from the sale of Church
revolutionary intrigue (even extreme democrats like lands.4 � third petjti�n, fOllOwing closely after
the second, was
shared this view);4 they were frequently involved in ,ki"ni"h. threaterung, almost VIolent, in tone
: the workers (it declared)
with customs officials at the barritres, which the authorities must have bread by one mea
ns or another ' 'c'est Ie besoin
c'est le plus pressant besoin, et rien
hoped to keep in being;S and such episodes as the march of
parel.l langage' ,5
autre qui' leur fait tenir u �
Bastille workers to Vincennes did little to allay public di','q"iet
In brief the administration did not need much persuasion The Assembly took no notice;
but, meanwhile, the unem­
decide on their dispersal : on 8 May Bailly announced �
ployed ha res.orted to more
direct forms of pressure. In a
demonstrauon In the Place Vend
decision to close down the Bastille workshop, where ome, on 24 June, there had
, For the bat detailed acoount of thi, process 'C,
been calls for a Republic.6 Afte
COrt/tUtTl /HM
r,��;,���t�£:�:��r{if�'�� ;;.i�,::,'� follow109
A. M.
" hi, r two more demonstrations in the
allt la ,rise de
Ie<:
' we�k, there was laIk of a projecte
d tum-out of 22,000
unem loyed I� the rue Sain
'en, �!i
• Or�38 penons t i i
� t-Honore on 3July.7 Two days later
a hOstile gOSSip-sheet,
Lt Bahillard, reported a march of
1791, and whose occ upal ions are gi\ �
unemployed rrom other tradal, 10 of them 400
them then: i
, Dioliothbjue Hinorique de la Ville de
de Police, series Aa (various cartons) I . Nat., ,on....
.� ,' n�ll,
ra . no. I ,6g7, pp. �54-g.
and several Pan. MS. 1044/ ' Areh. Nat C "
, A
1'IO· 6g5 '
" ,
) Bib. Nat., nouv. acq. rrant;., no.
' B'b
rc"h. Nat., C 7 1 , no.
' op. Cit., �nd lCn.es, v. 261; Arch. Nat. F' 46�2 plaq
700.

• L'A",i dU/!tuple, no. 42�, 7 April 1791, p. 6.

C 71, no. 695.
• S Lacro,,,,
I
•
.
" . I , fol. 14.
14'BdillD,d, no. xxi, 25 June 1791
Arch. Nat., DXX1Xb 36, no. 376.
1"'''"''''' -'''''''''
'
•
I Bib, Nat., fonds franp.is, no. 1 1697, pp. 235, �39, 2,.&-8 , Arch. Nal., , pp. 6-7.
correspondence). DXXlXb 36, no. 376, fol. 28.
 N THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHAMP DE MARS 8�
84 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTIO

Vendc5me, h�ve been exaggerate�-the master farriers were naturally in.

workless on the H6td de Ville, a riot in the Place
s in the Place Louis XV for chned. to overstate their case-but the movement is of interest
and the arrest of two worker
1 a growin g atmosp here of tension, for a �umber of reasons. In the first place. it was the most
seditious talk. The result was
in which respect able citizen s began to say openly that the ext�nslVe wages movem:nt in th:: capital u�til that of 1 794,
a lesson by the use of military whIch play�� some part 10 unseaung Robesplerre; secondly, it
unemployed should be taught
was the petluons of the master farriers and carpenters that led
force.
�he �embly t? ad�pt the famous Loi Le Chapelier, making
Les ouvriers [wrote LA on 6 July] commencent a lasser
Babillard
la patience des citoyens de taus les etats. La garde
nationalc, les
coalittons ouvneres , or trade unions, illegal-an Act, it should

artisans
be noted, that not even the Revolutionary Government of the
bourgeo is, les crient contrc
ces gens soudoyes par Ies seditieux. . . . On dit hautem
marchands, les fabrican ts, les 'Year I�', at th� heigh� of Jacobin democracy, thought fit to
repeal; 10 fact, It remamed law for nearly a hundred years to
ent qu'il
faut 10 balayer a coups de canon. � come. I Thi�dly. and of greater moment to our present argu.
ment, the Journeymen carpenters received considerable aid
explain the
Such an attitude docs, of course, a great deal to
and encouragement from the revolutionary democrats. Thus
ferocity with which the bourgeois
and of themarchands
National
we find the carpenters not merely meeting in the same hall
as that used by the Cordeliers Club; but it turns out that the
demon strators less than
Guard dispersed the Champ de Mars
a fortnight later. ' U�ion !ratemell� des Ou�ers en l'ATt de la Chacpente',
the
A paraliel movement to that of the unemployed, in which
which directed their camprugn, was an affiliate of the Comite
��
Cordeli ers Club were also involve d, was that of
democrats and
Central set by the club in May 1791.
Moreover, the secretary
of the Comne Central was Fran�ois Robert who with his wife
men of various trades in suppor t of higher wages;
the journey
the July
these, as we saw, had not risen appreciably since
revolution. The movement began in April with a
concer ted Lo.uis:. �ited . th� Mucure national et ltranger,
�hjcb. though

m daily wage of o�Jecung 10 pnnclple to the journeymen's attempt to enforce a

auempt by the carpenters to secure a minimu .
fifty SOUSj to the annoyance of an active the main body mlmmum wage, gave some support to their cause.2 Marat, too,
minorit y
terms had opened the columns ofhis paper to workers' correspondence
of contractors appear to have accepted the journeymen's
fairly readily. The Municipality, invited by the journe ymen to and, on 12 June '791, while the wages movement was at its
and rejecte d h�ight, a violen�y worded letter, purporting to represent the
arbitrate, condemned their association as illegal, .
VIews of 560 bUlldmg workers engaged on the construction of
�h: church of Sainte.Genevieve,
for a minimu m wage as being contrar y to liberal
the proposal
appeared in L'Ami du ptuple:
In It, the contrac�ors �ere r�und y assailed as 'oppresseurs igno-­
}
n the
principles; later, its journal went so far as to threate

ra�ts, rapaces et 10sattablcs , as vampires', and as 'hommes viIS

ers of the
journeymen's leaders with prosecution as disturb
letter.l
public peace ; yet the threat remained a dead
qUI devorent dans l'oisivete Ie fruit de la sueur des mancr:u.
vres et qui n'ont jamais rendu aucun service a la Nation'.J
that of
The carpenters' example was quickly followed by
among them . In
other workers-hatters and typogra phers
The Cordeliers Club, however, did considerably more than
merely intervene in economic disputes in which the wage.
to the
early June the master farriers, in a petition addressed
of the existen ce of 'une coalitio n genera le'
Assembly, warned
earne� were already engag¢. Through its Fraternal Societies,
�lso hnked to Robert's Camite Central, it began, quite de.
workers , includin g locksmi ths, joiners , and
of 80,000 Paris

hberately, to educate the Parisian menu

s may
cobblers as well as their own workpeople.· These number
peuple
in the political
, fA BaM((mi, no. xxiii, 5 July 1791, p. 7.

• Mtma"I NJlitma/ .1 ItriUlg.... no. UV; II May '791.

1 Until an Act of 1814.

, us RJ<KIltditJftS d� Par;', no. xcvi, 7-14 May 1791; La.;roi., op. cit., 2nd series.
• Ibid., no. xxiv, 6July 1791. p. 3.

i i. 700 ff; G. M. Jalft, op. cit., Part II. • Jafft, op. cit., p. 124. l L'Ami tfu /Jf�ple, no. 487, 12 June 179/, pp. 1-5.
 N THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHAMP DE MARS 8�
84 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTIO

Vendc5me, h�ve been exaggerate�-the master farriers were naturally in.

workless on the H6td de Ville, a riot in the Place
s in the Place Louis XV for chned. to overstate their case-but the movement is of interest
and the arrest of two worker
1 a growin g atmosp here of tension, for a �umber of reasons. In the first place. it was the most
seditious talk. The result was
in which respect able citizen s began to say openly that the ext�nslVe wages movem:nt in th:: capital u�til that of 1 794,
a lesson by the use of military whIch play�� some part 10 unseaung Robesplerre; secondly, it
unemployed should be taught
was the petluons of the master farriers and carpenters that led
force.
�he �embly t? ad�pt the famous Loi Le Chapelier, making
Les ouvriers [wrote LA on 6 July] commencent a lasser
Babillard
la patience des citoyens de taus les etats. La garde
nationalc, les
coalittons ouvneres , or trade unions, illegal-an Act, it should

artisans
be noted, that not even the Revolutionary Government of the
bourgeo is, les crient contrc
ces gens soudoyes par Ies seditieux. . . . On dit hautem
marchands, les fabrican ts, les 'Year I�', at th� heigh� of Jacobin democracy, thought fit to
repeal; 10 fact, It remamed law for nearly a hundred years to
ent qu'il
faut 10 balayer a coups de canon. � come. I Thi�dly. and of greater moment to our present argu.
ment, the Journeymen carpenters received considerable aid
explain the
Such an attitude docs, of course, a great deal to
and encouragement from the revolutionary democrats. Thus
ferocity with which the bourgeois
and of themarchands
National
we find the carpenters not merely meeting in the same hall
as that used by the Cordeliers Club; but it turns out that the
demon strators less than
Guard dispersed the Champ de Mars
a fortnight later. ' U�ion !ratemell� des Ou�ers en l'ATt de la Chacpente',
the
A paraliel movement to that of the unemployed, in which
which directed their camprugn, was an affiliate of the Comite
��
Cordeli ers Club were also involve d, was that of
democrats and
Central set by the club in May 1791.
Moreover, the secretary
of the Comne Central was Fran�ois Robert who with his wife
men of various trades in suppor t of higher wages;
the journey
the July
these, as we saw, had not risen appreciably since
revolution. The movement began in April with a
concer ted Lo.uis:. �ited . th� Mucure national et ltranger,
�hjcb. though

m daily wage of o�Jecung 10 pnnclple to the journeymen's attempt to enforce a

auempt by the carpenters to secure a minimu .
fifty SOUSj to the annoyance of an active the main body mlmmum wage, gave some support to their cause.2 Marat, too,
minorit y
terms had opened the columns ofhis paper to workers' correspondence
of contractors appear to have accepted the journeymen's
fairly readily. The Municipality, invited by the journe ymen to and, on 12 June '791, while the wages movement was at its
and rejecte d h�ight, a violen�y worded letter, purporting to represent the
arbitrate, condemned their association as illegal, .
VIews of 560 bUlldmg workers engaged on the construction of
�h: church of Sainte.Genevieve,
for a minimu m wage as being contrar y to liberal
the proposal
appeared in L'Ami du ptuple:
In It, the contrac�ors �ere r�und y assailed as 'oppresseurs igno-­
}
n the
principles; later, its journal went so far as to threate

ra�ts, rapaces et 10sattablcs , as vampires', and as 'hommes viIS

ers of the
journeymen's leaders with prosecution as disturb
letter.l
public peace ; yet the threat remained a dead
qUI devorent dans l'oisivete Ie fruit de la sueur des mancr:u.
vres et qui n'ont jamais rendu aucun service a la Nation'.J
that of
The carpenters' example was quickly followed by
among them . In
other workers-hatters and typogra phers
The Cordeliers Club, however, did considerably more than
merely intervene in economic disputes in which the wage.
to the
early June the master farriers, in a petition addressed
of the existen ce of 'une coalitio n genera le'
Assembly, warned
earne� were already engag¢. Through its Fraternal Societies,
�lso hnked to Robert's Camite Central, it began, quite de.
workers , includin g locksmi ths, joiners , and
of 80,000 Paris

hberately, to educate the Parisian menu

s may
cobblers as well as their own workpeople.· These number
peuple
in the political
, fA BaM((mi, no. xxiii, 5 July 1791, p. 7.

• Mtma"I NJlitma/ .1 ItriUlg.... no. UV; II May '791.

1 Until an Act of 1814.

, us RJ<KIltditJftS d� Par;', no. xcvi, 7-14 May 1791; La.;roi., op. cit., 2nd series.
• Ibid., no. xxiv, 6July 1791. p. 3.

i i. 700 ff; G. M. Jalft, op. cit., Part II. • Jafft, op. cit., p. 124. l L'Ami tfu /Jf�ple, no. 487, 12 June 179/, pp. 1-5.
 .,
THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHAMP DE MARS
WD IN ACTION
Q. Why had she been there?
THE REVOLUTIONARY CRO

a process that was to be

86
ideas ofthe revolutionary democrats- A. To sign a petition 'comme tow les boos patrioto'
of enormous significance for the future: Q. What was the petition about?
A. ��v���d=�=r ts aim was '1 faire organiser autrement Ie
•

C'est par Ies societes fraternelles (wrote Mathiez] que s'estaufaiteet

l'tducation politique des masses. Ces societes furent Ie berce Q. Did she often go to public meetings'
I'asile de 1a saru-culotterie.' A. �.�h: $Ohernletimes been to the Pala� Royal and the Tuileries.
The new societies, while finnlers y under hourgeois direction, Q. e ong to any club?
opened their doors to wage-earn edanda other passive citizens.� A. ���:; ::::r::: been to the Cordelien Club, though not
I S

The Cordeliers Club itself charg subsc ription of only t

2 .sOUl a monthj and, amon g those arres ted by the National Q. Had ;he been with any particular group in the Champ d,
Guard that summer, we find a fancy -ware work er, a cook, and a M
domestic servant that attended itsother meetings.l In this period, too, A. Sh� .had been on the 'autel de la patrie' and signe ' d th,
an .

the Club des Indigents and of 'pauv Fraternal Societies are pelltlon.
res porteurs d'eau', Q. Had she thrown stones or seen any stones thrown?
described as being composed Far great e, were A. No.h
'artisans' and 'simples ouvriers'.4 c agitationer,ofofthecours demo crats Q. W o had invited her to sign the petition?
the numbers touched by the publie political question-inclu A. No o�:, but s�e h�d heard various people say that there was
and their press on every imaginablas the denial of the vote d­ a pet uon to sign m Champ de Man.
ing such burning topical issues sion of manual workers from to �. �as �It true that herthe
name had appeared in papers?
'passive' citizens, the virtu al exclu • her name had appeared in u.s Ri/J()the /ulions tk p .
the National Guard, or the restrictions imposed on the right of b'rnuse she had expressed grief at the death of Loustalo t.
eli,
am,

petitioning.s Q. What papers did she read'

A single example from the police recor
the influence that such agitation migh
ideas ofmany ordinary Parisians. Constarrest
old cook of 64 rue de Grenelle, was
dswill serve to illustrate A. She read Marat, Audoui � Camille Desmoulms . and, very
t exert on the minds and often, L'Oraleurdu peupk.' '
ance Evrard, a 23-year­ The political movement that ended.
ed on 17 July for massacre' had 'ts . d' t °�.gI:� . with the Champ de Mars
in t hki· n�'s. attempted
n, who had taken part flight to the Im�eri���;d:� �n 2 J , Fro'rn thIs ttme
•

dsma
abusing the wife of a National Guar Mars the same
in the 'massacre' of the Cham police commissionaft
p de ernoon.
of the ag't ' n f Lh� democrats and radical journalists had a on the
c1;arly
•

Her cross-examinatio n by the er O•

de��� ob�ecUvc- ..
to rouse popular oplDlon
Fontaine de Grene Ue Sectio n may be parap hrase d as follow s: the kin and the executi.ve powtr. For the firstontimethethose future of
Q. Had she been to the ChampMada de Mars? nalists !nd ot�ers �ho, before the flight to Varennes hadjour-
been therew ith me Uon and her daughter. al�:t alone m thel� advocacy of Republican ideas,'were be
A. Yes, she had to �m��? a cetam following: their influence can be seena�: in
Mathiez, op. cit., p. 66. the R o a e i f n
£:
,

1 That ii, citizen. not paying the equivalent �

'7&g· ���e: e: ��;�e fn f;t:�:�;�:� ;ar�� J�y� ::� � ����b:�
of three days' labour in taxCl �d,

ber This provilion

IO"S and petitIOns of the Fraternal Societies.l Yet it has

the franch ise under a law of Decem
as lueh, e:lduded from
of '791. Iu repeal wu one of the last
became later incorporated in the Constitution
probabJ
c � b�en
Whi h i clu ed �xaggcr �ed; a?d even the Cordcliers Club,
dissolution in September 1792·
!LeU of the LcgiJlative i\J&embly before iu

nown epubhcans among its members, was

fols. lI l 7-9; lI20, fol. 1-4-2. Another
IleNant claimed to have IUSCribed 24 sous in 4
, Areh. PrU. Pol., AA 148, fol. 30; lI06,
months to the funds of the J!Leobin

• � B�billanl, no. xxi, lI5 June 1791; Mtrcrm

Club (ibid., All. 206, fols. 365-6)·
, A �""f. Poi., AI., 148, fol. 30.
s II Pam/1t""anll� R'oo/ulillll Babrllard, no. xxi 25 June I 79t , pp. 6-7; Lacroix,
/IIIliorrol II Ilr�"'tr, no. viii, �"<jh.
op. dt., lind seria, v.
• Mathie>:, cp. cit., pp. 31-32•
•
23 April '791. See also I. Bourdin , us Socillis popuJ�ir, 378; Mathie>:, op. cit., p'. .
(Paris, 1937), pp. '5-44. 53
 .,
THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHAMP DE MARS
WD IN ACTION
Q. Why had she been there?
THE REVOLUTIONARY CRO

a process that was to be

86
ideas ofthe revolutionary democrats- A. To sign a petition 'comme tow les boos patrioto'
of enormous significance for the future: Q. What was the petition about?
A. ��v���d=�=r ts aim was '1 faire organiser autrement Ie
•

C'est par Ies societes fraternelles (wrote Mathiez] que s'estaufaiteet

l'tducation politique des masses. Ces societes furent Ie berce Q. Did she often go to public meetings'
I'asile de 1a saru-culotterie.' A. �.�h: $Ohernletimes been to the Pala� Royal and the Tuileries.
The new societies, while finnlers y under hourgeois direction, Q. e ong to any club?
opened their doors to wage-earn edanda other passive citizens.� A. ���:; ::::r::: been to the Cordelien Club, though not
I S

The Cordeliers Club itself charg subsc ription of only t

2 .sOUl a monthj and, amon g those arres ted by the National Q. Had ;he been with any particular group in the Champ d,
Guard that summer, we find a fancy -ware work er, a cook, and a M
domestic servant that attended itsother meetings.l In this period, too, A. Sh� .had been on the 'autel de la patrie' and signe ' d th,
an .

the Club des Indigents and of 'pauv Fraternal Societies are pelltlon.
res porteurs d'eau', Q. Had she thrown stones or seen any stones thrown?
described as being composed Far great e, were A. No.h
'artisans' and 'simples ouvriers'.4 c agitationer,ofofthecours demo crats Q. W o had invited her to sign the petition?
the numbers touched by the publie political question-inclu A. No o�:, but s�e h�d heard various people say that there was
and their press on every imaginablas the denial of the vote d­ a pet uon to sign m Champ de Man.
ing such burning topical issues sion of manual workers from to �. �as �It true that herthe
name had appeared in papers?
'passive' citizens, the virtu al exclu • her name had appeared in u.s Ri/J()the /ulions tk p .
the National Guard, or the restrictions imposed on the right of b'rnuse she had expressed grief at the death of Loustalo t.
eli,
am,

petitioning.s Q. What papers did she read'

A single example from the police recor
the influence that such agitation migh
ideas ofmany ordinary Parisians. Constarrest
old cook of 64 rue de Grenelle, was
dswill serve to illustrate A. She read Marat, Audoui � Camille Desmoulms . and, very
t exert on the minds and often, L'Oraleurdu peupk.' '
ance Evrard, a 23-year­ The political movement that ended.
ed on 17 July for massacre' had 'ts . d' t °�.gI:� . with the Champ de Mars
in t hki· n�'s. attempted
n, who had taken part flight to the Im�eri���;d:� �n 2 J , Fro'rn thIs ttme
•

dsma
abusing the wife of a National Guar Mars the same
in the 'massacre' of the Cham police commissionaft
p de ernoon.
of the ag't ' n f Lh� democrats and radical journalists had a on the
c1;arly
•

Her cross-examinatio n by the er O•

de��� ob�ecUvc- ..
to rouse popular oplDlon
Fontaine de Grene Ue Sectio n may be parap hrase d as follow s: the kin and the executi.ve powtr. For the firstontimethethose future of
Q. Had she been to the ChampMada de Mars? nalists !nd ot�ers �ho, before the flight to Varennes hadjour-
been therew ith me Uon and her daughter. al�:t alone m thel� advocacy of Republican ideas,'were be
A. Yes, she had to �m��? a cetam following: their influence can be seena�: in
Mathiez, op. cit., p. 66. the R o a e i f n
£:
,

1 That ii, citizen. not paying the equivalent �

'7&g· ���e: e: ��;�e fn f;t:�:�;�:� ;ar�� J�y� ::� � ����b:�
of three days' labour in taxCl �d,

ber This provilion

IO"S and petitIOns of the Fraternal Societies.l Yet it has

the franch ise under a law of Decem
as lueh, e:lduded from
of '791. Iu repeal wu one of the last
became later incorporated in the Constitution
probabJ
c � b�en
Whi h i clu ed �xaggcr �ed; a?d even the Cordcliers Club,
dissolution in September 1792·
!LeU of the LcgiJlative i\J&embly before iu

nown epubhcans among its members, was

fols. lI l 7-9; lI20, fol. 1-4-2. Another
IleNant claimed to have IUSCribed 24 sous in 4
, Areh. PrU. Pol., AA 148, fol. 30; lI06,
months to the funds of the J!Leobin

• � B�billanl, no. xxi, lI5 June 1791; Mtrcrm

Club (ibid., All. 206, fols. 365-6)·
, A �""f. Poi., AI., 148, fol. 30.
s II Pam/1t""anll� R'oo/ulillll Babrllard, no. xxi 25 June I 79t , pp. 6-7; Lacroix,
/IIIliorrol II Ilr�"'tr, no. viii, �"<jh.
op. dt., lind seria, v.
• Mathie>:, cp. cit., pp. 31-32•
•
23 April '791. See also I. Bourdin , us Socillis popuJ�ir, 378; Mathie>:, op. cit., p'. .
(Paris, 1937), pp. '5-44. 53
 Y CROWD IN ACT ION THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHAMP DE MARS 89
88 THE REVOLUTIONAR

h could, � yet, hope to ?nd Unfortunately for the petitioners, before their arrival, a
certamly there IS little
guarded in expressing views whic
little support among the menu
.
ptuple: curious incident took place that morning in the Champ de
ion among th� fiftee� or tw�nty Mars that, in the tense political atmosphere prevailing, pro­
trace of such a body of opin .
for expressmg sedillous viewS vided the authorities with a pretext for intervention. Two
persons arrested in the Sections
king's flight and ignominious individuals who had hidden under the 'autd de la patrie'­
during the week following the
possibly with the intention ofgetting a better view of the ladies'
return from Varennes.1
not slow to react to the new ankles-were pulled out by suspicious bystanders and uncere­
But the Club was certainly
developments: on 2 1 June it call
c:d on the Assembly to delay a moniously hanged from a nearby window. During the afternoon
I the Departments had been a peaceful demonstration of 50,000 citizens gathered according
decision on the king's future untJ.
nteen similar petitions by the to plan;' of these, over 6,000 had signed the petition before the
eonsulted ; this, the first of seve
�
Three ays l�ter there fo lowed � troops arrived.1 Meanwhile Bailly had been alerted of what
e1ub, was posted all over Paris.1
30,000 WhiCh, accordmg to was going on by his municipal officers and put into operation a
the so-called 'Petition of the
d by the Faubourg Saint.An­ plan that appears to have been premeditated.l Martial law
Madame Roland, was supporte
the agitati0r;t co�tinued ! but, was declared, the red flag of executive violence was unfurled
toine in full strength.) DuringJuly
on the 15th, the Constitu ent � sembly, WIth Its Feutllant and 10,000 Guardsmen, under the command of Lafayette,
r oflet tJ.ng well alone and of renewed advanced on the demonstrators.• Accounts of what followed
majority, declared in favou .
head of the executIve power. vary; but it appears that stones were thrown at the Guards
confidence in Louis XVI as the
the ranks of the democrats. (including Lafayette himself), and that perhaps fifty persons
The decision led to a breach in
for in a petition drafte by lh � � were killed and a dozen wounded.! In the words of a tailor,
A protest demonstration, called
oved by theJacobln Cl�b . arrested two days later in the Henri IV Section for protesting at
Cordeliers Club on I6July, was appr
re's initiative, the J�coblns the Guard's conduct: 'on tirait sur les ouvriers comme de la
but the same evening, on Robespier
withdrew their support .• The Cord
elier �
s. now face with the volaille'.' Many arrests were made: only a dozen in the Champ
.
atIon or of gomg ahead de Mars itself; but maybe another 200 in the Sections, includ-
�
onstr
alternative of cancelling the dem .
the latte r cour se. The result was t e I�g a handful of Cordeliers Club members and other supposed
on their own, decided on
petition of 17 July, drafted by Fran ?
c; is Robert and �ouched 10 nngleaders, and a far greater number of ordinary petitioners
fically demandmg a Re­ who presumed to criticize the administration or the Guard for
more radical tenru : while not speCl
'de convoquer un nouveau their behaviour.' Many of these were released within a month .
rem lace�ent et a 1'0r­ l;
public it called on the Assembly
�
corps onstituant pour procede� au
p the rest were discharged under a general amnesty of

ganisation d'un nouveau pouvOlr

�
exec� b .5 Signatures were
SOCletJ.es an� e1ubs were
immediately canvassed;6 and the .
at the Porte Salnt -Ant 01Oe at
invited to muster in full strength
to march from there to the
ten or eleven in the moming,7 and
September.8 Such was the demonstration and 'massacre' of the
Champ de Mars.
r Ibid., pp. 53 fr. (F. Robert's ac<:ount O(evenll).
' Buch et Roux, Hiswi" parftmmlair, de I" RJvoiw"'"fr""fais, (40 vois., Paris,
I Mathia, op. cit., pp. 138-g.
18;3-8), "<I. 1'3·
�

Champ de Mars to hold a peac eful demonstration. Lu Rlro/u/w..s de Paris. no. cvi. pp. 53 fr.
• Contemporary ....Limato oftholc: killed rang<: between an official figure of 13
, Mh. prtr. Pol., Aa 74,84, 134, 157, 172, 182, 206, 2'5'
• F. Bracsch, 'w P.!titions du Champ de Mars', &!J. hut. exliii !
167,
(1923), '7-18. and Ol1e, based on the wild"'t rumour, of, � (Arch Nal W
I\r�h. PrHo Pol., Aa 2 IS. roL 460). In Rlvoiu/1lmS
. ., 294' '"v. -"',.,
(Ioc. cit.). According to the official accounl, I I or 12 penoru (indud;ng a
de Paris (Robert's account) giv",
1 Mathia, op. cit., p. 52.
• Ibid., pp. ' 18-20. r.atlOnal Guardsman) were taken to the nearby Gros Caillou Military Hospital
�o
• Ln R/lJ(!lutilms d, Paris, no. cvi, .6-23 July '79', pp. 60-6• r trcatment for wounds {P/v. des 17 '/ 18juilld, p. 12 (printed lext). Arch. Nat.,
.
member of the Soei�t� da Hailes ct
• A. E. Primery, a raney.ware worker and � 15;.,no · .737) ·
rch. PrH. PoL, Aa, Ab «(or dctails see page 91 ' note ,, below) ,' Mathiez,
Faubourg Saint-Antoine thc ,ame day for • Arch. PrU. Pol., Aa 215. rot. 463 .
collecling ,ignatulU (Arch. Pr.!r. Pol., Aa 220, . ., p. , '- J
de Ja Libert.!, was arrested in the rue du
lip. CIt >. , .
L< 0,""", oe fa RiIJ(!/UtlO�, no. 402, 18 September ' 791.
fol. 142).
• Ibid., Ln RIIJ(!Iwilms de Paris, no. cvi, p. 157.
13�·
 Y CROWD IN ACT ION THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHAMP DE MARS 89
88 THE REVOLUTIONAR

h could, � yet, hope to ?nd Unfortunately for the petitioners, before their arrival, a
certamly there IS little
guarded in expressing views whic
little support among the menu
.
ptuple: curious incident took place that morning in the Champ de
ion among th� fiftee� or tw�nty Mars that, in the tense political atmosphere prevailing, pro­
trace of such a body of opin .
for expressmg sedillous viewS vided the authorities with a pretext for intervention. Two
persons arrested in the Sections
king's flight and ignominious individuals who had hidden under the 'autd de la patrie'­
during the week following the
possibly with the intention ofgetting a better view of the ladies'
return from Varennes.1
not slow to react to the new ankles-were pulled out by suspicious bystanders and uncere­
But the Club was certainly
developments: on 2 1 June it call
c:d on the Assembly to delay a moniously hanged from a nearby window. During the afternoon
I the Departments had been a peaceful demonstration of 50,000 citizens gathered according
decision on the king's future untJ.
nteen similar petitions by the to plan;' of these, over 6,000 had signed the petition before the
eonsulted ; this, the first of seve
�
Three ays l�ter there fo lowed � troops arrived.1 Meanwhile Bailly had been alerted of what
e1ub, was posted all over Paris.1
30,000 WhiCh, accordmg to was going on by his municipal officers and put into operation a
the so-called 'Petition of the
d by the Faubourg Saint.An­ plan that appears to have been premeditated.l Martial law
Madame Roland, was supporte
the agitati0r;t co�tinued ! but, was declared, the red flag of executive violence was unfurled
toine in full strength.) DuringJuly
on the 15th, the Constitu ent � sembly, WIth Its Feutllant and 10,000 Guardsmen, under the command of Lafayette,
r oflet tJ.ng well alone and of renewed advanced on the demonstrators.• Accounts of what followed
majority, declared in favou .
head of the executIve power. vary; but it appears that stones were thrown at the Guards
confidence in Louis XVI as the
the ranks of the democrats. (including Lafayette himself), and that perhaps fifty persons
The decision led to a breach in
for in a petition drafte by lh � � were killed and a dozen wounded.! In the words of a tailor,
A protest demonstration, called
oved by theJacobln Cl�b . arrested two days later in the Henri IV Section for protesting at
Cordeliers Club on I6July, was appr
re's initiative, the J�coblns the Guard's conduct: 'on tirait sur les ouvriers comme de la
but the same evening, on Robespier
withdrew their support .• The Cord
elier �
s. now face with the volaille'.' Many arrests were made: only a dozen in the Champ
.
atIon or of gomg ahead de Mars itself; but maybe another 200 in the Sections, includ-
�
onstr
alternative of cancelling the dem .
the latte r cour se. The result was t e I�g a handful of Cordeliers Club members and other supposed
on their own, decided on
petition of 17 July, drafted by Fran ?
c; is Robert and �ouched 10 nngleaders, and a far greater number of ordinary petitioners
fically demandmg a Re­ who presumed to criticize the administration or the Guard for
more radical tenru : while not speCl
'de convoquer un nouveau their behaviour.' Many of these were released within a month .
rem lace�ent et a 1'0r­ l;
public it called on the Assembly
�
corps onstituant pour procede� au
p the rest were discharged under a general amnesty of

ganisation d'un nouveau pouvOlr

�
exec� b .5 Signatures were
SOCletJ.es an� e1ubs were
immediately canvassed;6 and the .
at the Porte Salnt -Ant 01Oe at
invited to muster in full strength
to march from there to the
ten or eleven in the moming,7 and
September.8 Such was the demonstration and 'massacre' of the
Champ de Mars.
r Ibid., pp. 53 fr. (F. Robert's ac<:ount O(evenll).
' Buch et Roux, Hiswi" parftmmlair, de I" RJvoiw"'"fr""fais, (40 vois., Paris,
I Mathia, op. cit., pp. 138-g.
18;3-8), "<I. 1'3·
�

Champ de Mars to hold a peac eful demonstration. Lu Rlro/u/w..s de Paris. no. cvi. pp. 53 fr.
• Contemporary ....Limato oftholc: killed rang<: between an official figure of 13
, Mh. prtr. Pol., Aa 74,84, 134, 157, 172, 182, 206, 2'5'
• F. Bracsch, 'w P.!titions du Champ de Mars', &!J. hut. exliii !
167,
(1923), '7-18. and Ol1e, based on the wild"'t rumour, of, � (Arch Nal W
I\r�h. PrHo Pol., Aa 2 IS. roL 460). In Rlvoiu/1lmS
. ., 294' '"v. -"',.,
(Ioc. cit.). According to the official accounl, I I or 12 penoru (indud;ng a
de Paris (Robert's account) giv",
1 Mathia, op. cit., p. 52.
• Ibid., pp. ' 18-20. r.atlOnal Guardsman) were taken to the nearby Gros Caillou Military Hospital
�o
• Ln R/lJ(!lutilms d, Paris, no. cvi, .6-23 July '79', pp. 60-6• r trcatment for wounds {P/v. des 17 '/ 18juilld, p. 12 (printed lext). Arch. Nat.,
.
member of the Soei�t� da Hailes ct
• A. E. Primery, a raney.ware worker and � 15;.,no · .737) ·
rch. PrH. PoL, Aa, Ab «(or dctails see page 91 ' note ,, below) ,' Mathiez,
Faubourg Saint-Antoine thc ,ame day for • Arch. PrU. Pol., Aa 215. rot. 463 .
collecling ,ignatulU (Arch. Pr.!r. Pol., Aa 220, . ., p. , '- J
de Ja Libert.!, was arrested in the rue du
lip. CIt >. , .
L< 0,""", oe fa RiIJ(!/UtlO�, no. 402, 18 September ' 791.
fol. 142).
• Ibid., Ln RIIJ(!Iwilms de Paris, no. cvi, p. 157.
13�·
 THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHAMP DE MARS 91
go
WD IN ACT ION
THE REVOLUTIONARY CRO
­ by name.1 Of thuse arrested in the Sections after the demon_
to qualify these peaceful peti .
Perhaps we should hesitate strauon, the only five who admitted having been in the Champ
d'. Yet, in a wider sense, the
tioners as a 'revolutionary crow de Mars that afternoon were a cook, a tailo' " a J'ourneyman
is certa inly of interest to our present
term is apposite; and it cab'met-maker, a cafe-waiter, and an unemployed boot-black.'
composed and from which
study to inquire how they were .
O� these the boot-black descnbed the resistance offered to the
e. The direct evidence on this .
parts of the capital they cam m
,
�tary by tow les ouvriers perruquiers et autres'; and the
than in the case of the October
point, though more plentiful taIlor, as we alrea�y �w, claimed 'qu'on tirait sur les ouvriers
ng the 6,000 signatures col­
insurrection, is rather slight. Amo comme de la vola llle . Further evidence of the attendance of
military, the organizers claimed wa�e-earners at the Champ de Man is suggested by u
lected before the arrival of the
municipal BaMI­
that more than 2,000
were those of gardn naJionaux,
Roux, lard.r report that po!1-workers had visited journeymen in their
othe r hand , Buch ez and
officers, and e1ectors.1 On the
befo re its destructio n by fire in �or�hops an� l
lodgmgs !o bring them along to the demonstra­
who saw the completed petit ion
qui bon, and B� rette-Vemeres, when accwed of inciting OUmlerS
e des signa tures est de gens
r871 , maintained that 'la mass
(0 assemble In the champ de Mars, replied 'qu'it est laux ' . . .
en­
savaient a peine lire'. and poin
ted, in support of their cont
ion shee ts.a parce que ceux auxquels iI aurait preche (?) etaient prets a
aring on the petit
tion, to the many crosses appe y entrer'.4
mar y
Again, Lt
with custo
wrote of the demonstrators
Babillard . We have,. besid�, the far more considerable, though largely
. . . pas un, je crois , ne s�ait
venom : 'Parmi tous ces hommes clrcumstantlal, eVldence of the police commissionen' re rts
lire.'l
in the highly partisan
and the prison register of the Hotel de la Force, relating k all
Even if we aUow for exaggeration to �me penons arrested for political offences in the Paris
�50
account presented by u
and the uncertainty of the
Babillard Sectlons 10 the months preceding and following the ChamP d
literacy test as a guide to socia
accept Buchez's and Roux's infer
l analy s, we should perhaps
si
ence that the demonstrators
Mars demonstration.s Admittedly these cannot furnish an
cle�� proofofattendance or ofwillingness to sign the Cordeliers'
;
er sections ofthe Parisian
were composed in the main ofthe poor peuuon; but they provide a rich source for the study of the
rmed by the few surviving
population. Such a picture is confi popular move�ent of the period and of the classes ofpeople and
documents in the Paris archives whic
h directly relate to par­
parts of the �apl�al that were drawn into the political movement
instance the report
ticipants in the demonstration. For
pared by municipal officer Filleul
on those killed in the, �� :�; � I
that had as ts climax the petition and demonstration of 1 7 July

Caillou � i
Onl� a handful of these persons were arrested for remarh
in the Gros
de Mars and examined by him �ha� �ght, even remotely, be construed as counter-revolution_
of nine identifi ed corpses,
Hospital nearby reveals that, ry? �� nearly every case they were charged with abusing or
eyme n, one of a wom an with 'a skirt
were of workshop journ �nt1C1zmg the administration, the National Guard or Lafoay'tte
of a
ID person 10
were
h reveal the m
s
. terms whic
while other
' fluence exerted
many colours and of many pieces',
by the
of two
saddler, a wine-merchant's son, and
•

dlemocrats and popular societies on the small tradesmen, crafts-

e repor ts of the Paris Il
The polic
dressed bourg eois.4
a cobbler of the
en, and wage-earners of Paris during this period. Thus, of 52
mention only one corpse, that of ,
Arch. Prff. Pot. Ab 3!1ot. p. 60.
Section brought to the police comm
issariat of the Palais
� ""r, "°l., Ab 3!14. pp. 33, 38; A. 148, fol. 30; !l1.5, fol. ,"". IS!I
..Y.;J. , fol
' u BdiUlITII, no. xxxvi, 19 July 1191.
I

. priso n register of the Hotel de 312 ' 'h' N.l.t T

on 17 July S Unfortunately the : Arch. Nat F' 4623, rol. lot.
•

>�:�::
(,
!l14'
one of the twelve,
, • ••

of only
Force gives the occupation Arch. Pr6. Pol' A. 56 7!1, 74, 76 A. 85, 134, '37, l.a. 1.53, 155. 157. 166.
: he was an abbi, I ,' �'
.•

arrested in the Cham p de Mars itself , !lOS. !lIS, !II , !llg, !120, 2!14, !l39'' Ab ..., pp . �• �.
" CIUCt appalt in Arch Nat., ,.
...., dlIl.ona
A few ....
167, 17!1, 173. 18!1 I" •

T �14� (prvn.,..... Bern

.
.

, UI RioolulWns tk Ptuis, loc. dt.

• Buchez ct Roux, op. cit., xi. 113· ani'. papcn), and DXXIXb, nos. 34 and 36 (Comit�
W !l94, no. !l35 (Bailly papcn) ;

, U BdiUarIl, no. xxxvi, 19July d� R�bcrcbQ).

4 Arch. Nat.. W !l94. no. !l3.5. ' Arch. PrH. Poi., N 85, rol. 768.
1791, p. 4.
 THE 'MASSACRE' OF THE CHAMP DE MARS 91
go
WD IN ACT ION
THE REVOLUTIONARY CRO
­ by name.1 Of thuse arrested in the Sections after the demon_
to qualify these peaceful peti .
Perhaps we should hesitate strauon, the only five who admitted having been in the Champ
d'. Yet, in a wider sense, the
tioners as a 'revolutionary crow de Mars that afternoon were a cook, a tailo' " a J'ourneyman
is certa inly of interest to our present
term is apposite; and it cab'met-maker, a cafe-waiter, and an unemployed boot-black.'
composed and from which
study to inquire how they were .
O� these the boot-black descnbed the resistance offered to the
e. The direct evidence on this .
parts of the capital they cam m
,
�tary by tow les ouvriers perruquiers et autres'; and the
than in the case of the October
point, though more plentiful taIlor, as we alrea�y �w, claimed 'qu'on tirait sur les ouvriers
ng the 6,000 signatures col­
insurrection, is rather slight. Amo comme de la vola llle . Further evidence of the attendance of
military, the organizers claimed wa�e-earners at the Champ de Man is suggested by u
lected before the arrival of the
municipal BaMI­
that more than 2,000
were those of gardn naJionaux,
Roux, lard.r report that po!1-workers had visited journeymen in their
othe r hand , Buch ez and
officers, and e1ectors.1 On the
befo re its destructio n by fire in �or�hops an� l
lodgmgs !o bring them along to the demonstra­
who saw the completed petit ion
qui bon, and B� rette-Vemeres, when accwed of inciting OUmlerS
e des signa tures est de gens
r871 , maintained that 'la mass
(0 assemble In the champ de Mars, replied 'qu'it est laux ' . . .
en­
savaient a peine lire'. and poin
ted, in support of their cont
ion shee ts.a parce que ceux auxquels iI aurait preche (?) etaient prets a
aring on the petit
tion, to the many crosses appe y entrer'.4
mar y
Again, Lt
with custo
wrote of the demonstrators
Babillard . We have,. besid�, the far more considerable, though largely
. . . pas un, je crois , ne s�ait
venom : 'Parmi tous ces hommes clrcumstantlal, eVldence of the police commissionen' re rts
lire.'l
in the highly partisan
and the prison register of the Hotel de la Force, relating k all
Even if we aUow for exaggeration to �me penons arrested for political offences in the Paris
�50
account presented by u
and the uncertainty of the
Babillard Sectlons 10 the months preceding and following the ChamP d
literacy test as a guide to socia
accept Buchez's and Roux's infer
l analy s, we should perhaps
si
ence that the demonstrators
Mars demonstration.s Admittedly these cannot furnish an
cle�� proofofattendance or ofwillingness to sign the Cordeliers'
;
er sections ofthe Parisian
were composed in the main ofthe poor peuuon; but they provide a rich source for the study of the
rmed by the few surviving
population. Such a picture is confi popular move�ent of the period and of the classes ofpeople and
documents in the Paris archives whic
h directly relate to par­
parts of the �apl�al that were drawn into the political movement
instance the report
ticipants in the demonstration. For
pared by municipal officer Filleul
on those killed in the, �� :�; � I
that had as ts climax the petition and demonstration of 1 7 July

Caillou � i
Onl� a handful of these persons were arrested for remarh
in the Gros
de Mars and examined by him �ha� �ght, even remotely, be construed as counter-revolution_
of nine identifi ed corpses,
Hospital nearby reveals that, ry? �� nearly every case they were charged with abusing or
eyme n, one of a wom an with 'a skirt
were of workshop journ �nt1C1zmg the administration, the National Guard or Lafoay'tte
of a
ID person 10
were
h reveal the m
s
. terms whic
while other
' fluence exerted
many colours and of many pieces',
by the
of two
saddler, a wine-merchant's son, and
•

dlemocrats and popular societies on the small tradesmen, crafts-

e repor ts of the Paris Il
The polic
dressed bourg eois.4
a cobbler of the
en, and wage-earners of Paris during this period. Thus, of 52
mention only one corpse, that of ,
Arch. Prff. Pot. Ab 3!1ot. p. 60.
Section brought to the police comm
issariat of the Palais
� ""r, "°l., Ab 3!14. pp. 33, 38; A. 148, fol. 30; !l1.5, fol. ,"". IS!I
..Y.;J. , fol
' u BdiUlITII, no. xxxvi, 19 July 1191.
I

. priso n register of the Hotel de 312 ' 'h' N.l.t T

on 17 July S Unfortunately the : Arch. Nat F' 4623, rol. lot.
•

>�:�::
(,
!l14'
one of the twelve,
, • ••

of only
Force gives the occupation Arch. Pr6. Pol' A. 56 7!1, 74, 76 A. 85, 134, '37, l.a. 1.53, 155. 157. 166.
: he was an abbi, I ,' �'
.•

arrested in the Cham p de Mars itself , !lOS. !lIS, !II , !llg, !120, 2!14, !l39'' Ab ..., pp . �• �.
" CIUCt appalt in Arch Nat., ,.
...., dlIl.ona
A few ....
167, 17!1, 173. 18!1 I" •

T �14� (prvn.,..... Bern

.
.

, UI RioolulWns tk Ptuis, loc. dt.

• Buchez ct Roux, op. cit., xi. 113· ani'. papcn), and DXXIXb, nos. 34 and 36 (Comit�
W !l94, no. !l35 (Bailly papcn) ;

, U BdiUarIl, no. xxxvi, 19July d� R�bcrcbQ).

4 Arch. Nat.. W !l94. no. !l3.5. ' Arch. PrH. Poi., N 85, rol. 768.
1791, p. 4.
9:1 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION THE 'MASSACRE'

persons arrested between 14 April and 15 July 1 791, and for

OF THE CHAMP DE
MARS
"
whom details ofoccupation are available, 34 were �age.eame.rs.
Antoine :-may have played
- some part; again, the withdr
of ]acobm support m y hav awal
� e influenced many-for exa
both employed and unemployed; the rest were, In the mam, Santerre, whose behaVIOur mple,
appeared to Fournier to be
shopkeepers, workshop masters, or independent craftsmen. Of Yet an examination of the evasive.I
indirect evidence of the poli
another 186 persons arrested between 16July and 15 November reports ��ggests that ce
(the great majority for criticizing the Na�onal Guard or the
thefaubourg was relatively little involved
in
the political movement of
the whole period : of som
administration for the violence used against the Champ de persons arrested between e 240
Mars petitioners), 102
were wage-earners; while the rest were addr:sses are given, only ten
April and November and
' whose
�
petty employers, craftsmen, an other small property-own�rs.
resided in the Faubourg Sai
nt­
This evidence, indirect though It be, seems to support th� W!W
A tolOe, of whom but thre
� e in Santerre's Section, the
Vmgts. Quinze
already suggested by a perusal of the docume?� directly Admittedly there are conside
rable gaps in the records wh
relating to the Champs de Mars affair, that the peuuoners and may produce a false picture ich
demonstrators of 1 7 July were typical of the mmu peuplt-trades­
.
SUrviVed for only twenty-fiv
: the relevant police repor �
have
men, craftsmen, and wage_earners-that made up th� b k of �l � et we ca� red ess the balance
e of the forty-eight Paris Sec
tions.
the population of theJaubou s and crowded central d
� somewhat by adding the info
rg lStncts of bO� contamed m the police regi rma­
which nearly 130 of the pris
ster of the Hotel de la Force,
to
Which parts of the capital were, in fact, I�VO1ved In
the city.
. oners were committed ' besi
�
' tho des
movement? k far as the Champ de M�rs rally IS con�erned It
the Sections in hich the arre '
�
cas:s, not those m which the
.
. sts were made were, in ma
arrested persons lived. On
n ;
was certainly the intention of the orgamz�rs to mak� It an all­ basIS of thIS combined evidenc the
either killed in the Champ
e we find that these 240 Par
Paris affair. While the Cordeliers Club Itself was In the rue isians
Dauphine on the Left Bank, the rallying-point for the and c1�?, peri�
de Mars or arrested over the
under review, were drawn who' ;
societies was the Porte Saint-Antoine, and the pe?tlon of � ecbons--only the lIe-Saint-Lo
from no less than forty-s�ven
uis is not aCCOunted for. Thi
16 July, which issued the first call to a dem?ostratlon, was s
�s in itselfstriking proofof the wide dissemination
canvassed in places as widely apart as the rue Samt�Honon� th
�
� �
Id�as o the democrats among of the
the menu peup/e of the capital
pol itic al
Porte Saint-Martin, and the rue du Faubourg SalOt-Antome. thIS bemg the case, we ma ; and,
y perhaps assume that sup
How far this object was realized it is hard to tell from the com­ flocked t� the Champ de Ma porters
';l
rs from every part of the city
paratively few documents directly relating to attcndance at the The e dence does not suggest .
Champ de Mars. Yet, evenfrom these, one stri ng fact emerges: � evenly d .
IStnbuted ; we saw already
, however, that this support
that the Faubourg Saint­
was
the poor response given to the demonstratlon by the F�u­ Antom .
e was lukewarm in its resp

����;���
onse. Not surprisingly the
bourg Saint-Antoine. Lafayette had filled the Pla.ce d� la Bastll e most conccntrated body of
support appears to have com
with troops, and this may well be why FourDier l'! a number of Sections on e from
the Left Bank and not far dist

�u!t ,
found so few people assembled there early that the Cordeliers Club itse ant from
. lf: in this quarter three Sec
but Primery, the commissioner appointed by the S e. (Quatre Nations, Thermes tions alone
de Julien, and Sainte.Gene
Halles, not only found a poor attendance at the rallymg-pelOt, account for thirty-eight vieve)
arrests. Another fifty arreste
but met with little response in the faubourg
when he tned to wer� from the five cen d persons
tral and north-central Sec
arouse interest.l The distance from the Champ de Arcls, Ponceau, GravilJ tions of the
. iers, Louvre, and Oratoire.
three and a half miles, as the crow flies, from the Porte Samt- to have been the two The se appear
main areas of support.
I Arch. Pr<!f. Pol., � 2:06, fols. 363-9; 2::10, fol. 14:1; Ar<:h. Nat., DXXIX"
central districts betwee Th e crowded
n the Hotel de Ville and the
no. 37:1, fols. 7-10.
as lJsual, made Louvre had
no. cvi; Arch. PrH. Pol., A2. 2;20, fol. 142:· h
a substantial contribution to
W RiIlOl�liON tit PllrU, I Crinus de L4 FaftlU tot Franc
a movement wit
t (printed telll, 1791). Arch. Nat.
, F' 6504.
o
9:1 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION THE 'MASSACRE'

persons arrested between 14 April and 15 July 1 791, and for

OF THE CHAMP DE
MARS
"
whom details ofoccupation are available, 34 were �age.eame.rs.
Antoine :-may have played
- some part; again, the withdr
of ]acobm support m y hav awal
� e influenced many-for exa
both employed and unemployed; the rest were, In the mam, Santerre, whose behaVIOur mple,
appeared to Fournier to be
shopkeepers, workshop masters, or independent craftsmen. Of Yet an examination of the evasive.I
indirect evidence of the poli
another 186 persons arrested between 16July and 15 November reports ��ggests that ce
(the great majority for criticizing the Na�onal Guard or the
thefaubourg was relatively little involved
in
the political movement of
the whole period : of som
administration for the violence used against the Champ de persons arrested between e 240
Mars petitioners), 102
were wage-earners; while the rest were addr:sses are given, only ten
April and November and
' whose
�
petty employers, craftsmen, an other small property-own�rs.
resided in the Faubourg Sai
nt­
This evidence, indirect though It be, seems to support th� W!W
A tolOe, of whom but thre
� e in Santerre's Section, the
Vmgts. Quinze
already suggested by a perusal of the docume?� directly Admittedly there are conside
rable gaps in the records wh
relating to the Champs de Mars affair, that the peuuoners and may produce a false picture ich
demonstrators of 1 7 July were typical of the mmu peuplt-trades­
.
SUrviVed for only twenty-fiv
: the relevant police repor �
have
men, craftsmen, and wage_earners-that made up th� b k of �l � et we ca� red ess the balance
e of the forty-eight Paris Sec
tions.
the population of theJaubou s and crowded central d
� somewhat by adding the info
rg lStncts of bO� contamed m the police regi rma­
which nearly 130 of the pris
ster of the Hotel de la Force,
to
Which parts of the capital were, in fact, I�VO1ved In
the city.
. oners were committed ' besi
�
' tho des
movement? k far as the Champ de M�rs rally IS con�erned It
the Sections in hich the arre '
�
cas:s, not those m which the
.
. sts were made were, in ma
arrested persons lived. On
n ;
was certainly the intention of the orgamz�rs to mak� It an all­ basIS of thIS combined evidenc the
either killed in the Champ
e we find that these 240 Par
Paris affair. While the Cordeliers Club Itself was In the rue isians
Dauphine on the Left Bank, the rallying-point for the and c1�?, peri�
de Mars or arrested over the
under review, were drawn who' ;
societies was the Porte Saint-Antoine, and the pe?tlon of � ecbons--only the lIe-Saint-Lo
from no less than forty-s�ven
uis is not aCCOunted for. Thi
16 July, which issued the first call to a dem?ostratlon, was s
�s in itselfstriking proofof the wide dissemination
canvassed in places as widely apart as the rue Samt�Honon� th
�
� �
Id�as o the democrats among of the
the menu peup/e of the capital
pol itic al
Porte Saint-Martin, and the rue du Faubourg SalOt-Antome. thIS bemg the case, we ma ; and,
y perhaps assume that sup
How far this object was realized it is hard to tell from the com­ flocked t� the Champ de Ma porters
';l
rs from every part of the city
paratively few documents directly relating to attcndance at the The e dence does not suggest .
Champ de Mars. Yet, evenfrom these, one stri ng fact emerges: � evenly d .
IStnbuted ; we saw already
, however, that this support
that the Faubourg Saint­
was
the poor response given to the demonstratlon by the F�u­ Antom .
e was lukewarm in its resp

����;���
onse. Not surprisingly the
bourg Saint-Antoine. Lafayette had filled the Pla.ce d� la Bastll e most conccntrated body of
support appears to have com
with troops, and this may well be why FourDier l'! a number of Sections on e from
the Left Bank and not far dist

�u!t ,
found so few people assembled there early that the Cordeliers Club itse ant from
. lf: in this quarter three Sec
but Primery, the commissioner appointed by the S e. (Quatre Nations, Thermes tions alone
de Julien, and Sainte.Gene
Halles, not only found a poor attendance at the rallymg-pelOt, account for thirty-eight vieve)
arrests. Another fifty arreste
but met with little response in the faubourg
when he tned to wer� from the five cen d persons
tral and north-central Sec
arouse interest.l The distance from the Champ de Arcls, Ponceau, GravilJ tions of the
. iers, Louvre, and Oratoire.
three and a half miles, as the crow flies, from the Porte Samt- to have been the two The se appear
main areas of support.
I Arch. Pr<!f. Pol., � 2:06, fols. 363-9; 2::10, fol. 14:1; Ar<:h. Nat., DXXIX"
central districts betwee Th e crowded
n the Hotel de Ville and the
no. 37:1, fols. 7-10.
as lJsual, made Louvre had
no. cvi; Arch. PrH. Pol., A2. 2;20, fol. 142:· h
a substantial contribution to
W RiIlOl�liON tit PllrU, I Crinus de L4 FaftlU tot Franc
a movement wit
t (printed telll, 1791). Arch. Nat.
, F' 6504.
o
 D IN ACTION
9-t.
TIONARY CROW
TH E REVOLU
appeal; but what is of greate r interest
more than a purely local po cal scene of the Fa ub ou rg Saint­ VII
is the emergence on the sliti bourg
Marcel. Only a few monthparti before, the citizen s of tha tJau
cul ar praise by the city adm ini­ THE FALL O F THE MONARCHY
had bee n sin gle d out for r since the
stration for their peacefuon
ou tbr eak of the Re vol uti
l and orderly behaviour eveer
,' Th is reputa tio
Faubourg Saint-Marcel wasper
n wa s nev to be re­
to remain HE king's illght to Varennes' though 1'18 Imme . d'late effects
gained: from now on, the po
in the forefront in every sup
We have seen that the ply
litical commotion of the can
and price of bread
p
iod,
de
have
Ma rs
T were masked by the Assembl�� , a�t�mp18 to �o�et and for­
give and to unite the nation n e Constitution of.1 79 I,
h far-r�aching consequences, In Augus�, �e ?curts ofVienna
ad
ting support for the Ch ocrats, It am
played little part in stimula cal activities of the dem and Berhn, incited by the French Imlgres, Issued the joint
petition or for the other politi e aft er the political movementgon had Declaration ofPiIlnitz with the purpose ofrallying the European
only reappeared as an issu
�
ed or ha d e Great Powers against the Reva1uUon · Though' not IOvo '
' lvlOg
been crushed and its leaho ders had been arr
to
est
a ba d ha rve st an d any l. �med'late armed intervention' the' De arauon both served
abroad, In mid-August, ur, wever, owing an to umte the forces of counter-revolution at orne and abroad by
the price of the 4-1b. loaf beg : m :�d �rovided the new Left within
the Assembly, �:��e� ;�� Bnssot and the deputies of the
the bakers' shortage of fio che d giving them
s, by September, to have rea
a

once more to rise and appear

l On 7 September Le Jostil urnal de la Rl fJOlu­

an offensive crusade agai�st��e crowned heads of Europe.

1 2 SOlIS, or even more, rec ept ion at Gironde, with the necessa text to prepare the nation for
non reported that Ba
iny had been given a ho e' eand forced to
the corn_market, threatenePin d with 'la lantern
, a button-maker, was arrestt ed �heir agitation, added to . the. effects of mternai , economic
withdraw) The next day, ingche to difficulties, met with enthUSI�tlC response among the militants
the central markets, and sen
in the Mail Secllon, adjoin a deu x sol s ou in the Paris Sections ' and, w en war broke out in April 1 792,
it had the overwhel�in� su�p�rt of th� political democrats
t Ie pain fra ns:a is
the Force for saying: 'II nous fau
se battre.'4 ce, (Robespierre was at fiTSt n a e �xceptlon) and the Parisian
But by this time the politiriti cal movement had spent itsstafor IMIU peuple. This state ' of :ev�Iutlonary el�tion was further
and the fears of the authothe es
that the poor wo
Champ de Mars sla May or
uld
ugh ter
ge
we
a
re �
stimulated by military defeat e ef�ects of mHauo
growing conviction that the. c�u h gUided by the partl autrithien,
, �, and the
spectacular vengeance forthe bre ad crisis appeared in was using the war to invelgI� t e en�my into destroying the
Revolution by military fi°rce. t was thiS combination offactoTS
not to be realized,S Had otherwise and the :ssue of the Champ
June, it might have been decisive, As it was, the police agent
de Man affair been more ort to the Assembly's Comite des which, in the spring and summer of 1792, kept the popular
'
Delaborde was able to rep jouit toujours d'un grand
movem ent in almost contmuous effervescence, cuImmating
' in
Its Overthrow of the . mona"hy 10
.
Recherches on 9 August: 'Paris ' August and the massacres
carried out in the pnsons 0r pans 10 September. I
. .

1 I'ordre e't a la onee more as in 1789, it �� the economic crisis that first
calme.'6
aCtiVity ' but? th" time, It. was not
• 'Le Corps municipal
sion d'l.ppll.udirdam
, U " IISIIIT
�ilit , . . cette occa
nt cas<! dc r<!gner UlrPS ""m�jf4l drew the men� peupie mto
l'.!tenduc du
rh<
uis II. R.!v olut ion
(Extrllit tIu ",utT. tUJ dilibh
dep
so much a shorta
tranquillit.! qui n'o .uitms
' IS

. Nat" F' 4622, fob. 14g

raubourg St, Marcel'Arch f wheat or fl?ur as mflation that forced up
?rices and prov��� popular dISturbance. The war was to
-� ),
ICriCl, vi. 4!)!)-63.
• l.,..acTOix op. cit., lind
'79' (printed tat):
I LA Jo,muU th I� RllIOlllJioft,
no. 39', 7 September 1791, lOtenSify thIS ' process; yet, long before its outbreak' the value or
Ar<:h. J>r<!f. Pol., A:a b167, ,
For
. ..cII.
fol. 73·
no 347, fob. 9-.0.
G I e
•
b. Nat ., DX XIX 33, ,
..
r ��:t���� g;;fi
Und to. this chapter and the main lCquenee ofev<:nts
I Ar<: 10.
ot.:

• Ibid., no. 348 , fol. rllllflllU, pp. 2'7-.56.

 D IN ACTION
9-t.
TIONARY CROW
TH E REVOLU
appeal; but what is of greate r interest
more than a purely local po cal scene of the Fa ub ou rg Saint­ VII
is the emergence on the sliti bourg
Marcel. Only a few monthparti before, the citizen s of tha tJau
cul ar praise by the city adm ini­ THE FALL O F THE MONARCHY
had bee n sin gle d out for r since the
stration for their peacefuon
ou tbr eak of the Re vol uti
l and orderly behaviour eveer
,' Th is reputa tio
Faubourg Saint-Marcel wasper
n wa s nev to be re­
to remain HE king's illght to Varennes' though 1'18 Imme . d'late effects
gained: from now on, the po
in the forefront in every sup
We have seen that the ply
litical commotion of the can
and price of bread
p
iod,
de
have
Ma rs
T were masked by the Assembl�� , a�t�mp18 to �o�et and for­
give and to unite the nation n e Constitution of.1 79 I,
h far-r�aching consequences, In Augus�, �e ?curts ofVienna
ad
ting support for the Ch ocrats, It am
played little part in stimula cal activities of the dem and Berhn, incited by the French Imlgres, Issued the joint
petition or for the other politi e aft er the political movementgon had Declaration ofPiIlnitz with the purpose ofrallying the European
only reappeared as an issu
�
ed or ha d e Great Powers against the Reva1uUon · Though' not IOvo '
' lvlOg
been crushed and its leaho ders had been arr
to
est
a ba d ha rve st an d any l. �med'late armed intervention' the' De arauon both served
abroad, In mid-August, ur, wever, owing an to umte the forces of counter-revolution at orne and abroad by
the price of the 4-1b. loaf beg : m :�d �rovided the new Left within
the Assembly, �:��e� ;�� Bnssot and the deputies of the
the bakers' shortage of fio che d giving them
s, by September, to have rea
a

once more to rise and appear

l On 7 September Le Jostil urnal de la Rl fJOlu­

an offensive crusade agai�st��e crowned heads of Europe.

1 2 SOlIS, or even more, rec ept ion at Gironde, with the necessa text to prepare the nation for
non reported that Ba
iny had been given a ho e' eand forced to
the corn_market, threatenePin d with 'la lantern
, a button-maker, was arrestt ed �heir agitation, added to . the. effects of mternai , economic
withdraw) The next day, ingche to difficulties, met with enthUSI�tlC response among the militants
the central markets, and sen
in the Mail Secllon, adjoin a deu x sol s ou in the Paris Sections ' and, w en war broke out in April 1 792,
it had the overwhel�in� su�p�rt of th� political democrats
t Ie pain fra ns:a is
the Force for saying: 'II nous fau
se battre.'4 ce, (Robespierre was at fiTSt n a e �xceptlon) and the Parisian
But by this time the politiriti cal movement had spent itsstafor IMIU peuple. This state ' of :ev�Iutlonary el�tion was further
and the fears of the authothe es
that the poor wo
Champ de Mars sla May or
uld
ugh ter
ge
we
a
re �
stimulated by military defeat e ef�ects of mHauo
growing conviction that the. c�u h gUided by the partl autrithien,
, �, and the
spectacular vengeance forthe bre ad crisis appeared in was using the war to invelgI� t e en�my into destroying the
Revolution by military fi°rce. t was thiS combination offactoTS
not to be realized,S Had otherwise and the :ssue of the Champ
June, it might have been decisive, As it was, the police agent
de Man affair been more ort to the Assembly's Comite des which, in the spring and summer of 1792, kept the popular
'
Delaborde was able to rep jouit toujours d'un grand
movem ent in almost contmuous effervescence, cuImmating
' in
Its Overthrow of the . mona"hy 10
.
Recherches on 9 August: 'Paris ' August and the massacres
carried out in the pnsons 0r pans 10 September. I
. .

1 I'ordre e't a la onee more as in 1789, it �� the economic crisis that first
calme.'6
aCtiVity ' but? th" time, It. was not
• 'Le Corps municipal
sion d'l.ppll.udirdam
, U " IISIIIT
�ilit , . . cette occa
nt cas<! dc r<!gner UlrPS ""m�jf4l drew the men� peupie mto
l'.!tenduc du
rh<
uis II. R.!v olut ion
(Extrllit tIu ",utT. tUJ dilibh
dep
so much a shorta
tranquillit.! qui n'o .uitms
' IS

. Nat" F' 4622, fob. 14g

raubourg St, Marcel'Arch f wheat or fl?ur as mflation that forced up
?rices and prov��� popular dISturbance. The war was to
-� ),
ICriCl, vi. 4!)!)-63.
• l.,..acTOix op. cit., lind
'79' (printed tat):
I LA Jo,muU th I� RllIOlllJioft,
no. 39', 7 September 1791, lOtenSify thIS ' process; yet, long before its outbreak' the value or
Ar<:h. J>r<!f. Pol., A:a b167, ,
For
. ..cII.
fol. 73·
no 347, fob. 9-.0.
G I e
•
b. Nat ., DX XIX 33, ,
..
r ��:t���� g;;fi
Und to. this chapter and the main lCquenee ofev<:nts
I Ar<: 10.
ot.:

• Ibid., no. 348 , fol. rllllflllU, pp. 2'7-.56.

 goG �
WD IN ACTION THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY
THE REV OLU TION ARY CRO
exchange-rate of the pi'IIage and bum their shops. Madame Commard h
the tzSsignat' had begun to decline and the ' �ve '
French liure had begun to faU heavily �� r 109 Y
abro ad. Selling at 70 had the resource to offer them money which theY
June 1791 , the
� ;i �
don in accepted as compensation for time lost "
! : ���
per cent. of its nominal value in Lon l b· bi
livre had fallen to 50 per cent. in Mar ch; in Pari s, the assignat, d part � acefulJy.' Three days later ':��� �:�te�e �
inal valu e in Nov emb er 1791 , had s op 0 a t y, a merchant grocer of the rue Sainte-Marguente '
,
from 82 per cent. of its nom
in Janu 3ry and to 57 per cent . in June off the rue du Faubourg Samt-Anto . ine, and compelled him to
declined to 63 pCT cent.
outbreak of renewed seII the� sugar a� 2!> sour a pound; they explained to Dumont
1 792.1 Yet the more immediate cause oflhe '
of sugar, and certain the pohce-commlsslOner of the Montreuil Sec·'
disturbance in the capital was a shortage ...on,
other colonial products, arising from the
civil war that had que la subite augmentation du sucre les avait . d,ans la necCSSl'te
fair d' . ,
nus
de faire cette demarche pou en
es in the West
broken out between the planters and nativ r
e lI11muer e prIX et faire punir
in a few days from
Indies. In January the price of sugar rose
broke out in
les accapareun.
d;l and riots '
22-25 sous to g litn'ts or 31 liures a poun �e�nwhile. half a dozen grocers in the same Section had
t-Ma rcel, and Sain t-Denis,
the Faubourg! Saint-Antoine, Sain :� � �
mi1a �y bee� m�lIed to sell sugar at a reduced price before
�: �� ::: :'����
Grav illier s and Beau bour g. The
and in the central Sections of n for I e National Guard, who cleared their
justice- that the real reaso
rioters, believing-with some sh a pri
by the merchants
the shortage was the withholding of supplies Another wave �f rioting broke out in February: in the Fau­
xt rather than the
and that colonial disturbance was the prete . on the morning of the 14th the P r
� l � ��
of some of the large bourg Samt-Antome,
cause, broke into the shops and warehouses a d e da ere at first overwheimed-'l'insurr�ction e � � ��
sugar be sold at its
wholesalers and dealers and demanded that �
g n a e ans e faubourg'-and over twenty grocers in the
former price of �o, ��, 24, or 26 sous a poun
d; while, in some
brea d, meat, wine, and �e u Faubourg Saint-Antoine alone were threatened with
districts, extending their operations to �
mvas .on; several were forced to sell their sugar at 20 sow a
other wares.• It was the first great
t of roxatwn popu­
!:�� ����; � �
\
mov emen
of 1 775· e rd could be restored. At night cartloads of
laire in the capital since the riots e ha un ror . Lyons were held up by crowds as the
or January
The police reports of the Paris Sections f f�� � ed hr�ugh thefauhourg, and the authorities had to appe J
these even ts. In the Section
February throw some light on
Beaubourg we learn that, on 20 January, a
dozen women­ � �
e at.lOn Guard to overcome their reluctance to protect
'ayant l'air de femmes de marche, passablem
entered the shop of a wholesaler, Commard
ent vetues'­
Senio r, in the
in
�� � ::
t e merchants property.'
a wh an ev:n more explosive situation had developed
au urg Samt-Marcel. Since the previous November
a list on whic h were
Cloitre de Saint-Merry, and displayed two dyers, ;\uger and Monnery, of the Gobelins Section who
and whol esalers
entered the names of certain deale rs
rise in the � �
had cog lz�d the potentialities of the rising market in ;ugar
the people held particularly responsible for the had en aytng up large stocks-it was said, 80,000 Ib -in �
cd, was
of sugar and coffe e: the only reme dy, they claim
; arehouse 1,0 the rue Saint-Hippolyte. In January a . rotest
ilsUIt,�U �;"j'���'_��-bari;"�' """�"�' '�O fi�":'"�"��,\;��;��; ;:: � i
.

e o stratlon had been easily dispersed; but matters c me to

he
became t
, Originally
a a when, �n 14 February, the rumour spread that the
r.
Church lancb, the
Revolution and were
" " I.
, Mathie>:, Lc Vii tilt
'The Collapse or the French T
N' ...�''/:;:::,:: �; StDCks were gomg to be distributed all over Paris Crowds
�� � �
m d ea ly in the morning, seized the first loads of sugar as
t y cfit t e warehouse under military escort, and sold them in
• For a general account ofthe dislurbanees ICe
�::t.:�:��:j::;��:1�E�:;::::�
(1916), pp. 300-14,
Mathiez,

those in the Faubourg Saint_Marcel in : Zen. PrH, Pol., Aa 72, foJ. 54.

de 1191 e1 '79�', ,4"", hist, RJu.j,f>.1!f" no. 1::6,

dre
menu des m�moires de Charles-Alexis Alexan ch. PrM: Poi., Aa 173, foJ. 39,
April-June 19.5', pp, 148-6,· • Ibid.
 goG �
WD IN ACTION THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY
THE REV OLU TION ARY CRO
exchange-rate of the pi'IIage and bum their shops. Madame Commard h
the tzSsignat' had begun to decline and the ' �ve '
French liure had begun to faU heavily �� r 109 Y
abro ad. Selling at 70 had the resource to offer them money which theY
June 1791 , the
� ;i �
don in accepted as compensation for time lost "
! : ���
per cent. of its nominal value in Lon l b· bi
livre had fallen to 50 per cent. in Mar ch; in Pari s, the assignat, d part � acefulJy.' Three days later ':��� �:�te�e �
inal valu e in Nov emb er 1791 , had s op 0 a t y, a merchant grocer of the rue Sainte-Marguente '
,
from 82 per cent. of its nom
in Janu 3ry and to 57 per cent . in June off the rue du Faubourg Samt-Anto . ine, and compelled him to
declined to 63 pCT cent.
outbreak of renewed seII the� sugar a� 2!> sour a pound; they explained to Dumont
1 792.1 Yet the more immediate cause oflhe '
of sugar, and certain the pohce-commlsslOner of the Montreuil Sec·'
disturbance in the capital was a shortage ...on,
other colonial products, arising from the
civil war that had que la subite augmentation du sucre les avait . d,ans la necCSSl'te
fair d' . ,
nus
de faire cette demarche pou en
es in the West
broken out between the planters and nativ r
e lI11muer e prIX et faire punir
in a few days from
Indies. In January the price of sugar rose
broke out in
les accapareun.
d;l and riots '
22-25 sous to g litn'ts or 31 liures a poun �e�nwhile. half a dozen grocers in the same Section had
t-Ma rcel, and Sain t-Denis,
the Faubourg! Saint-Antoine, Sain :� � �
mi1a �y bee� m�lIed to sell sugar at a reduced price before
�: �� ::: :'����
Grav illier s and Beau bour g. The
and in the central Sections of n for I e National Guard, who cleared their
justice- that the real reaso
rioters, believing-with some sh a pri
by the merchants
the shortage was the withholding of supplies Another wave �f rioting broke out in February: in the Fau­
xt rather than the
and that colonial disturbance was the prete . on the morning of the 14th the P r
� l � ��
of some of the large bourg Samt-Antome,
cause, broke into the shops and warehouses a d e da ere at first overwheimed-'l'insurr�ction e � � ��
sugar be sold at its
wholesalers and dealers and demanded that �
g n a e ans e faubourg'-and over twenty grocers in the
former price of �o, ��, 24, or 26 sous a poun
d; while, in some
brea d, meat, wine, and �e u Faubourg Saint-Antoine alone were threatened with
districts, extending their operations to �
mvas .on; several were forced to sell their sugar at 20 sow a
other wares.• It was the first great
t of roxatwn popu­
!:�� ����; � �
\
mov emen
of 1 775· e rd could be restored. At night cartloads of
laire in the capital since the riots e ha un ror . Lyons were held up by crowds as the
or January
The police reports of the Paris Sections f f�� � ed hr�ugh thefauhourg, and the authorities had to appe J
these even ts. In the Section
February throw some light on
Beaubourg we learn that, on 20 January, a
dozen women­ � �
e at.lOn Guard to overcome their reluctance to protect
'ayant l'air de femmes de marche, passablem
entered the shop of a wholesaler, Commard
ent vetues'­
Senio r, in the
in
�� � ::
t e merchants property.'
a wh an ev:n more explosive situation had developed
au urg Samt-Marcel. Since the previous November
a list on whic h were
Cloitre de Saint-Merry, and displayed two dyers, ;\uger and Monnery, of the Gobelins Section who
and whol esalers
entered the names of certain deale rs
rise in the � �
had cog lz�d the potentialities of the rising market in ;ugar
the people held particularly responsible for the had en aytng up large stocks-it was said, 80,000 Ib -in �
cd, was
of sugar and coffe e: the only reme dy, they claim
; arehouse 1,0 the rue Saint-Hippolyte. In January a . rotest
ilsUIt,�U �;"j'���'_��-bari;"�' """�"�' '�O fi�":'"�"��,\;��;��; ;:: � i
.

e o stratlon had been easily dispersed; but matters c me to

he
became t
, Originally
a a when, �n 14 February, the rumour spread that the
r.
Church lancb, the
Revolution and were
" " I.
, Mathie>:, Lc Vii tilt
'The Collapse or the French T
N' ...�''/:;:::,:: �; StDCks were gomg to be distributed all over Paris Crowds
�� � �
m d ea ly in the morning, seized the first loads of sugar as
t y cfit t e warehouse under military escort, and sold them in
• For a general account ofthe dislurbanees ICe
�::t.:�:��:j::;��:1�E�:;::::�
(1916), pp. 300-14,
Mathiez,

those in the Faubourg Saint_Marcel in : Zen. PrH, Pol., Aa 72, foJ. 54.

de 1191 e1 '79�', ,4"", hist, RJu.j,f>.1!f" no. 1::6,

dre
menu des m�moires de Charles-Alexis Alexan ch. PrM: Poi., Aa 173, foJ. 39,
April-June 19.5', pp, 148-6,· • Ibid.
g8 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION

the street at 25 or 30 SQUS a pound,' This was f�llowed, �e ne.:

TH E FALL OF THE
MONARCHY
99
wishc:s. of the Faubourgs Saint-Marcel and Sain
day by attempts to break into the warehouse ltSelf, which w the Cltlzens of the twofauhourgs to be allowed to ntoine, for t-A
gua�ded, somewhat unwillingly, by a detachment of the local arms on the 20th, which marked the anniversary parade under
National Guard, Women, laundresses amo?g ,them, sounded Court Oath �f 1 789, in order to plant a tree of of the Tenni!
the tocsin in the church of Saint-Marcel. ,ThlS, 10 tur?, had the prese�� a �eUtlOn. to the Assembly liberty and to
and the king,l Neither the
effect ofstirring the Municipality into act.lOn, �nd Peuo�, newly MUDlClpahty nor the Department Paris, to
elected mayor of Paris, arrived on the scene with a consl�erable forwarded the request, was willing of to cou nten
whom Petion
armed force, which cleared the streets and too� pnsone�. demonstration; yet there were precedents: less anc e an armed
Details of these and of other persons arrested dunng the dlS­ before, 2,000 inhabitants of the Saint-Marce three weeks tha n
turbances appear in the police records: in January fourteen p�raded before the Assembly bearing an assortm l district had
persons committed to the Conciergerie prison were composed pitchforks, and firearms.l Pebon, himself a Gir ent of pikes,
�
ondin trie to
mainly of craftsmen, journeymen, and labourers of the central �emporize: while formally ur�ing the organizers to gi�e updthe
Sections; in February five persons-ofwhom th�ee or fou: were
not to lose his
Idea of an armed demonstratIon, he was anxious
women-were sent to the Conciergerie for takin� part m the �pularity in thef'!"hourgs. He therefore proposed as a com
events of the Faubourg Saint-Marcel.l The I:'�ners co�­ mIse, that the Nauonal Guard in the twofaubo pro­
manded considerable local sympathy: a petition for thelr urgs be allowed
to parade arme� under �heir company comman
release' sent to the Legislative Assembly on 26 February, con­ not before the king ; their figh . t to bear arms shou ders-though
tained the names of 150 local citizens, two of them clencs.3 ce?ed, as th� comm�nders had expressed the fearld be con­
It was the citizens of the twojaubourgs again who were to �lay might otherwl�e walk IOtO a trap.l As expected, the that they
the leading part in the next great popular demonstraUon, ment Ratly rejected the proposal; but it was nowParis Depart­
which took place at the Tuileries on 20 Ju�e the same year,· the Gobelins Section, at least, refused to take too late and
Ostensibly it was a purely political �ffair-Its pu�se w� to any
At 5 o'clock in the morning the call to arms had notice of it.
compel the king to accede to the WIShes �f �e .Pans Secbons in the Faubourg Saint-Marcel and, all along been sounded
and Jacobin Club-yet it may well be that IrntaUon With . grow­ J'Hopital, from the comer of the rue Mouff'et the Boulevard de
ing economic hardship added to t�e numbers of �emonst�ato� throng of citizens assembled, both members ard a motley
that, on this occasion, filed menacmgly past LOUIS XVI m hIS Guard and others, men and women: accordin of th� National
own palace. Yet this is supposition. There we�e other, even account, 'Invalides, Gardes-Nationales, Piquiers g to Petion's own
more tangible, .
for discontent and dlsqUlet: the succes-- armes, femmes, enfants' , hommes non­
sion of military . the king's refusal to assent to the .•
Charles-Alexis Alexandre, the commander of
providing for the and battalion, which played � prominen the Gobelins
13 June the dismissal of the had been Inst . ructed by hIS t part in the day's events,
whom h� had been compelled, much against his will, to bourg Saint-Antoine contingention
Sect to join forces with the Fau­
in Dumouriez's war government. This last act provided accordingly marched his men acro commanded by Santerre. He
pretext for the demonstration of 20 June. On the �6th the Pont �e la Toumel!e and the Ponsst Ma the Ite-Saint-Louis over
received a request, signed by a small number of cluzens. Santerre to the rue Samt-Antoine. From here rie and linked up with
Gobelins Section, but purporting to represent the co:ll"oti,� , under Santerre's
: Arch. Nat. F' 4774'·, (o(s. 472-600 (P�tion papel"l) .
Godechot, op. cit., p. ,64.
So: Godechol, op. cil., pp. 1¥J-61.
Arch. PrH. Po\., Aa 9 (arrestatioru), fob. 103 37, 1I00-�:
' 'lJ,
(0:1.,DU" ' 7 ; Piit:e. "/QlilJd d I'"",,,
ttmoignent des d�fianca et des
I

• For a detailed account, sec: Laura B. Pfeiffer, The UprIsIng ofJune 20, ,,
,, ,,," au l/Ojliin 17fp). Alexandre
N crainla de marcher .am arma'
; (Arch
claimed creeli;
�

Uniu.-sily $tuditJ �ftM Univ. QfN66raWJ (Lincoln), XII, 3 (July '912), pp. • RIb. Nat
.

Ih:' prOpoQl (Godcchol, pp. '71-

2).
., nou... acq. fra",.., no. 2667
, fob. 4&-53.
g8 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION

the street at 25 or 30 SQUS a pound,' This was f�llowed, �e ne.:

TH E FALL OF THE
MONARCHY
99
wishc:s. of the Faubourgs Saint-Marcel and Sain
day by attempts to break into the warehouse ltSelf, which w the Cltlzens of the twofauhourgs to be allowed to ntoine, for t-A
gua�ded, somewhat unwillingly, by a detachment of the local arms on the 20th, which marked the anniversary parade under
National Guard, Women, laundresses amo?g ,them, sounded Court Oath �f 1 789, in order to plant a tree of of the Tenni!
the tocsin in the church of Saint-Marcel. ,ThlS, 10 tur?, had the prese�� a �eUtlOn. to the Assembly liberty and to
and the king,l Neither the
effect ofstirring the Municipality into act.lOn, �nd Peuo�, newly MUDlClpahty nor the Department Paris, to
elected mayor of Paris, arrived on the scene with a consl�erable forwarded the request, was willing of to cou nten
whom Petion
armed force, which cleared the streets and too� pnsone�. demonstration; yet there were precedents: less anc e an armed
Details of these and of other persons arrested dunng the dlS­ before, 2,000 inhabitants of the Saint-Marce three weeks tha n
turbances appear in the police records: in January fourteen p�raded before the Assembly bearing an assortm l district had
persons committed to the Conciergerie prison were composed pitchforks, and firearms.l Pebon, himself a Gir ent of pikes,
�
ondin trie to
mainly of craftsmen, journeymen, and labourers of the central �emporize: while formally ur�ing the organizers to gi�e updthe
Sections; in February five persons-ofwhom th�ee or fou: were
not to lose his
Idea of an armed demonstratIon, he was anxious
women-were sent to the Conciergerie for takin� part m the �pularity in thef'!"hourgs. He therefore proposed as a com
events of the Faubourg Saint-Marcel.l The I:'�ners co�­ mIse, that the Nauonal Guard in the twofaubo pro­
manded considerable local sympathy: a petition for thelr urgs be allowed
to parade arme� under �heir company comman
release' sent to the Legislative Assembly on 26 February, con­ not before the king ; their figh . t to bear arms shou ders-though
tained the names of 150 local citizens, two of them clencs.3 ce?ed, as th� comm�nders had expressed the fearld be con­
It was the citizens of the twojaubourgs again who were to �lay might otherwl�e walk IOtO a trap.l As expected, the that they
the leading part in the next great popular demonstraUon, ment Ratly rejected the proposal; but it was nowParis Depart­
which took place at the Tuileries on 20 Ju�e the same year,· the Gobelins Section, at least, refused to take too late and
Ostensibly it was a purely political �ffair-Its pu�se w� to any
At 5 o'clock in the morning the call to arms had notice of it.
compel the king to accede to the WIShes �f �e .Pans Secbons in the Faubourg Saint-Marcel and, all along been sounded
and Jacobin Club-yet it may well be that IrntaUon With . grow­ J'Hopital, from the comer of the rue Mouff'et the Boulevard de
ing economic hardship added to t�e numbers of �emonst�ato� throng of citizens assembled, both members ard a motley
that, on this occasion, filed menacmgly past LOUIS XVI m hIS Guard and others, men and women: accordin of th� National
own palace. Yet this is supposition. There we�e other, even account, 'Invalides, Gardes-Nationales, Piquiers g to Petion's own
more tangible, .
for discontent and dlsqUlet: the succes-- armes, femmes, enfants' , hommes non­
sion of military . the king's refusal to assent to the .•
Charles-Alexis Alexandre, the commander of
providing for the and battalion, which played � prominen the Gobelins
13 June the dismissal of the had been Inst . ructed by hIS t part in the day's events,
whom h� had been compelled, much against his will, to bourg Saint-Antoine contingention
Sect to join forces with the Fau­
in Dumouriez's war government. This last act provided accordingly marched his men acro commanded by Santerre. He
pretext for the demonstration of 20 June. On the �6th the Pont �e la Toumel!e and the Ponsst Ma the Ite-Saint-Louis over
received a request, signed by a small number of cluzens. Santerre to the rue Samt-Antoine. From here rie and linked up with
Gobelins Section, but purporting to represent the co:ll"oti,� , under Santerre's
: Arch. Nat. F' 4774'·, (o(s. 472-600 (P�tion papel"l) .
Godechot, op. cit., p. ,64.
So: Godechol, op. cil., pp. 1¥J-61.
Arch. PrH. Po\., Aa 9 (arrestatioru), fob. 103 37, 1I00-�:
' 'lJ,
(0:1.,DU" ' 7 ; Piit:e. "/QlilJd d I'"",,,
ttmoignent des d�fianca et des
I

• For a detailed account, sec: Laura B. Pfeiffer, The UprIsIng ofJune 20, ,,
,, ,,," au l/Ojliin 17fp). Alexandre
N crainla de marcher .am arma'
; (Arch
claimed creeli;
�

Uniu.-sily $tuditJ �ftM Univ. QfN66raWJ (Lincoln), XII, 3 (July '912), pp. • RIb. Nat
.

Ih:' prOpoQl (Godcchol, pp. '71-

2).
., nou... acq. fra",.., no. 2667
, fob. 4&-53.
100

command
THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
force marched, witho�t encounten g enfants' that we noted earlier.1 From other accounts, howeve' r,
THE FAL L OF THE MO
"
. a' the combined
. NA RCH Y

h the rue de la Verrene, the rue ;e5 it would appear that the mai impetus to the demonstration
������ :�� �; :Je Saint Hooore t.O the la
o
n was given by the shopkeepers,nwor
h ' g ts halted and awalted thPe ��s�� !:�:� of the fauDourgs, with the full suppor kshop masters, and artisans
� :�b;Y� ���; �ere invited to prese t their petition, and working women. In the Faubourg Saint t-A of the journeymen and
ntoine, for example,
paraded befor� the deputies�nd;��rms�� shOps and workshops remained closed for nea rly a week;1 and,
The. more . notous scenes at pl ce that afternoon and in the Faubourg Saint-Marcel, it si evident from
evenlOg 10 the Tuileries have often been tald.l It appears that detailed relation of events that the main driving forcAle e
xandre's
was
the Porte R yalei a �::::����o�h��;Ia had unaccounl- vided by the active citizens organized in the National Guapro­
ably been Ie�t u o � r h ��is breach that the from which most wage-earners and smaller property-ownerd,
�
�emonstrato�, ea�ed by the citizens ofSaint-Antoine. strea.med were at this time excluded. At the same time Alexandre rela rs
lOto the Toya ap�rtments.3 And so until eight or ten at mght, an incident that both sho the active interest taken in tes
a constant proceSSiOn fmen and w�men filed past the king who, cvent by the working womws en of the f(wDourg and provides the
having donned the �ap Of L"b l erty, was compelled to listen interesting link with the grocery an
to the endlessly repeated sl�gan�,of the ur . 'A bas Ie veto!', when an order was sent out for hisriot s of the previous February:
'Rappel des ministres patnotes. '. prob��IY intersPersed with the demonstration, the bearer wasown nea
arrest in connexion with
rly
more homely or chaIIen.g�ng eplthets . such as 'Gros Louis' saved from arrest by some of the same womlyn en
ched and he was
d 'T mblez tyrans., VOICI les Sans-Culottes .1'4 Petion arrived few months previously, he had defended the proaga per
inst whom, a
ties ofAuger
�: full :unicipa.1 regalia and m � s a II and Monnery.3
though no promises 0f redressha� �:::��;, �h;��;�����:to� It is simple enough, in rctrospect, to present the eve
dis �Jee c f !I
��� :� � :�t knowledge of the in urge
1 0 August, when the Tuileri
es Was captured by armed nts forc
of
for lack of police reports or I�. ts of �em�ers :r;! �a���:�
and the king suspended from offi
outcome of the humiliation inflicte ce, as the logical and inevitablee
Guard we have the. most In one sense it is true enough : the antd on the monarchy in June.
enera I d . .too rely,
np s The
for ou.r )mpresslon of the
Pans Department, n o ::;;
u �� to Junify fauDourgs persisted and, in the course
i-royalist agitation in the
� � oUf P�tion from office momentum and spread to the other Section of July, both gained local
Its suspension a fortnight
. the Nabona later, thought fit s: by the end of the
to describe those not organized lD ' I Guard as month, forty-seven of them had declared for
sides, the dignity ofthe king's office, despite his per abdication. Be­
des hommes pour la plupart inconn� et sans d t
etat de rebellion ouverte . . . et pann� iesquds,a:i:i q�: .i'���n�� of courage, had bee
teers, too, who werentosevplaerely undermined; the fedsoneraall disp
vol
lay
un­
ment l'a demontre, it existait des bngands et des . the Tuileries, had alreadyy bee a prominent part in the attack on
meies de femmes et d'enfants.s perhaps even more important, na inv
assasms
s . .

ited to the capital ; and,

But this description, quite apart from i ob � s e o Republicans had long decided to follow sma ll group of determined
purpose, does not take us any further t�an ;e�i��rs �;� :;�n�� skirmish of20June with a more decisive, andup the preliminary
tion of them as 'polqUl'ers hommes non-armes, femmes et
• final, blow when a
.
pp. I 73_�' 1 Arch. Nat., F' 4474'·, fol,. 47�-600·
, Oth er accounts refer to 'un fort
de la halle. arm� d'un sabre'
., .
BB" '7) and
t�', " , ofCOUTS<:
.1 dated 20 June
, Godechot, op. CIt.,
, very little 10 go by One
to 'un homme couvert d'un hab (Arch. Nat.,
. . an ent'"" it d�ch;r�' (Godcchot, loe. cit.)
179�, notes Ihe ,dfractlollll connatees a. luaieurl paries de l'appartement �u Pnnce
, The pollce rcglstc.r f the Seclion des Twenes,
0 In ; but
��
gwen by some of . oflhe more suggestive descripti
Royal, ... celie de l'appartcment de Jad. fille du Roy el It. demo: armoIres danl
ons is that
•
the Tuileries sen.·ants, who clai
med to have rccogn,�ed among
l'intl!ricur dud;! app.artcment' (Arch. Prtr Pol Aa 26� fol. 31). �).
demqrutrato,." 'Ies gellll de Mr.

·Arch. Nat., F' 4774", foil. 47�-600.

d'Orl�anset parlanl des mOUlltac
• Godcchot, op. Cit., p. 176.
'
4387. doa. hcs' (Arch. Nat.,
Arch. Nal., F'4774",
•
•
47�-600.
fo[s. Godochol, op. c't., p. '79.
100

command
THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
force marched, witho�t encounten g enfants' that we noted earlier.1 From other accounts, howeve' r,
THE FAL L OF THE MO
"
. a' the combined
. NA RCH Y

h the rue de la Verrene, the rue ;e5 it would appear that the mai impetus to the demonstration
������ :�� �; :Je Saint Hooore t.O the la
o
n was given by the shopkeepers,nwor
h ' g ts halted and awalted thPe ��s�� !:�:� of the fauDourgs, with the full suppor kshop masters, and artisans
� :�b;Y� ���; �ere invited to prese t their petition, and working women. In the Faubourg Saint t-A of the journeymen and
ntoine, for example,
paraded befor� the deputies�nd;��rms�� shOps and workshops remained closed for nea rly a week;1 and,
The. more . notous scenes at pl ce that afternoon and in the Faubourg Saint-Marcel, it si evident from
evenlOg 10 the Tuileries have often been tald.l It appears that detailed relation of events that the main driving forcAle e
xandre's
was
the Porte R yalei a �::::����o�h��;Ia had unaccounl- vided by the active citizens organized in the National Guapro­
ably been Ie�t u o � r h ��is breach that the from which most wage-earners and smaller property-ownerd,
�
�emonstrato�, ea�ed by the citizens ofSaint-Antoine. strea.med were at this time excluded. At the same time Alexandre rela rs
lOto the Toya ap�rtments.3 And so until eight or ten at mght, an incident that both sho the active interest taken in tes
a constant proceSSiOn fmen and w�men filed past the king who, cvent by the working womws en of the f(wDourg and provides the
having donned the �ap Of L"b l erty, was compelled to listen interesting link with the grocery an
to the endlessly repeated sl�gan�,of the ur . 'A bas Ie veto!', when an order was sent out for hisriot s of the previous February:
'Rappel des ministres patnotes. '. prob��IY intersPersed with the demonstration, the bearer wasown nea
arrest in connexion with
rly
more homely or chaIIen.g�ng eplthets . such as 'Gros Louis' saved from arrest by some of the same womlyn en
ched and he was
d 'T mblez tyrans., VOICI les Sans-Culottes .1'4 Petion arrived few months previously, he had defended the proaga per
inst whom, a
ties ofAuger
�: full :unicipa.1 regalia and m � s a II and Monnery.3
though no promises 0f redressha� �:::��;, �h;��;�����:to� It is simple enough, in rctrospect, to present the eve
dis �Jee c f !I
��� :� � :�t knowledge of the in urge
1 0 August, when the Tuileri
es Was captured by armed nts forc
of
for lack of police reports or I�. ts of �em�ers :r;! �a���:�
and the king suspended from offi
outcome of the humiliation inflicte ce, as the logical and inevitablee
Guard we have the. most In one sense it is true enough : the antd on the monarchy in June.
enera I d . .too rely,
np s The
for ou.r )mpresslon of the
Pans Department, n o ::;;
u �� to Junify fauDourgs persisted and, in the course
i-royalist agitation in the
� � oUf P�tion from office momentum and spread to the other Section of July, both gained local
Its suspension a fortnight
. the Nabona later, thought fit s: by the end of the
to describe those not organized lD ' I Guard as month, forty-seven of them had declared for
sides, the dignity ofthe king's office, despite his per abdication. Be­
des hommes pour la plupart inconn� et sans d t
etat de rebellion ouverte . . . et pann� iesquds,a:i:i q�: .i'���n�� of courage, had bee
teers, too, who werentosevplaerely undermined; the fedsoneraall disp
vol
lay
un­
ment l'a demontre, it existait des bngands et des . the Tuileries, had alreadyy bee a prominent part in the attack on
meies de femmes et d'enfants.s perhaps even more important, na inv
assasms
s . .

ited to the capital ; and,

But this description, quite apart from i ob � s e o Republicans had long decided to follow sma ll group of determined
purpose, does not take us any further t�an ;e�i��rs �;� :;�n�� skirmish of20June with a more decisive, andup the preliminary
tion of them as 'polqUl'ers hommes non-armes, femmes et
• final, blow when a
.
pp. I 73_�' 1 Arch. Nat., F' 4474'·, fol,. 47�-600·
, Oth er accounts refer to 'un fort
de la halle. arm� d'un sabre'
., .
BB" '7) and
t�', " , ofCOUTS<:
.1 dated 20 June
, Godechot, op. CIt.,
, very little 10 go by One
to 'un homme couvert d'un hab (Arch. Nat.,
. . an ent'"" it d�ch;r�' (Godcchot, loe. cit.)
179�, notes Ihe ,dfractlollll connatees a. luaieurl paries de l'appartement �u Pnnce
, The pollce rcglstc.r f the Seclion des Twenes,
0 In ; but
��
gwen by some of . oflhe more suggestive descripti
Royal, ... celie de l'appartcment de Jad. fille du Roy el It. demo: armoIres danl
ons is that
•
the Tuileries sen.·ants, who clai
med to have rccogn,�ed among
l'intl!ricur dud;! app.artcment' (Arch. Prtr Pol Aa 26� fol. 31). �).
demqrutrato,." 'Ies gellll de Mr.

·Arch. Nat., F' 4774", foil. 47�-600.

d'Orl�anset parlanl des mOUlltac
• Godcchot, op. Cit., p. 176.
'
4387. doa. hcs' (Arch. Nat.,
Arch. Nal., F'4774",
•
•
47�-600.
fo[s. Godochol, op. c't., p. '79.
-
WD IN ACTION THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY 1<:>3
THE RE.VOLUTIONARY CRO
Lafayette's failure and return to the anny, the initiative still
�avou;::�:;:�t�;�.Zu��:
_ l'
h ld arise So much appears 'dent
I'
r Amerlcain who, having been sent
tVl

often remained with the 'loyalists'. Petion was suspended from

rom office early in July (though, admittedly. he was reinstated a
' is at Charenton on
to COl uer WIth the leaders of the Maneilla week later); young men of the western Sections showed some
their arrival on 29 July, told them determination to uphold the monarchy by volunteering for
arat?ire avait ete Jete Ie u et u'il defence duties at the Tuileries; 'loyalist' battalions of the
qu'un grand coup prep is:it a
• .
.

que ce 2f
p a� :'ns
nu o a't
et l PIus question que d achever .
iIe National Guard even felt secure enough to beat up peaceful
d' 'd
IVI u nomme , ai rui que de sa farm
.
. •

m
.

1I 'tmp arer de
nLD Ui crowds in the Tuileries Gardens;1 while the air was thick with
a er bnga ..1. q
roi
du chateau toUS les scelerats et
I"
royal� e� dc t h s
S •

rumours of impending punitive measures against 'patriots', and

as r�� totate des franlia et leur escla vage ,'
consplraU!n a pe t' is
a flood of denunciations of royalist 'conspiracies' poured into
Yet, thus presented' the picture
is an incomplete on�. F r the Pam Commune and Department of Police.z
mona��y 10 t�e That such matters were taken seriously by 'patriots'. and
onc thmg · . while the agitation against the
' s and omposl110n of the even by more or less uncommitted neutrals, is clear from the
Sections was a constant factor, the rum
threatem��g th� kiog WI'th of Alexandre for this period. Alexandre himself,
leaders were not. The initiative in
Mbrwires
the GJrondms,, Robes
_

although a royalist who had been a lukewarm-if not, unwill.

removaI from office had been taken by
. ders 0f the Mountain (as th-- jng-participant in the events of 20 june, was drawn by the
p err and the other topmost lea played no part fear of a counter-revolutionary coup, which he considered im­
l
�
on- 'ron1 dinjacobins begain to be called) had
still the hero of the day at minent, into active support for the insurrection of 10 August)
m the aua
? relr' of '0 June. Pelon was .
the Festival of the Federation on 14
july ; an d It was ? Iy after Such fears were, of course, given only too real a substance by
med at the socla �c the Brunswick Manifesto of I August, which threatened the
mid-july, when the Girondins, alar . de ienc 0��;
back In l � Parisian Sections and National Guard with summary ven.
quences of their own actions, drew
took over the leadership of the geance, should the invaders find them arms in hand. In this
monarchy, that the Mountain
end of july Robespierre stressed sense, then, the August revolution, far from being the logical
movement; yet, even at the a
0f 'the Constitution as outcome of a consistently conceived and conducted plan of
hat the future of the monarchy, as v nu
.
l ele ted Con operations, was an act ofself-defence against dangers, both real
� hole, should be decided by a .popular �
ed insu rrec uon .1 Aga m, t� �ona c�y s��i
� and imagined.4
rather than by arm
of re�o utlOnS �rom the By the last week inJuly, however, a more or less decided plan
had im rtant cards to play : a stream
to the kmg,s p.ers::'n. �om
•

of action had taken shape; and the outbreak of 10 August was

DePart nts denounced the affront
: atures of 'active cItIzens the climax to a series of false starts. In the night of 26-27 July
nutted on 20 June," 10 Pan's 20,000 sign
of prot est ; th� c.o�mander­ there was a call to arms by federal volunteers parading in the
were quickly collected for a petition .
seve ral ofl� dIVISlonaI com Montreuil Section of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine; ouoritrs
in-chief of the National Guard and
rg �amt-Marcel) .
•

sounded the tocsin at the church of Sainte-Marguerite; Santerre

manders (including that of the Faubou was pulled out of bed; and workshops remained closed next
,., g" men', Lafa yett e was well rece IVed by the
avowed IUn day.s On the 30th additional impetus was given to the
ne, whe n he prop ose d '
tive Assembly on 28ju
the dem ocra ts, and only
be taken to destroy .. , Arch. Pr6. P<:>I., Aa 226, r<:>l. 30.
the Panslan Ii
his chance of mobilizmg a large part of. • GOOcch<:>t, op. cit., pp. 187-121. � the passage: 'La Cour
• Arch. Nat., F" 4387, dOlI. 2.

ms: the queen, or

Guard for a coup deforce against thejacob
help
with characteristic folly, refused his
. c<:>ntinua.it
. •
I� manoeuvres sourdes, ses perstcutiolU et ICS calom
nies, en attendant qu'c\le put
.J but, even
leur faire une guern: plus s�riemc . . . landis que Ie parti contraire Ie lenait
dHc'}Iivc, mail avec I'intention tr':l pronon ce de la soutenir vigoureuscme
c sur la

, Mlmmrls $lads ,J, FOInin ,., Am/rica;lI.

nt'
• Lefebvre, op. cit., p. 247.
(op. cit., pp. • 87-8).
J Arch. Pr�f. Pol., Aa 220, foJ. 63.
z Lefebvre, <:>p. cil., p. 246.
-
WD IN ACTION THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY 1<:>3
THE RE.VOLUTIONARY CRO
Lafayette's failure and return to the anny, the initiative still
�avou;::�:;:�t�;�.Zu��:
_ l'
h ld arise So much appears 'dent
I'
r Amerlcain who, having been sent
tVl

often remained with the 'loyalists'. Petion was suspended from

rom office early in July (though, admittedly. he was reinstated a
' is at Charenton on
to COl uer WIth the leaders of the Maneilla week later); young men of the western Sections showed some
their arrival on 29 July, told them determination to uphold the monarchy by volunteering for
arat?ire avait ete Jete Ie u et u'il defence duties at the Tuileries; 'loyalist' battalions of the
qu'un grand coup prep is:it a
• .
.

que ce 2f
p a� :'ns
nu o a't
et l PIus question que d achever .
iIe National Guard even felt secure enough to beat up peaceful
d' 'd
IVI u nomme , ai rui que de sa farm
.
. •

m
.

1I 'tmp arer de
nLD Ui crowds in the Tuileries Gardens;1 while the air was thick with
a er bnga ..1. q
roi
du chateau toUS les scelerats et
I"
royal� e� dc t h s
S •

rumours of impending punitive measures against 'patriots', and

as r�� totate des franlia et leur escla vage ,'
consplraU!n a pe t' is
a flood of denunciations of royalist 'conspiracies' poured into
Yet, thus presented' the picture
is an incomplete on�. F r the Pam Commune and Department of Police.z
mona��y 10 t�e That such matters were taken seriously by 'patriots'. and
onc thmg · . while the agitation against the
' s and omposl110n of the even by more or less uncommitted neutrals, is clear from the
Sections was a constant factor, the rum
threatem��g th� kiog WI'th of Alexandre for this period. Alexandre himself,
leaders were not. The initiative in
Mbrwires
the GJrondms,, Robes
_

although a royalist who had been a lukewarm-if not, unwill.

removaI from office had been taken by
. ders 0f the Mountain (as th-- jng-participant in the events of 20 june, was drawn by the
p err and the other topmost lea played no part fear of a counter-revolutionary coup, which he considered im­
l
�
on- 'ron1 dinjacobins begain to be called) had
still the hero of the day at minent, into active support for the insurrection of 10 August)
m the aua
? relr' of '0 June. Pelon was .
the Festival of the Federation on 14
july ; an d It was ? Iy after Such fears were, of course, given only too real a substance by
med at the socla �c the Brunswick Manifesto of I August, which threatened the
mid-july, when the Girondins, alar . de ienc 0��;
back In l � Parisian Sections and National Guard with summary ven.
quences of their own actions, drew
took over the leadership of the geance, should the invaders find them arms in hand. In this
monarchy, that the Mountain
end of july Robespierre stressed sense, then, the August revolution, far from being the logical
movement; yet, even at the a
0f 'the Constitution as outcome of a consistently conceived and conducted plan of
hat the future of the monarchy, as v nu
.
l ele ted Con operations, was an act ofself-defence against dangers, both real
� hole, should be decided by a .popular �
ed insu rrec uon .1 Aga m, t� �ona c�y s��i
� and imagined.4
rather than by arm
of re�o utlOnS �rom the By the last week inJuly, however, a more or less decided plan
had im rtant cards to play : a stream
to the kmg,s p.ers::'n. �om
•

of action had taken shape; and the outbreak of 10 August was

DePart nts denounced the affront
: atures of 'active cItIzens the climax to a series of false starts. In the night of 26-27 July
nutted on 20 June," 10 Pan's 20,000 sign
of prot est ; th� c.o�mander­ there was a call to arms by federal volunteers parading in the
were quickly collected for a petition .
seve ral ofl� dIVISlonaI com Montreuil Section of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine; ouoritrs
in-chief of the National Guard and
rg �amt-Marcel) .
•

sounded the tocsin at the church of Sainte-Marguerite; Santerre

manders (including that of the Faubou was pulled out of bed; and workshops remained closed next
,., g" men', Lafa yett e was well rece IVed by the
avowed IUn day.s On the 30th additional impetus was given to the
ne, whe n he prop ose d '
tive Assembly on 28ju
the dem ocra ts, and only
be taken to destroy .. , Arch. Pr6. P<:>I., Aa 226, r<:>l. 30.
the Panslan Ii
his chance of mobilizmg a large part of. • GOOcch<:>t, op. cit., pp. 187-121. � the passage: 'La Cour
• Arch. Nat., F" 4387, dOlI. 2.

ms: the queen, or

Guard for a coup deforce against thejacob
help
with characteristic folly, refused his
. c<:>ntinua.it
. •
I� manoeuvres sourdes, ses perstcutiolU et ICS calom
nies, en attendant qu'c\le put
.J but, even
leur faire une guern: plus s�riemc . . . landis que Ie parti contraire Ie lenait
dHc'}Iivc, mail avec I'intention tr':l pronon ce de la soutenir vigoureuscme
c sur la

, Mlmmrls $lads ,J, FOInin ,., Am/rica;lI.

nt'
• Lefebvre, op. cit., p. 247.
(op. cit., pp. • 87-8).
J Arch. Pr�f. Pol., Aa 220, foJ. 63.
z Lefebvre, <:>p. cil., p. 246.
".
ACTI ON THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY 10�
THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN

movement and to its chances ofsuccess by an Assem

bly decree, wholesale massacre: 600 were slaughtered, 60 of them by order,
Natio nal Guard . There were or with the tacit approval, of the revolutionary Commune at
I
admitting 'passive' citizens into the
of such, on 30Jul y,' and on and the Hotel de Ville, to which they were sent under armed
further false starts or rumours
5 August.1 On 6 August
andj ideris
in the Champ de Mars demanded the abdication of Louis
a huge meetin g of Parisi ans escort. Of the besiegers some go jideris and nearly 300 Paris
XVV sectionnaireswere killed and wounded; 1 among the latter were
mid-J uly had taken 3 women, of whom one was Louise-Reine Audu of the Biblio­
theque Section, a veteran of 5 October.2
The Faubourg Saint- Antoi ne, which , since
Assem bly
the lead in the sectional movement, noW warned the
the 9th, or the Hostile eyewitnesses and historians have been particularly
that the king must be deposed or suspended by
Sections would take armed action. . liberal in their use of lurid epithets to describe the federal
pon­
The same night the tocsin sounded. While the 'corres volunteers and the men of the Paris Sections that took part in
Sectio ns formcd thems elves the attack on the Tuileries. These range from Madame de
dence' committee of the forty-eight
er
into a new' revolutionary Commune and kept Petion a prison Tourzel's 'cette armee de bandits' and Bigot de Sainte-Croix's
in his room, the armed format ions of the Nation al Guard 'brigands revoite,' to Taine's 'presque taus de la derniere
advanced on the Tuileries. plebe, ou entretenus par des metiers infames' and Peltier's
Though the final outcome was hard.ly in doubt, �he de­ 'ramas d'hommes perdus, de Barbaresques, de Maltais,
fenders might have put up a sterner .reslStance. .Guardl�g the d'Italiens, de Ginois, de Piemontais'.l In so far as these descrip­
and
,hdtuw were goo Swiss, 200 to 300 KOlghts of SalOL-LoUIS, tions purport to throw a light on the occupations or social
attack ers-2 ,000 origins-or even on the nationality-of the persons described,
-before their wholesale desertion to the
National Guardsmen. The besiegers had mustered a far larger we can check their validity by reference to the lists of dead
force : by 9 o'clock, soon before the attack started, they may and wounded sent in by the Paris Sections and of those later
r
have been 20,000 men, including 400 Marscillais and smalle recognited by the National Convention as having qualified for
other cities.4 Before a shot pensions for themselves or their dependants.4
It is not proposed here to attempt a detailed social analysis
contingents from Brest, Rouen , and
was fired, Roederer, the procureur.syndit ofthe Paris Department,
who was in attendance on the king, persuaded him to seek of the federal volunteers, whose dead and wounded may have
refuge with his family in the Assembly, meeting nearby: thus accounted for rather less than a quarter of the total casualties
bloodshed might be avoided and a solution found by the depu­ recorded.s Suffice it to say that those appearing on these lists
ties without the dictation ofarmed rebellion. Abandoned by the have typical French-sounding names and that the label of
king, only the Swiss and a handful of grenadiers of the financial Italian or other foreigner was, no doubt, devised to create
quarter prepared to resist. The Marseillais advanced to frat:r­ prejudice. Among a little Over 300 Parisians6 occupations are
nite with the defenders, but were raked by fire from the SWISS. given in some 120 casesj7 this, then, is the sample on which we
As at the Bastille the cry of treachery went up. The attack was have to base any estimate of the professional or social status of
started in earnest. Before the dzdttau
was reduced, the king sent the participants. Of this number as many as ninety-five are
word ordering a cease-fire; but it did not save the Swiss from drawn from fifty of the petty trades and crafts of the capital
• Acxording to Fournier, the plan railed ror lack of rupport by SantclTc and , For the killed and wounded among the belieg.:rs see A. Tuetcy, Ripnloirr:

• Arch. Nat, F' 4774'-: uUru II pmos rtlatives aU dix Mill. There Wall a strlkc of
P�tion (MlmuirtS S"'tr..s
. . • ). •
II""al, vol. iv, pp. i-;u:i; see abo Sagoac, op. cit., pp. 300 IT.

, Cited by Sagoae, op. cit., pp. '34�, 181, 19o, 300--2.

• Tuetey, op. cit., vol. iv, pp. iv-v.
building workers in the Faubourg Saint·Antoine on 3 August, but it don
• Arch. Nat., FlO 3269--74; F' 4426.
not
appear to have been connected in any way with the August insurrection (Arch.
Prtf. Pol., Aa 2'9, fo!' 30). r. • or 376 CaJUaltiCII among the altackel"$ recorded by Tuctcy, thefidirll account
or 89 (lip. cit., vol. iv, p. xxi).
Tuetey's figure 0(lt87 ParmaN appears to be an undcr-eotimate.
J Bib. Nat., L� 39 ,0728- (printed text).
• Tuetcy lisla only a.. occu�tions (op. cit., vol. iv, pp. xxiv.xxv).
and obicrvcl"$, ICC P. Sagnac,
u. Clwu d, u. ro)'llldi, 1792 (Paris, 1902), pp. 277 if.
•
• For these figures, and those ofothcr h�toriaN
".
ACTI ON THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY 10�
THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN

movement and to its chances ofsuccess by an Assem

bly decree, wholesale massacre: 600 were slaughtered, 60 of them by order,
Natio nal Guard . There were or with the tacit approval, of the revolutionary Commune at
I
admitting 'passive' citizens into the
of such, on 30Jul y,' and on and the Hotel de Ville, to which they were sent under armed
further false starts or rumours
5 August.1 On 6 August
andj ideris
in the Champ de Mars demanded the abdication of Louis
a huge meetin g of Parisi ans escort. Of the besiegers some go jideris and nearly 300 Paris
XVV sectionnaireswere killed and wounded; 1 among the latter were
mid-J uly had taken 3 women, of whom one was Louise-Reine Audu of the Biblio­
theque Section, a veteran of 5 October.2
The Faubourg Saint- Antoi ne, which , since
Assem bly
the lead in the sectional movement, noW warned the
the 9th, or the Hostile eyewitnesses and historians have been particularly
that the king must be deposed or suspended by
Sections would take armed action. . liberal in their use of lurid epithets to describe the federal
pon­
The same night the tocsin sounded. While the 'corres volunteers and the men of the Paris Sections that took part in
Sectio ns formcd thems elves the attack on the Tuileries. These range from Madame de
dence' committee of the forty-eight
er
into a new' revolutionary Commune and kept Petion a prison Tourzel's 'cette armee de bandits' and Bigot de Sainte-Croix's
in his room, the armed format ions of the Nation al Guard 'brigands revoite,' to Taine's 'presque taus de la derniere
advanced on the Tuileries. plebe, ou entretenus par des metiers infames' and Peltier's
Though the final outcome was hard.ly in doubt, �he de­ 'ramas d'hommes perdus, de Barbaresques, de Maltais,
fenders might have put up a sterner .reslStance. .Guardl�g the d'Italiens, de Ginois, de Piemontais'.l In so far as these descrip­
and
,hdtuw were goo Swiss, 200 to 300 KOlghts of SalOL-LoUIS, tions purport to throw a light on the occupations or social
attack ers-2 ,000 origins-or even on the nationality-of the persons described,
-before their wholesale desertion to the
National Guardsmen. The besiegers had mustered a far larger we can check their validity by reference to the lists of dead
force : by 9 o'clock, soon before the attack started, they may and wounded sent in by the Paris Sections and of those later
r
have been 20,000 men, including 400 Marscillais and smalle recognited by the National Convention as having qualified for
other cities.4 Before a shot pensions for themselves or their dependants.4
It is not proposed here to attempt a detailed social analysis
contingents from Brest, Rouen , and
was fired, Roederer, the procureur.syndit ofthe Paris Department,
who was in attendance on the king, persuaded him to seek of the federal volunteers, whose dead and wounded may have
refuge with his family in the Assembly, meeting nearby: thus accounted for rather less than a quarter of the total casualties
bloodshed might be avoided and a solution found by the depu­ recorded.s Suffice it to say that those appearing on these lists
ties without the dictation ofarmed rebellion. Abandoned by the have typical French-sounding names and that the label of
king, only the Swiss and a handful of grenadiers of the financial Italian or other foreigner was, no doubt, devised to create
quarter prepared to resist. The Marseillais advanced to frat:r­ prejudice. Among a little Over 300 Parisians6 occupations are
nite with the defenders, but were raked by fire from the SWISS. given in some 120 casesj7 this, then, is the sample on which we
As at the Bastille the cry of treachery went up. The attack was have to base any estimate of the professional or social status of
started in earnest. Before the dzdttau
was reduced, the king sent the participants. Of this number as many as ninety-five are
word ordering a cease-fire; but it did not save the Swiss from drawn from fifty of the petty trades and crafts of the capital
• Acxording to Fournier, the plan railed ror lack of rupport by SantclTc and , For the killed and wounded among the belieg.:rs see A. Tuetcy, Ripnloirr:

• Arch. Nat, F' 4774'-: uUru II pmos rtlatives aU dix Mill. There Wall a strlkc of
P�tion (MlmuirtS S"'tr..s
. . • ). •
II""al, vol. iv, pp. i-;u:i; see abo Sagoac, op. cit., pp. 300 IT.

, Cited by Sagoae, op. cit., pp. '34�, 181, 19o, 300--2.

• Tuetey, op. cit., vol. iv, pp. iv-v.
building workers in the Faubourg Saint·Antoine on 3 August, but it don
• Arch. Nat., FlO 3269--74; F' 4426.
not
appear to have been connected in any way with the August insurrection (Arch.
Prtf. Pol., Aa 2'9, fo!' 30). r. • or 376 CaJUaltiCII among the altackel"$ recorded by Tuctcy, thefidirll account
or 89 (lip. cit., vol. iv, p. xxi).
Tuetey's figure 0(lt87 ParmaN appears to be an undcr-eotimate.
J Bib. Nat., L� 39 ,0728- (printed text).
• Tuetcy lisla only a.. occu�tions (op. cit., vol. iv, pp. xxiv.xxv).
and obicrvcl"$, ICC P. Sagnac,
u. Clwu d, u. ro)'llldi, 1792 (Paris, 1902), pp. 277 if.
•
• For these figures, and those ofothcr h�toriaN
 .
THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY '0'
106 were not likeIy to face economic hardSh'Ip, n, ' different was
RY CROWD IN ACTION
THE RE VO LU TIONA x Ulte
ers, master
all traders and manufactur the case of the small trades e �
either as shopkeepers, sm only two
rafts�e"., journeymen, and
craftsmen, artisans, or
journeymen. There
I are
al me n among
labourers who as we saw fo :e':i e maJonty of the assailants.
y be termed profession _ even the successful 0utc�me .of the
bourgeois and three that ma To them and 'their famili'....,
events of that night would entail hardshiP and suffenng if they
aste r. Th e rest are
n, and a drawing�m
them: an architect, a surgeo ts (9) , por t�w orkers, , they were killed ID
, domestic servan
"
clerks (2) , musicians (2) should return wounded or mrume ' d ," and if "
action, there were long months ofwal. �ng . befiore the authorities
ers (2) . Co nsi der ing the
, and glass�work
labourers, and carters (7)
might decide on a pension for the W'. oW and children. Thus,
tio nal gua rd un til a few
s from the Na
exclusion of 'passive' citizen ers among
surprisingly manywage-eam Pierre Dumont aged 50, gau ze�worker 0f 25,,"'I' ue dU Faubourg
days previously, there are
Samt�Antoine listed bY his SeCllon,
workers. Yet,
ymen and eighteen other the Quinze V'ma ot.
•

them : thirty-three journe ' �, as

erably less than half the tot
a1.z In all, " October 1792 died of his wo nds tW years later;
.

even so, they form consid mrume" d ID

his wife failed to obtain � pension. A
g of more or � ?
�tulottlS, with a sprinklin
then, they are typical saru ier e plebe', ntome LobJOlS, aged 39,
t by no means 'de la dern
less prosperous citizens ; bu bel ieve. master glazier of the rue de B ne Fontaine de Grenell.e
::� '
as the jaundiced imaginat
ion of Taine would
y
hav
are
e us
dra wn fro m Section, left a wife and five child '�f whom onl� two qua h�
the sense that the tied for a pension. Louis Le RoY' ge� 2 1 , a Journeyman
They are typical, too, in fou r of the se app ear . J
capital: all but
nearly every Section in the the west;
goldsmith of the rue du Petit Srunt- ean m the �ection des In­
eption s are the Roule Section in valides, left a dependent mother and fath�r, a Widow, and two
on the lists-the exc ari sto cra tic qu arter of
tre of the old
the Place Royale in the cen IV (now re­
small children, Pierre Homette, aged 49, aJourneyman ca. binet�
island Sections of Henri maker of 20 rue du Faubourg du Temple, accompamed hiS "
the Marais; and the two rnite). This
named Pont Neuf) and
the lie·Saint�Louis (Frate employer, Legros, to the Tuileries 0 �� 0 ;ugust : though a
ft er o
traditional
Antoine reappears in its
time the Faubourg Saint� Quinze
wage-earner, he had been a memb e ational Guard for
a year and eight months ,' he Ie a WI"dow and two Ch"ld
m the
and 50 wounded are fro
role: no less than S killed Mo ntr eui l (IS I reno
t on the list come
Vingts Section alone ; nex There are cases which show that the authorities were as
'
ser vat oir e )­
istere (19 ). and Ob
(IS
killed and wounded), Fin chary of spending public money and as inclined
r. to drive a hard
�th appIIcants !or co e
1. Th e two twb ourg s .
rg Saint�Marce
j
the last two in the Faubou -th ird and one �ha lf of bugain ...
ri ";� �:l lon as th ey ar� t�ay:
between one Lou.is Chauvet, water-car er of
between them account for de la Coutellene, In the
all the casualties ere
suff d. Arcls Section was refused gran' because he failed to produce
a doctor's ce:nficate that howed ,he nature of his treatment,
personal
Behind these bare statisti
cs lies many a story of
ect ation, .
:
of days spent in anxious exp as prescnbed by law' and Ph I lp �e Bouvet of the Popincourt
heroism and sacrifice and rec orded
'}'
e late]. M. Thompson has
terror, and deprivation. Th Section was also refus� co sallon, as the hernia from which
cile, the wife of Camil De sm oul iru,
the anxieties and fears of Lu
le he was suffering a year lat:�l� not appear to have been caused
liers dis tric t for
g-house in the Corde by the events of 10 August O h were mo�e f�rtunate, yet the
as she waited in a lodgin
the outcome of the assault
on the Tuileries
r
on
jou
the
rna
nig
list
ht of
wit
9-
h
10
an ; � ��
compensation was usuall s a compare WIth the sacrifice
J
was a popula made, Thus ean Daubanton fther.MoDtreuil Section, though
August.} But Desmoulins family ?
assured public : he mi ght suff er physical danger,· but his Wounded at' the Tuilen",""
' - . enllsted !or the ar �� and :--,as sent
'o the frontiers before his wound had healed , e received 1 43
days, treatment and w.,e
orkerJ,
• Among them there are IVres as
I � ,hoe_maken, 8
eabinet-maken, 6 gau:te-w

4 wig_maken, 4 hallen, 3 J1r tler pay and a grant Of2 1 4 ['I�res. Another hardened warrior
lockamit lu, 3 pain len. ..., subsequently awarded 50 /"
carpenten, 3
g to'la cJasse ouvritre'
ribes the majority :u lxlongin
•

, Tuetey, surprisingly, desc On .

01111# Frtndt Rt,'OIul;O" (O"fofd ; avec un ru�l: he
, [948), pp. 1 [8-';1 1.
appears to have been Henn Bute, aged 11, j(:weller of87 rue
I J. M. Thompson, �arfm
(op. (il., vol. iv, p. iii). �
ille Desmou liru t!tait sort des Gobelins, who had been wounded m hIS left hand at the
it: 'Si Cam
• Mathiez doubted t), p. 1 1 9)'
servf; ' (u DiJc Aout (Pam, 193
wriles, 'ce n'�tait p:u pour s'en
 .
THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY '0'
106 were not likeIy to face economic hardSh'Ip, n, ' different was
RY CROWD IN ACTION
THE RE VO LU TIONA x Ulte
ers, master
all traders and manufactur the case of the small trades e �
either as shopkeepers, sm only two
rafts�e"., journeymen, and
craftsmen, artisans, or
journeymen. There
I are
al me n among
labourers who as we saw fo :e':i e maJonty of the assailants.
y be termed profession _ even the successful 0utc�me .of the
bourgeois and three that ma To them and 'their famili'....,
events of that night would entail hardshiP and suffenng if they
aste r. Th e rest are
n, and a drawing�m
them: an architect, a surgeo ts (9) , por t�w orkers, , they were killed ID
, domestic servan
"
clerks (2) , musicians (2) should return wounded or mrume ' d ," and if "
action, there were long months ofwal. �ng . befiore the authorities
ers (2) . Co nsi der ing the
, and glass�work
labourers, and carters (7)
might decide on a pension for the W'. oW and children. Thus,
tio nal gua rd un til a few
s from the Na
exclusion of 'passive' citizen ers among
surprisingly manywage-eam Pierre Dumont aged 50, gau ze�worker 0f 25,,"'I' ue dU Faubourg
days previously, there are
Samt�Antoine listed bY his SeCllon,
workers. Yet,
ymen and eighteen other the Quinze V'ma ot.
•

them : thirty-three journe ' �, as

erably less than half the tot
a1.z In all, " October 1792 died of his wo nds tW years later;
.

even so, they form consid mrume" d ID

his wife failed to obtain � pension. A
g of more or � ?
�tulottlS, with a sprinklin
then, they are typical saru ier e plebe', ntome LobJOlS, aged 39,
t by no means 'de la dern
less prosperous citizens ; bu bel ieve. master glazier of the rue de B ne Fontaine de Grenell.e
::� '
as the jaundiced imaginat
ion of Taine would
y
hav
are
e us
dra wn fro m Section, left a wife and five child '�f whom onl� two qua h�
the sense that the tied for a pension. Louis Le RoY' ge� 2 1 , a Journeyman
They are typical, too, in fou r of the se app ear . J
capital: all but
nearly every Section in the the west;
goldsmith of the rue du Petit Srunt- ean m the �ection des In­
eption s are the Roule Section in valides, left a dependent mother and fath�r, a Widow, and two
on the lists-the exc ari sto cra tic qu arter of
tre of the old
the Place Royale in the cen IV (now re­
small children, Pierre Homette, aged 49, aJourneyman ca. binet�
island Sections of Henri maker of 20 rue du Faubourg du Temple, accompamed hiS "
the Marais; and the two rnite). This
named Pont Neuf) and
the lie·Saint�Louis (Frate employer, Legros, to the Tuileries 0 �� 0 ;ugust : though a
ft er o
traditional
Antoine reappears in its
time the Faubourg Saint� Quinze
wage-earner, he had been a memb e ational Guard for
a year and eight months ,' he Ie a WI"dow and two Ch"ld
m the
and 50 wounded are fro
role: no less than S killed Mo ntr eui l (IS I reno
t on the list come
Vingts Section alone ; nex There are cases which show that the authorities were as
'
ser vat oir e )­
istere (19 ). and Ob
(IS
killed and wounded), Fin chary of spending public money and as inclined
r. to drive a hard
�th appIIcants !or co e
1. Th e two twb ourg s .
rg Saint�Marce
j
the last two in the Faubou -th ird and one �ha lf of bugain ...
ri ";� �:l lon as th ey ar� t�ay:
between one Lou.is Chauvet, water-car er of
between them account for de la Coutellene, In the
all the casualties ere
suff d. Arcls Section was refused gran' because he failed to produce
a doctor's ce:nficate that howed ,he nature of his treatment,
personal
Behind these bare statisti
cs lies many a story of
ect ation, .
:
of days spent in anxious exp as prescnbed by law' and Ph I lp �e Bouvet of the Popincourt
heroism and sacrifice and rec orded
'}'
e late]. M. Thompson has
terror, and deprivation. Th Section was also refus� co sallon, as the hernia from which
cile, the wife of Camil De sm oul iru,
the anxieties and fears of Lu
le he was suffering a year lat:�l� not appear to have been caused
liers dis tric t for
g-house in the Corde by the events of 10 August O h were mo�e f�rtunate, yet the
as she waited in a lodgin
the outcome of the assault
on the Tuileries
r
on
jou
the
rna
nig
list
ht of
wit
9-
h
10
an ; � ��
compensation was usuall s a compare WIth the sacrifice
J
was a popula made, Thus ean Daubanton fther.MoDtreuil Section, though
August.} But Desmoulins family ?
assured public : he mi ght suff er physical danger,· but his Wounded at' the Tuilen",""
' - . enllsted !or the ar �� and :--,as sent
'o the frontiers before his wound had healed , e received 1 43
days, treatment and w.,e
orkerJ,
• Among them there are IVres as
I � ,hoe_maken, 8
eabinet-maken, 6 gau:te-w

4 wig_maken, 4 hallen, 3 J1r tler pay and a grant Of2 1 4 ['I�res. Another hardened warrior
lockamit lu, 3 pain len. ..., subsequently awarded 50 /"
carpenten, 3
g to'la cJasse ouvritre'
ribes the majority :u lxlongin
•

, Tuetey, surprisingly, desc On .

01111# Frtndt Rt,'OIul;O" (O"fofd ; avec un ru�l: he
, [948), pp. 1 [8-';1 1.
appears to have been Henn Bute, aged 11, j(:weller of87 rue
I J. M. Thompson, �arfm
(op. (il., vol. iv, p. iii). �
ille Desmou liru t!tait sort des Gobelins, who had been wounded m hIS left hand at the
it: 'Si Cam
• Mathiez doubted t), p. 1 1 9)'
servf; ' (u DiJc Aout (Pam, 193
wriles, 'ce n'�tait p:u pour s'en
 THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY .og
ACTION
ARY CROWD IN .
THE REVOLUTION enemies of the Revolution a d a h?�t of fo.rgers whose faked
were held respo ibr: fior n�tng pnces and inflation.
to
leave from work
t
108
given six month
s' sick assgnats
i �
These were thought to be so fi an allies for the Duke of Bruns­
Bastille and been for two
recover ; wounded again at the Tuiler ies, he was treated
nsation of 1 12 livres,
h
and awarded a compe wick, who were but waiting or t e volunteers to leave for the
and a half months four of them in
la Bastille (there are
10 SOIlS.
lIainqu de
eur worker frontiers in order to break out 0f prison and massacre the aged,
women, and children left behind. ki
Anothe r
aged 52, a port-
was less fortunate: E. Benoit, killed at Thus grew among the mili­
these lists)
rue Deligr e in the Quinze
Vingts Section, was
held the �
tants of the Sections-of the s me 'nd, no doubt, as those who

;:n ;;
of the e .
a combatant-h
the Tuileries after
a long career as which he :
had stormed the Tuile es t e me tality that led to the groe
·

diS logis in the professi onal army, in some extermination of

.
10.t e earl
rg Saint­ � days of September.
rank of tMrechal
served between
1761 and 1779,
retired to the
Bastille in
Faubou
July 1789.'
�::�puon, cam:d out in a momen­
It was by no means a sudd
and fought at the tary fit of passion or as the result of a short-lived panic. Already
Antoine as a dyer of the
on 1 1 August the day after the cat;ure of the Tuileries, a letter
s follow ed hard on the heels
ent for the frontier must
Enrolm Tuileries fighter
capture of the Tuileries ; and many a
more in the i
from two po ice administrators, erron and Vignet, warned
before he was once
little time to recover a case Santerre newl appotntcd
' commander-in-chief of the Parisian
have had
firing line, this
time against the
prussians. We saw
n, a
such
master locksmith
of Nationa Guar : i �
that of Louis Chauvi
above ; another is rg Saint-Antoin e, also of the On nous informe dans Ie moment' Monsieur' que I'on forme Ie
. de se transporter dans touf:t Ies pnsons
iere in the Faubou
. de Paris pour y
the rue Travers at the
been reported dead
proJet �
Section, who had first
Quinze Vingts wounde d and, eniever tous les prisonniers, et en alre une promptejustice.I
serio usly
brother had been
Tuileries. His wife's had died and the
other S'IX days later, Petion wrote to Santerre :
re, one child
shortly after his departu
ed state of mind of
his wife as, after
these
� .
On me prcvient . . que cette n ' t I� tOCSt� doit sonner dans les
fbgs. St. Ant. et St. M�rceau ur u�lr les cltoyeru, les porter sur
:
The anguish to the
fallen sick. and illiterate letter
writes a pathetic
experi ences, she
assistance for herself les prisons et immoler 10 pe nnes qUI sont detenues.1
Publics, begging for
But the movement was not r u
Comite des Secours

�� ;
nd, she writes . ed
t the JaubouTgs : the same
evident : her husba rut
and family, is
to Citoyent pour aide
avange la patrie joun day, similar threats were re r d rom the Gravilliers and
fut oblige de partir ave<: qu audameurant Ponceau Sections in the ce t o � e C.lly;l and, on 2 September,
.
� :
souvenir puisqu' il est VTai

�� �
trop funeste a man enfant trouve ctant the day that Verdun fell t ;ruSSians, the general assembly
s aussi du distric des
mort l i
mon frhe nomme Damoime fut annoncc que mon mari cloit tue.1 of Poissonniere decided t s e other forty-seven Sections
blesse et presque copies of a resolution th:t I :
they en·
QII'il n'y avait d'autre rno�en a prend� pour eviter Ie danger et
and anguish thal
these and the fear
Such events as agita­
pour parUr aux frontieres que faire
the state offev erish
s help to explain
gendered may perhap the
even after augmenter Ie zele des citoye
continu ed
many of the citizens ed. $U� Ie champ une justice r
tion in which
le/p=��4
been remov de tous les malfaiteurs et con-
s had
coup directe d from the Tuilerie most
Splrateurs detenus dans
Tear of office, the Swiss (his
a
suspended from .
The king had been or imprisoned;
open The same afternoon' pnsoners
' betng brought under armed
had been massacred
Nat.' F' ¥i11' PiJu: '�I liWJ " l0 coUt, fol. 19·
�;
l defende rs)
loya rounded up and their
. N,. , F' 477�", fo . 3· N her of Ihese I documents is ciled by
, Arch.
court had been
supporters of the .... _' Arch
c �
ondence. Yet the f� ... T (see ";,;8e � 10, nOle I, below).
n anns or corresp t:
ell wo

searched for hidde

'"
..' on
and the ; i
ueley, p. Cit., vol. v, no 367..
,,�
the gates ;
hundred miles from
enemy was a few ch. PrH Pol Aa .... ",,,,., fol. 1103 The
cal
were full (and
believed fuller) of
refractory priests, po,li.ii •

pp.
Ih� ...
� I to. n could have had any �ffe<:1 (
. ., 1 '
�aon,h�howMIUJIlffU tk s.pumb,�,
ever, Ilaried before
, Ar<:h. Nat., P" 3Wg-70, 3�71. fol. I t l 3 .
• Ar<:h. Nat., P" 3174, no. 159�, .
 THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY .og
ACTION
ARY CROWD IN .
THE REVOLUTION enemies of the Revolution a d a h?�t of fo.rgers whose faked
were held respo ibr: fior n�tng pnces and inflation.
to
leave from work
t
108
given six month
s' sick assgnats
i �
These were thought to be so fi an allies for the Duke of Bruns­
Bastille and been for two
recover ; wounded again at the Tuiler ies, he was treated
nsation of 1 12 livres,
h
and awarded a compe wick, who were but waiting or t e volunteers to leave for the
and a half months four of them in
la Bastille (there are
10 SOIlS.
lIainqu de
eur worker frontiers in order to break out 0f prison and massacre the aged,
women, and children left behind. ki
Anothe r
aged 52, a port-
was less fortunate: E. Benoit, killed at Thus grew among the mili­
these lists)
rue Deligr e in the Quinze
Vingts Section, was
held the �
tants of the Sections-of the s me 'nd, no doubt, as those who

;:n ;;
of the e .
a combatant-h
the Tuileries after
a long career as which he :
had stormed the Tuile es t e me tality that led to the groe
·

diS logis in the professi onal army, in some extermination of

.
10.t e earl
rg Saint­ � days of September.
rank of tMrechal
served between
1761 and 1779,
retired to the
Bastille in
Faubou
July 1789.'
�::�puon, cam:d out in a momen­
It was by no means a sudd
and fought at the tary fit of passion or as the result of a short-lived panic. Already
Antoine as a dyer of the
on 1 1 August the day after the cat;ure of the Tuileries, a letter
s follow ed hard on the heels
ent for the frontier must
Enrolm Tuileries fighter
capture of the Tuileries ; and many a
more in the i
from two po ice administrators, erron and Vignet, warned
before he was once
little time to recover a case Santerre newl appotntcd
' commander-in-chief of the Parisian
have had
firing line, this
time against the
prussians. We saw
n, a
such
master locksmith
of Nationa Guar : i �
that of Louis Chauvi
above ; another is rg Saint-Antoin e, also of the On nous informe dans Ie moment' Monsieur' que I'on forme Ie
. de se transporter dans touf:t Ies pnsons
iere in the Faubou
. de Paris pour y
the rue Travers at the
been reported dead
proJet �
Section, who had first
Quinze Vingts wounde d and, eniever tous les prisonniers, et en alre une promptejustice.I
serio usly
brother had been
Tuileries. His wife's had died and the
other S'IX days later, Petion wrote to Santerre :
re, one child
shortly after his departu
ed state of mind of
his wife as, after
these
� .
On me prcvient . . que cette n ' t I� tOCSt� doit sonner dans les
fbgs. St. Ant. et St. M�rceau ur u�lr les cltoyeru, les porter sur
:
The anguish to the
fallen sick. and illiterate letter
writes a pathetic
experi ences, she
assistance for herself les prisons et immoler 10 pe nnes qUI sont detenues.1
Publics, begging for
But the movement was not r u
Comite des Secours

�� ;
nd, she writes . ed
t the JaubouTgs : the same
evident : her husba rut
and family, is
to Citoyent pour aide
avange la patrie joun day, similar threats were re r d rom the Gravilliers and
fut oblige de partir ave<: qu audameurant Ponceau Sections in the ce t o � e C.lly;l and, on 2 September,
.
� :
souvenir puisqu' il est VTai

�� �
trop funeste a man enfant trouve ctant the day that Verdun fell t ;ruSSians, the general assembly
s aussi du distric des
mort l i
mon frhe nomme Damoime fut annoncc que mon mari cloit tue.1 of Poissonniere decided t s e other forty-seven Sections
blesse et presque copies of a resolution th:t I :
they en·
QII'il n'y avait d'autre rno�en a prend� pour eviter Ie danger et
and anguish thal
these and the fear
Such events as agita­
pour parUr aux frontieres que faire
the state offev erish
s help to explain
gendered may perhap the
even after augmenter Ie zele des citoye
continu ed
many of the citizens ed. $U� Ie champ une justice r
tion in which
le/p=��4
been remov de tous les malfaiteurs et con-
s had
coup directe d from the Tuilerie most
Splrateurs detenus dans
Tear of office, the Swiss (his
a
suspended from .
The king had been or imprisoned;
open The same afternoon' pnsoners
' betng brought under armed
had been massacred
Nat.' F' ¥i11' PiJu: '�I liWJ " l0 coUt, fol. 19·
�;
l defende rs)
loya rounded up and their
. N,. , F' 477�", fo . 3· N her of Ihese I documents is ciled by
, Arch.
court had been
supporters of the .... _' Arch
c �
ondence. Yet the f� ... T (see ";,;8e � 10, nOle I, below).
n anns or corresp t:
ell wo

searched for hidde

'"
..' on
and the ; i
ueley, p. Cit., vol. v, no 367..
,,�
the gates ;
hundred miles from
enemy was a few ch. PrH Pol Aa .... ",,,,., fol. 1103 The
cal
were full (and
believed fuller) of
refractory priests, po,li.ii •

pp.
Ih� ...
� I to. n could have had any �ffe<:1 (
. ., 1 '
�aon,h�howMIUJIlffU tk s.pumb,�,
ever, Ilaried before
, Ar<:h. Nat., P" 3Wg-70, 3�71. fol. I t l 3 .
• Ar<:h. Nat., P" 3174, no. 159�, .
 THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY ...
corupirateun a la juste
Tit!. REV OLU TIO NARY CROWD IN ACTION
des lois ce qui pourrait avoir echappe
110
Germain­ de
escort to the Abbaye prison near the church of Saint·
crow ds an� vengeance.'
,
des-Pres "'ere seized on arri val by wai ting
ts a reli­
summarily executed. The massacre spread to th� Carm ? But once the moment of crisis was past, there was no party or
t, to
gious hOUSe in the rue de Vaugirard; and, dunng the rugh faction that would justify or claim credit for the massacres ; and
la For ce ; at
the Conciergerie. the Chatelet. and the Hotel de the charge of baving provoked or organized them-or even of
the latter, it went on spasmodically until the 6� or 7th. On the
, t­
having merely failed to put a stop to them-became an accepted
ma of Sam weapon in the struggle between parties, in which the Mountain
3Td, executions were carried out at the Sem TY.
Firmin, � the rue Saint-Victor, and at
the Bema �tOs monas­ sought to discredit the Gironde and the Gironde to blacken the
tery, where common criminals were awa itin g thei r transfer to Mountain; while royalists and 'moderates' hurled the accusa­
the galleys at Toulon, Brest, and Roc hef ort. The :
same a ter­ tion at both Gironde and Mountain indiscriminately. After
Robespierre's fall in Thermidor, the struggle became more
.
an wer e slau ght ered a� BlcelTe,
noon d the next day, prisoners
; a?d,
a prison-hospital for the poor, vagrants, and lunatics bitter, and the most common epithet to attach to a Jacobin,
detentlon
though few in number, at the Salpetriere, a �lace of apart from being a terrorist or a bUDror de sang, was to have been
alon e were
for female thieves and prostitutes. Two pns��s a septembriStur.It has become all the more difficult to identify
In the rue de la ma.rsacrnm.
untouched._the debtors' prison of Sainte-Pelagte the real Were they many? were they a small band
n, in the rue du
Clef, and Saint-Lazare, now a women's priso of resolute fanatics? were they, in any sense, typical of Paris as a
6th or
7
ped on the
Faubourg Saint-Denis. The massacres stop whole? No certain answer is possible. Pierre Caron, in the course
7th; by that time, between 1,100 and 1,400 prisone rs (onl y � of a detailed study of the affair, examined every possible piece
2,800 In
of th�m women) had been slaug�tered out of a total of of evidence that he could lay hands on to determine the
tly larg er num ber- perhaps authenticity of the numerous documents purporting to give full
the rune llrisons concerned. A shgh
J ,500 or l ,60had 0- been spared by hastily c�nsti
tuted courts �f lists and details of the septnnbristurs; he concluded that the
Mall­
justice, o f which the most famous is that preSIded over b� great majority, even when put forward in good faith, were
lard at the: Abbaye. Surprisingly, only one_quarte.ro� the pnso ners
apocryphal. Apart from eyewitness accounts of the presence
were pric:.sts, nobles, or 'politicals' ; the great maJo nty wer � com­
of federal volunteers, gardes nalionaux,
and other individuals­
mon-or-garden thieves, prostitutes, forgers, and vagrants. many of which may be authentic enough-the only solid
s after,
While the massacres were going on, and for some day evidence is provided by the records of the judicial proceedings
there wel""e persons in authority who were prep ared to appl aud
taken against thirty·nine persons in the Year IV (1796) for
them as a necessary act of popular
just ice, and eve � to reco
,
m­
t
believed participation in the massacres of I7g2.
Though all but
mend the.rn as an example for others to follow. The Circular � three were acquitted for lack of evidence-thus reducing an
of th Pan s
to the D�partments on 3 September in the name � already small sample to derisory proportions-the list is signifi­
at) IS wel l
Commu1l.e (often associated with the pen of Mar , cant as showing the sort of persons and classes from which con­
pres sera d ado pter
known : �t sans doute la nation entiere . . . s'em temporary opinion was willing to believe that the massacrturs
�bly
ce moye1l. necessaire de salut public'. Again, th� general asse
c

might have been recruited: they comprise, in the majority of

of the F�tere Section, in the Faubourg �ases, small masters and craftsmen, shopkeepers, and a sprink­
Saln -Mar cel did no
!
th�
�
n in Pans1 when It called
more express the prevailing opinio gendarmes;
6
ling of ex-soldiers and nearly all, at the time of their
upon all :forty-eight Sections on September trial, were over 30 years old. From all this Caron concludes
that Fabre d'tglantine was nearer to the truth than most when
de decla� hautement que Ie peuple est venge, qu'il livre au glaive
�n LIs MIJJSiKFU d, uplmlbrl (Parit, 1935). pp. 3-7. 7or Septtrn""
he decljlred in the Jacobin Club on 5 November 'Ce sont1792:
L
_r sec
ma aaera
&-102:.
• P. Car
a For co_ ' nt
.
mpor_, -r--- the
Arch. PrH. Pol., As.. 1;166, fol. 42:.
up to the end
Caron, op. 'c:iL, pp.
-.te n
""" inn <.>n
•
12:1-6$.
 THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY ...
corupirateun a la juste
Tit!. REV OLU TIO NARY CROWD IN ACTION
des lois ce qui pourrait avoir echappe
110
Germain­ de
escort to the Abbaye prison near the church of Saint·
crow ds an� vengeance.'
,
des-Pres "'ere seized on arri val by wai ting
ts a reli­
summarily executed. The massacre spread to th� Carm ? But once the moment of crisis was past, there was no party or
t, to
gious hOUSe in the rue de Vaugirard; and, dunng the rugh faction that would justify or claim credit for the massacres ; and
la For ce ; at
the Conciergerie. the Chatelet. and the Hotel de the charge of baving provoked or organized them-or even of
the latter, it went on spasmodically until the 6� or 7th. On the
, t­
having merely failed to put a stop to them-became an accepted
ma of Sam weapon in the struggle between parties, in which the Mountain
3Td, executions were carried out at the Sem TY.
Firmin, � the rue Saint-Victor, and at
the Bema �tOs monas­ sought to discredit the Gironde and the Gironde to blacken the
tery, where common criminals were awa itin g thei r transfer to Mountain; while royalists and 'moderates' hurled the accusa­
the galleys at Toulon, Brest, and Roc hef ort. The :
same a ter­ tion at both Gironde and Mountain indiscriminately. After
Robespierre's fall in Thermidor, the struggle became more
.
an wer e slau ght ered a� BlcelTe,
noon d the next day, prisoners
; a?d,
a prison-hospital for the poor, vagrants, and lunatics bitter, and the most common epithet to attach to a Jacobin,
detentlon
though few in number, at the Salpetriere, a �lace of apart from being a terrorist or a bUDror de sang, was to have been
alon e were
for female thieves and prostitutes. Two pns��s a septembriStur.It has become all the more difficult to identify
In the rue de la ma.rsacrnm.
untouched._the debtors' prison of Sainte-Pelagte the real Were they many? were they a small band
n, in the rue du
Clef, and Saint-Lazare, now a women's priso of resolute fanatics? were they, in any sense, typical of Paris as a
6th or
7
ped on the
Faubourg Saint-Denis. The massacres stop whole? No certain answer is possible. Pierre Caron, in the course
7th; by that time, between 1,100 and 1,400 prisone rs (onl y � of a detailed study of the affair, examined every possible piece
2,800 In
of th�m women) had been slaug�tered out of a total of of evidence that he could lay hands on to determine the
tly larg er num ber- perhaps authenticity of the numerous documents purporting to give full
the rune llrisons concerned. A shgh
J ,500 or l ,60had 0- been spared by hastily c�nsti
tuted courts �f lists and details of the septnnbristurs; he concluded that the
Mall­
justice, o f which the most famous is that preSIded over b� great majority, even when put forward in good faith, were
lard at the: Abbaye. Surprisingly, only one_quarte.ro� the pnso ners
apocryphal. Apart from eyewitness accounts of the presence
were pric:.sts, nobles, or 'politicals' ; the great maJo nty wer � com­
of federal volunteers, gardes nalionaux,
and other individuals­
mon-or-garden thieves, prostitutes, forgers, and vagrants. many of which may be authentic enough-the only solid
s after,
While the massacres were going on, and for some day evidence is provided by the records of the judicial proceedings
there wel""e persons in authority who were prep ared to appl aud
taken against thirty·nine persons in the Year IV (1796) for
them as a necessary act of popular
just ice, and eve � to reco
,
m­
t
believed participation in the massacres of I7g2.
Though all but
mend the.rn as an example for others to follow. The Circular � three were acquitted for lack of evidence-thus reducing an
of th Pan s
to the D�partments on 3 September in the name � already small sample to derisory proportions-the list is signifi­
at) IS wel l
Commu1l.e (often associated with the pen of Mar , cant as showing the sort of persons and classes from which con­
pres sera d ado pter
known : �t sans doute la nation entiere . . . s'em temporary opinion was willing to believe that the massacrturs
�bly
ce moye1l. necessaire de salut public'. Again, th� general asse
c

might have been recruited: they comprise, in the majority of

of the F�tere Section, in the Faubourg �ases, small masters and craftsmen, shopkeepers, and a sprink­
Saln -Mar cel did no
!
th�
�
n in Pans1 when It called
more express the prevailing opinio gendarmes;
6
ling of ex-soldiers and nearly all, at the time of their
upon all :forty-eight Sections on September trial, were over 30 years old. From all this Caron concludes
that Fabre d'tglantine was nearer to the truth than most when
de decla� hautement que Ie peuple est venge, qu'il livre au glaive
�n LIs MIJJSiKFU d, uplmlbrl (Parit, 1935). pp. 3-7. 7or Septtrn""
he decljlred in the Jacobin Club on 5 November 'Ce sont1792:
L
_r sec
ma aaera
&-102:.
• P. Car
a For co_ ' nt
.
mpor_, -r--- the
Arch. PrH. Pol., As.. 1;166, fol. 42:.
up to the end
Caron, op. 'c:iL, pp.
-.te n
""" inn <.>n
•
12:1-6$.
 ON
THE REVO LUTI ONAR Y CROWD I N ACTI
...

letescelhommles d'esOdurleans10 aOletitcelquilaootde eVersnt fonce

ail leess.'lprisons de l',.bl,.:ye, VIII

were Uns a
an vour y
eventas t
of h
� epi
hi stoso
r ide
c almusim appea
port ance:r i n thit s
eyd f, t
comph e m''''
le ted'crc,
ion of th e in t ernal
desteertsructat Valmy, on 20 SeptemberThus enem y so me week s bef or e th e THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN

drove i t back acros s th e f ro nt ie r. , routtehdeBruns Repu w i�

bhc, k's army HEequences
s overth. rNotow ofonlLouiy wass XVIthe Republ had proficoprocl und asoimcied,al con­but
f
becamtioen-by
tsholatid autenougumnh ounda establitshheedvictory ofthe Revoluattiofinrst
on what Tgrant aleld ciequal tizens polwere,iticalforir gththes:firthste tolimde diinstimodem n cti on hiswtoeenry,
bet
its enemies at home and abroad. 'ofactIi78g-gt ns-so
ve' and-'pwasassisvwe'eptcitiaszeide, anddeareverytoadulthe t'cmalonstietwasutionalhence­ists'
feloertcthioelnsig. ibThus
I
le to votthee concept in all localof ,Equal departitym, entproclal, aandimednatiotnalhe in
Decl t
soneubstofaaratnce.initoennsYetofe ,tinhftoeernrRialghttconflhsiofs, Man
all tichteratperofhiero78g,dthnowanwasofundergiharvenmreviony:moreewquisowaslitde
aelecteldfersoConventi
orapart mertdegreehe foreigofn entwar,huswhiiascmh wasby alsulpportgroupsed wiinththaegreatnewleyr
pleleactceioofnsthase olthde. majTheon,onewGirityrondipartantanygonideput smiseshadhadariemerged sen to ftraomke tthhee
irny;thbute As, seParimblsy, tandheirenjequioyedv()..
conscal behavi
iderabloeursupport i n t h e count in

ltoailno-whos
wing among intthheemiAugus lita nt ts.revolAgaiuntsitonthemhadstlooodst tthheme Moun­ their
alParil ssatSectin itohense lConvent
eaders, Robes io n-whi pierre,ch wasDantstroon,nglandy backed Maratby, nowthe
rolauteumn,theythhade conflandplayediccltubecame bsin, where
Augusmorett.hGradual eir crediltystunfol ood hidignhg fionr tthhee
bitetreandr witshpritnhg,e newand round
ofinttoreacheri
open vi eosl and
ence defeat
in t h e s in
earl ythse
u wi
mmer. n It was onl y res o l vbroke
edtbyhe
tGiherondirevolnsutwereion offorMay- cenrol J
ibly expel une 1 7 93, when t h e le ader s of
saTIJ-cu.ioUes
Paribin disiacntatorship, however, ledonlinlyetdhbecameefrNatomiothnalconse Convent
Guard. iTheon byJaco­the
olidated, and its
, Work"rI and others living in furniJhed TOOI1lJ and lodging·houses IUm, how­

(ATch. Nat., "fl. 2$20, fol. 53). Women and dome.tie servants, ofcourse, remained
ev"r, to havc .bttn debarred from voting until the revolution of May-June 1793

Without th.: vote.

 ON
THE REVO LUTI ONAR Y CROWD I N ACTI
...

letescelhommles d'esOdurleans10 aOletitcelquilaootde eVersnt fonce

ail leess.'lprisons de l',.bl,.:ye, VIII

were Uns a
an vour y
eventas t
of h
� epi
hi stoso
r ide
c almusim appea
port ance:r i n thit s
eyd f, t
comph e m''''
le ted'crc,
ion of th e in t ernal
desteertsructat Valmy, on 20 SeptemberThus enem y so me week s bef or e th e THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN

drove i t back acros s th e f ro nt ie r. , routtehdeBruns Repu w i�

bhc, k's army HEequences
s overth. rNotow ofonlLouiy wass XVIthe Republ had proficoprocl und asoimcied,al con­but
f
becamtioen-by
tsholatid autenougumnh ounda establitshheedvictory ofthe Revoluattiofinrst
on what Tgrant aleld ciequal tizens polwere,iticalforir gththes:firthste tolimde diinstimodem n cti on hiswtoeenry,
bet
its enemies at home and abroad. 'ofactIi78g-gt ns-so
ve' and-'pwasassisvwe'eptcitiaszeide, anddeareverytoadulthe t'cmalonstietwasutionalhence­ists'
feloertcthioelnsig. ibThus
I
le to votthee concept in all localof ,Equal departitym, entproclal, aandimednatiotnalhe in
Decl t
soneubstofaaratnce.initoennsYetofe ,tinhftoeernrRialghttconflhsiofs, Man
all tichteratperofhiero78g,dthnowanwasofundergiharvenmreviony:moreewquisowaslitde
aelecteldfersoConventi
orapart mertdegreehe foreigofn entwar,huswhiiascmh wasby alsulpportgroupsed wiinththaegreatnewleyr
pleleactceioofnsthase olthde. majTheon,onewGirityrondipartantanygonideput smiseshadhadariemerged sen to ftraomke tthhee
irny;thbute As, seParimblsy, tandheirenjequioyedv()..
conscal behavi
iderabloeursupport i n t h e count in

ltoailno-whos
wing among intthheemiAugus lita nt ts.revolAgaiuntsitonthemhadstlooodst tthheme Moun­ their
alParil ssatSectin itohense lConvent
eaders, Robes io n-whi pierre,ch wasDantstroon,nglandy backed Maratby, nowthe
rolauteumn,theythhade conflandplayediccltubecame bsin, where
Augusmorett.hGradual eir crediltystunfol ood hidignhg fionr tthhee
bitetreandr witshpritnhg,e newand round
ofinttoreacheri
open vi eosl and
ence defeat
in t h e s in
earl ythse
u wi
mmer. n It was onl y res o l vbroke
edtbyhe
tGiherondirevolnsutwereion offorMay- cenrol J
ibly expel une 1 7 93, when t h e le ader s of
saTIJ-cu.ioUes
Paribin disiacntatorship, however, ledonlinlyetdhbecameefrNatomiothnalconse Convent
Guard. iTheon byJaco­the
olidated, and its
, Work"rI and others living in furniJhed TOOI1lJ and lodging·houses IUm, how­

(ATch. Nat., "fl. 2$20, fol. 53). Women and dome.tie servants, ofcourse, remained
ev"r, to havc .bttn debarred from voting until the revolution of May-June 1793

Without th.: vote.

... THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
instrument, the Revolutionary Government of the Year n,
only emerged after a further popular insuIT:ction in Septe� er.
Yet this alliance between the Mountain and the Panslan
sans.culottes which was to be so remarkable a feature of the
�zed �t�out . diffi.
' had been local disturbances, followed by arrests, on the morrow.
next phase of the Revolution, was not re
culty and without stress. Apart from the gam ofpoliuc�l nghts,
the sans-aJottes had won little from the August revolution. The
new Commune, which had conducted the insurrection with
their active participation, was neither of their making nor �ade
.
in their image : although fewer lawyers and merchants sat In lt
than in the Communes of 1789 and 179 I. only one·third of ttl
. .
members were small shopkeepers, masters, or journeymen; and
the lawyers and journalists, although in a minori�, held the
leading posts.1 This, however, would be changed 10 the near
future. There were more immediately pressing problems, such
as work and food prices. In November the president of the
Popincourt Section in the Faubourg Saint·Antoine appealed to
the Convention to provide bread and work for 'la classe
nombreuse de citoyens ouvriers'.2 The rise in food prices, which
had caused the outbreak of February 1792, had slowed down in
the summer and autumn,] but it took another sharp upward
turn in the early months of 1 793: this time it was far more
drastic and covered a far wider range of consumers' goods than
�
in the previous spring. By February refined sugar ( 1 790 p ce:
24 sow) was selling at 47-60 sous; unrefined sugar ( 1 790 pnce:
12 sour) was selling at 40 sous; tallow candles ( 1 5 sous) at 18j-20
SOIlS; coffee (34 sow) at 40 sour; soap ( 1 2 suus) at 23-28 s�w. The
consequence Wa5 a popular outburst, far more extenslv� and
insistent than the sugar riots of the previous year, in which ail,
or nearly all, the Parisian Sections were involved and which,
perhaps more clearly than any other incident in the Revolu­
tion, marked the basic conflict of interests between the t1UIW
peupltand the possessing classes, including the extreme demo­
crats that spoke or applauded at the Jacobin Club, or sat with
the Mountain on the upper benches of the National Convention. 4
, F. BraetCh, L4 Communi du 10 oo� 17!}2, p. �67;J. M. ThomJ»On, TIN Fr.MA
I Tueley, op. cit., vol. viii, no. 39�.
• S. E. Harris, TIw AuigMu (Harvard Univ. P«:ss, 1930), p. [02.
R4ut>luliml, pp. 297-8.
in the archiva of the PrtrCClure de Polic<:, .ee G. Rudi!, 'La £meula da 2�,
, For a detailed account, mainly billCd on the police reports ofthe rari, ScctionJ
�6f �vricr 1793'. Ann.ltilt. Rh./rQItf., no. '30, 1953. pp. 3S-�7·
THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN
"5
There had been two deputations of women to the Conven­
� tion on Sunday, 23 February, one of which was composed of
laundresses, who complained of the price of soap; 1 and there
But the real outbreak began on the morning of the 25th; it took
the form of the mass invasion of grocers' and chandlers' shops
and the forcible reduction of prices to a level dictated by the
insurgents. Starting in the central, commercial, quarter-formed
by the Lombards, Gravilliers. and Marches Sectionsz-at 1 0
o'clock i n the morning, the movement spread with remarkable
speed to every part of the city.l From surviving police reports
we can follow its progress from Section to Section. First east­
wards : soon after 10, in Maison Commune (H6tel de Ville) ; at
midday, in Place des Federes (Place Royale) ; at 2 o'clock in
Arsenal; at 3, in Droits de I'Homme ; between 3 and 4, in
Quinzc Vingts ; at 4 o'clock, in Montreuil and I'Homme Arme
(Marais). Meanwhile, northwards, the movement reached Amis
de la Patrie at 2.30; and Bondy and Mont Blanc at 5 o'clock. In
the west it reached the Gardes Fran'1aises at 2.30, the Museum
(Louvre) at 4 o'clock, the Butte des Moulins (Palais Royal)
at 7, the Tuileries at 8, and Republique (Roule) at 10. From
the Tuileries it may have crossed the Pont National (the former
Pont Louis XVI) to the Left Bank; at any rate, there were
disturbances in the Fontaine de Grenelle Section between 8
and 9 that night. The next day there followed minor incidents in
a number of Sections, in which the market women ofthe centre
and laundresses of the rue de Bievre. in the Faubourg Saint­
Marcel, played a conspicuous part. But Santerre, who had
been away at Versailles on the 25th, mobilized the National
Guard at an early hour and soon succeeded in dispersing the
crowds and restoring law and order.
This time it was not only sugar that was aimed at, but a whole
, A. Mathiez La Vie de,. i II u "",u�
...1Itt7tf 1000i�I I(JIIS l� TmtlJT, pp. IU-6.
, Unforlunat;ly these 3 Seclions an:': among Ihc 30 for whom no """is._baliit
exilt for the period covering Ihe riOIll. Howew:r, Ihen: are lOme indications given
in the case of 14 oflhem in police and prison n:':gislel'3 and in the general reports of
, cr. an addr� pr�ented to Ihe National Conw:ntion by the Paris Commune
Ihe Bureau de Surveillanc," de la Police.
on 27 February 1793: 'r.., dbordre a klal� subilcment avec violence; i1 s'cst
eXlr�mitts de la vil!e leo propri�tts ont �t� vioUel' (Arch. Nat., C 247, no. 360,
prnpagoY avre la rapidil� de la foudn:; du centre ou il avait pris nai!L1ance aux
rol. 36).
... THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
instrument, the Revolutionary Government of the Year n,
only emerged after a further popular insuIT:ction in Septe� er.
Yet this alliance between the Mountain and the Panslan
sans.culottes which was to be so remarkable a feature of the
�zed �t�out . diffi.
' had been local disturbances, followed by arrests, on the morrow.
next phase of the Revolution, was not re
culty and without stress. Apart from the gam ofpoliuc�l nghts,
the sans-aJottes had won little from the August revolution. The
new Commune, which had conducted the insurrection with
their active participation, was neither of their making nor �ade
.
in their image : although fewer lawyers and merchants sat In lt
than in the Communes of 1789 and 179 I. only one·third of ttl
. .
members were small shopkeepers, masters, or journeymen; and
the lawyers and journalists, although in a minori�, held the
leading posts.1 This, however, would be changed 10 the near
future. There were more immediately pressing problems, such
as work and food prices. In November the president of the
Popincourt Section in the Faubourg Saint·Antoine appealed to
the Convention to provide bread and work for 'la classe
nombreuse de citoyens ouvriers'.2 The rise in food prices, which
had caused the outbreak of February 1792, had slowed down in
the summer and autumn,] but it took another sharp upward
turn in the early months of 1 793: this time it was far more
drastic and covered a far wider range of consumers' goods than
�
in the previous spring. By February refined sugar ( 1 790 p ce:
24 sow) was selling at 47-60 sous; unrefined sugar ( 1 790 pnce:
12 sour) was selling at 40 sous; tallow candles ( 1 5 sous) at 18j-20
SOIlS; coffee (34 sow) at 40 sour; soap ( 1 2 suus) at 23-28 s�w. The
consequence Wa5 a popular outburst, far more extenslv� and
insistent than the sugar riots of the previous year, in which ail,
or nearly all, the Parisian Sections were involved and which,
perhaps more clearly than any other incident in the Revolu­
tion, marked the basic conflict of interests between the t1UIW
peupltand the possessing classes, including the extreme demo­
crats that spoke or applauded at the Jacobin Club, or sat with
the Mountain on the upper benches of the National Convention. 4
, F. BraetCh, L4 Communi du 10 oo� 17!}2, p. �67;J. M. ThomJ»On, TIN Fr.MA
I Tueley, op. cit., vol. viii, no. 39�.
• S. E. Harris, TIw AuigMu (Harvard Univ. P«:ss, 1930), p. [02.
R4ut>luliml, pp. 297-8.
in the archiva of the PrtrCClure de Polic<:, .ee G. Rudi!, 'La £meula da 2�,
, For a detailed account, mainly billCd on the police reports ofthe rari, ScctionJ
�6f �vricr 1793'. Ann.ltilt. Rh./rQItf., no. '30, 1953. pp. 3S-�7·
THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN
"5
There had been two deputations of women to the Conven­
� tion on Sunday, 23 February, one of which was composed of
laundresses, who complained of the price of soap; 1 and there
But the real outbreak began on the morning of the 25th; it took
the form of the mass invasion of grocers' and chandlers' shops
and the forcible reduction of prices to a level dictated by the
insurgents. Starting in the central, commercial, quarter-formed
by the Lombards, Gravilliers. and Marches Sectionsz-at 1 0
o'clock i n the morning, the movement spread with remarkable
speed to every part of the city.l From surviving police reports
we can follow its progress from Section to Section. First east­
wards : soon after 10, in Maison Commune (H6tel de Ville) ; at
midday, in Place des Federes (Place Royale) ; at 2 o'clock in
Arsenal; at 3, in Droits de I'Homme ; between 3 and 4, in
Quinzc Vingts ; at 4 o'clock, in Montreuil and I'Homme Arme
(Marais). Meanwhile, northwards, the movement reached Amis
de la Patrie at 2.30; and Bondy and Mont Blanc at 5 o'clock. In
the west it reached the Gardes Fran'1aises at 2.30, the Museum
(Louvre) at 4 o'clock, the Butte des Moulins (Palais Royal)
at 7, the Tuileries at 8, and Republique (Roule) at 10. From
the Tuileries it may have crossed the Pont National (the former
Pont Louis XVI) to the Left Bank; at any rate, there were
disturbances in the Fontaine de Grenelle Section between 8
and 9 that night. The next day there followed minor incidents in
a number of Sections, in which the market women ofthe centre
and laundresses of the rue de Bievre. in the Faubourg Saint­
Marcel, played a conspicuous part. But Santerre, who had
been away at Versailles on the 25th, mobilized the National
Guard at an early hour and soon succeeded in dispersing the
crowds and restoring law and order.
This time it was not only sugar that was aimed at, but a whole
, A. Mathiez La Vie de,. i II u "",u�
...1Itt7tf 1000i�I I(JIIS l� TmtlJT, pp. IU-6.
, Unforlunat;ly these 3 Seclions an:': among Ihc 30 for whom no """is._baliit
exilt for the period covering Ihe riOIll. Howew:r, Ihen: are lOme indications given
in the case of 14 oflhem in police and prison n:':gislel'3 and in the general reports of
, cr. an addr� pr�ented to Ihe National Conw:ntion by the Paris Commune
Ihe Bureau de Surveillanc," de la Police.
on 27 February 1793: 'r.., dbordre a klal� subilcment avec violence; i1 s'cst
eXlr�mitts de la vil!e leo propri�tts ont �t� vioUel' (Arch. Nat., C 247, no. 360,
prnpagoY avre la rapidil� de la foudn:; du centre ou il avait pris nai!L1ance aux
rol. 36).
 N
THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN 117
THE REVOLUTIONA
RY CROWD IN ACTIO
onial products, as wecorll.dan This
. These riots had other remarkable features. Their main victims
number of other gr�a en'es and colthe
116

ark abl e con ce were, as one would expect, the big merchants and wholesalers,
was gene��; ��:t ';"h\: ;�es wererem fixed in one P",:T t afthe who were generally considered responsible for hoarding and
between t le aII f which suggests concerted actton. The forcing up prices. This probably explains why the movement
city a�d another- g �s most commonly demanded by the started in the Gravilliers and Lombards Sections, where there
followmg wererange the . bythem: sugar at2IB-SOILS; 25 was a concentration of such dealers. But as the riots spread
rioters and the ar pnc_es impILSose' dtallow
0 candles 1 at outwards, there appears to have been less discrimination shown,
SOILS; unrefined SUg;-
f a 12 SO lOU!. Ha d these amounts and the shops of small chandlers and grocers suffered with the
soap at 10-12 SOILS, dan� ��ff ee at do to rest. In the Quinze Vingts Section, for example, the police­
been strict�y adhereet���gw�i��o�wo Id ex eet the shopkelfepeofrsthe commissioner drew up a list of twenty-five grocers, of whom
hs or one -ha
have received sam i' goods' but th'-fl iS, . l'I·act was rarely the
m thirteen had incurred losses of some kind or another-in some
markel-vaIue 0r the . rng with the rioters cases amounting to only a few livrts.1 Another significant fact
•

case. There w�re .undoub that emcrged was that not only the very poor took part in what
•

;, :! � ;ota� ��ft� e-paTticularlY aJ

who saw a g onoUfSthop a . a1 Guard had� turned out (some was largely a spontaneous protest against high prices. There are
plenty of examples, quoted by witnesses, it is true, of wage­
only a small part ? . e��10 b�� riot) Besides, in the melee that
Guardsmen even Jom the best .lmtenu.0nsn' into the world, it was often earners and eity poor taking part in the disturbances: we hear
of butcher's boys, building workers, water-carriers, porters,
ensued, even withese to gODds tha lea ve the money and
e!lSier to hel� on If aym . Y. et we find a mehrch ant grocer market�women, cooks, and domestic servants playing con­
obtain a ree�lpt forrtiO � ent spicuous parts in various quarters of the city; and among the
of the rue SaiOt�Maeipts and presentmg the police wit following the forty-nine persons arrested as the result of the riots, twenty.
account of his rec losses: eight were wage-earners of one kind or another; the rest were
a 4 1,13 4 tivres small shopkeepers and artisans.1 Yet there is ample evidence to
Savoir, 420 \ivr es sucre 5
Cassonnade, 70 livr
es a 40 show that other shopkeepers-and even occasional bourgtois­
s.
'40
a 20 "9
Chandelle, 229 livr were quite willing to take advantage of the unhappy plight of
s.

Bleu a 28
cs s.
248 livres Blanc the grocers in order to send their cooks or servants, garrons or
s. 347 1. 8 5.
Savon,
1,850 1. 8 s. journeymen, along to mingle with the invading crowds and
Avoir comptant
754 1. 5 5•1- buy sugar, soap, candles, or coffee at prices highly favourable
. market value of to themselves.l
showing a rec eip t of nearIy two�fifthsr ofPiethe
rre Merville of the It is hard to determine how far the riots were the outcome of
Anoth�; �:o��;
the goods distribu.tedn,. wa he had received a concerted plan of action. The Municipal Council, theJacobin
that
Place .Royale Secho. n retusrna fore goods wpnce . d at , ,547 Ii.",.' Club, and the various parties in the Convention, who all
521 hurtS, 1 5 sous '. others receivt'.edr denounced them in most downright terms, while admitting that
But these Sbopkeepers ofwethere exceed·ngly lucofkythe
I

ir wares-lo �ardship had arisen from rising prices, sought to explain them
market value
I

a b�e :en�i�o�;�� Arcis Section, In terms of a 'hidden hand', counter-revolutionary intrigue, or

exa pl , whose receipts amounted
ls and Commard of
the Ibid., Aa ��O. fol,. �4o-l.
to 2,82.9 out f 2 6 2y6�aliur
,
lecl 1 , ljures, 4 , Th"r" s
i !'Vidence to '\I"""t that the number of arrats wat far gr at..., but
F,.ran�alSes, w �o o�l nag�d to coJ C' good s
1 58
cur ren tly tetltel�lCVant ..

.
asngnaIs w,appcd in a tea-to
wel, lor '! , d" Ville) must have disappeared in the fire of 1871.
documents (lik.. w m\leh oth... malmal in the form... ke.-ping of the

� We !'i.nd the .arne sort oflhing happening in the corn riots of 1775, when small
at 27,043 liures.l :en took advantag.. of th" laxnl;/Jff /JdIIulni., to buy wheat from the wn.\thi".
10

'I1ITS at wmelhing like two-fifths of the market price.

 N
THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN 117
THE REVOLUTIONA
RY CROWD IN ACTIO
onial products, as wecorll.dan This
. These riots had other remarkable features. Their main victims
number of other gr�a en'es and colthe
116

ark abl e con ce were, as one would expect, the big merchants and wholesalers,
was gene��; ��:t ';"h\: ;�es wererem fixed in one P",:T t afthe who were generally considered responsible for hoarding and
between t le aII f which suggests concerted actton. The forcing up prices. This probably explains why the movement
city a�d another- g �s most commonly demanded by the started in the Gravilliers and Lombards Sections, where there
followmg wererange the . bythem: sugar at2IB-SOILS; 25 was a concentration of such dealers. But as the riots spread
rioters and the ar pnc_es impILSose' dtallow
0 candles 1 at outwards, there appears to have been less discrimination shown,
SOILS; unrefined SUg;-
f a 12 SO lOU!. Ha d these amounts and the shops of small chandlers and grocers suffered with the
soap at 10-12 SOILS, dan� ��ff ee at do to rest. In the Quinze Vingts Section, for example, the police­
been strict�y adhereet���gw�i��o�wo Id ex eet the shopkelfepeofrsthe commissioner drew up a list of twenty-five grocers, of whom
hs or one -ha
have received sam i' goods' but th'-fl iS, . l'I·act was rarely the
m thirteen had incurred losses of some kind or another-in some
markel-vaIue 0r the . rng with the rioters cases amounting to only a few livrts.1 Another significant fact
•

case. There w�re .undoub that emcrged was that not only the very poor took part in what
•

;, :! � ;ota� ��ft� e-paTticularlY aJ

who saw a g onoUfSthop a . a1 Guard had� turned out (some was largely a spontaneous protest against high prices. There are
plenty of examples, quoted by witnesses, it is true, of wage­
only a small part ? . e��10 b�� riot) Besides, in the melee that
Guardsmen even Jom the best .lmtenu.0nsn' into the world, it was often earners and eity poor taking part in the disturbances: we hear
of butcher's boys, building workers, water-carriers, porters,
ensued, even withese to gODds tha lea ve the money and
e!lSier to hel� on If aym . Y. et we find a mehrch ant grocer market�women, cooks, and domestic servants playing con­
obtain a ree�lpt forrtiO � ent spicuous parts in various quarters of the city; and among the
of the rue SaiOt�Maeipts and presentmg the police wit following the forty-nine persons arrested as the result of the riots, twenty.
account of his rec losses: eight were wage-earners of one kind or another; the rest were
a 4 1,13 4 tivres small shopkeepers and artisans.1 Yet there is ample evidence to
Savoir, 420 \ivr es sucre 5
Cassonnade, 70 livr
es a 40 show that other shopkeepers-and even occasional bourgtois­
s.
'40
a 20 "9
Chandelle, 229 livr were quite willing to take advantage of the unhappy plight of
s.

Bleu a 28
cs s.
248 livres Blanc the grocers in order to send their cooks or servants, garrons or
s. 347 1. 8 5.
Savon,
1,850 1. 8 s. journeymen, along to mingle with the invading crowds and
Avoir comptant
754 1. 5 5•1- buy sugar, soap, candles, or coffee at prices highly favourable
. market value of to themselves.l
showing a rec eip t of nearIy two�fifthsr ofPiethe
rre Merville of the It is hard to determine how far the riots were the outcome of
Anoth�; �:o��;
the goods distribu.tedn,. wa he had received a concerted plan of action. The Municipal Council, theJacobin
that
Place .Royale Secho. n retusrna fore goods wpnce . d at , ,547 Ii.",.' Club, and the various parties in the Convention, who all
521 hurtS, 1 5 sous '. others receivt'.edr denounced them in most downright terms, while admitting that
But these Sbopkeepers ofwethere exceed·ngly lucofkythe
I

ir wares-lo �ardship had arisen from rising prices, sought to explain them
market value
I

a b�e :en�i�o�;�� Arcis Section, In terms of a 'hidden hand', counter-revolutionary intrigue, or

exa pl , whose receipts amounted
ls and Commard of
the Ibid., Aa ��O. fol,. �4o-l.
to 2,82.9 out f 2 6 2y6�aliur
,
lecl 1 , ljures, 4 , Th"r" s
i !'Vidence to '\I"""t that the number of arrats wat far gr at..., but
F,.ran�alSes, w �o o�l nag�d to coJ C' good s
1 58
cur ren tly tetltel�lCVant ..

.
asngnaIs w,appcd in a tea-to
wel, lor '! , d" Ville) must have disappeared in the fire of 1871.
documents (lik.. w m\leh oth... malmal in the form... ke.-ping of the

� We !'i.nd the .arne sort oflhing happening in the corn riots of 1775, when small
at 27,043 liures.l :en took advantag.. of th" laxnl;/Jff /JdIIulni., to buy wheat from the wn.\thi".
10

'I1ITS at wmelhing like two-fifths of the market price.

 IN ACTION THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN 119
NARY CROW D
invaded and most of its contenu pillaged b y angry women,
THE REVOLUTIO
ents. Barere, for
118 ,
litical oppon
•

of thelT
the machinations
�
darkly
. Mountain spoke In April and May there were reporu that market-women and
example, who ha D? t �
yet J l d the
O OC
in dis uise' , and, to g
'
others were preparing for a new prison massacre ; and, from
ent of aristocrats
UXUrv
'l article 'I
ous lOcltem
��
of 'the perfidi s as sugar this time on, Marat, the arch-advocate ofspeedy revolutionary
justice, becomes the hero of the mnw peupu. On
.l 'ISted that sueh
underline his polOt,.
not 1 lY 10 �to excite popul ar pas­ May a 2
and coffee were . themselves
, cupation when he added : deputation of 10,000
unarmed citizens of the Faubourg Saint­
sions', but he showed , .
societb ; car Ii ou Je ne
his malO pre«
. '
pnnCIpe5 d tautes les
Antoine paraded before the Convention and demanded that

N u li rn pas reconnais plus

d'ordre
des pfapfl tes, je ne �
les prices be controlled in the interesu of the small consumers ; and

vois point Ie respect

o
' b o
women from Ver.;ailles rioted in the Convention and refused
$OCial l • to leave the building,' It was against this background that the
attenUon
·

perhaps to draw Convention, with considerable reluctance, voted the .6r.;t law
the CommuDe '
The Mountain and recom mende d hangin g a
of the Maximum which controlled the price of bread and
whose �aper had
.
away from Marat, oorstep'• picked on Jacques
flour throughout the country.z
'� Section, whlch
n over thelT own d
Dumber 0f groce ·Ilie- ,
, as we
And now, as so often in the past, the party contending for
power began to turn this movement to its own advantage and
.
pnes t' of the G ra Vl
Roux, the 're d nces, as the malO
' disturba
' lined to share thi
,
startmg-po � I t of the
saw, had been a s view,'
h 0 rot't li
lez is, mc to guide it into channels that accorded with its own political
riots' Math
instiga tor f
t
� time that an upper interests. The struggle between Gironde and Mountain had
reached a point of open breach, and it is evident from the
had certam ly demanded for some ho w far
Roux s', but ,
the pn' ces of all co
nsume>'> ...,' good
b� � lac ed on imposs ible to
Section it is Girondin's attempt to incriminate Danton over the treachery of
Dumouriez and their subsequent arrest of Marat and his
bey?nd his own
hIS 10fluence spread evidence that he
played any
there IS no rea1
say ,' and anvway summons before the Revolutionary Tribunal tha.t, had the
ever.
" th'IS affair whatso
direct part 10 Bureau de Mountain not struck when the occasion arose, they would
The riots had no lIl �
, med'late esults .' a report of the
e of '27 ebrua :
insisted that the po leeof
themselves have fallen a victim to their opponenu.
Surveilla nc e de la po hc
leather, s
r;;
d s et remained
at the same
At fir.;t, however, it was not the Mountain or the Jacobin
sugar, cofree, oil,
, ore , t e Commu ���t� ne took
the A lb loaf at
the oppor.
t '2
'1"- .
Club, but the extreme revolutionary group of Enrages, whose
0
el as bef
,
'exorb itant lev ,
1
leader.; were Jean Varlet and Jacques Roux, that did the
tumty, on 4: March' .
to fix the pnce f
�
·

0
. s ite of the increase 1 running and tried to push the Paris Commune and Sections
at th leve , in
and maintamed It
0 w:ages, b
�
ubsidies to baker.;.4
Yet,
into a premature insurrection. Varlet's speeches on the Terrasse
consumer.;' goods and
police reports for
the commg we s
show the � authori
, ' e to come, anotlnel
ties
des Feuillants, within earshot of the Tuileries. drew great crowds
exp ct, for som e tIm of supporters ; but the attempt made by Varlet's insurrectional
to
Committee to stage a popular joumie on 10 March with the
tinued to fear an d �
outbreak of taxatio�
populalft.5
crept in to sloke up
the agitation. object of settling accounts with the Girondin leader.;, Roland
But soon other Issues , there
;-v hortag e of bread' and Brissot, and of introducing the death penalty for hoarders
as a temporary s
mid-Apn' l there Ho tel de Vi lle and and speculators, proved still-born: the resolute opposition of the
n s protest arch to the
:n
tal k of a wo me ore
the rue Saint-Hon Jacobin Club, the Commune, and the Faubourg Saint-Antoine
a baker s Shop in
Convention; and
.
doomed it to failure,' Yet the Enrages continued to have a
i I 789
AfClti.'Cs jl<JT/lmelllafeJ ; Mathia, op. cit., pp.
-1799 80 voll., Par
i$,
(ut senes, follOwing and there was talk, for several weeks to come, of the
. r. . I Ibid. (report. ror '5-16 April, 4 April, '4 May, .s-$ April, 2-3 May).
L

0
Arch. Nat., AF I Henceforth, the pnee
272-4.
lll la .ffrtU';' -1 9 n ; 9
V

• P. Caron Pans fnnda

• A,<=hi_ J-I#mt,toll!iru lxiv. s6-,57.
1470.
,
I
. f
7 5 ..; Chapt"r X below).
•
c� 10 be an wu�: ( I Lerebvn:, 01'. cit., p, 340,

l .pO rcpor or "

ntil l
h (C w\n�c� t
4 7, 18 March 1793)·
I Arch. Nat., t\F
 IN ACTION THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN 119
NARY CROW D
invaded and most of its contenu pillaged b y angry women,
THE REVOLUTIO
ents. Barere, for
118 ,
litical oppon
•

of thelT
the machinations
�
darkly
. Mountain spoke In April and May there were reporu that market-women and
example, who ha D? t �
yet J l d the
O OC
in dis uise' , and, to g
'
others were preparing for a new prison massacre ; and, from
ent of aristocrats
UXUrv
'l article 'I
ous lOcltem
��
of 'the perfidi s as sugar this time on, Marat, the arch-advocate ofspeedy revolutionary
justice, becomes the hero of the mnw peupu. On
.l 'ISted that sueh
underline his polOt,.
not 1 lY 10 �to excite popul ar pas­ May a 2
and coffee were . themselves
, cupation when he added : deputation of 10,000
unarmed citizens of the Faubourg Saint­
sions', but he showed , .
societb ; car Ii ou Je ne
his malO pre«
. '
pnnCIpe5 d tautes les
Antoine paraded before the Convention and demanded that

N u li rn pas reconnais plus

d'ordre
des pfapfl tes, je ne �
les prices be controlled in the interesu of the small consumers ; and

vois point Ie respect

o
' b o
women from Ver.;ailles rioted in the Convention and refused
$OCial l • to leave the building,' It was against this background that the
attenUon
·

perhaps to draw Convention, with considerable reluctance, voted the .6r.;t law
the CommuDe '
The Mountain and recom mende d hangin g a
of the Maximum which controlled the price of bread and
whose �aper had
.
away from Marat, oorstep'• picked on Jacques
flour throughout the country.z
'� Section, whlch
n over thelT own d
Dumber 0f groce ·Ilie- ,
, as we
And now, as so often in the past, the party contending for
power began to turn this movement to its own advantage and
.
pnes t' of the G ra Vl
Roux, the 're d nces, as the malO
' disturba
' lined to share thi
,
startmg-po � I t of the
saw, had been a s view,'
h 0 rot't li
lez is, mc to guide it into channels that accorded with its own political
riots' Math
instiga tor f
t
� time that an upper interests. The struggle between Gironde and Mountain had
reached a point of open breach, and it is evident from the
had certam ly demanded for some ho w far
Roux s', but ,
the pn' ces of all co
nsume>'> ...,' good
b� � lac ed on imposs ible to
Section it is Girondin's attempt to incriminate Danton over the treachery of
Dumouriez and their subsequent arrest of Marat and his
bey?nd his own
hIS 10fluence spread evidence that he
played any
there IS no rea1
say ,' and anvway summons before the Revolutionary Tribunal tha.t, had the
ever.
" th'IS affair whatso
direct part 10 Bureau de Mountain not struck when the occasion arose, they would
The riots had no lIl �
, med'late esults .' a report of the
e of '27 ebrua :
insisted that the po leeof
themselves have fallen a victim to their opponenu.
Surveilla nc e de la po hc
leather, s
r;;
d s et remained
at the same
At fir.;t, however, it was not the Mountain or the Jacobin
sugar, cofree, oil,
, ore , t e Commu ���t� ne took
the A lb loaf at
the oppor.
t '2
'1"- .
Club, but the extreme revolutionary group of Enrages, whose
0
el as bef
,
'exorb itant lev ,
1
leader.; were Jean Varlet and Jacques Roux, that did the
tumty, on 4: March' .
to fix the pnce f
�
·

0
. s ite of the increase 1 running and tried to push the Paris Commune and Sections
at th leve , in
and maintamed It
0 w:ages, b
�
ubsidies to baker.;.4
Yet,
into a premature insurrection. Varlet's speeches on the Terrasse
consumer.;' goods and
police reports for
the commg we s
show the � authori
, ' e to come, anotlnel
ties
des Feuillants, within earshot of the Tuileries. drew great crowds
exp ct, for som e tIm of supporters ; but the attempt made by Varlet's insurrectional
to
Committee to stage a popular joumie on 10 March with the
tinued to fear an d �
outbreak of taxatio�
populalft.5
crept in to sloke up
the agitation. object of settling accounts with the Girondin leader.;, Roland
But soon other Issues , there
;-v hortag e of bread' and Brissot, and of introducing the death penalty for hoarders
as a temporary s
mid-Apn' l there Ho tel de Vi lle and and speculators, proved still-born: the resolute opposition of the
n s protest arch to the
:n
tal k of a wo me ore
the rue Saint-Hon Jacobin Club, the Commune, and the Faubourg Saint-Antoine
a baker s Shop in
Convention; and
.
doomed it to failure,' Yet the Enrages continued to have a
i I 789
AfClti.'Cs jl<JT/lmelllafeJ ; Mathia, op. cit., pp.
-1799 80 voll., Par
i$,
(ut senes, follOwing and there was talk, for several weeks to come, of the
. r. . I Ibid. (report. ror '5-16 April, 4 April, '4 May, .s-$ April, 2-3 May).
L

0
Arch. Nat., AF I Henceforth, the pnee
272-4.
lll la .ffrtU';' -1 9 n ; 9
V

• P. Caron Pans fnnda

• A,<=hi_ J-I#mt,toll!iru lxiv. s6-,57.
1470.
,
I
. f
7 5 ..; Chapt"r X below).
•
c� 10 be an wu�: ( I Lerebvn:, 01'. cit., p, 340,

l .pO rcpor or "

ntil l
h (C w\n�c� t
4 7, 18 March 1793)·
I Arch. Nat., t\F
 THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN 121
thus formed that eventually erne d the Cen�ral R�olutionary
ACTION
NARY CROWD IN
THE REVOLUTIO
whole­
ction to purge the Convention committee which organized an��Irecte
120
need for a popular insurre ' d t e Panslan revolu-
of all essentials.' tion of 3 1 MaY-2 June. 1
sale and to control the prices leaders were in no immedi ate
While it is easy enough to folIow th: course of these prepara-
But the Mountain and Jacobin experie nce; while.
hurry. They had learneoppon d wisdom from past both willing and tions in the Sectional assembl'Ir' we ave far less knowledge of
ents, they were of how the Parisian mtlW!::P reacted. to these developments
unlike their Girondin movement to promote their political t�� orga �lzers to �raw them into
able to use the popular on of allowing its direction to pass into and what steps were lake
ends, they had no intenti Enrages or to Hebert, the editor of ;
active support. That this su r was orthcommg seems likely
other hands-either to the in the enough. They were as we ha� aIa:med a� theleveloffood
Pere Dw:hesne , whose influen ce was steadily increasing fea red prices, and dema�ds were al:::;y' bemg VOiced, sometimes
the the y
Cordeliers Club and thewould Paris Commune. Besides, purge of the with the Enrages as spokesme fi r 'he w r ntrol of the price and
entail too drastic a supply ofnot only bread and fl�u:' but 0 all essenbalcoDS . ut?ers'
that a premature rising would be powerless to resist the
Convention, whose Rumpsans-culo ttes; that it would be accom ­ gcods. While the Mountain had shown �o great enthusiasm
for such a programme the main OPp�slUon .
economic demands of the of prison massa cre s an d lea ve to it came, as
panied by a new outbreeak of the combined hostility of the pro­ all those who crowded the �Pper �n unes of the Assembly "
Paris isolated in the fac ear ly Ap ril they could see and hear for th._
.m the ........elves Irom the G'Ironde and Its
vinces .: So they pro cee de d wi th ca ution; bu t by
rt of supporters Convention Pn��es co�tmued to rise. and
.

re rea dy to for mu late the ir programme, win the suptpoon a police reports of April and M�y�e ;c� � e popular .view that
we (in which they could como un
the Sectional assemblies lea vem ent a purge of the Convention, as :C e y theJacoblDS, might
ship of the popular lead to more energetic measur� t deal with . hoarders and to
majority). and wrest the mider sts'. Accordingly. on 5 April, in the . t�ere are indications that
from either group of 'extre 's yo unger brother, Augu stin, pu blicly ensure supplies At the saffie brne
Z

Jacobin Club. Robespierrepresent the bar of the theJacobins

. . to drawand their affil,".,es were usmg theelubsand popular
themselves at
invited the Sections to forcer de mettre en arrestation les SOCieties in support from the men and women of the
Convention and 'nouS response was immediate: three days mtnu peuplt. Thus a police agent reports to the Minister of the
deputes infideJ.es'.l The Bon Consol Section called on the Interior on 1 3 May that
later, a deputation of the tice the best-known of the Girand;n Lo femmes perseverent dam Ie Jet �e de�ander la retraite des
.

Convention to bring to jus the 22 deputes Ues :�

Buzot, and others ; and. on par les hommes.J
. ,
. ; e mcm
ont espolr qu dies seront secondees

leaders-Vergniaud. Guadet, tion of the Halle au Ble oval from we nt on e

lOth, the neighbouring Sec . y, we hear that an ex-Jacobin bookb" der 0r the
•

rem on 29 Ma
wo deputies,.. whose
and,
better by naming twenty-t
10

for a Pantheon' dlstnct

the Assembly would both meet the popular demandtai n trollve scandaleux que I'on veuiUe sublItl'�uer aux bourgeois tow les
ion and assure the Mo un
purge of a discredited Convent ouvriers de I eglise Sainte-Genevieve, qu' 5e sont fo�es en clubs et
'
it. This now bec am e the slo gan
a working majority within apres I assemblee
'
y-J un e too k sha pe. Al­ reunissent en dehors et ,
de la sectiOn.4
ion of Ma .
se

around which the insurrect-fiv the forty-eight Sectio ed ns When It came to the pomt, the or�amzers .
of the Revolution
fOUnd, as we shall see, a more practIcal expedient for ensunng
.

ready, by mid-April, thirtyport;e of Paris Commune en,don

given their individual sup y, invthe , For a �hOlarlY, YCI Mlmewhat tendenciout account
the demands and, on 19 Maoperation ited the Sections to send bly Deviuc L4 946)' .pp. .�
' ,.
<:

th flJll ll (Parill, 1
P Sainte·C1air
'
, It was from the "",eon
.

......;,. N
, I«

, at., AFIV I470 (reporu for April-May) '' F' 3683', d011. 11•
missioners to discuss their Ibid.
- .
.

' A. Sc mldt, '

•

, �h. Nat., AF'v 147

0 (reports of 11- 16 March,
16 April). � TabU4W1 U 14 RilltllwionJrlll>f1liu (, �"., LciPZ�i,
" 1 - 1), i.
867 7
• Lefcbvre, op. cit., p. 333· • MOfIi� (rliw>J!r,), xvi.
330.

, Buche!: et Row<, op. cit. xxv. 294.

100·
 THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN 121
thus formed that eventually erne d the Cen�ral R�olutionary
ACTION
NARY CROWD IN
THE REVOLUTIO
whole­
ction to purge the Convention committee which organized an��Irecte
120
need for a popular insurre ' d t e Panslan revolu-
of all essentials.' tion of 3 1 MaY-2 June. 1
sale and to control the prices leaders were in no immedi ate
While it is easy enough to folIow th: course of these prepara-
But the Mountain and Jacobin experie nce; while.
hurry. They had learneoppon d wisdom from past both willing and tions in the Sectional assembl'Ir' we ave far less knowledge of
ents, they were of how the Parisian mtlW!::P reacted. to these developments
unlike their Girondin movement to promote their political t�� orga �lzers to �raw them into
able to use the popular on of allowing its direction to pass into and what steps were lake
ends, they had no intenti Enrages or to Hebert, the editor of ;
active support. That this su r was orthcommg seems likely
other hands-either to the in the enough. They were as we ha� aIa:med a� theleveloffood
Pere Dw:hesne , whose influen ce was steadily increasing fea red prices, and dema�ds were al:::;y' bemg VOiced, sometimes
the the y
Cordeliers Club and thewould Paris Commune. Besides, purge of the with the Enrages as spokesme fi r 'he w r ntrol of the price and
entail too drastic a supply ofnot only bread and fl�u:' but 0 all essenbalcoDS . ut?ers'
that a premature rising would be powerless to resist the
Convention, whose Rumpsans-culo ttes; that it would be accom ­ gcods. While the Mountain had shown �o great enthusiasm
for such a programme the main OPp�slUon .
economic demands of the of prison massa cre s an d lea ve to it came, as
panied by a new outbreeak of the combined hostility of the pro­ all those who crowded the �Pper �n unes of the Assembly "
Paris isolated in the fac ear ly Ap ril they could see and hear for th._
.m the ........elves Irom the G'Ironde and Its
vinces .: So they pro cee de d wi th ca ution; bu t by
rt of supporters Convention Pn��es co�tmued to rise. and
.

re rea dy to for mu late the ir programme, win the suptpoon a police reports of April and M�y�e ;c� � e popular .view that
we (in which they could como un
the Sectional assemblies lea vem ent a purge of the Convention, as :C e y theJacoblDS, might
ship of the popular lead to more energetic measur� t deal with . hoarders and to
majority). and wrest the mider sts'. Accordingly. on 5 April, in the . t�ere are indications that
from either group of 'extre 's yo unger brother, Augu stin, pu blicly ensure supplies At the saffie brne
Z

Jacobin Club. Robespierrepresent the bar of the theJacobins

. . to drawand their affil,".,es were usmg theelubsand popular
themselves at
invited the Sections to forcer de mettre en arrestation les SOCieties in support from the men and women of the
Convention and 'nouS response was immediate: three days mtnu peuplt. Thus a police agent reports to the Minister of the
deputes infideJ.es'.l The Bon Consol Section called on the Interior on 1 3 May that
later, a deputation of the tice the best-known of the Girand;n Lo femmes perseverent dam Ie Jet �e de�ander la retraite des
.

Convention to bring to jus the 22 deputes Ues :�

Buzot, and others ; and. on par les hommes.J
. ,
. ; e mcm
ont espolr qu dies seront secondees

leaders-Vergniaud. Guadet, tion of the Halle au Ble oval from we nt on e

lOth, the neighbouring Sec . y, we hear that an ex-Jacobin bookb" der 0r the
•

rem on 29 Ma
wo deputies,.. whose
and,
better by naming twenty-t
10

for a Pantheon' dlstnct

the Assembly would both meet the popular demandtai n trollve scandaleux que I'on veuiUe sublItl'�uer aux bourgeois tow les
ion and assure the Mo un
purge of a discredited Convent ouvriers de I eglise Sainte-Genevieve, qu' 5e sont fo�es en clubs et
'
it. This now bec am e the slo gan
a working majority within apres I assemblee
'
y-J un e too k sha pe. Al­ reunissent en dehors et ,
de la sectiOn.4
ion of Ma .
se

around which the insurrect-fiv the forty-eight Sectio ed ns When It came to the pomt, the or�amzers .
of the Revolution
fOUnd, as we shall see, a more practIcal expedient for ensunng
.

ready, by mid-April, thirtyport;e of Paris Commune en,don

given their individual sup y, invthe , For a �hOlarlY, YCI Mlmewhat tendenciout account
the demands and, on 19 Maoperation ited the Sections to send bly Deviuc L4 946)' .pp. .�
' ,.
<:

th flJll ll (Parill, 1
P Sainte·C1air
'
, It was from the "",eon
.

......;,. N
, I«

, at., AFIV I470 (reporu for April-May) '' F' 3683', d011. 11•
missioners to discuss their Ibid.
- .
.

' A. Sc mldt, '

•

, �h. Nat., AF'v 147

0 (reports of 11- 16 March,
16 April). � TabU4W1 U 14 RilltllwionJrlll>f1liu (, �"., LciPZ�i,
" 1 - 1), i.
867 7
• Lefcbvre, op. cit., p. 333· • MOfIi� (rliw>J!r,), xvi.
330.

, Buche!: et Row<, op. cit. xxv. 294.

100·
 THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN f23
RY CROWD IN
AC TIO N

or elt. her Damqueurs

. or ofdead and wou d t0 ulde . us. We do,
raw oftheir armed
NA
THE RE VO LU TIO

no defection from the

122

that there should be however, get a certain impression ot;:,� t!

supporters owing me to anxiety over timenolospar
re and played
t from work; yet thist­
t at aU in stimula ��J:!����f the fo�nesfispecially enrolled an� :::�oe�y���
was a last-minute theasueve t o e t �d �orresp ndence
lf.
ing support before insurrectntionitsedev ped more or less accgon ord. ofthe Sections������ C��:�:e �� ���� a ety ofthe P�ris u
Meanwhile the tral Revolutioelo itte e had e Department;' this relates to the claim a or compensatlon
IC

ing to plan. The Cen nary Co mm on behalf of those who had lost wor: :y �:: u!:' ar�ns. We
into permanent sessrep ion on 29 May; the nex t nig ht the Co mm une
learn, for example, that, ofthirt e S ctlons . ngputtIng In f?r a
ented on it, and HaNa nriot, a former
became officia givres
lly
command of the tion tional Guard. total claim of 114,291 livm : �-::.� o/another two Sectlons
customs clerk, wass decenidethe d to raise in the Secd at sthea rev olu­ separately listed,l the following' were able to muster the k"rgest
In addition it wa 20,000 san lottlS to be pai
rat e of contingents of sans-tulOllts:
tionary militia ofspent unders-cuarm On the 31 S t the tocs in
40 SOIlS per day and the barriJress,l we sed -t he cer tain Montreuil . 2,946 Montmartre IA38
pealed at 3 a.m., nts. But it was a workirengcloday (Friday) and, Quinze Vingts 2,039
Croix Rouge 1,458
Bon Corueil
Invalides .
1,400
1,358
prelude to great eveen and workers responded. Consequently, Gravilliers . 1,457 Popincourt 970
as yet, few craftsm nd itself under compar atively little externaJg
the Convention fou e to win tiJ;lel. and sav e its face by passinof In fact once again the Fa bo S ' i t
pressure and was abl ition to its new RemevoldutiCoona
ly for mmittee n::ly �� apPslic�n� ouUt�fa�:t�������I!So:er �:,!:�
on the inevitable apetrep ort. The Central pace: on rySunCoday m� :�\�e F urg atnt-Marcel-wtth 907 cIalrnants · from
•

Public Safety for decide ce the , the Observatoire and 660 from Finiste ems to have played
mittee, however,rounded dthetoTufor ies with loyal bat tali oM a smaller part. Yet the point t o � e presse� too far: there
2 June, they sur , supported iler by additional detachoic ments are considerable gaps in the�wr;es,�.. nd. whtle they are a
the National Guard es, after attemptied ng an her rough guide to the number 0 sans-cu�ottn enrolled by the
sans-culottes. The deputi der ignominiously Sections making claims we h��; no means of knowing what
and finding everydem exit blocke d, sur ren proportion they formed'of the al nurnbers under arms.
ands. Twenty-nine dep uties and
the insurgents' jority party were pla about foohou
ced und er se anres·C' But, wh·le we may be reasonablY certam ' tha.t the numbers
ministers of the mag said, for d prices, herelisted areofsans-culottes_though not necessanly as members
\
moment,
I

There was nothin achievedthe mediate aims. .

the Mountain hade of the Basitstillim e of the T g;��� .' This was the new name iven to the former Central Revolutiona.ry Com-

Like the captur Girondin deputiesthewasieg

e and �it .

s a largely � :: m'ltee, purged of Varlet and auoaatet, after the uprising.

• Areh. Nat.' DB' 80' d0lIl· 7·
the expulsion of the out by organized mil itary for ma tions. In ,u.cl .

operation, carrie,dwe
• The Bon Consetl Section claimed in a ..:parate note, to have had 1,400 men

ain a pic
not hope to obt s case, are there tur e of d'
under anna on 2 June (Areh Nat BB: 80 d0lIl. 1 1 ) ; whi l e Bonne Nouvelle, which

cases, of course policecan had requisitioned on behalf of iu'�r�rt1 armes, 490 4·lb. loava from II baken
'

insurgents from records;l nor, in thi �. 1 June and 213 loaves from
(��cd
ln bak
that it had returned : list
��� 2�un��.
e
Pr��. Po!., AI. 71. fa!. 4�),
mmmtt ad, p�mably, 1011
dca. 1 6. c . Nat., BB80, dOlll. 7). Montreu'l
, Arch. Nat., BB' 50,
te-CIa.iff; Deville, op.
cit., pp.
• Ldebvu, op. cit., pp. 34HZ; Sain look-out for women anned·w;<hkn ;� · . 1 had gone one better in the provision orfood
)
for iu 'volontaires indigenu" on 2 une we find tho
r
. .

" j lb. 0r sausage, 30 lb. of (heac' &c., to a total value of 542 livru, e sow (Arch.
Ill. ralllng :i6 4·lb. loaves,
ho�vcr, on the p '

Pol., Aa 173, fob. 92 93) .

• The police were,
ccted, wen: lying in wai
t to ambush \lIlIUJpcct
ing
had been
�r. -
pistols who, it wu IUJp
of the Right--encourag
ed, it was IUPposed, by the agitation that
Rtvolutionnairet. So muc
h Thus, apart from the
See o giva a return for only 2�
l:i
Sc I'
::;
nd' g no re
I��: m turn.J
.
at al\, the Panth�n
e'. Soci�u des Femmet 3 mpan;es and Mustum admits to
i only a partial return (ArC . N� p _ � � � , w _
on by Claire Lacomb on 31 May � ",
from the cTOSloCXami
nati an or twa wor king
other on 2 June outs
women-one arretted
ide the Tuileriet (Arc
h. Plif. �"
h ng sent n : Cl)

the Jacobin Club, the

Aa 90, fols. 562-3; 1 38,
fo! 476)·
'
 THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN f23
RY CROWD IN
AC TIO N

or elt. her Damqueurs

. or ofdead and wou d t0 ulde . us. We do,
raw oftheir armed
NA
THE RE VO LU TIO

no defection from the

122

that there should be however, get a certain impression ot;:,� t!

supporters owing me to anxiety over timenolospar
re and played
t from work; yet thist­
t at aU in stimula ��J:!����f the fo�nesfispecially enrolled an� :::�oe�y���
was a last-minute theasueve t o e t �d �orresp ndence
lf.
ing support before insurrectntionitsedev ped more or less accgon ord. ofthe Sections������ C��:�:e �� ���� a ety ofthe P�ris u
Meanwhile the tral Revolutioelo itte e had e Department;' this relates to the claim a or compensatlon
IC

ing to plan. The Cen nary Co mm on behalf of those who had lost wor: :y �:: u!:' ar�ns. We
into permanent sessrep ion on 29 May; the nex t nig ht the Co mm une
learn, for example, that, ofthirt e S ctlons . ngputtIng In f?r a
ented on it, and HaNa nriot, a former
became officia givres
lly
command of the tion tional Guard. total claim of 114,291 livm : �-::.� o/another two Sectlons
customs clerk, wass decenidethe d to raise in the Secd at sthea rev olu­ separately listed,l the following' were able to muster the k"rgest
In addition it wa 20,000 san lottlS to be pai
rat e of contingents of sans-tulOllts:
tionary militia ofspent unders-cuarm On the 31 S t the tocs in
40 SOIlS per day and the barriJress,l we sed -t he cer tain Montreuil . 2,946 Montmartre IA38
pealed at 3 a.m., nts. But it was a workirengcloday (Friday) and, Quinze Vingts 2,039
Croix Rouge 1,458
Bon Corueil
Invalides .
1,400
1,358
prelude to great eveen and workers responded. Consequently, Gravilliers . 1,457 Popincourt 970
as yet, few craftsm nd itself under compar atively little externaJg
the Convention fou e to win tiJ;lel. and sav e its face by passinof In fact once again the Fa bo S ' i t
pressure and was abl ition to its new RemevoldutiCoona
ly for mmittee n::ly �� apPslic�n� ouUt�fa�:t�������I!So:er �:,!:�
on the inevitable apetrep ort. The Central pace: on rySunCoday m� :�\�e F urg atnt-Marcel-wtth 907 cIalrnants · from
•

Public Safety for decide ce the , the Observatoire and 660 from Finiste ems to have played
mittee, however,rounded dthetoTufor ies with loyal bat tali oM a smaller part. Yet the point t o � e presse� too far: there
2 June, they sur , supported iler by additional detachoic ments are considerable gaps in the�wr;es,�.. nd. whtle they are a
the National Guard es, after attemptied ng an her rough guide to the number 0 sans-cu�ottn enrolled by the
sans-culottes. The deputi der ignominiously Sections making claims we h��; no means of knowing what
and finding everydem exit blocke d, sur ren proportion they formed'of the al nurnbers under arms.
ands. Twenty-nine dep uties and
the insurgents' jority party were pla about foohou
ced und er se anres·C' But, wh·le we may be reasonablY certam ' tha.t the numbers
ministers of the mag said, for d prices, herelisted areofsans-culottes_though not necessanly as members
\
moment,
I

There was nothin achievedthe mediate aims. .

the Mountain hade of the Basitstillim e of the T g;��� .' This was the new name iven to the former Central Revolutiona.ry Com-

Like the captur Girondin deputiesthewasieg

e and �it .

s a largely � :: m'ltee, purged of Varlet and auoaatet, after the uprising.

• Areh. Nat.' DB' 80' d0lIl· 7·
the expulsion of the out by organized mil itary for ma tions. In ,u.cl .

operation, carrie,dwe
• The Bon Consetl Section claimed in a ..:parate note, to have had 1,400 men

ain a pic
not hope to obt s case, are there tur e of d'
under anna on 2 June (Areh Nat BB: 80 d0lIl. 1 1 ) ; whi l e Bonne Nouvelle, which

cases, of course policecan had requisitioned on behalf of iu'�r�rt1 armes, 490 4·lb. loava from II baken
'

insurgents from records;l nor, in thi �. 1 June and 213 loaves from
(��cd
ln bak
that it had returned : list
��� 2�un��.
e
Pr��. Po!., AI. 71. fa!. 4�),
mmmtt ad, p�mably, 1011
dca. 1 6. c . Nat., BB80, dOlll. 7). Montreu'l
, Arch. Nat., BB' 50,
te-CIa.iff; Deville, op.
cit., pp.
• Ldebvu, op. cit., pp. 34HZ; Sain look-out for women anned·w;<hkn ;� · . 1 had gone one better in the provision orfood
)
for iu 'volontaires indigenu" on 2 une we find tho
r
. .

" j lb. 0r sausage, 30 lb. of (heac' &c., to a total value of 542 livru, e sow (Arch.
Ill. ralllng :i6 4·lb. loaves,
ho�vcr, on the p '

Pol., Aa 173, fob. 92 93) .

• The police were,
ccted, wen: lying in wai
t to ambush \lIlIUJpcct
ing
had been
�r. -
pistols who, it wu IUJp
of the Right--encourag
ed, it was IUPposed, by the agitation that
Rtvolutionnairet. So muc
h Thus, apart from the
See o giva a return for only 2�
l:i
Sc I'
::;
nd' g no re
I��: m turn.J
.
at al\, the Panth�n
e'. Soci�u des Femmet 3 mpan;es and Mustum admits to
i only a partial return (ArC . N� p _ � � � , w _
on by Claire Lacomb on 31 May � ",
from the cTOSloCXami
nati an or twa wor king
other on 2 June outs
women-one arretted
ide the Tuileriet (Arc
h. Plif. �"
h ng sent n : Cl)

the Jacobin Club, the

Aa 90, fols. 562-3; 1 38,
fo! 476)·
'
 TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN 12S
IN ACTION
THE
ARY CROWD
III.
TION
TH E REVOLU
le to distin­ the Invalides Section I-and even whole companies without
mations-it is not possib
of separate sans.cuioltes for ers and city discrimination. I
•

ymen or the wage-earn .

guish masters from journe cra ftsm en. In a Meanwhile the problems of Ii00d nd poces remained. The
and independent �
poor from the shopkeepers : am on g thi rte en revolution ofMay-June ha.d done ot ing to solve them and the
distinction appears c an� downward spiral of the
few cases, it is true, the Neuf Section, am on g cra fts me n upward movement of
can ts listed by the Po nt nt; .
assignal went on all bef!.� �h.e llSSIgnat, having fallen to 36
appli assista
tobacco-worker and a shop
and shopkeepers we find a pa ny of the Invalides per cent. of its nominal v�lU In June, slumped further to 22
of the 5th com per cent. in August 1 Wh'leI \
and we read of a farmer anging a t e wages of skilled journeymen
ation for a Parisian!) arr
Section (an unusual occup tw o farm­ may have doubled SiOce
: the early days of the RevoIUti·on, the
r arms for himself and his
rota of attendances unde the Unite prices of food and other es nt. aIs ten��d to outstrip them-at a
litary force mustered by pace that became increa:i.:gty preCIpitOUS between June and
hands.1 Again, in the mi r nu mb er of
must have been a fai
Section, at least, there Ma y to close September• as the t;011OWIng comparative figures will show:
ided at dawn on 3
journeymen, as it was dec their
1
' to rep ort to
er 'tous les ouvriers -
every workshop and to ord , inc lud ed sm all em­ -
t this, of course '7!P
respective companies ; bu ple.1 '791 '791
J- J-

Wine (litre)
Comntodity
ployers as well as workpeo m these
ught it possible to show fro
101. 16 • 201.

Yet Henri Calvet has tho citizens ".

letarians among the armed
Meat (lb.) 1 2 I. 19' ·
.

'. .
figures the proportion of pro
BUller (lb.)
the ump­
26. ,. 35"
ass
His argument is based on 5° '·
of the various Sections)
2 1 I. 27' •.
lost were 1 0 1.
1
Egg! (25) .

for compensation for wo rk Sugar (lb.) 24'. 100 •.

.. .. 9G'"IOO I.
tion that the applicants Un do ubtedly ,..
Coffee (lb.) .
refore, proletarians. 4. '.
0 .. ..
necesas rily needy and, the
Tallow candia (lb.) 15"
ttin g the scheme ".
Committee, in pu
the Central Revolutionary intended that the 40 SOUl a day
Soap (lb.) . 23-28 •. 701.'

d
before the Convention, ha erwise
be pa id on ly to tho se whose attendance would oth What these figures do not reveal are the sudden fluctuations in
sho uld newly
Commune, in asking the price that roused suddcn t neou outbursts of anger. A
entail hardship;. and the draw up bare week after the June r:� �� �
mmittees of the Sections to �
0 u on t ere was further talk of
formed Revolutionary Co re in need
uld be only of such as we a general assault on gro ers an butchers. A few days later
lists, stresscd that they sho e Sections acted strictly according .::.
queues began to form ag n a�b kers' shops ; and even police
of assistance.s Yet, while som ons,' others-for a variety of agents spoke of the need t� cur . �e greed of the wealthy shop­
tructi
to the letter of these ins urning
erwise; and we find them ret keepers and wholesaler s' q�e �ette c1asse en masse est
reasons-decidcd to do oth
•

dtoyens pm aisJs, or
s jou rna liers, la seule qui ait profite d� l:��a va \
l utlon .� T�ere were soap riots
not only DOlontaires indigents,
)'en
e of
dlo
ing far me r Gu err between 25 and 28 Jun " n one u h mCldent, on the 25th,
eep ers and em ployers-includ
bu t sho pk a crowd in the rue Sain� ·� zare �e�d p a lorry loaded with
fixed up a total of four
� �
atlendancc: hinuelf and ten crates of soap and sold Its contents 10 the street at 20 sous
allen­
, The farmer made one
duoca for hiJ twO
labourcft (ibid.).
1 Arch. Nat., p. 2507.
rol. 22.
"anent du 31 mai-I"-2juiJa ' Cf. returns or Panlh&wi. Pont Ncuf.• and MUJbJm Scctiom (A r
ch Nat P­
tion da sections aumou 52 .s+' BB doll
1
, H. Calvet, 'La Panicipa
793'. AJI.II ,hisl. Rio.friUOf
· " (t928). 366-9·
en de rake a la rtpu
ISW. foil.
tl �1,I'au�n �e " ,
;""
' 80 ��
c:.
,6. toUi
g o e t i t�in
�
�crordin t � . la� CT: 'quctowav en
ne paruapaJtnt i. ca sc.coun '
touS Ie qui n'on! piu Ie moy
blique Ie
, Haml, op. tiL, pp. 1
Iait
66-
rcce ront ¥IS.
• '� e ouv rien dOlI. 16).
v jou r', Nat.• BB' 50,
par
ecux qui IOltl sous la
(Arch.
�:v�lulion" Eam.
&e.
avoir C. Rud�, 'Prica W a d o lar Movementl in Par
laerifiee de leurs joun arma et qui pcuVi:nt � during the French
• 'Falta une lisle de tOUS Hi�l.
::-V., v� "i ��
3
ch. Nat., P' 2517. fol. s (Arch- ue wu one of ahOl'lagC and n0t 0', pncc.
. 19 , pp. 254-7· Wu h bread. of coune'
14)' , 5<1
besoln de seeours' (Ar
Arch. Nat., AF1V 1.70 (1tp01'tI for 7-10, 14. 16-17, 25, 2?-29June).
its de I'Homme Section i 'a
,

• cr. relurns or Halle au

Bit, Mont.reuil, Dro
7; p. 2497. fol. 29) ·
Nat., DBl 50, dos.s 5,
 TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN 12S
IN ACTION
THE
ARY CROWD
III.
TION
TH E REVOLU
le to distin­ the Invalides Section I-and even whole companies without
mations-it is not possib
of separate sans.cuioltes for ers and city discrimination. I
•

ymen or the wage-earn .

guish masters from journe cra ftsm en. In a Meanwhile the problems of Ii00d nd poces remained. The
and independent �
poor from the shopkeepers : am on g thi rte en revolution ofMay-June ha.d done ot ing to solve them and the
distinction appears c an� downward spiral of the
few cases, it is true, the Neuf Section, am on g cra fts me n upward movement of
can ts listed by the Po nt nt; .
assignal went on all bef!.� �h.e llSSIgnat, having fallen to 36
appli assista
tobacco-worker and a shop
and shopkeepers we find a pa ny of the Invalides per cent. of its nominal v�lU In June, slumped further to 22
of the 5th com per cent. in August 1 Wh'leI \
and we read of a farmer anging a t e wages of skilled journeymen
ation for a Parisian!) arr
Section (an unusual occup tw o farm­ may have doubled SiOce
: the early days of the RevoIUti·on, the
r arms for himself and his
rota of attendances unde the Unite prices of food and other es nt. aIs ten��d to outstrip them-at a
litary force mustered by pace that became increa:i.:gty preCIpitOUS between June and
hands.1 Again, in the mi r nu mb er of
must have been a fai
Section, at least, there Ma y to close September• as the t;011OWIng comparative figures will show:
ided at dawn on 3
journeymen, as it was dec their
1
' to rep ort to
er 'tous les ouvriers -
every workshop and to ord , inc lud ed sm all em­ -
t this, of course '7!P
respective companies ; bu ple.1 '791 '791
J- J-

Wine (litre)
Comntodity
ployers as well as workpeo m these
ught it possible to show fro
101. 16 • 201.

Yet Henri Calvet has tho citizens ".

letarians among the armed
Meat (lb.) 1 2 I. 19' ·
.

'. .
figures the proportion of pro
BUller (lb.)
the ump­
26. ,. 35"
ass
His argument is based on 5° '·
of the various Sections)
2 1 I. 27' •.
lost were 1 0 1.
1
Egg! (25) .

for compensation for wo rk Sugar (lb.) 24'. 100 •.

.. .. 9G'"IOO I.
tion that the applicants Un do ubtedly ,..
Coffee (lb.) .
refore, proletarians. 4. '.
0 .. ..
necesas rily needy and, the
Tallow candia (lb.) 15"
ttin g the scheme ".
Committee, in pu
the Central Revolutionary intended that the 40 SOUl a day
Soap (lb.) . 23-28 •. 701.'

d
before the Convention, ha erwise
be pa id on ly to tho se whose attendance would oth What these figures do not reveal are the sudden fluctuations in
sho uld newly
Commune, in asking the price that roused suddcn t neou outbursts of anger. A
entail hardship;. and the draw up bare week after the June r:� �� �
mmittees of the Sections to �
0 u on t ere was further talk of
formed Revolutionary Co re in need
uld be only of such as we a general assault on gro ers an butchers. A few days later
lists, stresscd that they sho e Sections acted strictly according .::.
queues began to form ag n a�b kers' shops ; and even police
of assistance.s Yet, while som ons,' others-for a variety of agents spoke of the need t� cur . �e greed of the wealthy shop­
tructi
to the letter of these ins urning
erwise; and we find them ret keepers and wholesaler s' q�e �ette c1asse en masse est
reasons-decidcd to do oth
•

dtoyens pm aisJs, or
s jou rna liers, la seule qui ait profite d� l:��a va \
l utlon .� T�ere were soap riots
not only DOlontaires indigents,
)'en
e of
dlo
ing far me r Gu err between 25 and 28 Jun " n one u h mCldent, on the 25th,
eep ers and em ployers-includ
bu t sho pk a crowd in the rue Sain� ·� zare �e�d p a lorry loaded with
fixed up a total of four
� �
atlendancc: hinuelf and ten crates of soap and sold Its contents 10 the street at 20 sous
allen­
, The farmer made one
duoca for hiJ twO
labourcft (ibid.).
1 Arch. Nat., p. 2507.
rol. 22.
"anent du 31 mai-I"-2juiJa ' Cf. returns or Panlh&wi. Pont Ncuf.• and MUJbJm Scctiom (A r
ch Nat P­
tion da sections aumou 52 .s+' BB doll
1
, H. Calvet, 'La Panicipa
793'. AJI.II ,hisl. Rio.friUOf
· " (t928). 366-9·
en de rake a la rtpu
ISW. foil.
tl �1,I'au�n �e " ,
;""
' 80 ��
c:.
,6. toUi
g o e t i t�in
�
�crordin t � . la� CT: 'quctowav en
ne paruapaJtnt i. ca sc.coun '
touS Ie qui n'on! piu Ie moy
blique Ie
, Haml, op. tiL, pp. 1
Iait
66-
rcce ront ¥IS.
• '� e ouv rien dOlI. 16).
v jou r', Nat.• BB' 50,
par
ecux qui IOltl sous la
(Arch.
�:v�lulion" Eam.
&e.
avoir C. Rud�, 'Prica W a d o lar Movementl in Par
laerifiee de leurs joun arma et qui pcuVi:nt � during the French
• 'Falta une lisle de tOUS Hi�l.
::-V., v� "i ��
3
ch. Nat., P' 2517. fol. s (Arch- ue wu one of ahOl'lagC and n0t 0', pncc.
. 19 , pp. 254-7· Wu h bread. of coune'
14)' , 5<1
besoln de seeours' (Ar
Arch. Nat., AF1V 1.70 (1tp01'tI for 7-10, 14. 16-17, 25, 2?-29June).
its de I'Homme Section i 'a
,

• cr. relurns or Halle au

Bit, Mont.reuil, Dro
7; p. 2497. fol. 29) ·
Nat., DBl 50, dos.s 5,
 THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN 121
RY CROWD IN
AC TIO N
.
In the flood ofrhet?nc that accompanied the demonstration
NA
TH E REVOLUTIO
126
by, powerless to intervene" Th e
a pound, while the police stood Convention on the 5th th ri d sup lie.s, though they
�Iy a ptal.ion
same day, Jacques Roux waswh
n
howled down in the
ich he was presenting on behalf
had been the �ri���:e i�
were once more convenientl fi
�� � e � on the 4th,
for accompanying a petitio acks on the Mountain for failing Y�t Important decisions
of the Cordelien Club with attofbread continued, after a lull in were taken: Sections were t:�:!����. .y tWIce a week, but needy
to feed the poor. The shortage tember: among various persons sans-culottes were to be com ens�ted . �h tO sous perattendance;
wI
July, during August and Sep months for disorderly behaviour suspects were to be rounded �n t e l�ng-delayed annie
arrested in the course of theseand small shopkeepen taken into ,ilJ(}[utionnaire was set on foot' Ph' , as a� .Instrument of the
��
we find several wage-earners nal Guard or for creating distur­ Terror, was to ensure the ad:q te proVlSlo� of supplies of
custody for abusing the Natio grain and meat to Paris Ii h e g�bou nn� .countrys�de.
b �':m��e: .!an.
bances in baken' shops.' on' of 4 and 5 September, � et th e imme di ate pro lem the �slS and aglta­
There followed the 'insurrectik under its wing to further its
hon continued unabated.. At last' h.avmg tned or debated
which the Paris Commune tooat 5 o'clock in the morning in every other expedient th Conven o� yielded to popular
own political plans.' It began districts, north of the Hotel de pressure and, on 29 Se�te�ber' ��e� e famous . law of the
the Temple and Saint-Avoiefetched out from workshops and Maximum Gen .t.ral, Wh"ICh put a lilJUt. on th.e pnces of a large
Ville, where worken were another demonstration seems to range of essential goods and sel"Vlces,' !Deluding labour.:
c.

building sites. Meanwhile ards, near the Ministry of War, The new problems th reate� �ere of the future. For the
�
have started on the boulevbert's lieutenants, had his offices. moment shopkeepers m'.:t ' an Journey�en welcomed the
where Vincent, one of He traton advanced on the Place de Maximum, their ow� creatio "n, WI. th enthuSIasm
. ' . Le peupIe',
Calling for bread, the demoru s, Hebert and Chaumette, tried wrote an agent of the Ministry of the Intenor, a ret;u avec
'

Greve.4 The Commune's leader display of oratory; but it was

transport les d�crets de la Conv. Na� sur la taxe des denrees
at first to fob them off with a, that they should reassemble the de premiere necessi[� 'J I e o �ugur -:vell for the alliance
agreed, on Hebert's suggestionorder to march to the Convention of Jacobins and sans'-culo�:; :�!�' P� at least, was the
next morning at I I o'clock in against hoarders and political foundation on which emerged the Revolubonary Government
10

to demand severe measurespromised to join in. The same of the Year II.
suspects; the Jacobins also ered workshops to close on the
evening the Commune ord journeymen might attend the
• See Nationd Guard and police .gen�' r.eports for September: Arch. Nit.,
AFlv 1 �10; F" 3688' dOSl , . Ca.ro , op. c
-
) Caron, op. cit. i. 210.
,t.I . !j6 210.
morrow, so that masters andwe should therefore be tempted .... )', xvu.
"T" 11,5...... .
_
; .: ' c: n
' MotlikllT (rl
demonstration. But, in case erin, that the 'insurrection' of
to consider, with Daniel Gurking-class affair,s we should note
4 September was a largely wo Commune gave instructions that
that, at the same sessio
n, the g
a military for ce sho uld be mustered to disperse buildin ges !'
g for bread and higher wa
workers who were demonstratin
fob. 329-30. See abo Mathia
2�'
, Arcb. Prtf. Pol., Aa 226,
, op. cit., pp.

• Arch. Prtr. Pol.,

de la FOI'Cf:) , pp. 361-7.5.
'LeI Ouvriers auxjoum�
Ab 3�7 (rqi ltre da
• Mathia, op. cit.,pp. 322 fr.; E. Sorr;a.u,
,5 scptembre 1793', Anti. /lUI. Rlu·ft
at b.alr.en
9
anf· ,uv ( 1 37), 436-47
' thop s during
.
the day (Arcb. }'rtf.
There were varioIU arrats
All 39, fol. 13�; 139, .. (2 vob., Pam 1
fol. g6; 208, fol. 143)'
iii dasus lUlU ltI � RlprJ,liq
•
, 946), i. 13°·
1.. Lvl"
• M___ (m.;r.), mi.
.57�·
• D. Gutrin,
 THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN 121
RY CROWD IN
AC TIO N
.
In the flood ofrhet?nc that accompanied the demonstration
NA
TH E REVOLUTIO
126
by, powerless to intervene" Th e
a pound, while the police stood Convention on the 5th th ri d sup lie.s, though they
�Iy a ptal.ion
same day, Jacques Roux waswh
n
howled down in the
ich he was presenting on behalf
had been the �ri���:e i�
were once more convenientl fi
�� � e � on the 4th,
for accompanying a petitio acks on the Mountain for failing Y�t Important decisions
of the Cordelien Club with attofbread continued, after a lull in were taken: Sections were t:�:!����. .y tWIce a week, but needy
to feed the poor. The shortage tember: among various persons sans-culottes were to be com ens�ted . �h tO sous perattendance;
wI
July, during August and Sep months for disorderly behaviour suspects were to be rounded �n t e l�ng-delayed annie
arrested in the course of theseand small shopkeepen taken into ,ilJ(}[utionnaire was set on foot' Ph' , as a� .Instrument of the
��
we find several wage-earners nal Guard or for creating distur­ Terror, was to ensure the ad:q te proVlSlo� of supplies of
custody for abusing the Natio grain and meat to Paris Ii h e g�bou nn� .countrys�de.
b �':m��e: .!an.
bances in baken' shops.' on' of 4 and 5 September, � et th e imme di ate pro lem the �slS and aglta­
There followed the 'insurrectik under its wing to further its
hon continued unabated.. At last' h.avmg tned or debated
which the Paris Commune tooat 5 o'clock in the morning in every other expedient th Conven o� yielded to popular
own political plans.' It began districts, north of the Hotel de pressure and, on 29 Se�te�ber' ��e� e famous . law of the
the Temple and Saint-Avoiefetched out from workshops and Maximum Gen .t.ral, Wh"ICh put a lilJUt. on th.e pnces of a large
Ville, where worken were another demonstration seems to range of essential goods and sel"Vlces,' !Deluding labour.:
c.

building sites. Meanwhile ards, near the Ministry of War, The new problems th reate� �ere of the future. For the
�
have started on the boulevbert's lieutenants, had his offices. moment shopkeepers m'.:t ' an Journey�en welcomed the
where Vincent, one of He traton advanced on the Place de Maximum, their ow� creatio "n, WI. th enthuSIasm
. ' . Le peupIe',
Calling for bread, the demoru s, Hebert and Chaumette, tried wrote an agent of the Ministry of the Intenor, a ret;u avec
'

Greve.4 The Commune's leader display of oratory; but it was

transport les d�crets de la Conv. Na� sur la taxe des denrees
at first to fob them off with a, that they should reassemble the de premiere necessi[� 'J I e o �ugur -:vell for the alliance
agreed, on Hebert's suggestionorder to march to the Convention of Jacobins and sans'-culo�:; :�!�' P� at least, was the
next morning at I I o'clock in against hoarders and political foundation on which emerged the Revolubonary Government
10

to demand severe measurespromised to join in. The same of the Year II.
suspects; the Jacobins also ered workshops to close on the
evening the Commune ord journeymen might attend the
• See Nationd Guard and police .gen�' r.eports for September: Arch. Nit.,
AFlv 1 �10; F" 3688' dOSl , . Ca.ro , op. c
-
) Caron, op. cit. i. 210.
,t.I . !j6 210.
morrow, so that masters andwe should therefore be tempted .... )', xvu.
"T" 11,5...... .
_
; .: ' c: n
' MotlikllT (rl
demonstration. But, in case erin, that the 'insurrection' of
to consider, with Daniel Gurking-class affair,s we should note
4 September was a largely wo Commune gave instructions that
that, at the same sessio
n, the g
a military for ce sho uld be mustered to disperse buildin ges !'
g for bread and higher wa
workers who were demonstratin
fob. 329-30. See abo Mathia
2�'
, Arcb. Prtf. Pol., Aa 226,
, op. cit., pp.

• Arch. Prtr. Pol.,

de la FOI'Cf:) , pp. 361-7.5.
'LeI Ouvriers auxjoum�
Ab 3�7 (rqi ltre da
• Mathia, op. cit.,pp. 322 fr.; E. Sorr;a.u,
,5 scptembre 1793', Anti. /lUI. Rlu·ft
at b.alr.en
9
anf· ,uv ( 1 37), 436-47
' thop s during
.
the day (Arcb. }'rtf.
There were varioIU arrats
All 39, fol. 13�; 139, .. (2 vob., Pam 1
fol. g6; 208, fol. 143)'
iii dasus lUlU ltI � RlprJ,liq
•
, 946), i. 13°·
1.. Lvl"
• M___ (m.;r.), mi.
.57�·
• D. Gutrin,
 ng

was
THERMJDOR

how this reflected in the dramatic events of 9th-loth \

IX Thermidor?
In the first place there can be little doubt of the govern-
THERMIDOR ment's vigour a.nd oi-the confidence and suppo,t that lts ' actlons -
BESPIERRE had joined the Comm
on 26July 1793, just a
year before
ittee of Public Safety
his downfall. Saint-Just
I
fi
at rst arouse(. among the Pan" Slan
, me nu
tants in the clubs and Sectlona1 commtttees. Mentlon
�tuple
and their
'
mili-
has

R and Cauthon, who we

were alread y members of the Co
re to become his closes
mmitte e; and, after
t associates,

ned by twO leading

the 'in­
a ready been made of the enthuSlasm '

29 September, supplemented b an amend

that the mere enactment
of the law of the Maximum evoked among them. The aw of
1' ,
mg �aw of t Novem­
I
' tember, they were joi
surrection of 4-5 Sep arenne and Collot
ber, provided for the increase 0 nces at the pomt ofproduction
r� ;
members of the Corde
liers Club, Billaud-V by one-third over June I P rate per league for trans­
d'Herbois.1 These me
n were to form the
ment of the Year II,
central core of the
which ruled the
portation, plus 5 per cent :�
r th !�; �
?Iesal�r and 10 per cent.
Revolutionary ,Govern vol ution, arrested
for the retailer. The law afli d l me commodities of
t critical year aCthe Re e:��� ;
cod, fish, tobacco,
country during the mos sup ed the armies,
pli
genera� consumption, but ded
of inRation, fed and �
the disastrous course . So much has been
salt, mllk, and poultry In the ase 0f w es it provided for an
�
� ,
m invasion and defeat increase of 50 per cent' ov r ra es prevalh ng 10 June 1 790. 1 An
and saved France fro
conceded by even the
most hostile of the cri ir tics.
l history of this
j :
inquiry conducted in un l,793 had revealed that, taking th�
the gen era
Here we are not con
cerned with
ses of its dissolution
country as a wholr. th �:�:
of e entlal
�
,
commodities had
with the general cau �
government or eveD but rather with its
do� bled, or even tr�ble I 790, and that, over the same
July) of the Year II-
in Thermidor (27-28 and their defec­
penod, allowing for wide divergenc<":, between districts and
the Parisian sans-culotus
loss of support among on the eve of their
types of work done' wages may have nsen' on a brcad average,
. .
its leading members
tion from the side of roach the question
bY 100--15° per cent.1 With the June mqu�ry as a basis the
d, of course, that to app
downfal1.z It is realize bee n followed up to
Districts were now instructed to prepare h
.
sts of maximum
. .
e the process that has
in this way is to revers dev elo pment of the
prices and wages m ' accordance Wlth the provlslons 0f the law
this point, which has
human and material fac
been to trace the
tors making for a rev olu tionary situa­
of 29 September-which
when these operations we
e
: ��� �; :
t
c urse, th�t . eventually,
�
the XlSung level of
tion, to present the
revolutionary crowd
in action and to
both pric�s and wages should be lr �
as c';ny re uced.
hand, it is proposed ,
n. Here, on the other It IS eVident that such a law' enacted m a country depending
analy.se its compositio rather than of
to examine the cau
ses of the abstention, on the output of thousands 0f petty producers and confided, for
Yet this may
participation, of the per
1ustified in the present
sons most concerned.
instance by the fact tha
t �;?�:I�;,:�
of his
:� �
its execution to a g er me t and to officials who believed
�
basically in the sanc t ° pnvat� property, would be impos­
ion
ult rather of the defe<:t � t
sible of operation Y t wh. tev � Its faults as � piece of social
overthrow was the res his opp onents, if
of
allies than of the revolu
tionary action
ope rat ion from on
:
legislation and what �er 1 u tlmate economic and political
o planned the
except a small handful wh
' 'Maximurn Pnccs .In Franee' 1793�1794', AIPWTiC
s i' .
the ali,,"
, H. E. Bourne
wa
the n, how 'Q H sltJrictJ.
.
...lI ( 1917), I07�13' &rid (b th
ing us is,
1 The essential question fac �uilw, lUU
. .
gradually underm ine d fu;' ill
� between Jacobins and
sans-culottes
r, w,dPri�
lIlg in Revolutionary Fr nee'
�
' J �f P<>iitictJ. &c-m)" xxvii (1919),
; :::ue aUlho�). 'Food Control and Price.
:

,
e
ndrt, prieur de la (;6te d'O
Public Safety wer
. .
the 'gN:at' Committee of
rft_ � d'JU'" '793· Arch, Nat., F" 1 " �
73�4' 188-.:109.
retu E�rpdu
, The other memben. of
y_.
I ' d- . The report campn':
,
nbon Sain t_A -
Carnot, Robert Lind et, Ju ·
de la Marne.
• For the most detailed, recent and
ques ion, the reader is referred
to A
h' :'�:!:::r.:'::�'F.:.�:_:�";:��.��;::
lbert
:�n and wage! n
. .
i about
eaae of Paris),
t '
... ,rom ¥I Dtpartm��lI ;:�I:: �:v�r�g th� prices of 38 articles of eonsum
e u IDg Ole of daily labourers (except in

II (lICe p, 8, note 4, above),

r6/t
t
m
 ng

was
THERMJDOR

how this reflected in the dramatic events of 9th-loth \

IX Thermidor?
In the first place there can be little doubt of the govern-
THERMIDOR ment's vigour a.nd oi-the confidence and suppo,t that lts ' actlons -
BESPIERRE had joined the Comm
on 26July 1793, just a
year before
ittee of Public Safety
his downfall. Saint-Just
I
fi
at rst arouse(. among the Pan" Slan
, me nu
tants in the clubs and Sectlona1 commtttees. Mentlon
�tuple
and their
'
mili-
has

R and Cauthon, who we

were alread y members of the Co
re to become his closes
mmitte e; and, after
t associates,

ned by twO leading

the 'in­
a ready been made of the enthuSlasm '

29 September, supplemented b an amend

that the mere enactment
of the law of the Maximum evoked among them. The aw of
1' ,
mg �aw of t Novem­
I
' tember, they were joi
surrection of 4-5 Sep arenne and Collot
ber, provided for the increase 0 nces at the pomt ofproduction
r� ;
members of the Corde
liers Club, Billaud-V by one-third over June I P rate per league for trans­
d'Herbois.1 These me
n were to form the
ment of the Year II,
central core of the
which ruled the
portation, plus 5 per cent :�
r th !�; �
?Iesal�r and 10 per cent.
Revolutionary ,Govern vol ution, arrested
for the retailer. The law afli d l me commodities of
t critical year aCthe Re e:��� ;
cod, fish, tobacco,
country during the mos sup ed the armies,
pli
genera� consumption, but ded
of inRation, fed and �
the disastrous course . So much has been
salt, mllk, and poultry In the ase 0f w es it provided for an
�
� ,
m invasion and defeat increase of 50 per cent' ov r ra es prevalh ng 10 June 1 790. 1 An
and saved France fro
conceded by even the
most hostile of the cri ir tics.
l history of this
j :
inquiry conducted in un l,793 had revealed that, taking th�
the gen era
Here we are not con
cerned with
ses of its dissolution
country as a wholr. th �:�:
of e entlal
�
,
commodities had
with the general cau �
government or eveD but rather with its
do� bled, or even tr�ble I 790, and that, over the same
July) of the Year II-
in Thermidor (27-28 and their defec­
penod, allowing for wide divergenc<":, between districts and
the Parisian sans-culotus
loss of support among on the eve of their
types of work done' wages may have nsen' on a brcad average,
. .
its leading members
tion from the side of roach the question
bY 100--15° per cent.1 With the June mqu�ry as a basis the
d, of course, that to app
downfal1.z It is realize bee n followed up to
Districts were now instructed to prepare h
.
sts of maximum
. .
e the process that has
in this way is to revers dev elo pment of the
prices and wages m ' accordance Wlth the provlslons 0f the law
this point, which has
human and material fac
been to trace the
tors making for a rev olu tionary situa­
of 29 September-which
when these operations we
e
: ��� �; :
t
c urse, th�t . eventually,
�
the XlSung level of
tion, to present the
revolutionary crowd
in action and to
both pric�s and wages should be lr �
as c';ny re uced.
hand, it is proposed ,
n. Here, on the other It IS eVident that such a law' enacted m a country depending
analy.se its compositio rather than of
to examine the cau
ses of the abstention, on the output of thousands 0f petty producers and confided, for
Yet this may
participation, of the per
1ustified in the present
sons most concerned.
instance by the fact tha
t �;?�:I�;,:�
of his
:� �
its execution to a g er me t and to officials who believed
�
basically in the sanc t ° pnvat� property, would be impos­
ion
ult rather of the defe<:t � t
sible of operation Y t wh. tev � Its faults as � piece of social
overthrow was the res his opp onents, if
of
allies than of the revolu
tionary action
ope rat ion from on
:
legislation and what �er 1 u tlmate economic and political
o planned the
except a small handful wh
' 'Maximurn Pnccs .In Franee' 1793�1794', AIPWTiC
s i' .
the ali,,"
, H. E. Bourne
wa
the n, how 'Q H sltJrictJ.
.
...lI ( 1917), I07�13' &rid (b th
ing us is,
1 The essential question fac �uilw, lUU
. .
gradually underm ine d fu;' ill
� between Jacobins and
sans-culottes
r, w,dPri�
lIlg in Revolutionary Fr nee'
�
' J �f P<>iitictJ. &c-m)" xxvii (1919),
; :::ue aUlho�). 'Food Control and Price.
:

,
e
ndrt, prieur de la (;6te d'O
Public Safety wer
. .
the 'gN:at' Committee of
rft_ � d'JU'" '793· Arch, Nat., F" 1 " �
73�4' 188-.:109.
retu E�rpdu
, The other memben. of
y_.
I ' d- . The report campn':
,
nbon Sain t_A -
Carnot, Robert Lind et, Ju ·
de la Marne.
• For the most detailed, recent and
ques ion, the reader is referred
to A
h' :'�:!:::r.:'::�'F.:.�:_:�";:��.��;::
lbert
:�n and wage! n
. .
i about
eaae of Paris),
t '
... ,rom ¥I Dtpartm��lI ;:�I:: �:v�r�g th� prices of 38 articles of eonsum
e u IDg Ole of daily labourers (except in

II (lICe p, 8, note 4, above),

r6/t
t
m

. ,.
Y
THE REVOLUTIONAR
results, it is undoubted that the
General had important immedia
served to arrest inflation and to
by itself the law might not act
ties with the sans-cuJotus. Taken
as any great deterrent to hoardin
duced as it was with a host of oth
the organs of government, to pro
force compliance with the law by
for a period at least-to stabilize
vision of adequate supplies to feed
civilian population. 1'll fact is
U mos
the sudden reversal in the moveme
first three months after the law was
of its nominal value in August 1793
November and to 48 per cent.
weeks the confidence of the people
to be based on the double hope
supply of cheap and adequate food'
military victories over the Republi
police agent's report of 30 Sept
CROWD IN ACT ION
THERMIDOR . ,.
S�boul has f?und that, of 454 members of Revolutionary Com­
enactment of the Maximum
nuttees holding office in Paris in the course of the Year 11, 9'9
te consequences that both
per cent. were wage-earners, 63·8 per cent were shopkeepers
strengthen the government's
smaU workshop masters, and independent craftsmen whil�
only 26·3 per cent. were rentiers, manufacturers, civil s�rvantJ,
g and speculation ; but intro.­
er measures to strengthen and members of the liberal professioru.1 Similarly, Sainte­
.
Claire Deville has shown that, of 132 General Councillors of
tect the currency, and to en­
the Commune, holding office between July 1 793 and July
means of terror, it helped­
1794, and whose occupations are listed, 82 were small manu­
prices and to ensure the pro­
facturers, craftsmen, and tradesmen; 2 were manual workers
both the army and the
t grap hically illustr�ted by and 9 'blackcoated' workers; while 8 were merchants and con­
nt of the a1Stgnat dunng the tractors, and 3 1 belonged to the professions.1 This was' of
course, not just a fortuitous distribution of public setvants
passed: from 22 per cent.
, it rose to 33 per cent. in thrown up by the tide of revolution; we shall see in the nex;
chapter what Robespierre's successors did after Thermidor to
in December.1 During these
redress the social balance.
in the government appears
that its policy will ensure the Mean�hile t�e �ve�n?Ient's inability to operate the law of
the M�xlmum 10 Its eXlstmg form was proving evident. Even
to feed the citizens and of
10 P�ns, where the Revolutionary Committeees and com­
c s enemies; 50 we real1 in a
er: mtIsalres �. (UcaparemenLr were vigilant and strongly backed by
emb
d nombre a la maison
pubhc . OpInIOn, breaches of the law by merchants and shop­

repas, se rejouissent de la
Les ouvrien qui se trouvent en gran
commune sur la place, a l'heure des
keepers were becoming daily more blatant. But the real problem

diminution des denrees, de l'aroeur de

triom phe
particulierement du prochain
And, even in late December-when
tables had long been in short supply
been introduced to meet a tempora
told of the market women's enthusia
Mountain (La Sainu Montagne) , and
public: 'Les femmes de la halle sont
Con
. dies chantent les louanges de la
beca use,
have survived the longer
first time, it was the sans-culottu them
backbone of the Paris administration:
the majority of Sectional assemblies and
larly the all-important Revolutionar
the general assembly and executive
lay elsewhere. The growers, producers, and middlemen who
unesse en requisition, et
la
kep� the cap�tal supplied �ere in a more favourable position to
laje
de Republique.l
�vold detectIOn and, finding the margins provided by the law
meat, groceries, and vege­ htt�e to their liking, they tended to withhold supplies while
and rationing cards had .
wa..!ung for better times, to sell on the 'black market' or to
ry lack of bread-we are enter into illicit deals with retailers or merchants. Canse­
sm for Robespierre, the
quen�ly the Paris grocers and butchers, having paid their
the legislators of the Re­
suppliers above the Maximum, passed the burden back to the
d'une gait!! charmante:
co�sumer: thus, from December until April, when meat was
ion.'l This loyalty may rationed, . butche� regularly sold at 25-50 per cent. above the
this period, for the
vent
duri ng
lawful pnce;J wh ile pork butchers, to evade the law sold only
selves who formed the
their militants dominated
:O ked �rk (the price of raw . meat alone was c�ntrolled).
eanwhile, an army of mercandurs and Teuendwrs invaded the
committees-particu­
p t A. SobouJ, 'U en DisclWion hislorique du f&xlaJilme au capitaJiune'' 1.4
y Committees-and
Deville, La u.mmUIII de r�1I II' pp• ,6.- . D. '" E:<e(:U..
'rule,no. 65 (1956), pp. �B-9.
Commune. Albert
CounClilof•• (Co!"pi M . .
of the
th
• Sainte-Ciaire 79 e Ye

Harril, n, AJsifMls, pp. 176-85·114 . For li.mil.ar expraaiOlll sec abo pp. 168, .
L

-4 merchant.!
unlcLpai) , ere were ��Imall manufacturers and tradesmen;
ac� '
• '
profCU'Olll• J . .. 1 7•
. <;11.11.
• Caron Pilril JIntdaN lIS Tmwr, i. 1 .. bJ -eoated workers; and busin�men' and 1 members ofJiberal
�
'
I Ibid. ii. 14· CaTOn, op II.
, ��9, �51, �99, 330; iii. 30; iv.
1 97.

. ,.
Y
THE REVOLUTIONAR
results, it is undoubted that the
General had important immedia
served to arrest inflation and to
by itself the law might not act
ties with the sans-cuJotus. Taken
as any great deterrent to hoardin
duced as it was with a host of oth
the organs of government, to pro
force compliance with the law by
for a period at least-to stabilize
vision of adequate supplies to feed
civilian population. 1'll fact is
U mos
the sudden reversal in the moveme
first three months after the law was
of its nominal value in August 1793
November and to 48 per cent.
weeks the confidence of the people
to be based on the double hope
supply of cheap and adequate food'
military victories over the Republi
police agent's report of 30 Sept
CROWD IN ACT ION
THERMIDOR . ,.
S�boul has f?und that, of 454 members of Revolutionary Com­
enactment of the Maximum
nuttees holding office in Paris in the course of the Year 11, 9'9
te consequences that both
per cent. were wage-earners, 63·8 per cent were shopkeepers
strengthen the government's
smaU workshop masters, and independent craftsmen whil�
only 26·3 per cent. were rentiers, manufacturers, civil s�rvantJ,
g and speculation ; but intro.­
er measures to strengthen and members of the liberal professioru.1 Similarly, Sainte­
.
Claire Deville has shown that, of 132 General Councillors of
tect the currency, and to en­
the Commune, holding office between July 1 793 and July
means of terror, it helped­
1794, and whose occupations are listed, 82 were small manu­
prices and to ensure the pro­
facturers, craftsmen, and tradesmen; 2 were manual workers
both the army and the
t grap hically illustr�ted by and 9 'blackcoated' workers; while 8 were merchants and con­
nt of the a1Stgnat dunng the tractors, and 3 1 belonged to the professions.1 This was' of
course, not just a fortuitous distribution of public setvants
passed: from 22 per cent.
, it rose to 33 per cent. in thrown up by the tide of revolution; we shall see in the nex;
chapter what Robespierre's successors did after Thermidor to
in December.1 During these
redress the social balance.
in the government appears
that its policy will ensure the Mean�hile t�e �ve�n?Ient's inability to operate the law of
the M�xlmum 10 Its eXlstmg form was proving evident. Even
to feed the citizens and of
10 P�ns, where the Revolutionary Committeees and com­
c s enemies; 50 we real1 in a
er: mtIsalres �. (UcaparemenLr were vigilant and strongly backed by
emb
d nombre a la maison
pubhc . OpInIOn, breaches of the law by merchants and shop­

repas, se rejouissent de la
Les ouvrien qui se trouvent en gran
commune sur la place, a l'heure des
keepers were becoming daily more blatant. But the real problem

diminution des denrees, de l'aroeur de

triom phe
particulierement du prochain
And, even in late December-when
tables had long been in short supply
been introduced to meet a tempora
told of the market women's enthusia
Mountain (La Sainu Montagne) , and
public: 'Les femmes de la halle sont
Con
. dies chantent les louanges de la
beca use,
have survived the longer
first time, it was the sans-culottu them
backbone of the Paris administration:
the majority of Sectional assemblies and
larly the all-important Revolutionar
the general assembly and executive
lay elsewhere. The growers, producers, and middlemen who
unesse en requisition, et
la
kep� the cap�tal supplied �ere in a more favourable position to
laje
de Republique.l
�vold detectIOn and, finding the margins provided by the law
meat, groceries, and vege­ htt�e to their liking, they tended to withhold supplies while
and rationing cards had .
wa..!ung for better times, to sell on the 'black market' or to
ry lack of bread-we are enter into illicit deals with retailers or merchants. Canse­
sm for Robespierre, the
quen�ly the Paris grocers and butchers, having paid their
the legislators of the Re­
suppliers above the Maximum, passed the burden back to the
d'une gait!! charmante:
co�sumer: thus, from December until April, when meat was
ion.'l This loyalty may rationed, . butche� regularly sold at 25-50 per cent. above the
this period, for the
vent
duri ng
lawful pnce;J wh ile pork butchers, to evade the law sold only
selves who formed the
their militants dominated
:O ked �rk (the price of raw . meat alone was c�ntrolled).
eanwhile, an army of mercandurs and Teuendwrs invaded the
committees-particu­
p t A. SobouJ, 'U en DisclWion hislorique du f&xlaJilme au capitaJiune'' 1.4
y Committees-and
Deville, La u.mmUIII de r�1I II' pp• ,6.- . D. '" E:<e(:U..
'rule,no. 65 (1956), pp. �B-9.
Commune. Albert
CounClilof•• (Co!"pi M . .
of the
th
• Sainte-Ciaire 79 e Ye

Harril, n, AJsifMls, pp. 176-85·114 . For li.mil.ar expraaiOlll sec abo pp. 168, .
L

-4 merchant.!
unlcLpai) , ere were ��Imall manufacturers and tradesmen;
ac� '
• '
profCU'Olll• J . .. 1 7•
. <;11.11.
• Caron Pilril JIntdaN lIS Tmwr, i. 1 .. bJ -eoated workers; and busin�men' and 1 members ofJiberal
�
'
I Ibid. ii. 14· CaTOn, op II.
, ��9, �51, �99, 330; iii. 30; iv.
1 97.
.,' THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION THERMIDOR
'33
back streets and markets, selling sugar, butter, and poor cuts nounced: 'Si je ne me reten
ais, j'enverrais faire foutre
in the same market, butter was
Ie
of meat above the controlled price ;1 and, in December and nouveau regime.' The next day,
January, agents of the Ministry of the Interior reported that �eized from a merchant by angry women, and others, asse
lD the HaIles, held up five cart
mbled
butter was being sold in Paris markets at 36-44 sow per lb. loads of eggs and butter and com
pelled the drivers to sell the butt ­
(controlled price : 22 sow) and eggs at 80-100 sous for 25 (com­ er at 22 soU! a pound and
pared with 2 1 sow in June 1790, 271 so� in June 1
.
and 50 �93, _
at 24 soU! for
. . of
.
sow in September) .z The sans-culottes, while complammg bltterly
at this evasion of the law at their expense, were inclined to see
the merchants and the shopkeepers rather than the Government
as the villains of the piece, and called upon the authorities
insistently to remedy the abuses by a more continuous and
effective use of the organs of repression. It was in fact im­
possible to leave things as they were: either t e Government
� extsting aw 0J!!.ensifyfug
must seek to en oree tlie . t e error,
or it must try to win the more wholehearted co-o ,trati S)fi of
peasants and prOducers b relaxin the re ulations andIn­
creasmg t e margms of profit. It deci ed on the second course.
'n fallait guenr Ie commcrcc', said Barcre, 'et non Ie tuer:l
But it meant losing friends and allies elsewhere. Hebert and
his
- associates, the champions of domiciliary visits and sterner

revolutionary justice, who had dominated the Commune since

the spring of 1793, were executed on 22 March ; a little later the
armie riuolutionnaire was disbanded together with the local
popular societies and committees for tracking down hoarders.
The currency speculators had already begun to emerge from
their hiding-places in late December,· and the assignat was
allowed to slip back again: by July it had fallen to 36 per cent.
of its value.s Finally, in late March, an amended Maximum
was published, which provided for higher prices and profit
margins and which, wrote a police agent, seemed to 'favour the
merchants and not the people'.'
But, some time before this, the sans-culottes had begun to pass
to more direct forms of protest and, on occasion, to tum their
anger against the Government itself. On 20 February, in the
crowded popular market of the Place Maubert, a woman
encountered no opposition from her hearers when she an-
I Bourne, op. cit., pp. 206-7'(ba$ed on the r<:pe>rts ofpoliee agenu, Grivel and
• Caron, op. cit. i. 344; ii. 20, 26-27, 102, 185, 251, 3'0.
, MOIIikur (rlimp••) , xix. 631.
Siret).
• Caron, op. cit. ii. 61, 194, \181.

• Arch. Nat., F'· III Seine 13 (report of 2 9 �f&reh 1794)·

• Houris. loc. cit.
.,' THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION THERMIDOR
'33
back streets and markets, selling sugar, butter, and poor cuts nounced: 'Si je ne me reten
ais, j'enverrais faire foutre
in the same market, butter was
Ie
of meat above the controlled price ;1 and, in December and nouveau regime.' The next day,
January, agents of the Ministry of the Interior reported that �eized from a merchant by angry women, and others, asse
lD the HaIles, held up five cart
mbled
butter was being sold in Paris markets at 36-44 sow per lb. loads of eggs and butter and com
pelled the drivers to sell the butt ­
(controlled price : 22 sow) and eggs at 80-100 sous for 25 (com­ er at 22 soU! a pound and
pared with 2 1 sow in June 1790, 271 so� in June 1
.
and 50 �93, _
at 24 soU! for
. . of
.
sow in September) .z The sans-culottes, while complammg bltterly
at this evasion of the law at their expense, were inclined to see
the merchants and the shopkeepers rather than the Government
as the villains of the piece, and called upon the authorities
insistently to remedy the abuses by a more continuous and
effective use of the organs of repression. It was in fact im­
possible to leave things as they were: either t e Government
� extsting aw 0J!!.ensifyfug
must seek to en oree tlie . t e error,
or it must try to win the more wholehearted co-o ,trati S)fi of
peasants and prOducers b relaxin the re ulations andIn­
creasmg t e margms of profit. It deci ed on the second course.
'n fallait guenr Ie commcrcc', said Barcre, 'et non Ie tuer:l
But it meant losing friends and allies elsewhere. Hebert and
his
- associates, the champions of domiciliary visits and sterner

revolutionary justice, who had dominated the Commune since

the spring of 1793, were executed on 22 March ; a little later the
armie riuolutionnaire was disbanded together with the local
popular societies and committees for tracking down hoarders.
The currency speculators had already begun to emerge from
their hiding-places in late December,· and the assignat was
allowed to slip back again: by July it had fallen to 36 per cent.
of its value.s Finally, in late March, an amended Maximum
was published, which provided for higher prices and profit
margins and which, wrote a police agent, seemed to 'favour the
merchants and not the people'.'
But, some time before this, the sans-culottes had begun to pass
to more direct forms of protest and, on occasion, to tum their
anger against the Government itself. On 20 February, in the
crowded popular market of the Place Maubert, a woman
encountered no opposition from her hearers when she an-
I Bourne, op. cit., pp. 206-7'(ba$ed on the r<:pe>rts ofpoliee agenu, Grivel and
• Caron, op. cit. i. 344; ii. 20, 26-27, 102, 185, 251, 3'0.
, MOIIikur (rlimp••) , xix. 631.
Siret).
• Caron, op. cit. ii. 61, 194, \181.

• Arch. Nat., F'· III Seine 13 (report of 2 9 �f&reh 1794)·

• Houris. loc. cit.
 N THERMIDOR
CROWD I N AC TIO ISS
134 THE RE VO LU TIO

Guard, a threatening
NA RY

letter, in which, among

other epithets, he The 'Heb r
long as the re
t'
/ ��:e� !
e sti in control of the Commune and as
•

re' and a 'foutu ereappe�red to be no intention of

phized as a 'jean fout
is indelicately apostro
' ,I
drawingupa table ofm a:
mu�wagesm accordancewiththelaw
satdite de Robespierre ation had de- of29 September.1 It was a pen� of labour shortage and rising
But me anw hilt: an eveD more serious situ
one of the few wages', and the report drawn up mJanua by two government
s. This was, in fact, �
veloped in the workshop wa ge_earners agents, Grivel and Siret, in which they claimed that wages had
trebled or quadrupled since I 790, may not be greatly exaggera-
the Revolution when the
periods in the history of
showed even more con
for the prices of foodstuff
cern for the
amount
s, and when stri
of
kes
the
and
ir wa
dep
ges than
utations ted:
ific ant form Tel oUvrier, tel comm . . de sa joumee que
about wages were a mo
re Crequent and
n
mo
so
re
it
sign
does not ma rk a ' �
issionn .
4 ou 5 Iivres' en tire auJourd '. qUI UT • ne
hu) 20 et 24 livres et quelquefois
alt
n d riots.� Eve
of social protest tha foo &J1lniel davantage.1
s betw CJl.9.-gitalanajaJiQW
new stage in the relation from a quite
Guerinwou1d -' i\a'V'e us
be1iev� ;3 it arose rather
eated. As we
We find bakers refusing to :���� ;
a ageofI5 1iowa week (includ-
. .
es that would not be rep
peculiar sct" 6f'C1t1Cums ancM ing board), where the h: Y ee� earrung 8 /lflTtS; the Paris
itself arch mtroduced new scates lor
L ...
vided for
aximum General had pro M
have seen, the law of the Department as te as
bUIOld'mg workers well above double t ose p3..1d 10 1
prices;
a reduction in the prevai
ling rates of wages as wel
l of ' . .
it and even
theDistricts were to take the
initiative in dra win g up new
in the arms workshops' in spi. te 0f oveT?ment � . we hear
1 79O.J
and hed gov ern me nt
of the'recently establis
lists--except in the case of Dis tric ts in
of workers three, or ourumes their
acture of arms, and But
workshops for the manuf
1eprbtTIiants tTl mission enj oye d unl imi ted
which the government's once
e result was
tho se of the local authorities. Th time
powers, overriding

:�i'�'::���������������
itselfat���
a patchwork of widely diff
tion, or non_operation, of
erent schemes, in which
the maximu m des sala ires var
of
the opera­
ied with the
the local
e took
When a dele­
authority, the resistance
social composition of the the inte r­ .
presented the Hotel de Ville in
.
in existing rates, and
sans-culoUtS to any reductions is the pro b­
Payan, t�e national agent of the reconstituted . Ro1.. -- ler-
. uc:;p
t or its agents. In Par Commune, mvoked the Loi Le Chapelier,
ference of the governmen ' forbidding associ­
lem was merely twofol d:
in the case of the workshop
Com
s for the
mittee
.
abons I
ofworkpeop e, and referred the matter to the police, wh0
decision rested wit h the made five arrests. Otherstrikesand wage-c13..l. ms followed involv·
manufacture of arms the
109 plasterers bakers
h the Paris .
t of private ind ustr y wit
of Public Safety; in tha
Commune. The governme
nt, not bei ng han dic app ed by the
� �
making furth r ar res ' e
c � :
rk b tchers, and port-workers. Besides
mmune threatened to prosecute
rival pressures of employer
s and wo rkers, app lied the law to the .
[ceux] qUI, au mepris des I°ll'S, abandolUlalent des travaux qui
ber skilled
. I sont nccessaires A
°

wit hou t dela y : in October and Decem

I'eXisten
armsworke rs doivent leur ctre d'autant p w chen qu"1s
5 livrtS a day,
workshops were :warded.
,l.

men in a number of new Meanwhile a

ce publique.4
became the usual pattern
, See C. Rudi! and A Sobo I '
mum da salaira: parisiens el Ie 9
unskilled men s liofes; this
��. � � a::
..
::��::fr :� th�" idor" Alllt. llis, R/1l. tlJI(.,
f,
ady , in Decem·
s introduced and alre 9 oTT ' pp. 1-112.
I gcx:s on: 'Ib (la jou rnal'
severe disciplinary code wa
�enJ ";
n ont pas bonte d'�gcr 100 lOb pour un
rs' n
in l 7
.
'
ng imposedon 'agitato
ber, we read ofpenalties bei r, as \\
, ::;
I
�ra"ail qui eill i!u pay.!
� menl 1 0.1O� I Y • un an' (quoled by
I
op. cil., pp. .5116-7 . See.
ble was to come late
�cr, ron, op. Clt. II. ,.
workshops.4 The main trou
, Arch. Nal., AFII 47, plaq.
• See pages 21_22 above.
368, fo\' 37· .
•
)

hon' 8lUlU i"UrM,iontl{, til soeiDIo . m

.
. Marion' 'La Lao,I de mlUtlmu el I• taU.tlon dcs salaira lOW 1& Ri!volu-
7), 1117· Marion exaggerales the un-
• Sec A. Aulard, Ruveil dn "gtlcu of theJacobins 10 app y e Maxlmum to wages.
, '.
t;" ;:V (191.
6g6, 7Sl; c. udi! and SobouI• op. al., pp. 10-12', Mathiez, 0p. CIl·. P· ,!o91.
<KitS tiu Comill d. Sd/ul "'ill"

1923). vi• .yI6;

.
lu/driulitnv J. pert. SOlIS ld r.,..,r (Paris.
it<. 322, 400. SIS. .
1 922). pp.
 N THERMIDOR
CROWD I N AC TIO ISS
134 THE RE VO LU TIO

Guard, a threatening
NA RY

letter, in which, among

other epithets, he The 'Heb r
long as the re
t'
/ ��:e� !
e sti in control of the Commune and as
•

re' and a 'foutu ereappe�red to be no intention of

phized as a 'jean fout
is indelicately apostro
' ,I
drawingupa table ofm a:
mu�wagesm accordancewiththelaw
satdite de Robespierre ation had de- of29 September.1 It was a pen� of labour shortage and rising
But me anw hilt: an eveD more serious situ
one of the few wages', and the report drawn up mJanua by two government
s. This was, in fact, �
veloped in the workshop wa ge_earners agents, Grivel and Siret, in which they claimed that wages had
trebled or quadrupled since I 790, may not be greatly exaggera-
the Revolution when the
periods in the history of
showed even more con
for the prices of foodstuff
cern for the
amount
s, and when stri
of
kes
the
and
ir wa
dep
ges than
utations ted:
ific ant form Tel oUvrier, tel comm . . de sa joumee que
about wages were a mo
re Crequent and
n
mo
so
re
it
sign
does not ma rk a ' �
issionn .
4 ou 5 Iivres' en tire auJourd '. qUI UT • ne
hu) 20 et 24 livres et quelquefois
alt
n d riots.� Eve
of social protest tha foo &J1lniel davantage.1
s betw CJl.9.-gitalanajaJiQW
new stage in the relation from a quite
Guerinwou1d -' i\a'V'e us
be1iev� ;3 it arose rather
eated. As we
We find bakers refusing to :���� ;
a ageofI5 1iowa week (includ-
. .
es that would not be rep
peculiar sct" 6f'C1t1Cums ancM ing board), where the h: Y ee� earrung 8 /lflTtS; the Paris
itself arch mtroduced new scates lor
L ...
vided for
aximum General had pro M
have seen, the law of the Department as te as
bUIOld'mg workers well above double t ose p3..1d 10 1
prices;
a reduction in the prevai
ling rates of wages as wel
l of ' . .
it and even
theDistricts were to take the
initiative in dra win g up new
in the arms workshops' in spi. te 0f oveT?ment � . we hear
1 79O.J
and hed gov ern me nt
of the'recently establis
lists--except in the case of Dis tric ts in
of workers three, or ourumes their
acture of arms, and But
workshops for the manuf
1eprbtTIiants tTl mission enj oye d unl imi ted
which the government's once
e result was
tho se of the local authorities. Th time
powers, overriding

:�i'�'::���������������
itselfat���
a patchwork of widely diff
tion, or non_operation, of
erent schemes, in which
the maximu m des sala ires var
of
the opera­
ied with the
the local
e took
When a dele­
authority, the resistance
social composition of the the inte r­ .
presented the Hotel de Ville in
.
in existing rates, and
sans-culoUtS to any reductions is the pro b­
Payan, t�e national agent of the reconstituted . Ro1.. -- ler-
. uc:;p
t or its agents. In Par Commune, mvoked the Loi Le Chapelier,
ference of the governmen ' forbidding associ­
lem was merely twofol d:
in the case of the workshop
Com
s for the
mittee
.
abons I
ofworkpeop e, and referred the matter to the police, wh0
decision rested wit h the made five arrests. Otherstrikesand wage-c13..l. ms followed involv·
manufacture of arms the
109 plasterers bakers
h the Paris .
t of private ind ustr y wit
of Public Safety; in tha
Commune. The governme
nt, not bei ng han dic app ed by the
� �
making furth r ar res ' e
c � :
rk b tchers, and port-workers. Besides
mmune threatened to prosecute
rival pressures of employer
s and wo rkers, app lied the law to the .
[ceux] qUI, au mepris des I°ll'S, abandolUlalent des travaux qui
ber skilled
. I sont nccessaires A
°

wit hou t dela y : in October and Decem

I'eXisten
armsworke rs doivent leur ctre d'autant p w chen qu"1s
5 livrtS a day,
workshops were :warded.
,l.

men in a number of new Meanwhile a

ce publique.4
became the usual pattern
, See C. Rudi! and A Sobo I '
mum da salaira: parisiens el Ie 9
unskilled men s liofes; this
��. � � a::
..
::��::fr :� th�" idor" Alllt. llis, R/1l. tlJI(.,
f,
ady , in Decem·
s introduced and alre 9 oTT ' pp. 1-112.
I gcx:s on: 'Ib (la jou rnal'
severe disciplinary code wa
�enJ ";
n ont pas bonte d'�gcr 100 lOb pour un
rs' n
in l 7
.
'
ng imposedon 'agitato
ber, we read ofpenalties bei r, as \\
, ::;
I
�ra"ail qui eill i!u pay.!
� menl 1 0.1O� I Y • un an' (quoled by
I
op. cil., pp. .5116-7 . See.
ble was to come late
�cr, ron, op. Clt. II. ,.
workshops.4 The main trou
, Arch. Nal., AFII 47, plaq.
• See pages 21_22 above.
368, fo\' 37· .
•
)

hon' 8lUlU i"UrM,iontl{, til soeiDIo . m

.
. Marion' 'La Lao,I de mlUtlmu el I• taU.tlon dcs salaira lOW 1& Ri!volu-
7), 1117· Marion exaggerales the un-
• Sec A. Aulard, Ruveil dn "gtlcu of theJacobins 10 app y e Maxlmum to wages.
, '.
t;" ;:V (191.
6g6, 7Sl; c. udi! and SobouI• op. al., pp. 10-12', Mathiez, 0p. CIl·. P· ,!o91.
<KitS tiu Comill d. Sd/ul "'ill"

1923). vi• .yI6;

.
lu/driulitnv J. pert. SOlIS ld r.,..,r (Paris.
it<. 322, 400. SIS. .
1 922). pp.
 THE REVO LUTI ONA RY CRO WD IN
ACT ION THERMIDOR 131
136
due to the efficacy of these workshops; and the mayor, Fleuriot-Lescot, on the morning of
A month's lull followed-possibly
threats or to the temporary diversion
�
cause by an attempt to 9 Thermidor ('27 July), obviously unaware of the drama that
d'Herbols. B�t 10 J�ne the
. was already unfolding inside the government Committees and
assassinate Robespierre and Collot
to subside untll after in the lobbies of the Convention, ordered a military force to
movement started up again and was not
arms workers, who had keep the workers in check on the following day, which was a
Thermidor. This time it began with the
ed ringl eaders w�re �r­ public holiday. I
kept fairly quiet since December. Alleg
, inclu ding both those agltatmg Meanwhile the political crisis had come to a head. Since
rested in a number of workshops
spot and other s who had left their shops the Republic's victory at Fleurus ('26 June), the main body of
for higher wages on the
and less restrictive condi tions elsewhere.1 the Convention, whose members sat silent on the benches of 'the
in search of better pay
The movement appea rs to have sprea d to ot er bra �
�ches of Plain', had shown less inclination to continue their support for
e mstru ctlng the a government whose watchwords still appeared to them to be
government employment, as we find Barer
public prosecutor of the Revoluti�nary
T buna l,�in the name Terror and tightened belts, and the conAicts of principle and
take prote eding s again st what he termed personality within and between the two principal Committees
of the Comm ittee, to
-that of Public Safety and of General Security-had broken
Its contre_rcvolutionnaires qui ont employe des
man�uvres crimi­
d'assign ats, d'annes, de
neUes dans les atelien de fabrication
into the open.' In the early afternoon of 9 Thermidor Robes­
pierre was refused a hearing in the Convention, and his arrest
poudres et salpetres.' was ordered together with that of his principal associates. As
July we rea of �
Other trades joined in; and in June and the news spread around the capital, a prolonged and involved
building worken, potten , and worke n engag ed on a vanety tussle ensued for the loyalties of the Paris Sections and sans­
of public contracts pressin g their claims for higher wages ; and culoUes and, above all, for the control of the Parisian armed
even the Comm ittee's own pri ? ting worke rs struck forces, which nominally still remained largely under the orders
on 7 July
g to the arrest of three of thetr comra des. of the Commune and its commander-in-chief, Hanriot)
work leadin
wh
ile this excitement was still going on, the Paris
Commune Despite this considerable initial advantage the Commune
h the new rates of
decided at long last, on 23 July, to publis was, as is known, defeated. And yet this was to all intents and

wages to operate in the capital . This disastr ous doc �ment purposes the same armed force with the same commander at
of the origin al law of the MaXlm u�
followed the provisions .
its head which, in June '793, had compelled the Convention to
took no accoun t of recent Increas es In
General to the letter, submit to its will ; this time it was to abandon the Commune and
pri es, and face the� grea ma jority o the �
either wages or food �
working population With substantla re u�tlOns, ? �
�
� s me mes � the Jacobin leaders and rally to their enemies after a few hours
of indecision by a minority ofits units. When every allowance is
gs.
amounting to one-half or more of their e.xlSting earmn made for the bungling of Hanriot and the refusal or inability
calcula ted to make
Such a provocative measure was hardly ofRobespierre and Saint-Just to lead a popular revolt against a
for social peace or to bind the worken more closely to th e d­
. � hostile majority in the Assembly, and for all the chances and
deep politica l crisis. After comml tung
ministration at a time of mischances in a tangled series ofevents, the essential fact remains
Comm une seems to have realized the that they had lost the support of the ParisianJQQ,[-cul2llls.
this imprudence, the
prevent ive action in case of further disturb ances:
need. to take
• � A. Ording, Lt 81lWJIl ti, �ict till Comi" tit $tUM/ /Nblu (Oslo, 1930) ; A.
worke�, Nat., AFII 47, plaq. 368, fol. 38; AFII 48, plaq. 374, fol. 10.
on the 25th Hanriot was warned that several arms
, Arch.

'doubtless led astray by the enemies of the people', had

left thor Mathiez, AIiIollT til RoINspif"Tr. (Paris, '926), pp. 149 fT. ; and, for thePUI played in
, Richard Gp. cic., pp. 709-27. • MIlfliInJr (riimpr.), xx 699· Ih,�
.

cam;ng 8 UIJI'IS would be rcdu«:d to 3 /ierts, 15 JDI<S, and P4""<ns;t/t /'C� II. pp. 9 ' 7 (T.
. �ri.i. by Ihe Parisian Seclions and SC"s-<:IlWllts, A. Soboui, us SeIlS.GIl/CI/II
ThUll.
I �.rpcnter the

Sa'nle·Claire Deville, op. cit., pp. 18g-3'4'

s wov.ld be reduced from
16 IWru. 10 jIIfU 10 5 liDm, 5 JIIlIJ'( Rud� and Soboul, op. cit., pp.
highcSI-paid blaclumith or fictel' in the anILS workshop � For Ihe moS! dec.ailed faClUal account of the evcnu of 9-10 Thermidor ICC
1&-'7)·
 THE REVO LUTI ONA RY CRO WD IN
ACT ION THERMIDOR 131
136
due to the efficacy of these workshops; and the mayor, Fleuriot-Lescot, on the morning of
A month's lull followed-possibly
threats or to the temporary diversion
�
cause by an attempt to 9 Thermidor ('27 July), obviously unaware of the drama that
d'Herbols. B�t 10 J�ne the
. was already unfolding inside the government Committees and
assassinate Robespierre and Collot
to subside untll after in the lobbies of the Convention, ordered a military force to
movement started up again and was not
arms workers, who had keep the workers in check on the following day, which was a
Thermidor. This time it began with the
ed ringl eaders w�re �r­ public holiday. I
kept fairly quiet since December. Alleg
, inclu ding both those agltatmg Meanwhile the political crisis had come to a head. Since
rested in a number of workshops
spot and other s who had left their shops the Republic's victory at Fleurus ('26 June), the main body of
for higher wages on the
and less restrictive condi tions elsewhere.1 the Convention, whose members sat silent on the benches of 'the
in search of better pay
The movement appea rs to have sprea d to ot er bra �
�ches of Plain', had shown less inclination to continue their support for
e mstru ctlng the a government whose watchwords still appeared to them to be
government employment, as we find Barer
public prosecutor of the Revoluti�nary
T buna l,�in the name Terror and tightened belts, and the conAicts of principle and
take prote eding s again st what he termed personality within and between the two principal Committees
of the Comm ittee, to
-that of Public Safety and of General Security-had broken
Its contre_rcvolutionnaires qui ont employe des
man�uvres crimi­
d'assign ats, d'annes, de
neUes dans les atelien de fabrication
into the open.' In the early afternoon of 9 Thermidor Robes­
pierre was refused a hearing in the Convention, and his arrest
poudres et salpetres.' was ordered together with that of his principal associates. As
July we rea of �
Other trades joined in; and in June and the news spread around the capital, a prolonged and involved
building worken, potten , and worke n engag ed on a vanety tussle ensued for the loyalties of the Paris Sections and sans­
of public contracts pressin g their claims for higher wages ; and culoUes and, above all, for the control of the Parisian armed
even the Comm ittee's own pri ? ting worke rs struck forces, which nominally still remained largely under the orders
on 7 July
g to the arrest of three of thetr comra des. of the Commune and its commander-in-chief, Hanriot)
work leadin
wh
ile this excitement was still going on, the Paris
Commune Despite this considerable initial advantage the Commune
h the new rates of
decided at long last, on 23 July, to publis was, as is known, defeated. And yet this was to all intents and

wages to operate in the capital . This disastr ous doc �ment purposes the same armed force with the same commander at
of the origin al law of the MaXlm u�
followed the provisions .
its head which, in June '793, had compelled the Convention to
took no accoun t of recent Increas es In
General to the letter, submit to its will ; this time it was to abandon the Commune and
pri es, and face the� grea ma jority o the �
either wages or food �
working population With substantla re u�tlOns, ? �
�
� s me mes � the Jacobin leaders and rally to their enemies after a few hours
of indecision by a minority ofits units. When every allowance is
gs.
amounting to one-half or more of their e.xlSting earmn made for the bungling of Hanriot and the refusal or inability
calcula ted to make
Such a provocative measure was hardly ofRobespierre and Saint-Just to lead a popular revolt against a
for social peace or to bind the worken more closely to th e d­
. � hostile majority in the Assembly, and for all the chances and
deep politica l crisis. After comml tung
ministration at a time of mischances in a tangled series ofevents, the essential fact remains
Comm une seems to have realized the that they had lost the support of the ParisianJQQ,[-cul2llls.
this imprudence, the
prevent ive action in case of further disturb ances:
need. to take
• � A. Ording, Lt 81lWJIl ti, �ict till Comi" tit $tUM/ /Nblu (Oslo, 1930) ; A.
worke�, Nat., AFII 47, plaq. 368, fol. 38; AFII 48, plaq. 374, fol. 10.
on the 25th Hanriot was warned that several arms
, Arch.

'doubtless led astray by the enemies of the people', had

left thor Mathiez, AIiIollT til RoINspif"Tr. (Paris, '926), pp. 149 fT. ; and, for thePUI played in
, Richard Gp. cic., pp. 709-27. • MIlfliInJr (riimpr.), xx 699· Ih,�
.

cam;ng 8 UIJI'IS would be rcdu«:d to 3 /ierts, 15 JDI<S, and P4""<ns;t/t /'C� II. pp. 9 ' 7 (T.
. �ri.i. by Ihe Parisian Seclions and SC"s-<:IlWllts, A. Soboui, us SeIlS.GIl/CI/II
ThUll.
I �.rpcnter the

Sa'nle·Claire Deville, op. cit., pp. 18g-3'4'

s wov.ld be reduced from
16 IWru. 10 jIIfU 10 5 liDm, 5 JIIlIJ'( Rud� and Soboul, op. cit., pp.
highcSI-paid blaclumith or fictel' in the anILS workshop � For Ihe moS! dec.ailed faClUal account of the evcnu of 9-10 Thermidor ICC
1&-'7)·
 ."
CROWD I N ACTION THERMIDOR
158 THE REVOLUTIONARY
every chance to make up evide�ce of all-during the night thirty·nine of the Sectioru
The militanu in the Sections had pres ented to them by the were 10 �ennanent session, debating and receiving reports. Of
their minds on the important issue ughout the afternoon and these, thirty·five declared unequivocally for the Convention;
two contending parties which, thro ers, threau, and decla�a. tw� others-Sans-Culottes (Hanriot's Section) and Finistere­
evening, sent mutually conflicting ord should they rally to the SIde hesltate� at first, but rallied later; only two--the Observatoire
tions, appealing to their loyalties:uld reject and abandon and Chaher . (Cluny) Sections of the Faubourg Saint-Marcel­
of 'les patriotes opprimes' or shoned,they and finally outlawed, by showed clea�ly their sy�pathies for the Robespierrists; yet,
them to their fate as men condem Convention ? The Com�une under the weight of opposlOg opinion and seeing that the game
l
the lawfully constituted Nationa n of the thir , ty compa of was lost, they too surrendered to the majority before the night
had some early successes: seventee ional Guard) rem�� atmng was out.1
canonnUrs (forming part of the Pari
s Nat
de in the Pla� e de Gr� e; The repo.rts of these proceedings were, in the great majority
in the capital obeyed the call to para bourg Sam t-An tom e, of cases, wntten after the event-at a time when the victors of
they included two companies from the Fau the Bon , . ne t Rou ge and T�e�midor were already seated firmly in the saddle. The
two from the markeu, and two from ��n k. In a�dtuon �nother OplDlOns of the minority who favoured the Commune were
Luxembourg Sect ions on the Left
dozen Sections sent battalions of fosth ers and plkeme,n, I�clud. therefore rar:ly recorded; but here and there we find among
ing a strong force of 1,200 from t�e Pantheon Section m the them the vOice of a sans·ctJiotte, who was not so easily to be
Faubourg Saint-Marcel. At .one hme there we�e over 3,000 swayed fro� his pas� loyalties, In the general assembly of the
armed men drawn up outside and, el the Hot de Ville. But they ��atre �atlOns SectIOn, for example, we read of a citizen who
� debate went o� InSisted 10 the face of hostile interruption that a letter from
lacked both direction and purp assembhes,thethe whole of this
ose;
J:Ianriot should be read, instead of being ignored as the cmana.
in the Sectional committees and gradually melted a,,:,ay : t1?n of '1a Commune co�pi�atrice'. When challenged to give
force, left largely idle and unattended,or,
at 1.30 in the morning of 10 Thermid 200 .men of the. Fmls­ hiS name, he stoutly replies: le me nomme Lanbrine, demeu­
tere Section, the last armed support of Robbou esplerre.and hIS � rant. rue du Sepulcre, compagnon [journryman] de Graseau .'J
ciates, marched silently back to the Fau rg Satnt.Marce�. , AgalD, �e r�ad of Charles Joly, wallpaper worker and corporal
of
More significant still was the lack trad?� resp o e from the cl�l ofthe Reumon (Beaubo,urg) Section, who tore up the papers ofa
authorities in the Sections, Tha mps Elysees,ally
the luon bour�tots woman newsvendor which announced the arrest of HanriOl' he
w�s arr�sted as an �ccomplice of the Communc and kep� in
t
Cha Rep ubhque
Sections of the west-Tuileries, (Pon t Neu f), a d even pmon till the followmg December.l But these are but isolated
(Roule), Louvre, Revolut ionn �jre �
�l� have qUic sup­ kly de­ cases; once the tide had begun to turn, Robespierre's vocal
Piques (Robespierre's own Secuon)-sho nslOg;. but ear� y defenders o� that day were but a small and ineffectual body,
clared for the Convention is hardly surp such radIcal Secuons as ,
whose 0plOlOns ,
were qUIckly submerged in the growing flood
porters of the Asse mbly also inclu de�
the Quinze Vingu, Unite, and Mal�tled n Com mune, as ,,:,ell. of anti-Jacobin reaction.
of the achons

I
More evident still ":as the particular hostility of the wage­
Sainte-Claire Deville, who made a deta and comymitt stud
ee on that ear�ers, who ha� been IOcensed by the recent publication of the
bly
and affiliations of every local assem all the civil authorities in
of maxImum des sa/Qlres by the Robespierrist Communc. Presumably
day, found that less than one-fifth however half-hearted, to
the capital showed any inclination,e : these mclu : Ibid., pp. 273-8.
p' Arch. Pr�r. Pol., Aa 163, rol. 293.There is also the rather eonfwcd account of
Arch. P..ef. Po\., Aa 266, rol, 242.
•
. ded n:-elve
rally to the side of the Commun . h that of the FIDl , st�re
Revolutionary Committees, among whic t conclUSive �'erre Rose, gunpowder worker of the Homme Arm� (Marais) Scction' who was
ked "-tp fo� reporting to his neighboUr! what he had heard in the Place de
showed the most eager response. Finally-and mos he that n'ght�that anyone publicly announcing the oullawry of Robespierre
and othen would be arrested by the Commune (Arch. Pr�f, PoL, Ab 356, fol, 2).
l , op. cit., pp. 201-14·
, Sainle-CI.ire Devile
 ."
CROWD I N ACTION THERMIDOR
158 THE REVOLUTIONARY
every chance to make up evide�ce of all-during the night thirty·nine of the Sectioru
The militanu in the Sections had pres ented to them by the were 10 �ennanent session, debating and receiving reports. Of
their minds on the important issue ughout the afternoon and these, thirty·five declared unequivocally for the Convention;
two contending parties which, thro ers, threau, and decla�a. tw� others-Sans-Culottes (Hanriot's Section) and Finistere­
evening, sent mutually conflicting ord should they rally to the SIde hesltate� at first, but rallied later; only two--the Observatoire
tions, appealing to their loyalties:uld reject and abandon and Chaher . (Cluny) Sections of the Faubourg Saint-Marcel­
of 'les patriotes opprimes' or shoned,they and finally outlawed, by showed clea�ly their sy�pathies for the Robespierrists; yet,
them to their fate as men condem Convention ? The Com�une under the weight of opposlOg opinion and seeing that the game
l
the lawfully constituted Nationa n of the thir , ty compa of was lost, they too surrendered to the majority before the night
had some early successes: seventee ional Guard) rem�� atmng was out.1
canonnUrs (forming part of the Pari
s Nat
de in the Pla� e de Gr� e; The repo.rts of these proceedings were, in the great majority
in the capital obeyed the call to para bourg Sam t-An tom e, of cases, wntten after the event-at a time when the victors of
they included two companies from the Fau the Bon , . ne t Rou ge and T�e�midor were already seated firmly in the saddle. The
two from the markeu, and two from ��n k. In a�dtuon �nother OplDlOns of the minority who favoured the Commune were
Luxembourg Sect ions on the Left
dozen Sections sent battalions of fosth ers and plkeme,n, I�clud. therefore rar:ly recorded; but here and there we find among
ing a strong force of 1,200 from t�e Pantheon Section m the them the vOice of a sans·ctJiotte, who was not so easily to be
Faubourg Saint-Marcel. At .one hme there we�e over 3,000 swayed fro� his pas� loyalties, In the general assembly of the
armed men drawn up outside and, el the Hot de Ville. But they ��atre �atlOns SectIOn, for example, we read of a citizen who
� debate went o� InSisted 10 the face of hostile interruption that a letter from
lacked both direction and purp assembhes,thethe whole of this
ose;
J:Ianriot should be read, instead of being ignored as the cmana.
in the Sectional committees and gradually melted a,,:,ay : t1?n of '1a Commune co�pi�atrice'. When challenged to give
force, left largely idle and unattended,or,
at 1.30 in the morning of 10 Thermid 200 .men of the. Fmls­ hiS name, he stoutly replies: le me nomme Lanbrine, demeu­
tere Section, the last armed support of Robbou esplerre.and hIS � rant. rue du Sepulcre, compagnon [journryman] de Graseau .'J
ciates, marched silently back to the Fau rg Satnt.Marce�. , AgalD, �e r�ad of Charles Joly, wallpaper worker and corporal
of
More significant still was the lack trad?� resp o e from the cl�l ofthe Reumon (Beaubo,urg) Section, who tore up the papers ofa
authorities in the Sections, Tha mps Elysees,ally
the luon bour�tots woman newsvendor which announced the arrest of HanriOl' he
w�s arr�sted as an �ccomplice of the Communc and kep� in
t
Cha Rep ubhque
Sections of the west-Tuileries, (Pon t Neu f), a d even pmon till the followmg December.l But these are but isolated
(Roule), Louvre, Revolut ionn �jre �
�l� have qUic sup­ kly de­ cases; once the tide had begun to turn, Robespierre's vocal
Piques (Robespierre's own Secuon)-sho nslOg;. but ear� y defenders o� that day were but a small and ineffectual body,
clared for the Convention is hardly surp such radIcal Secuons as ,
whose 0plOlOns ,
were qUIckly submerged in the growing flood
porters of the Asse mbly also inclu de�
the Quinze Vingu, Unite, and Mal�tled n Com mune, as ,,:,ell. of anti-Jacobin reaction.
of the achons

I
More evident still ":as the particular hostility of the wage­
Sainte-Claire Deville, who made a deta and comymitt stud
ee on that ear�ers, who ha� been IOcensed by the recent publication of the
bly
and affiliations of every local assem all the civil authorities in
of maxImum des sa/Qlres by the Robespierrist Communc. Presumably
day, found that less than one-fifth however half-hearted, to
the capital showed any inclination,e : these mclu : Ibid., pp. 273-8.
p' Arch. Pr�r. Pol., Aa 163, rol. 293.There is also the rather eonfwcd account of
Arch. P..ef. Po\., Aa 266, rol, 242.
•
. ded n:-elve
rally to the side of the Commun . h that of the FIDl , st�re
Revolutionary Committees, among whic t conclUSive �'erre Rose, gunpowder worker of the Homme Arm� (Marais) Scction' who was
ked "-tp fo� reporting to his neighboUr! what he had heard in the Place de
showed the most eager response. Finally-and mos he that n'ght�that anyone publicly announcing the oullawry of Robespierre
and othen would be arrested by the Commune (Arch. Pr�f, PoL, Ab 356, fol, 2).
l , op. cit., pp. 201-14·
, Sainle-CI.ire Devile
140 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
ignorant of the political struggle that had just broken into
the open, workers gathered for a protest meeting in the place
de Greve on 4 o'clock that afternoon: it must have made an
impression, as it is recorded in the minutes of five Civil Com­
mittees of neighbouring Sections. It must also have been some­
what confusing to observers to see the demonstrators converging
THERMIDOR '.'
the wage-earners, who, in Paris, formed so substantial a part of
the sans-culottes, had come to believe that the removal or Robes­
pier�e and his �iates would mean the end of the hated
maxImum des salal�u and clear the way for higher wages.t In a
sense they were fight; but the outcome was neither what they
hopcd nor expected.

rdi Section that hi,

on the square almost at the same time as the first military
�
, It w:as l..ter reported by a brush-m..ker of the Lomb..
formations were beginning to appear in response to the Com­
obserVllu�n. el volta le max,mum danl le p;lnier!', ..
workpeo?1e ..d g':" ted the exttution of Robespierre ..nd his
� associalet with the
per cent. �ncre:ase to the..
.
v.:..gea! (R. Cobb, 'Une "Coalition" do ga�onl brossi
mune's summons ; so we find in these reports such varying nd promptly put in for a
;�
.
de I.. secl,on da Lombarda , AM. hul. R/c.jro"f., no. '30
interpretations of the workers' meeting as that it was (rightly
enough) 'a revolt because of the Maximum'; that the workers (19.53), pp. 67-70).
were about to march on the Convention; and even that
Robespierre had been assassinated by the demonstrators. I The
Commune, despite its other preoccupations, took the workers'
protest seriously enough and did not invite further disfavour
by attempting to disperse them by force of arms: at 8 o'clock
that evening, in a proclamation to the citizens, the mayor,
Fleuriot-Lescot, publicly saddled Barere, one of Robespierre's
principal opponents, with responsibility for the reduction in
wages-

ce Barere qui appartient a touta Its factions tour a tour et qui a fait
fixer Ie pri}!.:des joumees des ouvriers pour les faire perir de faim.1
But it was too late to have any effect on the course of events.
The workers remained either hostile, or indifferent to such
pleas. Earlier that evening, eyewitnesses reported that General
Hanriot, seeking to win allies for the arrested deputies,
harangued a score of paviors, urging them to leave their work,
as their 'protector' and 'father' was in danger. 'Les ouvriers',
concludes the report, 'I'ecoutent un moment, crient Vive la
Rtpublique, et reprennent leur ouvrage.') Others showed more
marked hostility. When, two days later, after Robespierre and
his principal lieutenants had been disposed of, the councillors
of the Commune were, in turn, being driven to the place of
execution, workers are said to have shouted as they passed,
'foutu maximum !'. From other accounts, too, it appears that
• Arch. N..t., AFII 47, pl..q. 365, fob:. 8, 28; plaq. 366, fob:. 1, 6, 34, 50. Sainte_

, Areh. N..t., f1 #32, plaq. I, fol. 40. ' Ibid., pl..q. 9, fol. 4·
Cl..ire Deville, surprisingly, don not mention this incident .

• A. Aul..rd, Paris JNndall1. la .llKlion Ihnmidorilrw (5 vob:., P..ris, 18g8-1902),

i. 1 1 .
140 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
ignorant of the political struggle that had just broken into
the open, workers gathered for a protest meeting in the place
de Greve on 4 o'clock that afternoon: it must have made an
impression, as it is recorded in the minutes of five Civil Com­
mittees of neighbouring Sections. It must also have been some­
what confusing to observers to see the demonstrators converging
THERMIDOR '.'
the wage-earners, who, in Paris, formed so substantial a part of
the sans-culottes, had come to believe that the removal or Robes­
pier�e and his �iates would mean the end of the hated
maxImum des salal�u and clear the way for higher wages.t In a
sense they were fight; but the outcome was neither what they
hopcd nor expected.

rdi Section that hi,

on the square almost at the same time as the first military
�
, It w:as l..ter reported by a brush-m..ker of the Lomb..
formations were beginning to appear in response to the Com­
obserVllu�n. el volta le max,mum danl le p;lnier!', ..
workpeo?1e ..d g':" ted the exttution of Robespierre ..nd his
� associalet with the
per cent. �ncre:ase to the..
.
v.:..gea! (R. Cobb, 'Une "Coalition" do ga�onl brossi
mune's summons ; so we find in these reports such varying nd promptly put in for a
;�
.
de I.. secl,on da Lombarda , AM. hul. R/c.jro"f., no. '30
interpretations of the workers' meeting as that it was (rightly
enough) 'a revolt because of the Maximum'; that the workers (19.53), pp. 67-70).
were about to march on the Convention; and even that
Robespierre had been assassinated by the demonstrators. I The
Commune, despite its other preoccupations, took the workers'
protest seriously enough and did not invite further disfavour
by attempting to disperse them by force of arms: at 8 o'clock
that evening, in a proclamation to the citizens, the mayor,
Fleuriot-Lescot, publicly saddled Barere, one of Robespierre's
principal opponents, with responsibility for the reduction in
wages-

ce Barere qui appartient a touta Its factions tour a tour et qui a fait
fixer Ie pri}!.:des joumees des ouvriers pour les faire perir de faim.1
But it was too late to have any effect on the course of events.
The workers remained either hostile, or indifferent to such
pleas. Earlier that evening, eyewitnesses reported that General
Hanriot, seeking to win allies for the arrested deputies,
harangued a score of paviors, urging them to leave their work,
as their 'protector' and 'father' was in danger. 'Les ouvriers',
concludes the report, 'I'ecoutent un moment, crient Vive la
Rtpublique, et reprennent leur ouvrage.') Others showed more
marked hostility. When, two days later, after Robespierre and
his principal lieutenants had been disposed of, the councillors
of the Commune were, in turn, being driven to the place of
execution, workers are said to have shouted as they passed,
'foutu maximum !'. From other accounts, too, it appears that
• Arch. N..t., AFII 47, pl..q. 365, fob:. 8, 28; plaq. 366, fob:. 1, 6, 34, 50. Sainte_

, Areh. N..t., f1 #32, plaq. I, fol. 40. ' Ibid., pl..q. 9, fol. 4·
Cl..ire Deville, surprisingly, don not mention this incident .

• A. Aul..rd, Paris JNndall1. la .llKlion Ihnmidorilrw (5 vob:., P..ris, 18g8-1902),

i. 1 1 .
 GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL ."
�ubli� Safety and General S«urity; the latter, while continuing
ID bemg, were reduced both in powers and in independence :
x above all, the anned forces (including the Parisian National
Guard) were removed from their control and Elaced. und �a.t
G E R M I NAL-P R A I R I A L of a tfO
ecially constituted Milita!y_ Committee, resP-2�bl to
t,J.Q.n. AJ drastic was the reorganization of local

HE
the �.ll

popularinsufrections of12thGerm
inal and t st·4th Prairial �
govern�ent. T e old comites tie surveillance and Revolutionary

of the Year III ( I April and 20-2

T
final, and the most considerable,
their
culottes to impose their will on
t in
political force. After their defea
play any effective part until the next
r extc::nt these movements are
early nineteenth century. To a lesse
important as marking the final attem
Mountain and the Jacobins to recap
Paris Sections; but this time,
dancy in the Convention and the
though they gave some political direc
in protest agamst worserung
ment which arose in the first place
economic conditions, their interventi
hearted and doomed the movement
we must
its range and significance
discontent
Thennidorians and the
autu mn of
sans-culottes back to the
Robespierre's successors lost little
machinery of government created
verting to a freer economic system
the wishes and interests of the new
By a decree of 24 August sixteen
y done
carry out the work previOusl
3 May 1795 ) marked the Comrruttees which at the local level had been the main props
� of the Jacobin dictatorship, were swept away wholesale or
brou,ght under central control. In the provinces they only
effor t of the arisian sans­
ruler s as an lOdependent
SUrvived at the District level. In Paris the Commune was
Prair ial they ceas�d to
.
roun d of revo lutiOns In the abolished and the forty-eight Revolutionary Committees were
grouped together in twelve comites d'arroruiisstTTWlt, from which
pt of th� rem?�nts of the allJacobin militants were excluded and in which the predomi­
ture their pohucal ascen­ nant social element was no longer the small shopkeeper and
c�af�man, but the merchant, civil servant, or professional man.'
tion to the �pular mo�e­ �
Similarly the Ci l Committees of the Sections were purged,
put under the dIrect control of the Convention and their
on was timorous and half· numbers made up by persons selected by the onvention's C
Committee of Legislation; once more a social transformation
to failure. To understand
was effected in the process, and on the committees that emerged
saru-:ulotus andJacobins of the Year II gave way before the
trace the policy of the
it aroused among the the
that
substantIal property.ownen and 'moderates' who had dominated
the Sections beforeJune 1 793.1 In the Sectional assemblies them.
1 794. 1
time in dismantling the
selves the influence of the sans-culotles was further drastically
by the Jacobins, and in re·
that accorded better with re�uced by the removal ofthe fortysous' compensation ; the assem.
biles were, besides, to meet only once every dicotie, or ten days.l
majority in the Convention.
Th� new government's economic policy was in keeping.
committees were set up to
In spite of continuing war and shortage, it owed it to its sup.
by the Committees of
,..;e A. Mathiez, Ul Rlad"", Jlrnmitkwi�
porters-the large producers of town and countryside, the

pp.
I For a general account ofthese events
T��� .. (� is, 1937). merchants, and shipbuilders, 'the hard·faced men who had
(Paris, 19119), 166-209, �36-.s8 ; G. Lerebvr e. us
Jtr1I1lM I !
done wei out of the war'-to liberate the economy from the
Ul dts controls Imposed by their predecessors. AJ a first step, in
inJ (Moscow.
T 6nneao n, SIIIU�JW ;
'lUdi� ,..;e E. Tad!!, 1 pm

1951; German edition, Berlin,

pp. 1 1 1 -39. For more detaile d

i t II T/Mtitm bour,�iu d Paris m 1"1111 III

(Doctoral I hesu for
1953); K. D. Dif llik

is based, more particularly. 011

IIII/IIWtIMI J>rIInIUz . October, the Maximum legislation was so amended as to allow

R. Cobb and G. Rud!!, 'Le Demier mouvelmc:nl

Unh'enilY of Oslo, 1959)' J'he praent chapter Rrices to rise to a level two-thirds above that ofJune 1790; on
IUQ14 hi�/Qriql#, Oc:10�­
populaire de 1.1. Ri!volul1On "
g m l el de prairia an III', 23 Decemb�r the Maximum Jaws were virtually abolished : the
December 1955, pp.
Pam: Ic:s joum« s de er i na
on polLee records, Whl� .
lQ e
25()-8 1. The taue, draws extensi w:ly pnce of ratIoned bread was stin maintained at 1 2 sous for the
.llIdJon IMmudarinw, .J.
Ihis period -inel uding I�e �publl�
opinion' bulktins edited by A. Aulard
during
, M." Bouloi.!eau, W CAmilb d, s�'l!IillllNf des ammdisumtnh jl4risitnS (Paril
form a parlic::ularly rruiul il ure .
l III
1-756), the papen or Ihe Committe<: or Gener
(Paris peM"n

of the tQmmlSSIllftS rh pdP

al Se<:urity (Arch. �at:, F' [sI!�e }
1 9 o , p. 88.
� ' Brit. MUI., F- 61, nos. I I, 20, �l, �7 (printed lisllI). '

(Arch. pur.
.
a1phabl!tiquel [Police Bl!n�rale]). and ,he procb-_ba= ....,_febvre. op. Cit pp. '4-IIQ.
.•

of ilK Paris Se<:tions Pol., .eriel Aa).

 GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL ."
�ubli� Safety and General S«urity; the latter, while continuing
ID bemg, were reduced both in powers and in independence :
x above all, the anned forces (including the Parisian National
Guard) were removed from their control and Elaced. und �a.t
G E R M I NAL-P R A I R I A L of a tfO
ecially constituted Milita!y_ Committee, resP-2�bl to
t,J.Q.n. AJ drastic was the reorganization of local

HE
the �.ll

popularinsufrections of12thGerm
inal and t st·4th Prairial �
govern�ent. T e old comites tie surveillance and Revolutionary

of the Year III ( I April and 20-2

T
final, and the most considerable,
their
culottes to impose their will on
t in
political force. After their defea
play any effective part until the next
r extc::nt these movements are
early nineteenth century. To a lesse
important as marking the final attem
Mountain and the Jacobins to recap
Paris Sections; but this time,
dancy in the Convention and the
though they gave some political direc
in protest agamst worserung
ment which arose in the first place
economic conditions, their interventi
hearted and doomed the movement
we must
its range and significance
discontent
Thennidorians and the
autu mn of
sans-culottes back to the
Robespierre's successors lost little
machinery of government created
verting to a freer economic system
the wishes and interests of the new
By a decree of 24 August sixteen
y done
carry out the work previOusl
3 May 1795 ) marked the Comrruttees which at the local level had been the main props
� of the Jacobin dictatorship, were swept away wholesale or
brou,ght under central control. In the provinces they only
effor t of the arisian sans­
ruler s as an lOdependent
SUrvived at the District level. In Paris the Commune was
Prair ial they ceas�d to
.
roun d of revo lutiOns In the abolished and the forty-eight Revolutionary Committees were
grouped together in twelve comites d'arroruiisstTTWlt, from which
pt of th� rem?�nts of the allJacobin militants were excluded and in which the predomi­
ture their pohucal ascen­ nant social element was no longer the small shopkeeper and
c�af�man, but the merchant, civil servant, or professional man.'
tion to the �pular mo�e­ �
Similarly the Ci l Committees of the Sections were purged,
put under the dIrect control of the Convention and their
on was timorous and half· numbers made up by persons selected by the onvention's C
Committee of Legislation; once more a social transformation
to failure. To understand
was effected in the process, and on the committees that emerged
saru-:ulotus andJacobins of the Year II gave way before the
trace the policy of the
it aroused among the the
that
substantIal property.ownen and 'moderates' who had dominated
the Sections beforeJune 1 793.1 In the Sectional assemblies them.
1 794. 1
time in dismantling the
selves the influence of the sans-culotles was further drastically
by the Jacobins, and in re·
that accorded better with re�uced by the removal ofthe fortysous' compensation ; the assem.
biles were, besides, to meet only once every dicotie, or ten days.l
majority in the Convention.
Th� new government's economic policy was in keeping.
committees were set up to
In spite of continuing war and shortage, it owed it to its sup.
by the Committees of
,..;e A. Mathiez, Ul Rlad"", Jlrnmitkwi�
porters-the large producers of town and countryside, the

pp.
I For a general account ofthese events
T��� .. (� is, 1937). merchants, and shipbuilders, 'the hard·faced men who had
(Paris, 19119), 166-209, �36-.s8 ; G. Lerebvr e. us
Jtr1I1lM I !
done wei out of the war'-to liberate the economy from the
Ul dts controls Imposed by their predecessors. AJ a first step, in
inJ (Moscow.
T 6nneao n, SIIIU�JW ;
'lUdi� ,..;e E. Tad!!, 1 pm

1951; German edition, Berlin,

pp. 1 1 1 -39. For more detaile d

i t II T/Mtitm bour,�iu d Paris m 1"1111 III

(Doctoral I hesu for
1953); K. D. Dif llik

is based, more particularly. 011

IIII/IIWtIMI J>rIInIUz . October, the Maximum legislation was so amended as to allow

R. Cobb and G. Rud!!, 'Le Demier mouvelmc:nl

Unh'enilY of Oslo, 1959)' J'he praent chapter Rrices to rise to a level two-thirds above that ofJune 1790; on
IUQ14 hi�/Qriql#, Oc:10�­
populaire de 1.1. Ri!volul1On "
g m l el de prairia an III', 23 Decemb�r the Maximum Jaws were virtually abolished : the
December 1955, pp.
Pam: Ic:s joum« s de er i na
on polLee records, Whl� .
lQ e
25()-8 1. The taue, draws extensi w:ly pnce of ratIoned bread was stin maintained at 1 2 sous for the
.llIdJon IMmudarinw, .J.
Ihis period -inel uding I�e �publl�
opinion' bulktins edited by A. Aulard
during
, M." Bouloi.!eau, W CAmilb d, s�'l!IillllNf des ammdisumtnh jl4risitnS (Paril
form a parlic::ularly rruiul il ure .
l III
1-756), the papen or Ihe Committe<: or Gener
(Paris peM"n

of the tQmmlSSIllftS rh pdP

al Se<:urity (Arch. �at:, F' [sI!�e }
1 9 o , p. 88.
� ' Brit. MUI., F- 61, nos. I I, 20, �l, �7 (printed lisllI). '

(Arch. pur.
.
a1phabl!tiquel [Police Bl!n�rale]). and ,he procb-_ba= ....,_febvre. op. Cit pp. '4-IIQ.
.•

of ilK Paris Se<:tions Pol., .eriel Aa).

 GERMINAL- PRAIRIAL
N
CROWD IN ACTIO
145
THE REVOLUTIO
NARY

wed in addition toounbed We knowr1 about .wages for this period. At first the
bread was now allo Thermidoria u
1+4

4-lb. loaf-though e-eamers by repudiat-

t; the basic meat ration of a half-p in� the scales ��:1 �� ';� �;:;��:� �mmun� on the eve
ess.

sold on an open mas rke also retained free to find of

at its new pri ce per SOIlS
every five days wa pri the
21
ir nat ura l oflu downfall: a revised nuuimu d ali��;s was, In fact, pub­
pound ; otherwise,naryces were now n is refl ect ed lished on 9 August, which provi:ede;o� eases of about one-
level. The inflatio in themovalvem ent thus set in motio cent. half above those of the illJated maximum
Ii
' of 23 July. ' But these
in the steady fall cent. in Octob ue of the assignat fromin36Noper gains wererapidly swallowed b he �over�me�t's delib�r�te
er, 24 per cen ry, andberto,
t. vem
•

in July to 28 per cember, 17 per cent. in Februa policy of fostering inflation an1of��t� ;:;�� re.c y competltlve
20 per cent. in De market. From the limited evidence. v le It appears that
71 per cent. in May 179 pared with the r � In £A�n1' 1795 were far lower
the real wages of Parisian worke
5.1
Although Paris vinceswa s a privileged area comwe re abandoned than in 1793-4 and had ! oba I� ;1 cn back to the cata-
large towns in theose pro , where con trols strophic level of the early onths f 789·z
citizens were to suffer nea r-famine condi­
altogether and wh n peo ple of the capitalultcam e to face con­ But long before this, and even before the repeal of the
tions,' the commolonged har the new policy. Maxtmum
' Iaws m
' December the co�mon people of Paris had
siderable and pro side by dship as the res ofsed t, still begun to voice their hostil!ty to t e government's policy,
There now developed, an opensidmae rke with the clo markeatio ned though at first in terms '0f ��athy and sullen resentment. The
I

not only in unr

subject to restriction, sugar, firewood, toil, and veg eta ble s- but prevailing mood is desc b y an agent of the Ministry of the
goods--eggs, butter as well. With the repeal of the Ma xim um Interior in late Novem��r�
in meat and breadstantly increasing shortages of every article Complaints and murm
.
�e c;ntmually heard. The long delays
laws and the con r man's budget, not only did the Parisian in obtaining rationed br;::; � �::::;t o�Hour, the high prices, in
entering into the poopurchase all commodities other than bread markets and squares, ofbre�d' , �e,. coal, vegetables and
menu peuple have to prevailing; but the­ potatoes, the price of which is increas'mg ;:I
and meat at the higher , famine prices nowund the most alarming

\!
�rtaking to pro manner :I:gtng . .the �ple into a state of wretchedness and
y 10

inability of the govntit ernment to honour its controlled despair 'tha; to ImaglOe.
bread and meat at the
at

vide sufficient quathemiestoofspe tion of

y

an ever higher t.por

pro
J

price, compelled ad and mend the open ma rke Th us, for The first ope? clashes with the authorities involved the arms
their income on brethe autumnatofin 179 w I Robe�pier"'s fal�, had remained relatively
l

the pric e of bre ad re­ ca���6:���� ;c�ovem er deIegatlOru from two w rk h

the prst time sinceial problem. Its imp1,orta nce ma y be jud ged
appeared as a soc price of bread in the open market from 25 ��:;�l;: ��:���o: to consider their claims for highe� w:g':�
from the rise in the 1795 to 65 sous on April, to 6 liures on
II
r ::0 d:� later, by 350 w�rkers from the
SOIlS on 28 March May, and to 16 lilJreS aanwweek later-twO Pantheon workshop'' compelled their managers to
tJ
2 1 April, to 9 liurts on hile the price lead them on a march to the. Tuileries. Other workshops
days before the outbre ak of 1st Prairia1.4 Me in December to followed suit· and the Co�:�:� I a;:
rket rose from 36 sousil pric
of meat on the opeI nApmaril.s
on
SOIlS The index ofreta Apes,
in
based on
ril.6 ; a n
;:a�:n�'c::' :�t�� ,s' propose
' �� ��:�� :t: �,�:�:J' k
suitable measures. It was de�
June 1790, rose from 500 in January to goo
7 livres, 1 0
cided to close down thOe government arms workshops altogether
• Ibid., p. 99·
, Har is, Th AssillUlt
l, p. • 66. the bread
ured at all (ibid., p. 107);
I The me
r often not hono : Rudt and Soboul, 0p. cir., pp. 2o-�3
..t ration wall (.'imp,.), xxiii. 7(0),
per head in � For the preceding two Jnr..graplu G R d ' d op l
ralion, fixed al I-II lb.
.
h�ad (Aulard, a u r
i:E!,n�7' W;ga
nittwr .
6, 6, 4, or even II ounces peT
March ' 79 5 (}.IQ
lo� fuen... in Paria during the French ;;vol�ti;"' osl. '�., vol. � no..
n VI,
n:h nd May Cell to
between M ..
rd, Ap ' AIch. Nal.,
3,
a • Aul.. op. cIl., i. 610, 654, 675, ,IS, n� '954, pp. 261-4. 3686' (my translation).
7�9·
op. cit.. vol. I, fHJSsim) . I HarT;', op. cit.,
pp. 10]-8·
F"
• Ibid. 341, 6119.
 GERMINAL- PRAIRIAL
N
CROWD IN ACTIO
145
THE REVOLUTIO
NARY

wed in addition toounbed We knowr1 about .wages for this period. At first the
bread was now allo Thermidoria u
1+4

4-lb. loaf-though e-eamers by repudiat-

t; the basic meat ration of a half-p in� the scales ��:1 �� ';� �;:;��:� �mmun� on the eve
ess.

sold on an open mas rke also retained free to find of

at its new pri ce per SOIlS
every five days wa pri the
21
ir nat ura l oflu downfall: a revised nuuimu d ali��;s was, In fact, pub­
pound ; otherwise,naryces were now n is refl ect ed lished on 9 August, which provi:ede;o� eases of about one-
level. The inflatio in themovalvem ent thus set in motio cent. half above those of the illJated maximum
Ii
' of 23 July. ' But these
in the steady fall cent. in Octob ue of the assignat fromin36Noper gains wererapidly swallowed b he �over�me�t's delib�r�te
er, 24 per cen ry, andberto,
t. vem
•

in July to 28 per cember, 17 per cent. in Februa policy of fostering inflation an1of��t� ;:;�� re.c y competltlve
20 per cent. in De market. From the limited evidence. v le It appears that
71 per cent. in May 179 pared with the r � In £A�n1' 1795 were far lower
the real wages of Parisian worke
5.1
Although Paris vinceswa s a privileged area comwe re abandoned than in 1793-4 and had ! oba I� ;1 cn back to the cata-
large towns in theose pro , where con trols strophic level of the early onths f 789·z
citizens were to suffer nea r-famine condi­
altogether and wh n peo ple of the capitalultcam e to face con­ But long before this, and even before the repeal of the
tions,' the commolonged har the new policy. Maxtmum
' Iaws m
' December the co�mon people of Paris had
siderable and pro side by dship as the res ofsed t, still begun to voice their hostil!ty to t e government's policy,
There now developed, an opensidmae rke with the clo markeatio ned though at first in terms '0f ��athy and sullen resentment. The
I

not only in unr

subject to restriction, sugar, firewood, toil, and veg eta ble s- but prevailing mood is desc b y an agent of the Ministry of the
goods--eggs, butter as well. With the repeal of the Ma xim um Interior in late Novem��r�
in meat and breadstantly increasing shortages of every article Complaints and murm
.
�e c;ntmually heard. The long delays
laws and the con r man's budget, not only did the Parisian in obtaining rationed br;::; � �::::;t o�Hour, the high prices, in
entering into the poopurchase all commodities other than bread markets and squares, ofbre�d' , �e,. coal, vegetables and
menu peuple have to prevailing; but the­ potatoes, the price of which is increas'mg ;:I
and meat at the higher , famine prices nowund the most alarming

\!
�rtaking to pro manner :I:gtng . .the �ple into a state of wretchedness and
y 10

inability of the govntit ernment to honour its controlled despair 'tha; to ImaglOe.
bread and meat at the
at

vide sufficient quathemiestoofspe tion of

y

an ever higher t.por

pro
J

price, compelled ad and mend the open ma rke Th us, for The first ope? clashes with the authorities involved the arms
their income on brethe autumnatofin 179 w I Robe�pier"'s fal�, had remained relatively
l

the pric e of bre ad re­ ca���6:���� ;c�ovem er deIegatlOru from two w rk h

the prst time sinceial problem. Its imp1,orta nce ma y be jud ged
appeared as a soc price of bread in the open market from 25 ��:;�l;: ��:���o: to consider their claims for highe� w:g':�
from the rise in the 1795 to 65 sous on April, to 6 liures on
II
r ::0 d:� later, by 350 w�rkers from the
SOIlS on 28 March May, and to 16 lilJreS aanwweek later-twO Pantheon workshop'' compelled their managers to
tJ
2 1 April, to 9 liurts on hile the price lead them on a march to the. Tuileries. Other workshops
days before the outbre ak of 1st Prairia1.4 Me in December to followed suit· and the Co�:�:� I a;:
rket rose from 36 sousil pric
of meat on the opeI nApmaril.s
on
SOIlS The index ofreta Apes,
in
based on
ril.6 ; a n
;:a�:n�'c::' :�t�� ,s' propose
' �� ��:�� :t: �,�:�:J' k
suitable measures. It was de�
June 1790, rose from 500 in January to goo
7 livres, 1 0
cided to close down thOe government arms workshops altogether
• Ibid., p. 99·
, Har is, Th AssillUlt
l, p. • 66. the bread
ured at all (ibid., p. 107);
I The me
r often not hono : Rudt and Soboul, 0p. cir., pp. 2o-�3
..t ration wall (.'imp,.), xxiii. 7(0),
per head in � For the preceding two Jnr..graplu G R d ' d op l
ralion, fixed al I-II lb.
.
h�ad (Aulard, a u r
i:E!,n�7' W;ga
nittwr .
6, 6, 4, or even II ounces peT
March ' 79 5 (}.IQ
lo� fuen... in Paria during the French ;;vol�ti;"' osl. '�., vol. � no..
n VI,
n:h nd May Cell to
between M ..
rd, Ap ' AIch. Nal.,
3,
a • Aul.. op. cIl., i. 610, 654, 675, ,IS, n� '954, pp. 261-4. 3686' (my translation).
7�9·
op. cit.. vol. I, fHJSsim) . I HarT;', op. cit.,
pp. 10]-8·
F"
• Ibid. 341, 6119.
 146 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
on 20 January. The workers, faced with the prospect of un­
employment in mid-winter, reacted vigo�usly and, aft�r a
series of demonstrations, in the course of which a score of nng­
leaders were arrested, persuaded the authorities to grant them
a few weeks' respite. The workshops were closed down on 8
'
February 1795.' But after December we hear no more of wages
movements. Once the full effects ofinBation were felt, the wage-
earners joined with the rest of the sans-culottes in common pro­
test against the fantastic rise in prices of aU consumers' goods;
once more the food riot rather than the strike became the order
of the day.
In fact the repeal of the Maximum laws in late December
touched off a popular movement which, with short lulls, con­
tinued till the early summer. A police report of 27 December
warned of growing social unrest: 'La classe incligente donne de
I'inquietude aux citoyens paisibles sur les suites de cette cherte
excessive.' By early January prices of many goods had already
doubled since the repeal of the Maximum; and workers,
assembled at the Tuileries, threatened merchants and shop­
keepers with violence: 'Qu'a l'egard des marchands� c'etaient
des cochons qu'il faudrait tuer.' Some voiced royalist propa­
ganda: 'Au diable la Republique! nous manquons de tout, il
n'y a que Ie riche qui ne manque de rien: It was rumoured that
the Faubourg Saint-Antoine was once more preparing to march
on the Convention, this time to demand a reduction in food
prices; it was even suggested that the Assembly should be
dispersed by force.�
But it was not only the rising cost of living that kept this
movement in being: political issues entered into it as well. On
the one hand, there were the measures taken by the Govern­
ment-the persecuti.on of the 'patriots' of 1793-4, the closure
of the Jacobin Club, the abolition of the 40 sous, the destruction
of the busts of Marat, the encouragement given to speculators
and war-profiteers and to the middle-class youth (or muscadins),
whose arrogance excited the particular fury and hostility of the
sans-culottes; on the other hand, there was the Jacobin propa­
ganda kept up by Lebois's journal, L'Ami du proP/t, and the
, For the .� -= m.l.inly Pr«u·_6awr tie La w-nli01l national" xlvii. 1311 i
:dix. :I+4-63 ; 1. ag...go, II�; Ii. '55-7; !iv. :166.
a Aulard, op. dt. i. 3+3, 3�7-8. 367, 369-70, 377. 380.
GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL '47
clubs and societies that had managed to survive in the Fau­
bourgs Saint-Antoine and Saint-Marcel and the Section des
Gravilliers-prominent among which were the Society of Re­
publican Virtues in the Observatoire Section and the Club de
la Rue du Vert-Bois, the latter said to be composed largely
'd'ouvriers et d'hommes peu instruits, tres faciles a egarer'.
Occasionally this propaganda is reflected in the police reports;
as, for example, in late November, when members of the Bonne
Nouvelle Section, marching to the Convention to congratulate
the legislators on their decision to close down theJacobin Club,
were greeted with cat-calls and derisive shouts of 'Voila les
petits muscadins de Bonne-Nouvelle qui Vont a la Convention';
or, again, when an arms worker, arrested for creating a distur­
bance at the Tuileries on 9 February, accompaD:ied his criticism
of the Convention for closing the workshops with attacks on the
deputies for feathering their own nests while the people starved,
and for destroying monuments to Marat; while petitioners from
the Sections that had come to applaud thest.: measures were
apostrophized as 'des intriguans, des marchands, des factieux,
un tas de gueux et des hommes a la houppelande'. This atmo­
sphere of class-hostility-reminiscent of that prevailing in the
capital on the eve of the Champ de Mars 'massacre' of July
1791-Was further intensified by the counter-measures taken
by the Convention. The remaining clubs were closed down and
some of the local leaders-Babeuf among them-were arrested.
Even more significant perhaps was the suggestion made to the
Committee of General Security that better use might be made
ofthe anti�Jacobin youth, thejeutuSSt dOTie led by Freron, to act
as a counter-weight to the activities of 'la faction' :
Ce contrepoids est d'autant plus necessaire qu'il [Ie Cornite] n'a
nuls moyens de repression, nulle force armee sur laquelle il puisse
entier-ernent compter.'
The suggestion did not fall on deaf ears, as subsequent events
were to reveal.
It was against this background that the insurrectionary move­
ment developed that culminated in the explosion of 12th
Germinal (I April 1795)' The new element that brought it to
a head'was the growing shortage of rationed bread, which began
I See Cobb and Rudl!, op. cit., pp. 1I�7-9.
 146 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
on 20 January. The workers, faced with the prospect of un­
employment in mid-winter, reacted vigo�usly and, aft�r a
series of demonstrations, in the course of which a score of nng­
leaders were arrested, persuaded the authorities to grant them
a few weeks' respite. The workshops were closed down on 8
'
February 1795.' But after December we hear no more of wages
movements. Once the full effects ofinBation were felt, the wage-
earners joined with the rest of the sans-culottes in common pro­
test against the fantastic rise in prices of aU consumers' goods;
once more the food riot rather than the strike became the order
of the day.
In fact the repeal of the Maximum laws in late December
touched off a popular movement which, with short lulls, con­
tinued till the early summer. A police report of 27 December
warned of growing social unrest: 'La classe incligente donne de
I'inquietude aux citoyens paisibles sur les suites de cette cherte
excessive.' By early January prices of many goods had already
doubled since the repeal of the Maximum; and workers,
assembled at the Tuileries, threatened merchants and shop­
keepers with violence: 'Qu'a l'egard des marchands� c'etaient
des cochons qu'il faudrait tuer.' Some voiced royalist propa­
ganda: 'Au diable la Republique! nous manquons de tout, il
n'y a que Ie riche qui ne manque de rien: It was rumoured that
the Faubourg Saint-Antoine was once more preparing to march
on the Convention, this time to demand a reduction in food
prices; it was even suggested that the Assembly should be
dispersed by force.�
But it was not only the rising cost of living that kept this
movement in being: political issues entered into it as well. On
the one hand, there were the measures taken by the Govern­
ment-the persecuti.on of the 'patriots' of 1793-4, the closure
of the Jacobin Club, the abolition of the 40 sous, the destruction
of the busts of Marat, the encouragement given to speculators
and war-profiteers and to the middle-class youth (or muscadins),
whose arrogance excited the particular fury and hostility of the
sans-culottes; on the other hand, there was the Jacobin propa­
ganda kept up by Lebois's journal, L'Ami du proP/t, and the
, For the .� -= m.l.inly Pr«u·_6awr tie La w-nli01l national" xlvii. 1311 i
:dix. :I+4-63 ; 1. ag...go, II�; Ii. '55-7; !iv. :166.
a Aulard, op. dt. i. 3+3, 3�7-8. 367, 369-70, 377. 380.
GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL '47
clubs and societies that had managed to survive in the Fau­
bourgs Saint-Antoine and Saint-Marcel and the Section des
Gravilliers-prominent among which were the Society of Re­
publican Virtues in the Observatoire Section and the Club de
la Rue du Vert-Bois, the latter said to be composed largely
'd'ouvriers et d'hommes peu instruits, tres faciles a egarer'.
Occasionally this propaganda is reflected in the police reports;
as, for example, in late November, when members of the Bonne
Nouvelle Section, marching to the Convention to congratulate
the legislators on their decision to close down theJacobin Club,
were greeted with cat-calls and derisive shouts of 'Voila les
petits muscadins de Bonne-Nouvelle qui Vont a la Convention';
or, again, when an arms worker, arrested for creating a distur­
bance at the Tuileries on 9 February, accompaD:ied his criticism
of the Convention for closing the workshops with attacks on the
deputies for feathering their own nests while the people starved,
and for destroying monuments to Marat; while petitioners from
the Sections that had come to applaud thest.: measures were
apostrophized as 'des intriguans, des marchands, des factieux,
un tas de gueux et des hommes a la houppelande'. This atmo­
sphere of class-hostility-reminiscent of that prevailing in the
capital on the eve of the Champ de Mars 'massacre' of July
1791-Was further intensified by the counter-measures taken
by the Convention. The remaining clubs were closed down and
some of the local leaders-Babeuf among them-were arrested.
Even more significant perhaps was the suggestion made to the
Committee of General Security that better use might be made
ofthe anti�Jacobin youth, thejeutuSSt dOTie led by Freron, to act
as a counter-weight to the activities of 'la faction' :
Ce contrepoids est d'autant plus necessaire qu'il [Ie Cornite] n'a
nuls moyens de repression, nulle force armee sur laquelle il puisse
entier-ernent compter.'
The suggestion did not fall on deaf ears, as subsequent events
were to reveal.
It was against this background that the insurrectionary move­
ment developed that culminated in the explosion of 12th
Germinal (I April 1795)' The new element that brought it to
a head'was the growing shortage of rationed bread, which began
I See Cobb and Rudl!, op. cit., pp. 1I�7-9.
14B THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
to be felt in January and reached near-famine proportions by
the end of March. Police reports for the fortnight leading up to
the outbreak present a graphic picture of a growing movement
of anger and frustration, which may be summarized as follows :
16 March. Meetings of women in the Gravillien Section.
17 March. Deputations from Saint-Jacques and Saint-Marcel
petition the Convention: 'We lack bread and are beginning to regret
all the sacrifices we have made for the Revolution.'
18 March. A waiter arrested in the Montagne (Palais Royal)
to a ration of one lb. of bread a day and to eating potatoes, which
Section complains that 'it was dreadful to see Frenchmen reduced
were only fit for pigs'.
21 March. A deputation from the Faubourg Saint-Antoine received
by the Convention; workers and muscat/ins come to blows at the
Porte St. Denis.
22 Marth. Bread-ration breaks down completely in Gravillien
and Homme Arme (Marais) Sections; two gentlemen insulted by
arms workers in the Palais Egalite (Palais Royal) ; a paper-worker
arrested on Pont Neuf for shouting that 'the rich were all rogues'.
23 March. Women of the Arsenal workshop threaten to throw
'jeunes gens', who had ventured into the Faubourg Saint-Antoine to
fraternize with the ouuriers, into the river.
24 Mllrch. Four persons arrested in Montreuil Section for trying
'to raise the Faubourg' ; no bread distributed in Oroits de I'Homme,
Indivisibilite, Marches and Lombards Sections.
25 Mllrch. A jeweller of the rue Saint-Martin arrested fOI; threaten­
ing the Convention and complaining 'that it was not easy to live
on a half-pound of bread'.
26 March. Women of rue Saint-Martin accuse men of being
'cowards' for taking no action; women flour-workers try to organize
a march to the Convention.
27 March. Extensive bread-riots in Gravilliers and Temple Sec­
tions; women and male workers march to Convention and com­
plain of bread-ration of only a half-pound; several arrests; illegal
Sectional assemblies in Amis de la Patrie and Gravilliers.
:llJ MfJrCh. Agitation in Gravilliers and Temple continues ; march
on Convention dispersed by National Guard, who arrest eight
persons near Opera.
29 March. A mother kills twoofherthreechildrenforfearoffamine.
30 MtJrch. Bread-riots in Droits de I'Homme and Faubourg du
Nord.
31 March. Illegal assembly in Droits de l'Homme addresses
petition to Convention; workers strike for more bread; four Sections
GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL ."
petition Conventi�n : Qui�ze Vingts deputation reminds deputies
that, on occasIOn, msurrectlon a sacred duty and calls for jwtice for
.
imprisoned 'patriots', for steps to alleviate hunger and for the
implementation of the Constitution of 1 793. 1
Th�e demands were voiced on a far larger scale on the
followmg day (nuh Germinal). Meetings and processions
formed at .an ea:ly hour. The bread ration failed completely in
some SectIOns; 10 others, a ration of 4 or 8
ounces was distri­
buted. In the Droits de I'Homme women came to blows at
bakers' shoI?s. In the rue Montmartre building workers met to
protest agamst a decree of 3 1 March, which debarred those
liv.ing in furnished rooms from buying bread at the controlled
pncej1 workers in neighbouring shops were invited to join a
�
protest demo tration to t e Convention. The Faubourgs Saint­
�
Marcel and Samt-JacquesJome .
d forces to march to the Tuileries
and the Gravilliers Section was reported to have concerted wit h
thirteen other Secdons for the same purpose. While the Assem­
bly's President, Boissy d'Anglas, was in the middle of a speech,
the men and women of the insurgent Sections burst in on the
Convention, shouting, 'du pain! du pain !'; some wore on their
caps the insurgent slogan, 'du pain et la Constitution de
1793'.
�
But t e dem�nstrators lacked leaders and had no settled plan
ofactJon : while the spokesman for the Cite called for the Con­
stitution of 1 793, those of two other Sections won the applause
of th� Assembly's �ajority for their moderate speeches_ When
.
Merlin de Tl llonVllle, one of the Thermidorian leaders, ap­
peared, escorted by loyal detachments of the National Guard
from the western Sections, and by groups ofjtunes
. gens (who had
preViously �embled �t the Louvre to meet this situation), the
mtruders dispe�ed wlthout offering any resistance. And, far
from the dep bes f the Mountain playing any active part
� � in
these p
�eedings, It was two of their number that first proposed
that the Insurgents should discharge their business quickly
and
leave the assembly-hall in good. order.l
� inor disturbances followed, both that day and the next,
in
vanous parts of the capitaL Some Sections-Popincourt,
Cite,
I Ibid., pp. �5g-6�.
• Thelpoli<:<: considered this decree the main cause of disconten
t among the
W�rkers O? 121h �rminal (Aulard, op. cit. i. 627,
630).
Math .ez, op. CIt., p. �06.
14B THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
to be felt in January and reached near-famine proportions by
the end of March. Police reports for the fortnight leading up to
the outbreak present a graphic picture of a growing movement
of anger and frustration, which may be summarized as follows :
16 March. Meetings of women in the Gravillien Section.
17 March. Deputations from Saint-Jacques and Saint-Marcel
petition the Convention: 'We lack bread and are beginning to regret
all the sacrifices we have made for the Revolution.'
18 March. A waiter arrested in the Montagne (Palais Royal)
to a ration of one lb. of bread a day and to eating potatoes, which
Section complains that 'it was dreadful to see Frenchmen reduced
were only fit for pigs'.
21 March. A deputation from the Faubourg Saint-Antoine received
by the Convention; workers and muscat/ins come to blows at the
Porte St. Denis.
22 Marth. Bread-ration breaks down completely in Gravillien
and Homme Arme (Marais) Sections; two gentlemen insulted by
arms workers in the Palais Egalite (Palais Royal) ; a paper-worker
arrested on Pont Neuf for shouting that 'the rich were all rogues'.
23 March. Women of the Arsenal workshop threaten to throw
'jeunes gens', who had ventured into the Faubourg Saint-Antoine to
fraternize with the ouuriers, into the river.
24 Mllrch. Four persons arrested in Montreuil Section for trying
'to raise the Faubourg' ; no bread distributed in Oroits de I'Homme,
Indivisibilite, Marches and Lombards Sections.
25 Mllrch. A jeweller of the rue Saint-Martin arrested fOI; threaten­
ing the Convention and complaining 'that it was not easy to live
on a half-pound of bread'.
26 March. Women of rue Saint-Martin accuse men of being
'cowards' for taking no action; women flour-workers try to organize
a march to the Convention.
27 March. Extensive bread-riots in Gravilliers and Temple Sec­
tions; women and male workers march to Convention and com­
plain of bread-ration of only a half-pound; several arrests; illegal
Sectional assemblies in Amis de la Patrie and Gravilliers.
:llJ MfJrCh. Agitation in Gravilliers and Temple continues ; march
on Convention dispersed by National Guard, who arrest eight
persons near Opera.
29 March. A mother kills twoofherthreechildrenforfearoffamine.
30 MtJrch. Bread-riots in Droits de I'Homme and Faubourg du
Nord.
31 March. Illegal assembly in Droits de l'Homme addresses
petition to Convention; workers strike for more bread; four Sections
GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL ."
petition Conventi�n : Qui�ze Vingts deputation reminds deputies
that, on occasIOn, msurrectlon a sacred duty and calls for jwtice for
.
imprisoned 'patriots', for steps to alleviate hunger and for the
implementation of the Constitution of 1 793. 1
Th�e demands were voiced on a far larger scale on the
followmg day (nuh Germinal). Meetings and processions
formed at .an ea:ly hour. The bread ration failed completely in
some SectIOns; 10 others, a ration of 4 or 8
ounces was distri­
buted. In the Droits de I'Homme women came to blows at
bakers' shoI?s. In the rue Montmartre building workers met to
protest agamst a decree of 3 1 March, which debarred those
liv.ing in furnished rooms from buying bread at the controlled
pncej1 workers in neighbouring shops were invited to join a
�
protest demo tration to t e Convention. The Faubourgs Saint­
�
Marcel and Samt-JacquesJome .
d forces to march to the Tuileries
and the Gravilliers Section was reported to have concerted wit h
thirteen other Secdons for the same purpose. While the Assem­
bly's President, Boissy d'Anglas, was in the middle of a speech,
the men and women of the insurgent Sections burst in on the
Convention, shouting, 'du pain! du pain !'; some wore on their
caps the insurgent slogan, 'du pain et la Constitution de
1793'.
�
But t e dem�nstrators lacked leaders and had no settled plan
ofactJon : while the spokesman for the Cite called for the Con­
stitution of 1 793, those of two other Sections won the applause
of th� Assembly's �ajority for their moderate speeches_ When
.
Merlin de Tl llonVllle, one of the Thermidorian leaders, ap­
peared, escorted by loyal detachments of the National Guard
from the western Sections, and by groups ofjtunes
. gens (who had
preViously �embled �t the Louvre to meet this situation), the
mtruders dispe�ed wlthout offering any resistance. And, far
from the dep bes f the Mountain playing any active part
� � in
these p
�eedings, It was two of their number that first proposed
that the Insurgents should discharge their business quickly
and
leave the assembly-hall in good. order.l
� inor disturbances followed, both that day and the next,
in
vanous parts of the capitaL Some Sections-Popincourt,
Cite,
I Ibid., pp. �5g-6�.
• Thelpoli<:<: considered this decree the main cause of disconten
t among the
W�rkers O? 121h �rminal (Aulard, op. cit. i. 627,
630).
Math .ez, op. CIt., p. �06.
 " . THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD I N ACTION
and Pantheon-went into pennanent session; and the gunners
of the Gravilliers Section ('composes en grande partie d'on.
vriers') talked of marching to the Champs Elyttes to release the
'patriots' from prison. But the Convention took stern measures
to re-establish order and to prevent a renewed outbreak. Paris
was declared to be in a state of siege and its armed forces were
�
placed under the supreme command of a regula� Army officer,
General Pichegru ; local leaders were arrested In the Contrat
Social, Gravilliers, Arcis, and Montmartre Sections; a dozen
deputies (including Leonard Bourdon, Amar, and Cambon­
all opponents of Robespierre in Thermidor) were also arrested;
and three of the leaders of the Thermidorian eoup d'ltal, but
now denounced as terrorists-Barere, Billaud·Varennes, and
Collot d'Herbois-were sentenced to deportation.I
The authorities showed less energy in dealing with the food
crisis. The Convention decreed, on 2 April, that the bread
ration, where insufficient, should be supplemented with riee
and biscuits, and that priority should be given in their distribu·
tion to 'les ouvriers, artisans et indigents'. But this did nothing,
ofcourse, to solve the largerproblem ofsupplies, and the shortage
of rationed bread continued unchecked: we still read during
April and May of distributions of 2, 4, or 6 ounces per head.
supplemented by small portions of rice. There were reports,
besides, of increasing numbers of beggars, of people dying of
hunger in the streets, and of suicides.2 There was a further
revival of royalist propaganda: 'Prenons patience [some were
heard to say], nous aurons un roi avant quinze jours; alaI'S
nous ne manquerons pas de pain.' But the prevailing m�
was one of resignation and despair, tempered by outbursts
of militancy.
Yet, despite the attempts to overawe the menu peup!e by a
display of force, the popular movement started up agam aftee
4
a brief lull. On April the familiar complaints were voiced
again in the markets; on the 9th a porcelain-painter was
arrested at the Porte Saint-Denis for bitterly attacking the
Convention before a large crowd and complaining of the
insufficiency and poor quality of bread. The next day some 500
women gathered in the Bonnet de la Liberte (Croix Rouge)
, Ma,hiez, op. cit.• pp. 201-8.
• Au\ard, op. cit. i. 660, 714-1:), 7'9. 721, 724, 728.
GERMJNAL-PRAIRJAL " ,
Section to shouts of 'A bas les annes! nous ne voulons plus de
soldats, puisqu'il n'y a plus de pain!' On 1 7 April women in
Gravilliers and Lombards refused to accept their bread ration;
on the 20th a domestic servant was arrested in the Pont Neuf
Section, charged with saying, 'II y a huh mois que nous avions
du pain; aujourd'hui nous o'en avons plus, nous sommes dans
l'esclavage'; while one of two craftsmen arrested for seditious
talk, the next day, in Arsenal excused his conduct by saying,
'qu'it croyait que c'etait pour cause de pain'.
Similar incidents are reported almost daily during the next
month in the public opinion bulletins issued by the police;'
and, occasionally, we find signs, besides, of a more organized
mo,:ement once more beginning to take shape. Thus, on 29
Apnl, the Montreuil Section declared itself to be in permanent
session for the purpose of discussing food supplies and called on
other Sections to follow its example; a similar attempt in the
Jardin des Plantes was nipped in the bud by the arrest of a
number ofringleaders. On 12 May building workers threatened
to go on strike if the bread ration were not increased; and a
police agent sadly noted that it would be impossible to arrest
all those who cursed the government, 'as it would mean arrest­
ing over half the population of Paris'. The next day demonstra­
tors in a number of central Sections-Museum, Lombards,
and Marches-went from one baker to another to persuade the
women to refuse to accept their bread ration. On the 16th,
when the ration fell to two ounces per head, police agents
spoke of a pending popular insurrection, allegedly inspired by
terrorists; and, on the 18th, it was rumoured that, if the ration
were not increased, the Faubourg Saint-Antoine would rise
again on 1st Prairial (20 May) and invite the rest of Paris to
follow its example. The next day, there was general talk of a
march on the Convention : in the Invalides Section (reported
the police) the ouuners were ready to join with those of the
Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Illegal assemblies were held in Droits
de I'Homme and Quinze Vingts, where it was urged 'q:.J'il
fallait marcher en masse et en armes pour demander a la Con­
�ention du pain ou la mort'. The same evening and the follow­
�ng morning an anonymous manifesto was widely distributed
10 thtfaubourgs and city centre, bearing the title : insurrution du
, Cobb and Rud�, op. cit., pp. 267-7Q•
 " . THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD I N ACTION
and Pantheon-went into pennanent session; and the gunners
of the Gravilliers Section ('composes en grande partie d'on.
vriers') talked of marching to the Champs Elyttes to release the
'patriots' from prison. But the Convention took stern measures
to re-establish order and to prevent a renewed outbreak. Paris
was declared to be in a state of siege and its armed forces were
�
placed under the supreme command of a regula� Army officer,
General Pichegru ; local leaders were arrested In the Contrat
Social, Gravilliers, Arcis, and Montmartre Sections; a dozen
deputies (including Leonard Bourdon, Amar, and Cambon­
all opponents of Robespierre in Thermidor) were also arrested;
and three of the leaders of the Thermidorian eoup d'ltal, but
now denounced as terrorists-Barere, Billaud·Varennes, and
Collot d'Herbois-were sentenced to deportation.I
The authorities showed less energy in dealing with the food
crisis. The Convention decreed, on 2 April, that the bread
ration, where insufficient, should be supplemented with riee
and biscuits, and that priority should be given in their distribu·
tion to 'les ouvriers, artisans et indigents'. But this did nothing,
ofcourse, to solve the largerproblem ofsupplies, and the shortage
of rationed bread continued unchecked: we still read during
April and May of distributions of 2, 4, or 6 ounces per head.
supplemented by small portions of rice. There were reports,
besides, of increasing numbers of beggars, of people dying of
hunger in the streets, and of suicides.2 There was a further
revival of royalist propaganda: 'Prenons patience [some were
heard to say], nous aurons un roi avant quinze jours; alaI'S
nous ne manquerons pas de pain.' But the prevailing m�
was one of resignation and despair, tempered by outbursts
of militancy.
Yet, despite the attempts to overawe the menu peup!e by a
display of force, the popular movement started up agam aftee
4
a brief lull. On April the familiar complaints were voiced
again in the markets; on the 9th a porcelain-painter was
arrested at the Porte Saint-Denis for bitterly attacking the
Convention before a large crowd and complaining of the
insufficiency and poor quality of bread. The next day some 500
women gathered in the Bonnet de la Liberte (Croix Rouge)
, Ma,hiez, op. cit.• pp. 201-8.
• Au\ard, op. cit. i. 660, 714-1:), 7'9. 721, 724, 728.
GERMJNAL-PRAIRJAL " ,
Section to shouts of 'A bas les annes! nous ne voulons plus de
soldats, puisqu'il n'y a plus de pain!' On 1 7 April women in
Gravilliers and Lombards refused to accept their bread ration;
on the 20th a domestic servant was arrested in the Pont Neuf
Section, charged with saying, 'II y a huh mois que nous avions
du pain; aujourd'hui nous o'en avons plus, nous sommes dans
l'esclavage'; while one of two craftsmen arrested for seditious
talk, the next day, in Arsenal excused his conduct by saying,
'qu'it croyait que c'etait pour cause de pain'.
Similar incidents are reported almost daily during the next
month in the public opinion bulletins issued by the police;'
and, occasionally, we find signs, besides, of a more organized
mo,:ement once more beginning to take shape. Thus, on 29
Apnl, the Montreuil Section declared itself to be in permanent
session for the purpose of discussing food supplies and called on
other Sections to follow its example; a similar attempt in the
Jardin des Plantes was nipped in the bud by the arrest of a
number ofringleaders. On 12 May building workers threatened
to go on strike if the bread ration were not increased; and a
police agent sadly noted that it would be impossible to arrest
all those who cursed the government, 'as it would mean arrest­
ing over half the population of Paris'. The next day demonstra­
tors in a number of central Sections-Museum, Lombards,
and Marches-went from one baker to another to persuade the
women to refuse to accept their bread ration. On the 16th,
when the ration fell to two ounces per head, police agents
spoke of a pending popular insurrection, allegedly inspired by
terrorists; and, on the 18th, it was rumoured that, if the ration
were not increased, the Faubourg Saint-Antoine would rise
again on 1st Prairial (20 May) and invite the rest of Paris to
follow its example. The next day, there was general talk of a
march on the Convention : in the Invalides Section (reported
the police) the ouuners were ready to join with those of the
Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Illegal assemblies were held in Droits
de I'Homme and Quinze Vingts, where it was urged 'q:.J'il
fallait marcher en masse et en armes pour demander a la Con­
�ention du pain ou la mort'. The same evening and the follow­
�ng morning an anonymous manifesto was widely distributed
10 thtfaubourgs and city centre, bearing the title : insurrution du
, Cobb and Rud�, op. cit., pp. 267-7Q•
 GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL '53
CROWD IN ACTION
THE REVOLUTIONARY
sa
1511
et
its.1 It was the call ar�ouries, distributed arms to their comrades, and compelled
pain rtconquJrir dro
jNuplt pour obtenir duwas st remarkable and their commanders to lead them to the Convention. In others
the 'party o� order' retained the upper hand, but marched t �
to be one of the mo
to arms for what
the �nvenuon, nevertheless, in response to the general call to
the Revolution. .
stubborn popular revolts of . g
sm was sounded m the Faubou:
Early on 1St Prairial the toc as 10 arms Issued by the Government later that morning. It was,
din des Plantes. On�e .�o�e,
Saint.Antoine and in the Jar and therefore, a mixed force of insurgents and would-be defenders of
men that took the 10luatlve
October 1 789, it was the wo Fau bou rg the Convention that converged on the Place du Carrousel in the
ion after them. In the
brought their menfolk into act me n out fro m wake of the marching women at 3,30 that afternoon,'
is) they called the
du Nord (Faubourg Saint·Den
the morning . T � ere w �re foo d The second invasion of the Tuileries quickly followed. A
the workshops at 7 o'clock in ,
n at bakers sho . ps I n � opm co � rt, d�puty, Feraud, who opposed their entry, was struck down and
riots and assemblies of wome In the Tu lenes Sectlo� hiS head was severed and paraded on a pike. This time the
its de l'H om me . ..
Gravilliers, and Dro women were amply supported by armed citizens of the rebel.
housewives queuemg 2t bakers
to the Convention. In th� Left
bands of women compelled IiOllS Sections, though few battalions broke into the building in
shops to join them in a march des full strength. Yet the demonstrators were in sufficient numbers
evola (Luxembourg), Jardm

' only two ounc� ofbrea� had

Bank Sections of Mutius Sca bee n an� their weapons sufficiently imposing to reduce the majority
Plantes, and Finistere (where tmg s of the to sdenc� and to encourage the small remnant of deputies of the
en broke mto mee
distributed that morning), wom
and ed that their members lead them Mountam to voice their principal demands-the release of the
Civil Committees and dem Jacobin prisoners, steps to implement the Constitution of 1 793,
(Hotel de Ville) Section women
arms, 'afin qu'elles marchas;;ent
to the Tuileries. In the Fidelite and new cont�ols to ensure more adequate supplies of food.
seized a drum to beat a call to zed The�e were qUickly voted and a special committee was set up
l Section near-by, a scand�b
sur la Convention'. In the Arsena
ait pas aux fem mes de falr e les to gIve them e�ect. But the insurgents, like those of Germinal,
merchant observed, 'que ce n'et en forc ed sho ps to lack�d lead�rshlp and any clear programme or plan of action.
!iavl�g achieved their immediate objective, they spent hours
nto ine wom
lois'. In the Faubourg Saint·A af er­
Tuileries at 1.30 in the �
close and began to march on the In �OISy chatter and speech.making. This gave the Themu­
ed men, 'many of the� weanng
noon, followed by groups of arm .

I
Accordl�g to an
du pam ou la morl'. d�flan leaders time to call in the support of the loyal Sectioru­
in tbeir caps the inscription,
eyewitness, as they marched, t
�� co�pelle� wom e� �n shops with the Bu�te des M�ulins (Palais Royal), Museum (Louvre),
ng 10 carn age s, to Jom th�m. and Lepeletler at their head-and the insurgents were driven
and private houses, and others ndi fron t of the TUl. lenes, out of the Tuileries.z
rousel, in
They reached the Place du Car
, bonnets, and blou�es .were The arme� rebellion continued the next day. From 2 o'clock
at 2 o'clock ; pinned to tbeir hats tn the mornmg, the cali to arms had sounded in the Quinze
n, Du
.
V�. ngts. The tocsm
1the twin slogans of the rebellio
Pain tt la ConstitutIon de . tolled before 10 o'clock in Fid(:lite (H6tel de
1793. Thus equipped, they
.

burst mto the assembly-hall, but

. armed groups of the
With VIII�) and Omits de I'Homme. In these two Sections and in
were quickly ejected. They returned ArclS, Gravilliers, and Popincourt illegal assemblies were held.
National Guard an hour later. The three Sections of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine sprang to
s had been sounded in the
1 Meanwhile, a general call to arm ��
kly armed and prepared �o and marched on the Convention, led by a West Indian,
Faubourg Saint·Antoine; men quic
A similar movement began 1n uillaume Delorme, a wheelwright and captain of the gunners
follow the women to the Tuileries. ' Math'.ez,I account. 50 valuable in e ry other way, doa not make this clear
.
the Faubourg Saint-Marcel and
in the central Sections. In (0p. ell., �

aevoIa (Luxem'-.
ts forced the doors of the . pp. l
1144-5). At leUI two of the .nsurgent battaions--thO$e of the Cravil-

at aII (Areh. Nat., W 546-8) .

some cases, a minority of insurgen ,lers andtMutiusSc .
"-- ' ....
......urg) oxct.ons (
·lid not appear at the Tuilcries

• For a rhumi of this pl.mp cit., pp. �43-4· • Mathia:, op. <:it., pp. 1145-�3.
IlogalU and political
Ih4,th Prairial, see
hlet, in which appear all the
Mathio:z, op.
demands of the insurgenu or I
 GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL '53
CROWD IN ACTION
THE REVOLUTIONARY
sa
1511
et
its.1 It was the call ar�ouries, distributed arms to their comrades, and compelled
pain rtconquJrir dro
jNuplt pour obtenir duwas st remarkable and their commanders to lead them to the Convention. In others
the 'party o� order' retained the upper hand, but marched t �
to be one of the mo
to arms for what
the �nvenuon, nevertheless, in response to the general call to
the Revolution. .
stubborn popular revolts of . g
sm was sounded m the Faubou:
Early on 1St Prairial the toc as 10 arms Issued by the Government later that morning. It was,
din des Plantes. On�e .�o�e,
Saint.Antoine and in the Jar and therefore, a mixed force of insurgents and would-be defenders of
men that took the 10luatlve
October 1 789, it was the wo Fau bou rg the Convention that converged on the Place du Carrousel in the
ion after them. In the
brought their menfolk into act me n out fro m wake of the marching women at 3,30 that afternoon,'
is) they called the
du Nord (Faubourg Saint·Den
the morning . T � ere w �re foo d The second invasion of the Tuileries quickly followed. A
the workshops at 7 o'clock in ,
n at bakers sho . ps I n � opm co � rt, d�puty, Feraud, who opposed their entry, was struck down and
riots and assemblies of wome In the Tu lenes Sectlo� hiS head was severed and paraded on a pike. This time the
its de l'H om me . ..
Gravilliers, and Dro women were amply supported by armed citizens of the rebel.
housewives queuemg 2t bakers
to the Convention. In th� Left
bands of women compelled IiOllS Sections, though few battalions broke into the building in
shops to join them in a march des full strength. Yet the demonstrators were in sufficient numbers
evola (Luxembourg), Jardm

' only two ounc� ofbrea� had

Bank Sections of Mutius Sca bee n an� their weapons sufficiently imposing to reduce the majority
Plantes, and Finistere (where tmg s of the to sdenc� and to encourage the small remnant of deputies of the
en broke mto mee
distributed that morning), wom
and ed that their members lead them Mountam to voice their principal demands-the release of the
Civil Committees and dem Jacobin prisoners, steps to implement the Constitution of 1 793,
(Hotel de Ville) Section women
arms, 'afin qu'elles marchas;;ent
to the Tuileries. In the Fidelite and new cont�ols to ensure more adequate supplies of food.
seized a drum to beat a call to zed The�e were qUickly voted and a special committee was set up
l Section near-by, a scand�b
sur la Convention'. In the Arsena
ait pas aux fem mes de falr e les to gIve them e�ect. But the insurgents, like those of Germinal,
merchant observed, 'que ce n'et en forc ed sho ps to lack�d lead�rshlp and any clear programme or plan of action.
!iavl�g achieved their immediate objective, they spent hours
nto ine wom
lois'. In the Faubourg Saint·A af er­
Tuileries at 1.30 in the �
close and began to march on the In �OISy chatter and speech.making. This gave the Themu­
ed men, 'many of the� weanng
noon, followed by groups of arm .

I
Accordl�g to an
du pam ou la morl'. d�flan leaders time to call in the support of the loyal Sectioru­
in tbeir caps the inscription,
eyewitness, as they marched, t
�� co�pelle� wom e� �n shops with the Bu�te des M�ulins (Palais Royal), Museum (Louvre),
ng 10 carn age s, to Jom th�m. and Lepeletler at their head-and the insurgents were driven
and private houses, and others ndi fron t of the TUl. lenes, out of the Tuileries.z
rousel, in
They reached the Place du Car
, bonnets, and blou�es .were The arme� rebellion continued the next day. From 2 o'clock
at 2 o'clock ; pinned to tbeir hats tn the mornmg, the cali to arms had sounded in the Quinze
n, Du
.
V�. ngts. The tocsm
1the twin slogans of the rebellio
Pain tt la ConstitutIon de . tolled before 10 o'clock in Fid(:lite (H6tel de
1793. Thus equipped, they
.

burst mto the assembly-hall, but

. armed groups of the
With VIII�) and Omits de I'Homme. In these two Sections and in
were quickly ejected. They returned ArclS, Gravilliers, and Popincourt illegal assemblies were held.
National Guard an hour later. The three Sections of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine sprang to
s had been sounded in the
1 Meanwhile, a general call to arm ��
kly armed and prepared �o and marched on the Convention, led by a West Indian,
Faubourg Saint·Antoine; men quic
A similar movement began 1n uillaume Delorme, a wheelwright and captain of the gunners
follow the women to the Tuileries. ' Math'.ez,I account. 50 valuable in e ry other way, doa not make this clear
.
the Faubourg Saint-Marcel and
in the central Sections. In (0p. ell., �

aevoIa (Luxem'-.
ts forced the doors of the . pp. l
1144-5). At leUI two of the .nsurgent battaions--thO$e of the Cravil-

at aII (Areh. Nat., W 546-8) .

some cases, a minority of insurgen ,lers andtMutiusSc .
"-- ' ....
......urg) oxct.ons (
·lid not appear at the Tuilcries

• For a rhumi of this pl.mp cit., pp. �43-4· • Mathia:, op. <:it., pp. 1145-�3.
IlogalU and political
Ih4,th Prairial, see
hlet, in which appear all the
Mathio:z, op.
demands of the insurgenu or I
 GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL '55

154 muscadins" a d ' F' . e re we��sh�uts, even after the

N
RY CR OW D IN AC TIO

battle was ios; ��?au�n::m�r t� p u aubourg Antoine' .

TH E RE VO LU TIO NA
e Sections of the centre,rnothe y
of Popincourt. SupporceteddubyCasom rrousel at 3.30 in the afte on, Other Sectio�" too both in the 'FPauwbourg Saint-MarceI and
appeared on the Pla trained the m on the Convention. Ge neral the City. centre, pledged their s ' u�h J;pears. from
loaded their guns and manding the Con y have numberhad
ven tion 's forc es, the following �epon on the si��ro�'i:;:; y e pollce at
Dubois, who was com him; the insurgents ma ed 5.30 that evemng:
40,000 men under larg display of mil itar y forc e dra wn up .
20,000. It was the beeest n in Paris since the Rev olution The guns (of the rebels] are trained on the City at the former
.h
for battle that had n see
vention's gunners Porte Saint-Antoine', the Grande R ue du Faubourg is filled Wit
began. But no shotserte were fired: when thegCon insurgents PIatooru of citizeru anned . h 'k
;:�k �\:th:
d ai �a w old-fas�ioned
and gendamwie destheirdadv to the opposin side, the otia­ mwkeu; there are no anned e rues ronne, Nicolas,
failed to follow up ners wereant age. Towards eveningAssneg Montreuil, Traversiere &c . yet w the CltLzens appear determined not
.

eived at the bar of st�tutionblyof,em

.

the to let themselves be d ...-..

..cu.
;.:-�� omen bled m
tions began; petitio ands forrecbre and the Con and are making a -.. o' "t noise. Brtaa _J IS' t,L.
are assem
. . every street
repeated their demthe presidentiaadl em ce. Lulled by vain .
ctum; but tJu Constitution of 1793 is its soul' thoIS they ad �t ' It
,,, maUnai cause of tnn

1793 and received to be fulfilled, thebra

-

.
.
I
insurgents thereupon s�ms that the Panthion, Sans-Culottes (Jardin :US Plantes), Frnuttre,
nsum r

hopes of promises ious Sections.l Ill, and G,auilliers Sections and a Iarge part of the Thmnu de ]u/im
retired to their vartion was determined to make an end of the have declared in their favour.1
C

But the Conven l regular army units But no material support was forthc . .
business. On the mo rning of 3rd PrairiadoTi
were mustered, in add ition to the jeunt'sse ma e and battalions of surrendered, few hours later, wjthou�����'t �����t:.u.b;�ge
s, and preparations werofe hosde to enclose the movement was totally crushed. Two days later a police agent
a

the western Sectionnto ine within a ring urgtile forces. The noted:
•

Faubourg Saint-A ture sortie into thefaubo from and was forced . . de Paris, pendant
jeutu'SSe made a prema Les rapports de ce jour presentent �I posl�on
ntoine workers rescued the police la journee d'hier, dans l'itat Ie plw e . . . es hommes regardent,
to retreat, and Saint-A to
s of Feraud on his wayme the resiion exe cut . But, les femmes se taisent.
one of the assassinthe ernment overca stan ce of
during the night, insuGov , on the 4th , the T1 , . e � epression was thorough and ruthless. It struck
most of the other uporge nt Sections;
n to hand ove r
and
Fer aud 's mu rde rers both �t��e 'l �:rs�r presumed leaders-of the insurrection
faubourg was called sal it would itself and a: the pote�bal leaders of similar revolts in the future'
and all arm s at its disp osal: in the event of refu Sections would w
to behead h:sans-cu ottes on�e and for all as a political force i�
be declared to be in pa to state of rebellion andofallarm or to starve as thought :cessal' to st ke a� the remnants ofJacobinism
be called upon to hel reduce it by force Gensera l Menou in the Convenbon an .n thenSecbonal assemblies and Nat'10naI
it into surrender. Mee anw hile an army under Guard. Twelve deputiesI were arrested 'n IUd' g ;I.X .��t �d
prepared to advanc aga inst the rebels. was made in supported the demonstrators' demandsI �n II� na . n
was
Their situation g the hop eless; yet some attemptnier 23 May (4th Prairial) a Military Com . .
nu
other Sections to brin m relief. In Poi sson e ttienne the summary. trial a�d executiOn . of all persons was
m1$Slon set up for
captured with
Chefson, a cobbler and old soldier of the ie rlvo lutionnaire.
arms ' th ::'l:: lo; ,O' weannk . g the insi�ia of rebellion.
s of the
ann
trying to org aniz e bui ldin g wor ker � � : o ten wee s and tned J 32
was later arrested for de l'tchiquier to marchuttointhe help of The
.run teenmof these, including s
rues d'Hauteville and en were heard to sho avoir raisonets:
the stre six deputies of the MO�::i� ';
thefaubourg ; in Arcis, wom , :Th:!': Nat., P 4743, doss. 3 (my it.lia).
'II faut soutenir nos freres
du faubourg Antoine, rchands et adesX BourboIte, D roy, and Soubrany.

representants et ne faire aucune grace aux ma 123-4· U 'thtee�='Mathlcz, OIl. CII.,

•
1 were Romme, Duque.noy Gou'
� �
For the dramalice suicide ofthe firlt

5; Lefebvre. op. cil., pp.

.
pp. 256-7.

, Mathiel. op. cil., pp. 2�-

 GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL '55

154 muscadins" a d ' F' . e re we��sh�uts, even after the

N
RY CR OW D IN AC TIO

battle was ios; ��?au�n::m�r t� p u aubourg Antoine' .

TH E RE VO LU TIO NA
e Sections of the centre,rnothe y
of Popincourt. SupporceteddubyCasom rrousel at 3.30 in the afte on, Other Sectio�" too both in the 'FPauwbourg Saint-MarceI and
appeared on the Pla trained the m on the Convention. Ge neral the City. centre, pledged their s ' u�h J;pears. from
loaded their guns and manding the Con y have numberhad
ven tion 's forc es, the following �epon on the si��ro�'i:;:; y e pollce at
Dubois, who was com him; the insurgents ma ed 5.30 that evemng:
40,000 men under larg display of mil itar y forc e dra wn up .
20,000. It was the beeest n in Paris since the Rev olution The guns (of the rebels] are trained on the City at the former
.h
for battle that had n see
vention's gunners Porte Saint-Antoine', the Grande R ue du Faubourg is filled Wit
began. But no shotserte were fired: when thegCon insurgents PIatooru of citizeru anned . h 'k
;:�k �\:th:
d ai �a w old-fas�ioned
and gendamwie destheirdadv to the opposin side, the otia­ mwkeu; there are no anned e rues ronne, Nicolas,
failed to follow up ners wereant age. Towards eveningAssneg Montreuil, Traversiere &c . yet w the CltLzens appear determined not
.

eived at the bar of st�tutionblyof,em

.

the to let themselves be d ...-..

..cu.
;.:-�� omen bled m
tions began; petitio ands forrecbre and the Con and are making a -.. o' "t noise. Brtaa _J IS' t,L.
are assem
. . every street
repeated their demthe presidentiaadl em ce. Lulled by vain .
ctum; but tJu Constitution of 1793 is its soul' thoIS they ad �t ' It
,,, maUnai cause of tnn

1793 and received to be fulfilled, thebra

-

.
.
I
insurgents thereupon s�ms that the Panthion, Sans-Culottes (Jardin :US Plantes), Frnuttre,
nsum r

hopes of promises ious Sections.l Ill, and G,auilliers Sections and a Iarge part of the Thmnu de ]u/im
retired to their vartion was determined to make an end of the have declared in their favour.1
C

But the Conven l regular army units But no material support was forthc . .
business. On the mo rning of 3rd PrairiadoTi
were mustered, in add ition to the jeunt'sse ma e and battalions of surrendered, few hours later, wjthou�����'t �����t:.u.b;�ge
s, and preparations werofe hosde to enclose the movement was totally crushed. Two days later a police agent
a

the western Sectionnto ine within a ring urgtile forces. The noted:
•

Faubourg Saint-A ture sortie into thefaubo from and was forced . . de Paris, pendant
jeutu'SSe made a prema Les rapports de ce jour presentent �I posl�on
ntoine workers rescued the police la journee d'hier, dans l'itat Ie plw e . . . es hommes regardent,
to retreat, and Saint-A to
s of Feraud on his wayme the resiion exe cut . But, les femmes se taisent.
one of the assassinthe ernment overca stan ce of
during the night, insuGov , on the 4th , the T1 , . e � epression was thorough and ruthless. It struck
most of the other uporge nt Sections;
n to hand ove r
and
Fer aud 's mu rde rers both �t��e 'l �:rs�r presumed leaders-of the insurrection
faubourg was called sal it would itself and a: the pote�bal leaders of similar revolts in the future'
and all arm s at its disp osal: in the event of refu Sections would w
to behead h:sans-cu ottes on�e and for all as a political force i�
be declared to be in pa to state of rebellion andofallarm or to starve as thought :cessal' to st ke a� the remnants ofJacobinism
be called upon to hel reduce it by force Gensera l Menou in the Convenbon an .n thenSecbonal assemblies and Nat'10naI
it into surrender. Mee anw hile an army under Guard. Twelve deputiesI were arrested 'n IUd' g ;I.X .��t �d
prepared to advanc aga inst the rebels. was made in supported the demonstrators' demandsI �n II� na . n
was
Their situation g the hop eless; yet some attemptnier 23 May (4th Prairial) a Military Com . .
nu
other Sections to brin m relief. In Poi sson e ttienne the summary. trial a�d executiOn . of all persons was
m1$Slon set up for
captured with
Chefson, a cobbler and old soldier of the ie rlvo lutionnaire.
arms ' th ::'l:: lo; ,O' weannk . g the insi�ia of rebellion.
s of the
ann
trying to org aniz e bui ldin g wor ker � � : o ten wee s and tned J 32
was later arrested for de l'tchiquier to marchuttointhe help of The
.run teenmof these, including s
rues d'Hauteville and en were heard to sho avoir raisonets:
the stre six deputies of the MO�::i� ';
thefaubourg ; in Arcis, wom , :Th:!': Nat., P 4743, doss. 3 (my it.lia).
'II faut soutenir nos freres
du faubourg Antoine, rchands et adesX BourboIte, D roy, and Soubrany.

representants et ne faire aucune grace aux ma 123-4· U 'thtee�='Mathlcz, OIl. CII.,

•
1 were Romme, Duque.noy Gou'
� �
For the dramalice suicide ofthe firlt

5; Lefebvre. op. cil., pp.

.
pp. 256-7.

, Mathiel. op. cil., pp. 2�-

 N
RY CROWD I N AC TIO GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL '57
I�6 THE REVOLUTIONA

were conde�ned to dea th�The Sections wer e invited to hold from the political slogans voiced by the insurgents in Genninal:
special meetings on �4 McobY. to denou nce and disarm allwasus ­ and La Constitution de I793. In Prairial, too, we
Liberti des patriotes
ath izer s Th e resu lt s a saw that a number of Sections in theflWbourgs and the centre
peeted 'terrorists' an�ptIo J� ,lIn � S!�i�h the se�tling ofold scores resorted to the purely political action of forming illegal assem·
ma ssive toll of pro scn . of political orthodoxy. By blies and declaring themselves to be in permanent session; and,
played as large a part asiTtlIIf�aue e. tes�::
put their number at even more significantly, that the insurgents paraded the twin
the 28th the Gaz;etuntufal total of ady d disarmed must slogans of'bread' and 'the Constitution of 1793'. The police had
10,000; and the ,everably la ger, :r��edse��ral Sections, all some justice in considering the latter slogan as 'the soul of the
have been conside RevoIuuo : y Co ' mm ittee s aU soldiers of movement': without it the movement would have lacked
former IDemhers. of ' were arrnar or disa rme d
•

irre spe cttve 0f coherence and even the beginnings of a conscious political
the annie rivolutlonnazTthave playeedsted
.

any. �art they may nt thus establis " the eveD" of Genninal or
10
direction. It would be wrong, however, to ascribe anything but
was to be followed on a minor role to the small group of Jacobin deputies in the
Pralna1. The preeed n dur' th hed Directory and Consulate.' Convention in either of these events: in Germinal, as we saw,
mo.;� th;;:� :c:� no o:::r s�ution to offer fO� th����
� they were only too anxious to persuade the demonstrators to
e: ti leave the assembly�hall as quickly � possible; and, in Prairial,
that had arisen; it was nat�ural, th"eior�:;:��ir:ir�:1 as the they followed the lead already given by the insurgent Sections
to represent the spir' acy l h tchef dGeby
insu rrec ons 0 ,m , s and
diss iden t Jac obm and echoed the demands put to them by the women and
outcome of � con
�rs of the disbandedputs popular sode· armed sans·ClJlottes.
f�rmer terro"'''Aanpodl�:�ep ort S of 1 t Prairia l the official When all is said and done, however, it was not the political
ties and clubs' agitation but economic hardship that was the primary cause of
view clearly and succinctly enough : the movement. A3 we have seen, the constantly recurring
We are inclined believe th�eb 5h::a:���0�0 =I�
to,
l"'tlXt�n1y too plausIble, alas
theme running through all the stages of the movement from its
- ement that has t
first beginnings in December 794 was shortage and rising
the credulous,longbut tha���caus�en of t�e Y ular mov on by the food prices-particularly the shortage of rationed bread and its
arisen over a r leaderspen e �: tatio n caried r

, ��h0�v�P�
as
le up
t the peop the Con5utu to demand precipitous increase on the open market: this resulted, in the
faction of fonne the :evt
not only bread but , mmune
deputi� of the Mo unta
tion
in
main, from the deliberate policy of the government, which was
one of rapidly freeing the whole economy from controls in a
of 1793' and theofrelea se r,om pnson o�ryaUCor ruruttee5 , period of war and shortage; but it was further aggravated by
and L_ the old Revolutiona
mu,
me ""
:
, �

in agitation naturallyat p!aY cd natural factors such as the unprecedented severity of the winter
Political motives andnJacob , d
ust , e5 <'cn 'bed We saw th 10 the of 1795. A sure indication that the bread·and·butter question
their part in"the movemeth"GJermm al, the ew surviving po'ntpular lay uppermost in the minds ofthe insurgents was theoutstanding
mo� , th s Iead m g u p tO l2 l'
e , litical direction to a moveme that part played by the women in both Germinal and Prairial, which
es
:��� o�::;}S� �� �p;�!: s�����:,, ��i:u:�e���;
was second only to the part they had played in October 1789.
The bulk ofthe rioters were, as so often before, the men and
anger over rutng pnces an Women of the great popularfaubourgs and the Sections adjoin­
, d ltmS� eadra during thiI
I Foe the systematie rqlro::saton of Jacob.'n an U'f! Ie
personnel saru-cu1otte de
ing the markets and city centre, Of the few hundred persons
period tee R. C. Co,?b',, I7·'r 1:0· n;.rr
'Nou.pte'-�: aTTested for direct participation in the events of 1St and 2nd
..r;-
' :�
'
J u
. )
MlU'ch 1954, pp. 2)-49'

Aulard, op. cit. i. 733 (my ItaliCS .

1795 l ISoI ', AM. lSI. Prairiall the occupations of 168 appear in the records
, Thc's.: should not be eonfw.ed with the rar larger num� or pcnons arrested
•

� diJumcd in the Sections after 5th Pn.iriIJ (see p. 1�6). '

 N
RY CROWD I N AC TIO GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL '57
I�6 THE REVOLUTIONA

were conde�ned to dea th�The Sections wer e invited to hold from the political slogans voiced by the insurgents in Genninal:
special meetings on �4 McobY. to denou nce and disarm allwasus ­ and La Constitution de I793. In Prairial, too, we
Liberti des patriotes
ath izer s Th e resu lt s a saw that a number of Sections in theflWbourgs and the centre
peeted 'terrorists' an�ptIo J� ,lIn � S!�i�h the se�tling ofold scores resorted to the purely political action of forming illegal assem·
ma ssive toll of pro scn . of political orthodoxy. By blies and declaring themselves to be in permanent session; and,
played as large a part asiTtlIIf�aue e. tes�::
put their number at even more significantly, that the insurgents paraded the twin
the 28th the Gaz;etuntufal total of ady d disarmed must slogans of'bread' and 'the Constitution of 1793'. The police had
10,000; and the ,everably la ger, :r��edse��ral Sections, all some justice in considering the latter slogan as 'the soul of the
have been conside RevoIuuo : y Co ' mm ittee s aU soldiers of movement': without it the movement would have lacked
former IDemhers. of ' were arrnar or disa rme d
•

irre spe cttve 0f coherence and even the beginnings of a conscious political
the annie rivolutlonnazTthave playeedsted
.

any. �art they may nt thus establis " the eveD" of Genninal or
10
direction. It would be wrong, however, to ascribe anything but
was to be followed on a minor role to the small group of Jacobin deputies in the
Pralna1. The preeed n dur' th hed Directory and Consulate.' Convention in either of these events: in Germinal, as we saw,
mo.;� th;;:� :c:� no o:::r s�ution to offer fO� th����
� they were only too anxious to persuade the demonstrators to
e: ti leave the assembly�hall as quickly � possible; and, in Prairial,
that had arisen; it was nat�ural, th"eior�:;:��ir:ir�:1 as the they followed the lead already given by the insurgent Sections
to represent the spir' acy l h tchef dGeby
insu rrec ons 0 ,m , s and
diss iden t Jac obm and echoed the demands put to them by the women and
outcome of � con
�rs of the disbandedputs popular sode· armed sans·ClJlottes.
f�rmer terro"'''Aanpodl�:�ep ort S of 1 t Prairia l the official When all is said and done, however, it was not the political
ties and clubs' agitation but economic hardship that was the primary cause of
view clearly and succinctly enough : the movement. A3 we have seen, the constantly recurring
We are inclined believe th�eb 5h::a:���0�0 =I�
to,
l"'tlXt�n1y too plausIble, alas
theme running through all the stages of the movement from its
- ement that has t
first beginnings in December 794 was shortage and rising
the credulous,longbut tha���caus�en of t�e Y ular mov on by the food prices-particularly the shortage of rationed bread and its
arisen over a r leaderspen e �: tatio n caried r

, ��h0�v�P�
as
le up
t the peop the Con5utu to demand precipitous increase on the open market: this resulted, in the
faction of fonne the :evt
not only bread but , mmune
deputi� of the Mo unta
tion
in
main, from the deliberate policy of the government, which was
one of rapidly freeing the whole economy from controls in a
of 1793' and theofrelea se r,om pnson o�ryaUCor ruruttee5 , period of war and shortage; but it was further aggravated by
and L_ the old Revolutiona
mu,
me ""
:
, �

in agitation naturallyat p!aY cd natural factors such as the unprecedented severity of the winter
Political motives andnJacob , d
ust , e5 <'cn 'bed We saw th 10 the of 1795. A sure indication that the bread·and·butter question
their part in"the movemeth"GJermm al, the ew surviving po'ntpular lay uppermost in the minds ofthe insurgents was theoutstanding
mo� , th s Iead m g u p tO l2 l'
e , litical direction to a moveme that part played by the women in both Germinal and Prairial, which
es
:��� o�::;}S� �� �p;�!: s�����:,, ��i:u:�e���;
was second only to the part they had played in October 1789.
The bulk ofthe rioters were, as so often before, the men and
anger over rutng pnces an Women of the great popularfaubourgs and the Sections adjoin­
, d ltmS� eadra during thiI
I Foe the systematie rqlro::saton of Jacob.'n an U'f! Ie
personnel saru-cu1otte de
ing the markets and city centre, Of the few hundred persons
period tee R. C. Co,?b',, I7·'r 1:0· n;.rr
'Nou.pte'-�: aTTested for direct participation in the events of 1St and 2nd
..r;-
' :�
'
J u
. )
MlU'ch 1954, pp. 2)-49'

Aulard, op. cit. i. 733 (my ItaliCS .

1795 l ISoI ', AM. lSI. Prairiall the occupations of 168 appear in the records
, Thc's.: should not be eonfw.ed with the rar larger num� or pcnons arrested
•

� diJumcd in the Sections after 5th Pn.iriIJ (see p. 1�6). '

 ."

\
158 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL

consulted; ofthese some45 to 50 seemto have been wage-earnen.
while the rest were small shopkeepers, workshop masten.
craftsmen, and clerk!. They are drawn from no Jess than 40
Sections-most prominent among them being Popincourt ( 1 3
arrests), Anenal (12), Quinze Vingts (10), and Arcis (10).1
But the records ofthe comparatively few persons arrested give
but a limited picture of Sectional participation in the events of
classes of the western Sections. But, above all, the S61/.S-ntloltes
failed to secure and maintain in Prairial, as they had in the
great Journiu of 1 7�3, the solid alliance of at least the
radical wing of the hourgeouie. When this faltered and failed,
their movement, as in 1 775. for all its breadth and militancy,
was reduced to a futile explosion without hope of political
gains. I

I FQr luggcstiQnI U til th� longeT-tenn UUICS Q[ the final defeat QC the
Germinal and Prairial. A fuller picture emerges from the events
tulmf#s after Pr;o.iri;o.l sec Cobb and Rud�, QP. cil., pp. ::80-1 .
smu­
already related. From these it appears that the Sections mainly
engaged in the movement culminating on 12th Germinal were
Quinze Vingts and Popincourt
(FaJJhouTg Sainl-Antoiru) ; Obser­
vatoire and Pantheon
(Fauhourg Saint-Marcel) ; Cite, Droits de
I'Homme. Amis de Ja Patrie, and Gravilliers (centre) j and
Temple and Faubourg Montmartre (north). In Prairial, more
Sections were engaged-some fully, others only in part. Leading
the movement again were the three Sections of the Faubourg
Saint-Antoine and four of the five Sections of the Faubourg
Saint-Marcel (Observatoire only excepted). They were
closely supported by the central Sections-Arcis, Droits de
l'Homme, Fidelite (Hotel de Ville) , Cite, Lombards, Marches,
Gravilliers, and Halle au Ble; and (less wholeheartedly) by the
northern Sections of Poissonniere and Faubourg du-Nord, and
by Mutius Scaevola (Luxembourg) and Invalides in the south.
There were even supporting contingents ofwomen from Museum
and Tuileries in the west; but the western Sections, generally,
formed a solid block of defenders of the Convention and its
Committees. As. we shall see in the next chapter, in Vende­
miaire (October 1 795) these roles were to some extent reversed.
Why then, with such solid support, were the Parisian sa1/.S­
culotus defeated in May 1795? Partiy, as we have seen, it was
for lack of a clear political programme and plan of action;
partiy through the weakness of the deputies of the Mountain;
partly through political inexperience and the failure to follow
up an advantage once gained; partiy, too, through the corre­
spondingly greater skill and experience of the Convention and
its C'..ommittees and the support that these were able to muster­
even without the active intervention of the regular army-from
the Jeurusse dorte and the merchants, civil servants, and monied
, In G",,,ilIi�n th�re wen: 7 ;anats, in &ndy (7), Lomb;ards (6), H;all�;au Bie
(6), and-mQre Iwprisingly-in TuileriCi (6) and Mw6un (6).
 ."

\
158 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION GERMINAL-PRAIRIAL

consulted; ofthese some45 to 50 seemto have been wage-earnen.
while the rest were small shopkeepers, workshop masten.
craftsmen, and clerk!. They are drawn from no Jess than 40
Sections-most prominent among them being Popincourt ( 1 3
arrests), Anenal (12), Quinze Vingts (10), and Arcis (10).1
But the records ofthe comparatively few persons arrested give
but a limited picture of Sectional participation in the events of
classes of the western Sections. But, above all, the S61/.S-ntloltes
failed to secure and maintain in Prairial, as they had in the
great Journiu of 1 7�3, the solid alliance of at least the
radical wing of the hourgeouie. When this faltered and failed,
their movement, as in 1 775. for all its breadth and militancy,
was reduced to a futile explosion without hope of political
gains. I

I FQr luggcstiQnI U til th� longeT-tenn UUICS Q[ the final defeat QC the
Germinal and Prairial. A fuller picture emerges from the events
tulmf#s after Pr;o.iri;o.l sec Cobb and Rud�, QP. cil., pp. ::80-1 .
smu­
already related. From these it appears that the Sections mainly
engaged in the movement culminating on 12th Germinal were
Quinze Vingts and Popincourt
(FaJJhouTg Sainl-Antoiru) ; Obser­
vatoire and Pantheon
(Fauhourg Saint-Marcel) ; Cite, Droits de
I'Homme. Amis de Ja Patrie, and Gravilliers (centre) j and
Temple and Faubourg Montmartre (north). In Prairial, more
Sections were engaged-some fully, others only in part. Leading
the movement again were the three Sections of the Faubourg
Saint-Antoine and four of the five Sections of the Faubourg
Saint-Marcel (Observatoire only excepted). They were
closely supported by the central Sections-Arcis, Droits de
l'Homme, Fidelite (Hotel de Ville) , Cite, Lombards, Marches,
Gravilliers, and Halle au Ble; and (less wholeheartedly) by the
northern Sections of Poissonniere and Faubourg du-Nord, and
by Mutius Scaevola (Luxembourg) and Invalides in the south.
There were even supporting contingents ofwomen from Museum
and Tuileries in the west; but the western Sections, generally,
formed a solid block of defenders of the Convention and its
Committees. As. we shall see in the next chapter, in Vende­
miaire (October 1 795) these roles were to some extent reversed.
Why then, with such solid support, were the Parisian sa1/.S­
culotus defeated in May 1795? Partiy, as we have seen, it was
for lack of a clear political programme and plan of action;
partiy through the weakness of the deputies of the Mountain;
partly through political inexperience and the failure to follow
up an advantage once gained; partiy, too, through the corre­
spondingly greater skill and experience of the Convention and
its C'..ommittees and the support that these were able to muster­
even without the active intervention of the regular army-from
the Jeurusse dorte and the merchants, civil servants, and monied
, In G",,,ilIi�n th�re wen: 7 ;anats, in &ndy (7), Lomb;ards (6), H;all�;au Bie
(6), and-mQre Iwprisingly-in TuileriCi (6) and Mw6un (6).

XI
VENDEMIAIRE
H I L £ the story of popular insurrection during the Re­
W volution in Paris closes with the events just described,
they do not mark the last occasion on which revolu·
tionary crowds challenged the authority of the government in
armed rebellion or street demonstrations. This final episode was
constituted by thejoumies of l 2 r 4th Vendemiaire (4-6 October
- from this very quarter, having destroyed the Jacobin cadres
1795). This episode cannot therefore be left out of account from
our present study, even if the nature and aims orthe rioters and
the pattern of events leading up to the insurrection mark a
sharp departure from those described in preceding chapters,!
On this occasion, far from seeking to drive the Revolution in a
more radical direction or to. establish or strengthen the Re­
public, the ultimate aims orthe insurrection were to destroy the
Republic and to open the way for the restoration of the
monarchy. Its promoters, far from being democrats, Jacobins,
or sans-culottes, were the hard core of the conservative and
monied interests established in the western Sections of the
capital, who had most eagerly rallied to the side of the Ther­
midorians against Robespierre and served as the main defenders
of the Convention in the revolts of Germinal and Prairial. Of
considerable interest, too, in this affair are the role and attitude
of the sans-cuLottes who, though crushed in Prairial, were still a
factor to be reckoned. with. Though facing economic hardships
as severe as those described in the previous chapter, they gave
no support to the royalist (or near-royalist) rebels ; incapable
of cngaging in an independent movement of their own, they
tcnded rather to rally (somewhat passively, it is true) in sup­
port of the constituted authorities against those who attempted
to overthrow the Republic by force of arms.
The events of Vendemiaire have a further importance in
that they opened up new perspectives in the relations between
the government and the citizens of Paris. They revealed, for
but the differmcc:$ are not 10 clear.cut as n
, Thermidor already marks a certain departure rrom this pallern, it is truej
i the case: of Vendemi.aire.
VEND�MIAIRE ,6,
the first time since 1 789, that the revolutionary Assembly might
maintain itself in office and impose its will on the country as a
whole even without the active support of any substantial social
group or body of opinion in the caphal. In Thermidor the
Convention had been able to depend on the support, or at least
the benevolent neutrality, of the bulk of the Parisian Sections­
including those in which the sans-culottes were still firmly en­
trenched-to overthrow Robespierre. In Prairial, in order to
overcome the sans-cuLottes and the active Jacobin remnants, it
had been able to call upon the armed citizens ofthe 'respectable'
western Sections. In Vendcmiaire, when faced with a rebellion
and silenced the sans-culottes, arrested their leaders, and driven
them out of the Sectional assemblies and committees, the Con­
vention had no other resort but to call in the army. The
prccedent, once established, was not easily abandoned; and
from October 1795 the military coup d'/tat already looms on the
horizon as the ultimate arbiter of political disputes.
The immediate issue out of which the insurrection ofVendc­
miaire arose was the decree of 22 August 1795 (the decree of the
dtux tiers), which invited the primary assemblies convened for
the new elections to agree to the uncontested return of two­
thirds of the members of the outgoing Assembly. This blatant
altempt to perpetuate the political existence of a body which,
for a variety of reasons, had forfeited most of the respect or
devotion that it had once enjoyed, gave the handful of con­
vinced royalists in the capital the pretext and opportunity to rally
the majority of the Parisian Sections in opposition to the Con­
vention and to win substantial support for the armed rebellion
that followed. In essence this was the political background
to the days of Vendcmiaire.' Yet the picture is grossly over­
simplified when presented in such exclusively political terms.
Here it is proposed, therefore, before picking up the narrative
I.e Tui�. wMimiaiu, a" IV (Paris, t898). Though the author makc:$ full
, For themost compkte account of the n i surrection and its political background
I«: H. Zivy,
use of the correspondence or the Commiue<:s ofPublic Safety and General Security,
the minuta of the Sectional assemblies, the police reports edited by Sehmidt
( Tabl,allJt tit/" Riw/gli"n j.a"fa;u), and the recordl of the Military Courts sct up on
'5th Vendemiaire tojudge the arraled ringleaders, his tludy appeared too early
II).
to mike usc or the fuller police reports ediled by Aulard (PaT;� /'fndanl/tl riu.:tlon
I�TmidoTi.NU, vol.

XI
VENDEMIAIRE
H I L £ the story of popular insurrection during the Re­
W volution in Paris closes with the events just described,
they do not mark the last occasion on which revolu·
tionary crowds challenged the authority of the government in
armed rebellion or street demonstrations. This final episode was
constituted by thejoumies of l 2 r 4th Vendemiaire (4-6 October
- from this very quarter, having destroyed the Jacobin cadres
1795). This episode cannot therefore be left out of account from
our present study, even if the nature and aims orthe rioters and
the pattern of events leading up to the insurrection mark a
sharp departure from those described in preceding chapters,!
On this occasion, far from seeking to drive the Revolution in a
more radical direction or to. establish or strengthen the Re­
public, the ultimate aims orthe insurrection were to destroy the
Republic and to open the way for the restoration of the
monarchy. Its promoters, far from being democrats, Jacobins,
or sans-culottes, were the hard core of the conservative and
monied interests established in the western Sections of the
capital, who had most eagerly rallied to the side of the Ther­
midorians against Robespierre and served as the main defenders
of the Convention in the revolts of Germinal and Prairial. Of
considerable interest, too, in this affair are the role and attitude
of the sans-cuLottes who, though crushed in Prairial, were still a
factor to be reckoned. with. Though facing economic hardships
as severe as those described in the previous chapter, they gave
no support to the royalist (or near-royalist) rebels ; incapable
of cngaging in an independent movement of their own, they
tcnded rather to rally (somewhat passively, it is true) in sup­
port of the constituted authorities against those who attempted
to overthrow the Republic by force of arms.
The events of Vendemiaire have a further importance in
that they opened up new perspectives in the relations between
the government and the citizens of Paris. They revealed, for
but the differmcc:$ are not 10 clear.cut as n
, Thermidor already marks a certain departure rrom this pallern, it is truej
i the case: of Vendemi.aire.
VEND�MIAIRE ,6,
the first time since 1 789, that the revolutionary Assembly might
maintain itself in office and impose its will on the country as a
whole even without the active support of any substantial social
group or body of opinion in the caphal. In Thermidor the
Convention had been able to depend on the support, or at least
the benevolent neutrality, of the bulk of the Parisian Sections­
including those in which the sans-culottes were still firmly en­
trenched-to overthrow Robespierre. In Prairial, in order to
overcome the sans-cuLottes and the active Jacobin remnants, it
had been able to call upon the armed citizens ofthe 'respectable'
western Sections. In Vendcmiaire, when faced with a rebellion
and silenced the sans-culottes, arrested their leaders, and driven
them out of the Sectional assemblies and committees, the Con­
vention had no other resort but to call in the army. The
prccedent, once established, was not easily abandoned; and
from October 1795 the military coup d'/tat already looms on the
horizon as the ultimate arbiter of political disputes.
The immediate issue out of which the insurrection ofVendc­
miaire arose was the decree of 22 August 1795 (the decree of the
dtux tiers), which invited the primary assemblies convened for
the new elections to agree to the uncontested return of two­
thirds of the members of the outgoing Assembly. This blatant
altempt to perpetuate the political existence of a body which,
for a variety of reasons, had forfeited most of the respect or
devotion that it had once enjoyed, gave the handful of con­
vinced royalists in the capital the pretext and opportunity to rally
the majority of the Parisian Sections in opposition to the Con­
vention and to win substantial support for the armed rebellion
that followed. In essence this was the political background
to the days of Vendcmiaire.' Yet the picture is grossly over­
simplified when presented in such exclusively political terms.
Here it is proposed, therefore, before picking up the narrative
I.e Tui�. wMimiaiu, a" IV (Paris, t898). Though the author makc:$ full
, For themost compkte account of the n i surrection and its political background
I«: H. Zivy,
use of the correspondence or the Commiue<:s ofPublic Safety and General Security,
the minuta of the Sectional assemblies, the police reports edited by Sehmidt
( Tabl,allJt tit/" Riw/gli"n j.a"fa;u), and the recordl of the Military Courts sct up on
'5th Vendemiaire tojudge the arraled ringleaders, his tludy appeared too early
II).
to mike usc or the fuller police reports ediled by Aulard (PaT;� /'fndanl/tl riu.:tlon
I�TmidoTi.NU, vol.
 ACTIO N
162 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN
of political events in mid·September, when the opposition, to
�
the decree of the 'two--thirds' was begin ng to t�ke shape
consider the government's economic policy and Its effects on
the various parties concerned,l , bread and assembled at the porte Saint-Martin, uk the perti­
In spite of the plight of th: small coru:umers, which had be·
come only too evident dunng the spnng and summer, �e
Convention and its Committees did nothing to amend theu
economic policy. whose effects continu� to be aggravated by
the extension of the war and the perslStence of unfavoura�
r to � per cent. of ts
natural factors, The assigntJ t slump ed furthe
lly fading out of exIS­
nominal value in Octob er before virtua
tence 1 The ration of bread (nominally I-I t lb. a head) at the
cont�lled price of 3 sow per lb, continued to be blatantly
dishonoured : up to the end of July. at least, we readand
distributions of only 2, 4, 6, 7. or 8 ounces, per head;
there were frequent complaints of bakers se1lin� bread abovt�,
the controlled price.l During �ugust therewas an Improvemen s
a half-pound ration became the rule. rising to three·quarter
later in the month ; but during September there were frequent
complaints about the poor quality of flour and, before October,
the ration had again dropped to half a pound �r beloW.4 Mean­
while, on the 'open' market, bread was s?U sold a� 15-20
[iures a pound,s Meat tended to be unobtamabl� at I.ts con­
trolled price of2t SOIlS; and, on the 'open' market, Its pnce rose
from 8 liures in June and July to 15 [iures in late September.'
Other essential commodities followed a simi.lar �ourse: butte:
rising from t6-t8 liures a pound inJ�ly t? 30 llures 10 S�ptembe�
sugar from I l liuminJanuary t062 lwmmSeptember, eggs fro
glillTes perdozen inJuly to t 2 liures in September; potatoes from 34
iillTes a bushel in May to s6 livm in October; tallo�-ca.ndles fro�
5 iiures in January to 3? �illTes in June an� 50 .[lUm 10 Au�ust,
coal from 75 iillTes a UOIt 10 June to 17� l'ur� m October, an�
firewood from 160 iillTtS in May to 500 IlVT'tS 10 late September.
' t AuJard, op. cit. i. 7,SS-7S;
• The ma.on .o\l!'CC used ror this purpose bu beet
a Ibid. ii. 326.
ii. 1-319 (29 May-14 October 179's)'
• Ibid. i. 'SS, 760, 767; ii. 8, 34,,.s, loB, 120,
'38, 14S,
i. 102, '51, ,81, 186-g, 199, 208, 210, 213, 277·
4 Ibid. i
J Ibid. i. 'S6; ii. 36, 139; Zivy, op: dt., p. 1�4-
• Aulard, op. cit. ii. 24, 34, '13; ZlVY, loe. CIt.
7 AuJard, i. 368, 376, 750; ii. 3, 8, 36, 6" 113, 191, 271, 291, 327. A """
_pond. to S6 CII. ft.
VENDtMIAIR.E .s,
to
The effects of such a continuous rise in the cost of living on
wage-earnen and other earners of small or fixed incomes may
be readily imagined. Worken, striking in August for more
nent question: 'Est·ce ave<: 12 francs que nous gagnons par jour
que nous pouvons acheter du pain a 15 livres la livre?'1 The
plight of all small property-owners in such conditions is well
le
summarized in an agent's report of 16 July:
The worker's wage is far too low to meet his daily needs; the
unfortunate UTltie, in ord to keep alive, has to sell his last stick
�
of furniture, which adds to the haul of the greedy speculator; the
er
proprietor, lacking other means of subsistence, eats up his capital
his incomei the civil servant, who is entirely dependent on
aJ
well
his salary, also suffen the torments of privation.l
of as
More than one observer, in fact, believed that the distress thus
caused among the Tentiers and small proprietors was relatively
greater than that suffered by the craftsmen and wage·eamers,l
The point is significant, as it may help to explain the interue
hostility shown to the Convention in such western Sections as
Lepeletier, Buue des Moulim (Palais Royal), and Place Ven·
dome-where these social elements abounded-long before the
political crisis arose over the decree of the 'two--thirds'.4 Yet
there could, of course, be no effective action from such quarters
to end the economic conditions complained of, as the SectioDll
in question were equally the main haunts of the speculators and '
slock·jobbers, who thrived on inflation and rising prices and
whose activities were favoured by the Government's policies.s
For their part the sans-rulotte.s reacted in characteristic
fashion, Some, as in the months before Prairial, gave way to
despair and were concerned only with the immediate problems
of food and survival.
, Ibid. ii. '42. Ibid., p.86; lee abo ibid., p.,.,.
J Ibid. i. 'S1; ii. 48-49.
• For example. olrood thortage and eomplainb in May-July, and even talk of
1
'une Uuurrcction pfO(:baine oU la reprbc:ntantl et la marchands puiuent lTOuver
�cllr tornbeau', in Lepclcticr, Place Vendllrne, and BUlle da MouJi.... lee AuJard,
7,sS, 767; ii. ,.s, 50, 6,5,
I cr. a report or.5 Oetober (13th Vendmu.aire); 'C'at du Kin de ca deux
I. loS.
ar�ondi&sementl (Lepclctier and Bulle da Mou.fuu ; G.R.) que IOrtent
'''OtCUD, qui, au Palaia tplit�, fOI" Ie tr&fic Ie put inflmc au �t de la
1011& lei
coITC'"
•
(ibid. ii. 300).
fortlUle pubUq� et da rortWlCl privies'
 ACTIO N
162 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN
of political events in mid·September, when the opposition, to
�
the decree of the 'two--thirds' was begin ng to t�ke shape
consider the government's economic policy and Its effects on
the various parties concerned,l , bread and assembled at the porte Saint-Martin, uk the perti­
In spite of the plight of th: small coru:umers, which had be·
come only too evident dunng the spnng and summer, �e
Convention and its Committees did nothing to amend theu
economic policy. whose effects continu� to be aggravated by
the extension of the war and the perslStence of unfavoura�
r to � per cent. of ts
natural factors, The assigntJ t slump ed furthe
lly fading out of exIS­
nominal value in Octob er before virtua
tence 1 The ration of bread (nominally I-I t lb. a head) at the
cont�lled price of 3 sow per lb, continued to be blatantly
dishonoured : up to the end of July. at least, we readand
distributions of only 2, 4, 6, 7. or 8 ounces, per head;
there were frequent complaints of bakers se1lin� bread abovt�,
the controlled price.l During �ugust therewas an Improvemen s
a half-pound ration became the rule. rising to three·quarter
later in the month ; but during September there were frequent
complaints about the poor quality of flour and, before October,
the ration had again dropped to half a pound �r beloW.4 Mean­
while, on the 'open' market, bread was s?U sold a� 15-20
[iures a pound,s Meat tended to be unobtamabl� at I.ts con­
trolled price of2t SOIlS; and, on the 'open' market, Its pnce rose
from 8 liures in June and July to 15 [iures in late September.'
Other essential commodities followed a simi.lar �ourse: butte:
rising from t6-t8 liures a pound inJ�ly t? 30 llures 10 S�ptembe�
sugar from I l liuminJanuary t062 lwmmSeptember, eggs fro
glillTes perdozen inJuly to t 2 liures in September; potatoes from 34
iillTes a bushel in May to s6 livm in October; tallo�-ca.ndles fro�
5 iiures in January to 3? �illTes in June an� 50 .[lUm 10 Au�ust,
coal from 75 iillTes a UOIt 10 June to 17� l'ur� m October, an�
firewood from 160 iillTtS in May to 500 IlVT'tS 10 late September.
' t AuJard, op. cit. i. 7,SS-7S;
• The ma.on .o\l!'CC used ror this purpose bu beet
a Ibid. ii. 326.
ii. 1-319 (29 May-14 October 179's)'
• Ibid. i. 'SS, 760, 767; ii. 8, 34,,.s, loB, 120,
'38, 14S,
i. 102, '51, ,81, 186-g, 199, 208, 210, 213, 277·
4 Ibid. i
J Ibid. i. 'S6; ii. 36, 139; Zivy, op: dt., p. 1�4-
• Aulard, op. cit. ii. 24, 34, '13; ZlVY, loe. CIt.
7 AuJard, i. 368, 376, 750; ii. 3, 8, 36, 6" 113, 191, 271, 291, 327. A """
_pond. to S6 CII. ft.
VENDtMIAIR.E .s,
to
The effects of such a continuous rise in the cost of living on
wage-earnen and other earners of small or fixed incomes may
be readily imagined. Worken, striking in August for more
nent question: 'Est·ce ave<: 12 francs que nous gagnons par jour
que nous pouvons acheter du pain a 15 livres la livre?'1 The
plight of all small property-owners in such conditions is well
le
summarized in an agent's report of 16 July:
The worker's wage is far too low to meet his daily needs; the
unfortunate UTltie, in ord to keep alive, has to sell his last stick
�
of furniture, which adds to the haul of the greedy speculator; the
er
proprietor, lacking other means of subsistence, eats up his capital
his incomei the civil servant, who is entirely dependent on
aJ
well
his salary, also suffen the torments of privation.l
of as
More than one observer, in fact, believed that the distress thus
caused among the Tentiers and small proprietors was relatively
greater than that suffered by the craftsmen and wage·eamers,l
The point is significant, as it may help to explain the interue
hostility shown to the Convention in such western Sections as
Lepeletier, Buue des Moulim (Palais Royal), and Place Ven·
dome-where these social elements abounded-long before the
political crisis arose over the decree of the 'two--thirds'.4 Yet
there could, of course, be no effective action from such quarters
to end the economic conditions complained of, as the SectioDll
in question were equally the main haunts of the speculators and '
slock·jobbers, who thrived on inflation and rising prices and
whose activities were favoured by the Government's policies.s
For their part the sans-rulotte.s reacted in characteristic
fashion, Some, as in the months before Prairial, gave way to
despair and were concerned only with the immediate problems
of food and survival.
, Ibid. ii. '42. Ibid., p.86; lee abo ibid., p.,.,.
J Ibid. i. 'S1; ii. 48-49.
• For example. olrood thortage and eomplainb in May-July, and even talk of
1
'une Uuurrcction pfO(:baine oU la reprbc:ntantl et la marchands puiuent lTOuver
�cllr tornbeau', in Lepclcticr, Place Vendllrne, and BUlle da MouJi.... lee AuJard,
7,sS, 767; ii. ,.s, 50, 6,5,
I cr. a report or.5 Oetober (13th Vendmu.aire); 'C'at du Kin de ca deux
I. loS.
ar�ondi&sementl (Lepclctier and Bulle da Mou.fuu ; G.R.) que IOrtent
'''OtCUD, qui, au Palaia tplit�, fOI" Ie tr&fic Ie put inflmc au �t de la
1011& lei
coITC'"
•
(ibid. ii. 300).
fortlUle pubUq� et da rortWlCl privies'
.6, THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
Le public [wrote an observer in July] parait DC s'occuper que de
ses besoins et . . . la politique est releguee dans les cafb.
Peu importc: Ie gouvememc:nt [said onc citizen], pourvu que
j'aie de quai subsister.
And, in August, another observer reported: 'Le public . . . �e
s'occupe oi de lois, oi de Constitution; que ce n'est que du pam
qu'i1 demande." Others reacted morc: vigorously : both in JURe
and July we hear of crowds in the Palais Royal cheering work­
ing men who raided the stocks of dealers selling bread on the
open market; and it was thought advisable to suspend the
practice of offering bread at Holy Communion at Saint­
�rvais as long as the shortage lasted.' Some began to regret the
old regime, bitterly denounced the Republic, and placed their
hopes in the restoration of the monarchy. InJuly citizens ofthe
. not
Faubourg Saint-Antoine were heard to say that they dtd
care if the enemy came to Paris, 'parce que, ne pouvant plus
tenir a la cherte, il leur etait bien egal d'etre Anglais ou Fran­
-;ais' ; and an observer wrote that the 'lowest orders', while not
openly pronouncing in favour of a king, did not appear to be
opposed to the monarchy, provided it gave them bread. In
August the general refrain in certain public places was said to be:
'Un roi ou du pain'; and an agent wrote that 'comparisons
with the old regime . . . do not redound to the credit of the
Republic'.) Yet, among the sans-culottes, at least, this mood
appears to have been short-lived and to have disappeared
before Vendemiaire.
More persistent were the effects resulting from a revival of
Jacobin agitation. In August there were demands for a retum
to controls on the price and supply of essentials: 'Le public
semble desirer [wrote an observer] que les grains et autre5
objets de necessite soient taxes a un prix raisonnable'.4 Later in
the month it was reported that many regretted the time of
Robespierre: 'On etait plus heureux sous Ie regne de Robes­
pierre ; on ne sentait pas alors Ie besoin.' On 8 September a
soldier in the Palais Royal said things would continue to go
wrong 'as long as Terror was not made the order of the day' ;
and, a fortnight later, a woman was heard to say at the Porte
Saint-Martin 'qu'elle regrettait Ie temps de la guillotine, et
Aul..-d, ii. 53, 65, 177· pp. 22, 43-++, 67·
• Ibid. pp. 70, 77-78, 161.
,
• Ibid
Ibid., p. 208 (sec aLIO p. '43)'
• .•
•
VENDtMIAIRE .6,
qu'eHe de,sirait qu'elle flit permanente'. By the end of the
month, WIth the release of former terrorists in some Sections
and the growth of royaHst agitation in others, Jacobin princi­
ple� v.:ere once more bemg . openly proclaimed both in the
Tudenes Garden,-s and in the popular districts adjoining the
. ,
Portes Samt-Dems and Samt-Martin.'
Meanwhile, despite their defeat in Prairial, there had been
talk of a new sans-culotta uprising.
On debite dam Its queues et rassemblements (wrote an observer
qu on Its a desarma, maUl qu'ils sauront bien employer les memes
at ,the end of June) que I'on croit les ouvrien tranquilles parce
moyeos que d�ns Ies commencements de la Revolution pour se
procurer du pam.
A �eek late� Inspector Bouillon compares the popular dis­
cU�I�n that lS gomg on with that preceding the outbreak in
P; ama1. On 20 August it was noted 'que Its rassemblements
d ouvrler .
�
s la porte Martin deviennent de jour en jour plus
,
nombreux , and, the next day, the general excitement was such
'qu'on pourrait croire qu'il se prepare une insurrection tres
procha.mc'.z But, by this �ime, the political conflict between the
�overnment and t�e SectIOns was beginning to emerge : we shall
see what effect thIS was to have on the agitation among the
sans-culottes.
The primary assemblies (corresponding, in Paris, to the
gener..1 asse�bl�. es of the Sections) had been convened in June.
They we�e mvued to approve or reject the newly drafted
Cons�l.tutJon and �o appoint electors, who were, in turn,
to
appomt �he deputies to the new revolutionary Assembly, due
� me�t I? the au�umn. R:0yaJis agitation was increasing and
. as wmmng re�rutts bot� 10 Paris, in the provincial towns,
�
10 the count S
and
lJ' lde ;3 and It was, no doubt, as much with a view
!o sa�eguard.l �g the �epublic from being overwhelmed
by a
°rabst reaction as With that of perpetuating its own political
eXistence that the majority of the outgoing Conve
�� and 30, August, �ued its famous decrees of the 'two-thi
,
ntion on
�ds'.
esc. invited the primary assemblies to agree that 500 of
the
deputles to the new Assembly should
, �"'
be selected from the
pp. 182, ?3], 254, 2]6. • Ibid., pp. 47, 6,5, ,82, 184.
ebvre, op. Cit., p. '73; Aulatd, ..
II, 14, 77-78, 161, 182-3.
I
.6, THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
Le public [wrote an observer in July] parait DC s'occuper que de
ses besoins et . . . la politique est releguee dans les cafb.
Peu importc: Ie gouvememc:nt [said onc citizen], pourvu que
j'aie de quai subsister.
And, in August, another observer reported: 'Le public . . . �e
s'occupe oi de lois, oi de Constitution; que ce n'est que du pam
qu'i1 demande." Others reacted morc: vigorously : both in JURe
and July we hear of crowds in the Palais Royal cheering work­
ing men who raided the stocks of dealers selling bread on the
open market; and it was thought advisable to suspend the
practice of offering bread at Holy Communion at Saint­
�rvais as long as the shortage lasted.' Some began to regret the
old regime, bitterly denounced the Republic, and placed their
hopes in the restoration of the monarchy. InJuly citizens ofthe
. not
Faubourg Saint-Antoine were heard to say that they dtd
care if the enemy came to Paris, 'parce que, ne pouvant plus
tenir a la cherte, il leur etait bien egal d'etre Anglais ou Fran­
-;ais' ; and an observer wrote that the 'lowest orders', while not
openly pronouncing in favour of a king, did not appear to be
opposed to the monarchy, provided it gave them bread. In
August the general refrain in certain public places was said to be:
'Un roi ou du pain'; and an agent wrote that 'comparisons
with the old regime . . . do not redound to the credit of the
Republic'.) Yet, among the sans-culottes, at least, this mood
appears to have been short-lived and to have disappeared
before Vendemiaire.
More persistent were the effects resulting from a revival of
Jacobin agitation. In August there were demands for a retum
to controls on the price and supply of essentials: 'Le public
semble desirer [wrote an observer] que les grains et autre5
objets de necessite soient taxes a un prix raisonnable'.4 Later in
the month it was reported that many regretted the time of
Robespierre: 'On etait plus heureux sous Ie regne de Robes­
pierre ; on ne sentait pas alors Ie besoin.' On 8 September a
soldier in the Palais Royal said things would continue to go
wrong 'as long as Terror was not made the order of the day' ;
and, a fortnight later, a woman was heard to say at the Porte
Saint-Martin 'qu'elle regrettait Ie temps de la guillotine, et
Aul..-d, ii. 53, 65, 177· pp. 22, 43-++, 67·
• Ibid. pp. 70, 77-78, 161.
,
• Ibid
Ibid., p. 208 (sec aLIO p. '43)'
• .•
•
VENDtMIAIRE .6,
qu'eHe de,sirait qu'elle flit permanente'. By the end of the
month, WIth the release of former terrorists in some Sections
and the growth of royaHst agitation in others, Jacobin princi­
ple� v.:ere once more bemg . openly proclaimed both in the
Tudenes Garden,-s and in the popular districts adjoining the
. ,
Portes Samt-Dems and Samt-Martin.'
Meanwhile, despite their defeat in Prairial, there had been
talk of a new sans-culotta uprising.
On debite dam Its queues et rassemblements (wrote an observer
qu on Its a desarma, maUl qu'ils sauront bien employer les memes
at ,the end of June) que I'on croit les ouvrien tranquilles parce
moyeos que d�ns Ies commencements de la Revolution pour se
procurer du pam.
A �eek late� Inspector Bouillon compares the popular dis­
cU�I�n that lS gomg on with that preceding the outbreak in
P; ama1. On 20 August it was noted 'que Its rassemblements
d ouvrler .
�
s la porte Martin deviennent de jour en jour plus
,
nombreux , and, the next day, the general excitement was such
'qu'on pourrait croire qu'il se prepare une insurrection tres
procha.mc'.z But, by this �ime, the political conflict between the
�overnment and t�e SectIOns was beginning to emerge : we shall
see what effect thIS was to have on the agitation among the
sans-culottes.
The primary assemblies (corresponding, in Paris, to the
gener..1 asse�bl�. es of the Sections) had been convened in June.
They we�e mvued to approve or reject the newly drafted
Cons�l.tutJon and �o appoint electors, who were, in turn,
to
appomt �he deputies to the new revolutionary Assembly, due
� me�t I? the au�umn. R:0yaJis agitation was increasing and
. as wmmng re�rutts bot� 10 Paris, in the provincial towns,
�
10 the count S
and
lJ' lde ;3 and It was, no doubt, as much with a view
!o sa�eguard.l �g the �epublic from being overwhelmed
by a
°rabst reaction as With that of perpetuating its own political
eXistence that the majority of the outgoing Conve
�� and 30, August, �ued its famous decrees of the 'two-thi
,
ntion on
�ds'.
esc. invited the primary assemblies to agree that 500 of
the
deputles to the new Assembly should
, �"'
be selected from the
pp. 182, ?3], 254, 2]6. • Ibid., pp. 47, 6,5, ,82, 184.
ebvre, op. Cit., p. '73; Aulatd, ..
II, 14, 77-78, 161, 182-3.
I
 ACTION VENDtMIAIRE 167
THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN
e the re��ni�g 250 cant departures from that of 1793 were that it reintroduced the
166

existing members of the Convention, whiltors. AntlClpabng an syste� of indirect election and restricted the suffrage, even at
alone should be freely chosen by the elec n to draft regular the pn�ary stage, to tax-payers and, at the electoral stage, to
unfavourable response, the Convention bega ; and, to hc::lp redress substantla1 p�pertr-ownel"3. All Sections had, in fact, accepted
troops into the capital on the same �ay were perm itted, by a .
�e Consbtutlon With large majorities by 6 September.' Quite
nsts
the balance of opinion, former terro primary assemblies.'
decree of 2 September, to atten d the different was the reception given to the decrees of the 'two­
The Parisian Sections to whom these proposals were put had thirds'. When, after heated debates and violent recriminations
changed greatly since Ther m idor. By a s� ccess ion of purges all against the Convention and its Committees, the vote was
Jacobins had been driven off the comnutteesern and o�t of the finally announced in the Assembly, it was found that no less
weekly general assemblies of not only the west Sections, .but than forty-seven of the Parisian Sections had rejected the decrees
those oftheJaubourgs and city centre as well.on Whe the �ec�ons
n -the one exception being the Quinze Vingts, in the Faubourg
Co�tltutlo.n, Saint-Antoine, which accepted them by 433 to 139 vote3.1
were convened as primary assemblies to vote lsthe as ArClS, Drolts �t was not only the decrees of 22 and 30 August themselves
a dozen of them-including such recent rebe tes, Lom bards, a�d which aroused the political opposition of the Sections' further
de I'Homme, Gravitliers, Jardin des Plan
ded all form er Jacobllu hostility was. �roused by the drafting of troops into th; capital
Thennes de Julien-specifically exclu and the deemon to allow former terrorists, so assiduously dis­
from their deliberations;l and, in June , the Jard in d � Pla�tes
arres t of no less than thirt y-eight armed and disfranchised by the Sectional authorities only a
Section had announced the
alleged 'massacreurs des et 3 septe mbre '.J The purg e of un­ few. mon�� before, to attend the assemblies and vote alongside
2
lly whol ehea rted: .
since their polibcal opponents. It was the combination of these
desirable social elem ents had been equa
excused service, factors, bitterly resented by the main body of conservative
Prairial workers and artisans had either been�atio Gua�; o�inion in �e capi�, which gave the small group of deter­
or specifically excluded from serving, i? �e y a nal ,un
Ii n qu petit nune� royalists thar opportunity to build up a centre of
and, in September, an observer noted qu ' ... The asseI?­ op�lbon, . based on the Parisian primary assemblies and in­
bMes
nombre d'ouvriers qui assistent aux assem to resemble, In
and more volvmg many who would have rejected their ultimate aims,
blies were, in fact, coming more become had they been openly proclaimed.
miniature, that 'Republique des propribaires' �hatr,had and whose The main nucleus of this royalist agitation lay in the Section
fashionable in governing circle s since Ther mldo . of
well expre ssed by the Lepeletier, 'Ie quartier de I'argent' and centre of finance and
social philosophy was Ga.t.et te J ran;a ue
stock-jobbing, t?e mon�rchist and moderate leanings of whose
24 September: leaders and mi.litary umts have been noted in earlier episodes
ietaires seuis com­ of the Revolution-the Section whose grenadiers had opposed
Dans toutes Ies associations policees, lesdespropr
proletaires qui, ran�
posent la societe. Les autres ne sont que the Marsei.llats. and defended the monarchy in August 1792,
dans la dasse des citoyens surnumeraires, atten
dent Ie moment qUi . had most eagerly rallied to the Convention against
which
ietc.J
puisse leur permettre d'acquerir une propr
Robespierre in Thermidor, had been the first to destroy the
Such citizens were not likely to hesitate long before accept­ busts of Marat in February 1795,3 and had led the armed
ing the draft Constitution of the Year III, whose most signifi- opposition to the insurgents of Genninal and Prairial. At the
Outset they found allies in the Butte des Moulins (Palais Royal)
(Bonnet Rouge) , LeY"'�
, Aula.d, iL ,87, l1l8. _, . I Zivy, op. cil., pp. 24-25.
, Othe� we.e PII.ce VendOme, Bon Conseil, Ouest 204�5 (pasJinl).
� .Ibjd. Aular
• Ibid.;d, ii.
op. cit ., p. lI8; Aulard, ii. lI2]).
Brutul, and Butte des MoulilU (Zivy,
'f,. lion during the whole period 1789-94 and ill wei" basis
¢7. For the lurvival ofcounler-revolutionary intrigue in the Lepeletie.
i.

UIOur de l'allental d'AdmlraJ', AJI/I. !tist. R/1/./r/J1lf.,

I« A. de Lestapis.
1 Aulard, ii. 9.
, op. cit., p. 38; Aul.rd, ii. 227· pp. 6-18, 106-20.
Ibid., pp. 267-a.
1957,
• Zivy
I

•
 ACTION VENDtMIAIRE 167
THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN
e the re��ni�g 250 cant departures from that of 1793 were that it reintroduced the
166

existing members of the Convention, whiltors. AntlClpabng an syste� of indirect election and restricted the suffrage, even at
alone should be freely chosen by the elec n to draft regular the pn�ary stage, to tax-payers and, at the electoral stage, to
unfavourable response, the Convention bega ; and, to hc::lp redress substantla1 p�pertr-ownel"3. All Sections had, in fact, accepted
troops into the capital on the same �ay were perm itted, by a .
�e Consbtutlon With large majorities by 6 September.' Quite
nsts
the balance of opinion, former terro primary assemblies.'
decree of 2 September, to atten d the different was the reception given to the decrees of the 'two­
The Parisian Sections to whom these proposals were put had thirds'. When, after heated debates and violent recriminations
changed greatly since Ther m idor. By a s� ccess ion of purges all against the Convention and its Committees, the vote was
Jacobins had been driven off the comnutteesern and o�t of the finally announced in the Assembly, it was found that no less
weekly general assemblies of not only the west Sections, .but than forty-seven of the Parisian Sections had rejected the decrees
those oftheJaubourgs and city centre as well.on Whe the �ec�ons
n -the one exception being the Quinze Vingts, in the Faubourg
Co�tltutlo.n, Saint-Antoine, which accepted them by 433 to 139 vote3.1
were convened as primary assemblies to vote lsthe as ArClS, Drolts �t was not only the decrees of 22 and 30 August themselves
a dozen of them-including such recent rebe tes, Lom bards, a�d which aroused the political opposition of the Sections' further
de I'Homme, Gravitliers, Jardin des Plan
ded all form er Jacobllu hostility was. �roused by the drafting of troops into th; capital
Thennes de Julien-specifically exclu and the deemon to allow former terrorists, so assiduously dis­
from their deliberations;l and, in June , the Jard in d � Pla�tes
arres t of no less than thirt y-eight armed and disfranchised by the Sectional authorities only a
Section had announced the
alleged 'massacreurs des et 3 septe mbre '.J The purg e of un­ few. mon�� before, to attend the assemblies and vote alongside
2
lly whol ehea rted: .
since their polibcal opponents. It was the combination of these
desirable social elem ents had been equa
excused service, factors, bitterly resented by the main body of conservative
Prairial workers and artisans had either been�atio Gua�; o�inion in �e capi�, which gave the small group of deter­
or specifically excluded from serving, i? �e y a nal ,un
Ii n qu petit nune� royalists thar opportunity to build up a centre of
and, in September, an observer noted qu ' ... The asseI?­ op�lbon, . based on the Parisian primary assemblies and in­
bMes
nombre d'ouvriers qui assistent aux assem to resemble, In
and more volvmg many who would have rejected their ultimate aims,
blies were, in fact, coming more become had they been openly proclaimed.
miniature, that 'Republique des propribaires' �hatr,had and whose The main nucleus of this royalist agitation lay in the Section
fashionable in governing circle s since Ther mldo . of
well expre ssed by the Lepeletier, 'Ie quartier de I'argent' and centre of finance and
social philosophy was Ga.t.et te J ran;a ue
stock-jobbing, t?e mon�rchist and moderate leanings of whose
24 September: leaders and mi.litary umts have been noted in earlier episodes
ietaires seuis com­ of the Revolution-the Section whose grenadiers had opposed
Dans toutes Ies associations policees, lesdespropr
proletaires qui, ran�
posent la societe. Les autres ne sont que the Marsei.llats. and defended the monarchy in August 1792,
dans la dasse des citoyens surnumeraires, atten
dent Ie moment qUi . had most eagerly rallied to the Convention against
which
ietc.J
puisse leur permettre d'acquerir une propr
Robespierre in Thermidor, had been the first to destroy the
Such citizens were not likely to hesitate long before accept­ busts of Marat in February 1795,3 and had led the armed
ing the draft Constitution of the Year III, whose most signifi- opposition to the insurgents of Genninal and Prairial. At the
Outset they found allies in the Butte des Moulins (Palais Royal)
(Bonnet Rouge) , LeY"'�
, Aula.d, iL ,87, l1l8. _, . I Zivy, op. cil., pp. 24-25.
, Othe� we.e PII.ce VendOme, Bon Conseil, Ouest 204�5 (pasJinl).
� .Ibjd. Aular
• Ibid.;d, ii.
op. cit ., p. lI8; Aulard, ii. lI2]).
Brutul, and Butte des MoulilU (Zivy,
'f,. lion during the whole period 1789-94 and ill wei" basis
¢7. For the lurvival ofcounler-revolutionary intrigue in the Lepeletie.
i.

UIOur de l'allental d'AdmlraJ', AJI/I. !tist. R/1/./r/J1lf.,

I« A. de Lestapis.
1 Aulard, ii. 9.
, op. cit., p. 38; Aul.rd, ii. 227· pp. 6-18, 106-20.
Ibid., pp. 267-a.
1957,
• Zivy
I

•
 168 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION

'6g
VENO£;MIA IRE
SeCtlOD,1 and were sOOD to find more elsewhere. L�peletier
•

been faked and

�
began to take I e lead .In the Sectional opposiLion In early MeanWhile, the
prepared to ignore the
jeuTUsst instruction to disba
nd,l
September; but Its first atttm t to create an agitational centre dorie, which had rallie
cause in a number d to the roy
based on a committee , �
draw from the forty-eight Sections and came to blows
ofSections,1 began to
with the army in
molest private citiz
alist
ens
railcd.� There followed a wee of v. gorous a itaticn among the the Palais Royal:
. . k ' . ... !
' s in the course 0r Wh,.. h it as reported in the
diSSident ScetlOn.
occasion, it was accomp
tiers ! Vive Ie roi!
anied by shouts of,
on one
'A bas les deu
. •• had arrived in the capitaI
A bas la Convention x
assembly 0ru nl. te. that 5 000 ttITons...,
•

! A bas Its baionne

and a ml·11'Ion tIVrt
" s had been dIstrlbu t-
. . . Jacobins, or Conv ttes " J
ention.supporters,
"-d in the Faubourg Samt in their turn, we
>

Antomel-a so mu<h grist to the IDI·11 o myalist propaganda;

. spoken in their condem re out_
r nation of the 'mene
•

II urs royalistes' in
managcd t0 win the support
Sections, During the the
and, on I 6 September Lepcietlcr . night of 25-26 Septe
critics were insulted mber, three such
('cxprcsscment e� . unamm
' .
���:
t') of thirty Sections for an tier Sections, and
and manhandled in
brought before the
the Mail and
Lepele.
Address of the Cuu:ens �f to all the Primary Assemblies police commissioner of the
, Butte des Moulins
for having suggest
of France,4 Meanwhile " In a scparat- ... addrcss to the Convcn- ed that the primary
... ...
"'laim, not heard Since
, assemblies were com
posed of 'brigand
tion, the Butte des Mouhns" revive
' d th" s' and for having
the Gironde-Mountam d pute of I 3, that Paris, because 0r
pressed their suppo ex­
rt for the Convent
.
Its po mca I" I ��
nd g<ographIcal 51tUati , 'doit avoir I'initiative
� � Que quand on baltra
ion in downright ter
it demain la generale
ms :

, � 'r'', des billets de garde ils et qu'on leur donnerait

dans la nommatlOn du Corp5 !egislatif et du pouvoir executl , s 'en torcheraient Ie der
, voyait ces billets ilJegal riere si on leur en­
ait a la
On 2 3 September ( st Vendem'aire) I the results of the votmg emenl, et qU'en ce cas
' 1 , leu r devoir ser
' ' the Asscmbly :
Conven tion,4
in the pnmary assembhes were announced In
���
the Constitution had been ac e t d by a large majority all over The Sectional ag
itation continued,
Attempts were ma
bring the Quinze Vi de to
the country; the decrees Of2 n
30 August as well, but with ngts into line with
a substantial number of op o en t s 6 The primary assemblies several deputation the other asscmblies,
s called to persuad and
;>,> by 2 Octobcr; the
P � , , e them to revoke
were ordered to Win ' d up thelr bUSIn.... �
support for the decre their
...
e ofthe 'two.thirds
hesitation, they ref ' ; yet, after considera
electoral assembl'les should be conven...-d on th...
.. 12th, and the used. Popincourt, ble
decree, refused, on tho ugh opposed to the
new legislative Assembly be summoned to mcet on 6 November 28 September, to acc
. ept Lepcletier's inv
These announcemcnts , opencd a new phase in the conflict, tion to appoint com ita_
missioners (shadow
3r
, s of to August and
Several of the Parman assembl'les declared that the returns had May 179 3!) 'pour
' his ofinlcrol to note, 'm reln'lS?«t, Ihc.::lilical Pgacily ofa JaItJ-cu(oI/e of the
rediger une dtkla
however, Lepeletier ration',s The next
presented a declar da y,
Bon Corucil &clion who, In urgong arm uppon for the Faubourg Saml. , ation to the Assem
r '" ons 10: bal a co s, , , ariStOCrala
which, though fail
' , I, had 0merved '' .NOIU ,o� �
,
bly
of the Paris Sections'
Anloine on 4th Pra,rla
ing to win the direct
support of'the ma
el museadim do seClions de �a But;e d M lins l.e PdClier el autro sacro!t , in whose name it jOrity
c:oquins' (Arch, Nat" f1 466�,
the new Constitution rnonorlty
,
OSI ;
, 2 Af:r th: ri";ary assemblio' discussio.... on
vo'': ior � onarchy were relurned in the follow.
bore the signatur
es of twenty-three,
purported to spea
including Butte des
k, ye t
lins. Fidelite (H
ing Sectio.... : Unill! (6), Bulle des \,, ou1I :(6), Cill! () (Aulard, ii, 285; Arch, otel de Ville), Fratc
' Th� ineluded Am
mite, and Mail, wh
Mou•
ich had
, Aulard, iii. 236"
PrH, Pol., Aa 266, fob, 321-8), iJ de
' Zivy, op, eil" p, 29,
d� CteneIJe, MO la Palrie, Arsenal, Cill!,
Droiu de I'Homme, FOn
de Ville), and
nl Blanc, Ponl Neuf, Rl!u
nion, Th�atre Fran�"il, taine
• Bib , Nal" Lb" 45gB; Z
,
. ,vy, '
op. �t" 3 1_ 2. These were: Amil de la Pat�e, Mail-()f which the IWO Fid�litt (H6tel
P�i
Arsenal BonConseil,Bondy,Bonne �v e, B�HUS Champs EI)'Sl!es, Cit�, Drolli
s.,p�ember (ibid.
, p. 36),
laller had nOI signed the
nded the assembli..,. of
resa of 1 6
d' t'Ho�me, Fontaine dc Grenel(c, al;e a" BJI! Homme Arml!, lndivisibililt.
Add
• They alle

Jardin dQ Planlo, l.epeIellcr, 00,

p. 33J. BrutlU, Lepeletjer, and
' L embourg Mareh ·<. hfoOi Blanc, Q�rvatoire. Luxembourg (ibid.,

i�9<l, 502-). For allaeb Aa 98

J Ibid., p
�endi)":,c ' Poissonnihe POOl Neuf, Rl!un,on.
•

QU"'I (Bonnet Rouge)" Plac� ux p, 36-31; Arch, Prl!f. Pol

Temple, Th�alre Fran�all, Twlerlo, Un" .
i " (Bu
ai. Royal and elsewhe
tte da Moulinl), 480-t,
' . Aulard, Ii. �46.
was.· 9, .,8'3 for and 4 ',� <I�2 againsl, the Constitution; and
on individuals in thc Pal 483-8,
{ • Ibid"
Arch. Pr�r. Pol., Aa
fob.. 412-8. For similar
.
.OJ �
• The votmg

expr_ions lee ibid., ,508,

re see
167,158 for, and 9:',313 aga'....t, th decrcQ (Zivy. Of>. Cil., p. 35) .
98, fob, 462, 463-4,
46,5-6, 467-8,
fob, 499-500 and .'\a
• Arch. Prl![. Pol.. Aa
M
:WEi, foil. 321-8, 2<&0-1
�mJ, fols. 208, 2 1 1 . dIg
,
 168 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION

'6g
VENO£;MIA IRE
SeCtlOD,1 and were sOOD to find more elsewhere. L�peletier
•

been faked and

�
began to take I e lead .In the Sectional opposiLion In early MeanWhile, the
prepared to ignore the
jeuTUsst instruction to disba
nd,l
September; but Its first atttm t to create an agitational centre dorie, which had rallie
cause in a number d to the roy
based on a committee , �
draw from the forty-eight Sections and came to blows
ofSections,1 began to
with the army in
molest private citiz
alist
ens
railcd.� There followed a wee of v. gorous a itaticn among the the Palais Royal:
. . k ' . ... !
' s in the course 0r Wh,.. h it as reported in the
diSSident ScetlOn.
occasion, it was accomp
tiers ! Vive Ie roi!
anied by shouts of,
on one
'A bas les deu
. •• had arrived in the capitaI
A bas la Convention x
assembly 0ru nl. te. that 5 000 ttITons...,
•

! A bas Its baionne

and a ml·11'Ion tIVrt
" s had been dIstrlbu t-
. . . Jacobins, or Conv ttes " J
ention.supporters,
"-d in the Faubourg Samt in their turn, we
>

Antomel-a so mu<h grist to the IDI·11 o myalist propaganda;

. spoken in their condem re out_
r nation of the 'mene
•

II urs royalistes' in
managcd t0 win the support
Sections, During the the
and, on I 6 September Lepcietlcr . night of 25-26 Septe
critics were insulted mber, three such
('cxprcsscment e� . unamm
' .
���:
t') of thirty Sections for an tier Sections, and
and manhandled in
brought before the
the Mail and
Lepele.
Address of the Cuu:ens �f to all the Primary Assemblies police commissioner of the
, Butte des Moulins
for having suggest
of France,4 Meanwhile " In a scparat- ... addrcss to the Convcn- ed that the primary
... ...
"'laim, not heard Since
, assemblies were com
posed of 'brigand
tion, the Butte des Mouhns" revive
' d th" s' and for having
the Gironde-Mountam d pute of I 3, that Paris, because 0r
pressed their suppo ex­
rt for the Convent
.
Its po mca I" I ��
nd g<ographIcal 51tUati , 'doit avoir I'initiative
� � Que quand on baltra
ion in downright ter
it demain la generale
ms :

, � 'r'', des billets de garde ils et qu'on leur donnerait

dans la nommatlOn du Corp5 !egislatif et du pouvoir executl , s 'en torcheraient Ie der
, voyait ces billets ilJegal riere si on leur en­
ait a la
On 2 3 September ( st Vendem'aire) I the results of the votmg emenl, et qU'en ce cas
' 1 , leu r devoir ser
' ' the Asscmbly :
Conven tion,4
in the pnmary assembhes were announced In
���
the Constitution had been ac e t d by a large majority all over The Sectional ag
itation continued,
Attempts were ma
bring the Quinze Vi de to
the country; the decrees Of2 n
30 August as well, but with ngts into line with
a substantial number of op o en t s 6 The primary assemblies several deputation the other asscmblies,
s called to persuad and
;>,> by 2 Octobcr; the
P � , , e them to revoke
were ordered to Win ' d up thelr bUSIn.... �
support for the decre their
...
e ofthe 'two.thirds
hesitation, they ref ' ; yet, after considera
electoral assembl'les should be conven...-d on th...
.. 12th, and the used. Popincourt, ble
decree, refused, on tho ugh opposed to the
new legislative Assembly be summoned to mcet on 6 November 28 September, to acc
. ept Lepcletier's inv
These announcemcnts , opencd a new phase in the conflict, tion to appoint com ita_
missioners (shadow
3r
, s of to August and
Several of the Parman assembl'les declared that the returns had May 179 3!) 'pour
' his ofinlcrol to note, 'm reln'lS?«t, Ihc.::lilical Pgacily ofa JaItJ-cu(oI/e of the
rediger une dtkla
however, Lepeletier ration',s The next
presented a declar da y,
Bon Corucil &clion who, In urgong arm uppon for the Faubourg Saml. , ation to the Assem
r '" ons 10: bal a co s, , , ariStOCrala
which, though fail
' , I, had 0merved '' .NOIU ,o� �
,
bly
of the Paris Sections'
Anloine on 4th Pra,rla
ing to win the direct
support of'the ma
el museadim do seClions de �a But;e d M lins l.e PdClier el autro sacro!t , in whose name it jOrity
c:oquins' (Arch, Nat" f1 466�,
the new Constitution rnonorlty
,
OSI ;
, 2 Af:r th: ri";ary assemblio' discussio.... on
vo'': ior � onarchy were relurned in the follow.
bore the signatur
es of twenty-three,
purported to spea
including Butte des
k, ye t
lins. Fidelite (H
ing Sectio.... : Unill! (6), Bulle des \,, ou1I :(6), Cill! () (Aulard, ii, 285; Arch, otel de Ville), Fratc
' Th� ineluded Am
mite, and Mail, wh
Mou•
ich had
, Aulard, iii. 236"
PrH, Pol., Aa 266, fob, 321-8), iJ de
' Zivy, op, eil" p, 29,
d� CteneIJe, MO la Palrie, Arsenal, Cill!,
Droiu de I'Homme, FOn
de Ville), and
nl Blanc, Ponl Neuf, Rl!u
nion, Th�atre Fran�"il, taine
• Bib , Nal" Lb" 45gB; Z
,
. ,vy, '
op. �t" 3 1_ 2. These were: Amil de la Pat�e, Mail-()f which the IWO Fid�litt (H6tel
P�i
Arsenal BonConseil,Bondy,Bonne �v e, B�HUS Champs EI)'Sl!es, Cit�, Drolli
s.,p�ember (ibid.
, p. 36),
laller had nOI signed the
nded the assembli..,. of
resa of 1 6
d' t'Ho�me, Fontaine dc Grenel(c, al;e a" BJI! Homme Arml!, lndivisibililt.
Add
• They alle

Jardin dQ Planlo, l.epeIellcr, 00,

p. 33J. BrutlU, Lepeletjer, and
' L embourg Mareh ·<. hfoOi Blanc, Q�rvatoire. Luxembourg (ibid.,

i�9<l, 502-). For allaeb Aa 98

J Ibid., p
�endi)":,c ' Poissonnihe POOl Neuf, Rl!un,on.
•

QU"'I (Bonnet Rouge)" Plac� ux p, 36-31; Arch, Prl!f. Pol

Temple, Th�alre Fran�all, Twlerlo, Un" .
i " (Bu
ai. Royal and elsewhe
tte da Moulinl), 480-t,
' . Aulard, Ii. �46.
was.· 9, .,8'3 for and 4 ',� <I�2 againsl, the Constitution; and
on individuals in thc Pal 483-8,
{ • Ibid"
Arch. Pr�r. Pol., Aa
fob.. 412-8. For similar
.
.OJ �
• The votmg

expr_ions lee ibid., ,508,

re see
167,158 for, and 9:',313 aga'....t, th decrcQ (Zivy. Of>. Cil., p. 35) .
98, fob, 462, 463-4,
46,5-6, 467-8,
fob, 499-500 and .'\a
• Arch. Prl![. Pol.. Aa
M
:WEi, foil. 321-8, 2<&0-1
�mJ, fols. 208, 2 1 1 . dIg
,
,..
VENDtMIAIRE 171

'70
NARY CROWD IN
ACTION
���d fiea� of � �eneral pillag7, .o� attack on food-shops, as in
;' it Wall a direct
TH E REVOLUTIO

not signed the Addre ss of 16 Septemberon s ary 79.3- ut, far from JOlmng forces with the rebels. in
challenge to the autden hority of the Conve nti which, twO day tte rs the Secuons In order to settle accounts with the Conve:t°,?'

assemblies to deliberat e on ma the sans-culotw and ouvriers moved closer to the Assem y m
earlier. had forbid tinthe g to the electi ons .' Th e gov ernment's common defence of the Re ubli a�: cas�.�.te� the sectWn-
other than those rela t the Paris Sectionsedfroammotakreing joi nt action naires as both royalists and m�rchands e 1 ed
measures to prevencom vok ser iou s threat : o :�� ""rac" from police 'repor����e�,::�� a��
with neighb our ing mu nesl pro
etier and Theatre the Fram;:ais invited the :I; �� "
on 2 October Lepel mary assemblies of cap ital to assemble �ptember. 'Les oumers reunis en �upes, dans dlff
electors ofthe otherpri
.
meeting-hall of theitaryeat Th re Franc;ais quarhers, se prononcent pour la ConventlOn, et attribuent aux
erents
on the morrow in the
10

ean). escorted by a only fifteence.attTw

mil for enty Royalistes et aux meneurs des SectiOJlS tow Its arret6 contre 1es
(near the present Od
.

invitation, though s, Theatre Fraend ed. deerets de 5 et 13 fructidor (22 and 30 A gust)
Sections accepted the tte des Moulin elves to be 'inis,a olia I October. fLes motions SORt tres a �mces .contre Its Sections,
That night, Lepeleoftierthe, Bu
_ •

tre declared thems e insurrection Its marchands. Its accapa���.'

ru

and four Sections againscen
state of rebellion'
t the Convention.4 Th 0"06". 'Les groupes des rtes M tm ' et D�nis, composes en
partie d'artisans, soot tous r,�:l:s
:
a Convent o�, et leur opinion
r
2

followed soon after.a small majority of the 'honne-tes gens', or or , Ii ra

l

dmrlt.s, du Ix}!s, thJ dUJroon

Yet to all but
serail plus prono�u
did not appear as
� ' IV

property-owners, of the Sections such stepsibe 4 Odober. 'Dans plusieurs quartiers" des o vnen nusembl6,
venail lts attrister.'
.

conscious acts of agg ression-far less asbut del rate attempts to­ .
quorque St plaignant de la chut! disaient qu co
�
Codeplt des royalistes qui
the Republic- sashad measures of self i souti�dral'en, la
weaken and overthrow embly whose dec and whinf
ree ringed the menent Its Section.! ts • nvenUon."
.

defence against an Ass ular sovereignty by the ich was now In the Champs tlysees, the workers m�nmng . . the .local fire
sacred principle of pop
•

by military force and wholesale pumps went even further : they locked t e sectumnazrtS out of
trying to impose them sts or buveurs de sang. Tothrthe m the their meeting-place and threatened the electors that if they
release of the dreadedrs'terrwaoris being undermined and ntion ene eat d, joined the rebels, 'lls Ies mettralent . a la raison' )
'Republic of propriouseto nve itse lf. The same day (Blth VendeRUalfe: . . ), most Sections armed in
Sections, but by theto Co
.

n('t by the rebdli by ernment pro tec t itself and defence of property which �P�::::' f�o.m one quarter or
Every measure takenness ofthethegov s-culotUs served to dev elop a another, to be thre�tened I �u;e; at�en�d the
the growing restivemany ways rem san
iniscen t of the def ens ive­ �rima.ry assemblies under �rms and o� y e ed t � . nven­
state of mind in of the parisian bour in the sum me r of uon; In others, they stood read without .any ffenslve mtent,
offensive attitude threat from the Sections, the government or were too deeply divided to tJe a.,ny acuon;4�m others again,
geo isie
1789. Faced with the d and armed they were com elled to arm b ectors.against their will
not only summoned furthevol r army units but enrolle ny who had or .persuaded t� do so by tales �r;'�a�� bn�ands or es�aped
a special force of 1,500 unteers, including ma p�soners. In Marches there ,"'as talk at;
been disarmed afteerthr Prairia1.5 Meanwhile, inst with prices rising . �rronsts prepanng to
hands and dISarm Paris and cut the thr�ats of l� Inhabitants. In Mail
further, there wer rkeeat s once more aga marc re wer e wide- armed citizens paraded to s outs 0f a bas les terroristes!'
a&capareurs in the ma ts and Jmlbourgs,
and the
I , pp. 23�, 283, 290, 297 (my ita.\ia).
p. :195.
1 Aulard, ii. :179 -
were arn:atcd; and,
Aulard, ii. :183" :190 • Ib'd
from Dreux at Nonancourt. : Ibid.,
T

I Two ddeptell 10 Paris

.

.
Comnuttce
, Zivy, op. cil., p. 43.
trO O
ps of refu.ed the uaembly'.
reqUell to" ordu the amen! call t?
the regular army (Zivy.
anns l� IOUnded, however, againJt the
Fot example, in Lombards the Civil
and
Comnumc'.
l militia .
Social-the lalter DOC
loca
Pr6: Pol. Aa 166. (oL (76).
fighting broke out between
ni e. Temple, and Contra!
wiIbes, the IZIOOWI(
was

4 Tho:)' were BrutuS, poUIonb'

of 16 September.
op. cit., p. 44)· oc:n

a signatory of the declaration ' Zivy , op. cil., p. 51·

,..
VENDtMIAIRE 171

'70
NARY CROWD IN
ACTION
���d fiea� of � �eneral pillag7, .o� attack on food-shops, as in
;' it Wall a direct
TH E REVOLUTIO

not signed the Addre ss of 16 Septemberon s ary 79.3- ut, far from JOlmng forces with the rebels. in
challenge to the autden hority of the Conve nti which, twO day tte rs the Secuons In order to settle accounts with the Conve:t°,?'

assemblies to deliberat e on ma the sans-culotw and ouvriers moved closer to the Assem y m
earlier. had forbid tinthe g to the electi ons .' Th e gov ernment's common defence of the Re ubli a�: cas�.�.te� the sectWn-
other than those rela t the Paris Sectionsedfroammotakreing joi nt action naires as both royalists and m�rchands e 1 ed
measures to prevencom vok ser iou s threat : o :�� ""rac" from police 'repor����e�,::�� a��
with neighb our ing mu nesl pro
etier and Theatre the Fram;:ais invited the :I; �� "
on 2 October Lepel mary assemblies of cap ital to assemble �ptember. 'Les oumers reunis en �upes, dans dlff
electors ofthe otherpri
.
meeting-hall of theitaryeat Th re Franc;ais quarhers, se prononcent pour la ConventlOn, et attribuent aux
erents
on the morrow in the
10

ean). escorted by a only fifteence.attTw

mil for enty Royalistes et aux meneurs des SectiOJlS tow Its arret6 contre 1es
(near the present Od
.

invitation, though s, Theatre Fraend ed. deerets de 5 et 13 fructidor (22 and 30 A gust)
Sections accepted the tte des Moulin elves to be 'inis,a olia I October. fLes motions SORt tres a �mces .contre Its Sections,
That night, Lepeleoftierthe, Bu
_ •

tre declared thems e insurrection Its marchands. Its accapa���.'

ru

and four Sections againscen
state of rebellion'
t the Convention.4 Th 0"06". 'Les groupes des rtes M tm ' et D�nis, composes en
partie d'artisans, soot tous r,�:l:s
:
a Convent o�, et leur opinion
r
2

followed soon after.a small majority of the 'honne-tes gens', or or , Ii ra

l

dmrlt.s, du Ix}!s, thJ dUJroon

Yet to all but
serail plus prono�u
did not appear as
� ' IV

property-owners, of the Sections such stepsibe 4 Odober. 'Dans plusieurs quartiers" des o vnen nusembl6,
venail lts attrister.'
.

conscious acts of agg ression-far less asbut del rate attempts to­ .
quorque St plaignant de la chut! disaient qu co
�
Codeplt des royalistes qui
the Republic- sashad measures of self i souti�dral'en, la
weaken and overthrow embly whose dec and whinf
ree ringed the menent Its Section.! ts • nvenUon."
.

defence against an Ass ular sovereignty by the ich was now In the Champs tlysees, the workers m�nmng . . the .local fire
sacred principle of pop
•

by military force and wholesale pumps went even further : they locked t e sectumnazrtS out of
trying to impose them sts or buveurs de sang. Tothrthe m the their meeting-place and threatened the electors that if they
release of the dreadedrs'terrwaoris being undermined and ntion ene eat d, joined the rebels, 'lls Ies mettralent . a la raison' )
'Republic of propriouseto nve itse lf. The same day (Blth VendeRUalfe: . . ), most Sections armed in
Sections, but by theto Co
.

n('t by the rebdli by ernment pro tec t itself and defence of property which �P�::::' f�o.m one quarter or
Every measure takenness ofthethegov s-culotUs served to dev elop a another, to be thre�tened I �u;e; at�en�d the
the growing restivemany ways rem san
iniscen t of the def ens ive­ �rima.ry assemblies under �rms and o� y e ed t � . nven­
state of mind in of the parisian bour in the sum me r of uon; In others, they stood read without .any ffenslve mtent,
offensive attitude threat from the Sections, the government or were too deeply divided to tJe a.,ny acuon;4�m others again,
geo isie
1789. Faced with the d and armed they were com elled to arm b ectors.against their will
not only summoned furthevol r army units but enrolle ny who had or .persuaded t� do so by tales �r;'�a�� bn�ands or es�aped
a special force of 1,500 unteers, including ma p�soners. In Marches there ,"'as talk at;
been disarmed afteerthr Prairia1.5 Meanwhile, inst with prices rising . �rronsts prepanng to
hands and dISarm Paris and cut the thr�ats of l� Inhabitants. In Mail
further, there wer rkeeat s once more aga marc re wer e wide- armed citizens paraded to s outs 0f a bas les terroristes!'
a&capareurs in the ma ts and Jmlbourgs,
and the
I , pp. 23�, 283, 290, 297 (my ita.\ia).
p. :195.
1 Aulard, ii. :179 -
were arn:atcd; and,
Aulard, ii. :183" :190 • Ib'd
from Dreux at Nonancourt. : Ibid.,
T

I Two ddeptell 10 Paris

.

.
Comnuttce
, Zivy, op. cil., p. 43.
trO O
ps of refu.ed the uaembly'.
reqUell to" ordu the amen! call t?
the regular army (Zivy.
anns l� IOUnded, however, againJt the
Fot example, in Lombards the Civil
and
Comnumc'.
l militia .
Social-the lalter DOC
loca
Pr6: Pol. Aa 166. (oL (76).
fighting broke out between
ni e. Temple, and Contra!
wiIbes, the IZIOOWI(
was

4 Tho:)' were BrutuS, poUIonb'

of 16 September.
op. cit., p. 44)· oc:n

a signatory of the declaration ' Zivy , op. cil., p. 51·

17:1 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION VENo tMIAIRE 17'
n of
Crowds gathen;d in the Carrcfo�r de Bud, at the junctio command of the Parisian forces, numbering 5,000 troops of the
the Luxembourg and Unite Sectlons , when the rumour spre �d line and a few hundred volunteers, including 250 from the
that prisoners had escaped from Bici:t �e. l� Theatre
.
Frans: � . Quinze Vingts.1 General Bonaparte, who was as yet unknown
were guarded by armed sectlonna lrlS; and, In Vmte, to the public, was put in charge of the artillery; he sent Murat
prisons
Abb�ye I:
citizens were ordered to parade in arms in the Cour de with 300 men to Les Sablons to fetch forty cannon, converted the
Its
comites de gouvernement ont arme ce �urd h� J
!
! Tuileries into a fortress, and manned all its approaches.1 When
tous Its buveurs de sang, Its terroristes et Its
'parce que
malvel11�nts . the rebels advanced from the north, where they were solidly
In Lepe1etier alone royalist aims were openly p�lalm�d : entrenched in their home territory of Lepeletier and Butte des
arters in the rue des FlUes Samt­ Moulins, they were met by withering gun�fire-Bonaparte's
outside the Section's headqu
to ta e up � �
es, d lsant
Thomas (the present Bourse) , passe rs-by were invite famous 'whiffofgrape-shot'. A stiffbatt1e took place, with heavy
. terronst
arms 'pour combatt re Ia Convenu on, et Its casualties on both sides, in the rue de la Convention (the present
qu'i1 n'y a qu'un roi qui puisse nOllS rendre heureux ' ,l _ rue Dauphin), which connected the rue Saint-Honore with
That night the governme�� ordered tT?DPS �nder General the Tuileries,l At 6
o'clock the rebels were driven back, They
e
Menou, commanding the mlhtary forces 10 .Pans, to advan� still held the church ofSaint-Roeh, the Theatre de la Republique
on the headquarters of the Lepeletier Section and arr t Its � (Comedie Franc;aise), and the Palais Royal; but the two latter
ith the
leaders. General Menou, a royalist at heart, parleyed W fell shortly after nightfall, In the Droits de l'Homme Section
to their homes. The same
rebels and allowed them to return there were prison riots at the H6tel de la Force, whose inmates
, Mail, and !uilc ies met t sh uts of feared-not without justice-a repetition of the September
night Butte des Moulins � ? ?
'A bas les terroristes ! vive la Repubh que ! and rallied m sup­ 'massacres'.'
.
la
port of Lepeletier; they were followed by Brutus, Amls de The last and best·known incident in this affair, the battle for
PatrieJ and TheAtre Fran.yai s. A general staff now emerged Saint-Roeh,s was fought out on the morning of 6
October
under avowedly monarchist direction, with Rich�r-Scrisy, a (14th Vendemiaire). During the night a general call to arms
royalist journalist, as its chairman and Ge�eral .DaOl<:an, ofth � had once more been sounded in Lepeletier, Theatre Franc;ais,
Theatre Fran'Yllis Section, as commander-I�-chief of Its forces. and Butte des Moulins; barricades were built ; but the response
An important link between the two malO centres .of re e1- � was halfhearted. Saint-Roeh quickly fell to General Vachot;
lion on the two Banks was established when Arcls, which and Barras, soon after, occupied the headquarters of the
controlled the vital Pont au Change, declared for the insur­ Lepeletier Section. The next day the Committees ordered the
gents at 9 o'c1oek the next morning.4 By. n�w some 25,000 disarmament of all grenadiers and ,hass�rs of the Parisian
.
sectionnaires were under arms; but the maJonty remruned on , The other hilberto ·loyal' 5«tionl-Montreuil, Popincourt, Gravillierl,
the defensive, waiting for the non-existent buveurs de sang Gard"" Fran�i""", and Panthwn-n:fwcd to !'espond. Gravi l Jieri actually voted
to strike; and only 7,000-8,000 of them-mostly �rom the to join I.epeJetier (ibid., p. 6g).

arras ni th;. a.ffair. It W&I only after the fighting _

Sections adjoining Lepe1etier and Butte des Mouhns-took
part in the armed attaek on the Tuileries that followed
soon afier.5
• Contrary to legend Bonaparte was, .Iot forst, only onc of halfa dozen generall
over that, at Barras', request, Bonaparte W&I officially rttogni:ted all h;' ICCOnd-in.
appointed to serve under B
command (ibid., pp. 73-78).

cJairm for damage to property in the Tuileri"" Section &I Ihe rault of the battle
Meanwhile the government had orgaruzed Its '
' delences In , There were 1100-300 killed and wounded on cach 'ide (ibid., p. 95), For
: •

I« Arch: PrU. Pol., Aa 11511, fob. 378, 417-18.

One claimant, of the rue de la
'brigands', 'terroml",,', and
the place of Menou, who had been arrested, Barras was glVen
ii. 1193-9. For ,.milar
i Arci.I:· Gravillier.' Ouest, and Temple on
'malveillanu' n IIIIb and 131b vendb Crol� de Ia matsOn a tit casst,t que Ie dommage qui lui a tit fait <::$1 un lIuenlal
, Aulard, IIC&lU regarding Co':lvenuon, dcc�ared I(lmewhat heatedly, 'que la majeure parue des vitro des

fir
"'
••,. N.,. , W 556-8. i Sa propritt� dont la garantic lui elIl aIIurtt par
• • L la loi' (ibid.).
, Zivy, op. eil., pp. 66-g. • Arch. Nat., W ��7-8, doss. II.
• Aulard, ii. 1197·
• Ard/. Pr(!f. Pol., Aa 136, fols. ��4-5.
tnlalre, teo:

I ZiVY. op. cit., pp. 84-�· • See, e.g., Baiza.c's Cisar BiTIJlllau (III edition, 1837).
17:1 THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION VENo tMIAIRE 17'
n of
Crowds gathen;d in the Carrcfo�r de Bud, at the junctio command of the Parisian forces, numbering 5,000 troops of the
the Luxembourg and Unite Sectlons , when the rumour spre �d line and a few hundred volunteers, including 250 from the
that prisoners had escaped from Bici:t �e. l� Theatre
.
Frans: � . Quinze Vingts.1 General Bonaparte, who was as yet unknown
were guarded by armed sectlonna lrlS; and, In Vmte, to the public, was put in charge of the artillery; he sent Murat
prisons
Abb�ye I:
citizens were ordered to parade in arms in the Cour de with 300 men to Les Sablons to fetch forty cannon, converted the
Its
comites de gouvernement ont arme ce �urd h� J
!
! Tuileries into a fortress, and manned all its approaches.1 When
tous Its buveurs de sang, Its terroristes et Its
'parce que
malvel11�nts . the rebels advanced from the north, where they were solidly
In Lepe1etier alone royalist aims were openly p�lalm�d : entrenched in their home territory of Lepeletier and Butte des
arters in the rue des FlUes Samt­ Moulins, they were met by withering gun�fire-Bonaparte's
outside the Section's headqu
to ta e up � �
es, d lsant
Thomas (the present Bourse) , passe rs-by were invite famous 'whiffofgrape-shot'. A stiffbatt1e took place, with heavy
. terronst
arms 'pour combatt re Ia Convenu on, et Its casualties on both sides, in the rue de la Convention (the present
qu'i1 n'y a qu'un roi qui puisse nOllS rendre heureux ' ,l _ rue Dauphin), which connected the rue Saint-Honore with
That night the governme�� ordered tT?DPS �nder General the Tuileries,l At 6
o'clock the rebels were driven back, They
e
Menou, commanding the mlhtary forces 10 .Pans, to advan� still held the church ofSaint-Roeh, the Theatre de la Republique
on the headquarters of the Lepeletier Section and arr t Its � (Comedie Franc;aise), and the Palais Royal; but the two latter
ith the
leaders. General Menou, a royalist at heart, parleyed W fell shortly after nightfall, In the Droits de l'Homme Section
to their homes. The same
rebels and allowed them to return there were prison riots at the H6tel de la Force, whose inmates
, Mail, and !uilc ies met t sh uts of feared-not without justice-a repetition of the September
night Butte des Moulins � ? ?
'A bas les terroristes ! vive la Repubh que ! and rallied m sup­ 'massacres'.'
.
la
port of Lepeletier; they were followed by Brutus, Amls de The last and best·known incident in this affair, the battle for
PatrieJ and TheAtre Fran.yai s. A general staff now emerged Saint-Roeh,s was fought out on the morning of 6
October
under avowedly monarchist direction, with Rich�r-Scrisy, a (14th Vendemiaire). During the night a general call to arms
royalist journalist, as its chairman and Ge�eral .DaOl<:an, ofth � had once more been sounded in Lepeletier, Theatre Franc;ais,
Theatre Fran'Yllis Section, as commander-I�-chief of Its forces. and Butte des Moulins; barricades were built ; but the response
An important link between the two malO centres .of re e1- � was halfhearted. Saint-Roeh quickly fell to General Vachot;
lion on the two Banks was established when Arcls, which and Barras, soon after, occupied the headquarters of the
controlled the vital Pont au Change, declared for the insur­ Lepeletier Section. The next day the Committees ordered the
gents at 9 o'c1oek the next morning.4 By. n�w some 25,000 disarmament of all grenadiers and ,hass�rs of the Parisian
.
sectionnaires were under arms; but the maJonty remruned on , The other hilberto ·loyal' 5«tionl-Montreuil, Popincourt, Gravillierl,
the defensive, waiting for the non-existent buveurs de sang Gard"" Fran�i""", and Panthwn-n:fwcd to !'espond. Gravi l Jieri actually voted
to strike; and only 7,000-8,000 of them-mostly �rom the to join I.epeJetier (ibid., p. 6g).

arras ni th;. a.ffair. It W&I only after the fighting _

Sections adjoining Lepe1etier and Butte des Mouhns-took
part in the armed attaek on the Tuileries that followed
soon afier.5
• Contrary to legend Bonaparte was, .Iot forst, only onc of halfa dozen generall
over that, at Barras', request, Bonaparte W&I officially rttogni:ted all h;' ICCOnd-in.
appointed to serve under B
command (ibid., pp. 73-78).

cJairm for damage to property in the Tuileri"" Section &I Ihe rault of the battle
Meanwhile the government had orgaruzed Its '
' delences In , There were 1100-300 killed and wounded on cach 'ide (ibid., p. 95), For
: •

I« Arch: PrU. Pol., Aa 11511, fob. 378, 417-18.

One claimant, of the rue de la
'brigands', 'terroml",,', and
the place of Menou, who had been arrested, Barras was glVen
ii. 1193-9. For ,.milar
i Arci.I:· Gravillier.' Ouest, and Temple on
'malveillanu' n IIIIb and 131b vendb Crol� de Ia matsOn a tit casst,t que Ie dommage qui lui a tit fait <::$1 un lIuenlal
, Aulard, IIC&lU regarding Co':lvenuon, dcc�ared I(lmewhat heatedly, 'que la majeure parue des vitro des

fir
"'
••,. N.,. , W 556-8. i Sa propritt� dont la garantic lui elIl aIIurtt par
• • L la loi' (ibid.).
, Zivy, op. eil., pp. 66-g. • Arch. Nat., W ��7-8, doss. II.
• Aulard, ii. 1197·
• Ard/. Pr(!f. Pol., Aa 136, fols. ��4-5.
tnlalre, teo:

I ZiVY. op. cit., pp. 84-�· • See, e.g., Baiza.c's Cisar BiTIJlllau (III edition, 1837).
 VEND 2MIAIRE
.,.
ACTION ."
THE REVOLUTIONARY CRO WD IN
ens, without distinction, of the
� �
ut, q te apart from the differences in thelr aims, the par­
National Guard and of all citiz .
UClpants In these two events: were, of course, of a very different
st universally conde� ned as
rebellious Lepeletier, now almo kind. Among those killed and wounded in Vendemiaire' the
I'agiotag e et de l'ana rchte' .l All
'Ie foyer du royalisme, de authorities purported to find a predominance of imigrls and
hardened royalists. 'Parmi les blesses [wrote Barras in his
more, ordered to close dow n;
primary assemblies were, once
ts were set up to try those of
and three separate Military Cour Memoirs] on releve surtout des emigres, des collets verts ou
gators of the rebe llion ' who h �d
'the principal authors and insti noin, peu de boutiquien . . .' ;1 and a press report of 1 2 October
t 10
9
escape-they were t? mee
not already made good their
Theatre Franliais, Lepeletier, and
Butte des �
ouli � .
.
On �peaks of corpses dressed in rough outer garments, but swathed
repo rted 10 fanuh ar a ?d In fine underclothes bedecked withjleurs de lis!l Yet the govern­
police
October(1 7th Vendemiaire), the
spec tacle de la plus parf aIte �ent and its agents had too obvious an interest in presenting the
reassuring tones: 'Paris offre Ie l�surgents as a small minority of royalists for such reports to be
ed to add: 'Les plaintes et
tranquillite" , though they felt oblig given much credence. Such elements may well have existed
among the jeu1llSse dorle taking part in the rebellion; but they
des denr ee5 . . . sont Ies mem . es."
Ies murmures contre la cherte
Having crushed the revo lt the gove rnme nt was a �
ous �ot
itself and the Secuons which are no more typical of the insurgents as a whole than those
to drive too deep a wedge between
decided to treat the massof the 'ouvrien pris de vin' whom a police observer's report describes
had nourished it. It was therefore
been led astray, and to con­ as enrolling among the armed citizens of Lepeletier on 12th
rebels as ignorant sheep who had
agai?st a small �umber of Vendemiaire.J More typical of the active elements, at least,
centrate its repressive measures
royabsts, and preSIdents and were the few hundred penons whom the Committees arrested,
'instigators'-journalists, known
or sought to arrest, after the rebellion had been crushed. Those
whose homes and papers were searched by the police in the
. Even most of these were
secretaries of Sectional assemblies
allowed to get away, as the harrie
res were left open : in �e
n penons whom the pohce Sections were (as far as their identity can be traced) mainly
Theatre Section alone of fiftee
wished to arrest or int rrog �
ate durin g the following fortnight, journalists, printe�, civil servants, deputies, and stock-jobbers;
t 7�
h e was also a wme-merchant among them, Those tried by the
e their escap e.} Of maybe 200 persom
no less than twelve mad
or wished to arrest4 only thirty Mthtary Courts, apart from their official positions in the pri­
whom the Committees arrested mary Sections, were professional soldiers, civil servants, and
absence) before the three
were tried (in penon or in their
centres of revolt. Of these, members of the professions; in addition, they included a former
Military Courts set up in the main
were capitally convicted in �
o cer of the Royal Household, a wholesale grocer, and a shop
two were executed (five others
itted, and the rest were sen­ assistant (the only sans-culotte among them).4 Doubtless, there
their absence), eight were acqu .
were other SOCIal elements among the rank-and-file of the armed
A year later the sentences on
tenced to fines or imprisonment.
were quashed as part of a gene�al citizens of the Lepeletier, Butte des Moulins, Brutus, Theatre
those tried in their absence
�
en e�iaire were treate WIth � Fran�ais, Arcis, Luxembourg, and other actively rebellious
amnesty.s In short the rebels ofV .
Pramal-a fact WhICh dId not Secti�ns of 13th Vendemiaire ; but, apart from those specially
far greater leniency than those of
recruited for the purpose,s they must have been made up in the
escape public notice and comment.6
main, of the tax-payers, shopkeepers, and property-o ers of �
Aulard, ii. �06. 313.
• Ibid., p.
que ceux-ci voulaient attaquer et anbntir la repri:sentation nationale, et eepen_
Areh. Prtf. Pol., Aa
I
dant . . . ceux e pra . .al ont �rouvi une bien plUl grande Kv�rit� el prompti­
but the pollee n-ccmh are very In­
I have found 66 such Casel in 16 Sections,
243, fob. 2�-&. .
�
ude daru leur Jugement q':l� ccux du I� vend�miaire' (police observer'l report or
.

:
l
m
.
s for Lcpeletier for this period (Arch
4

158, 168, 175, 177, 2�2, 211, 2.14, 219,99-10

complete: there If,re, for example, no record
Prtf. Po!., Aa 71, 74, 75, 77, 1�4, • Ibid., p. 297. 4 See nn. 4, 5. p. 174.
242, 243. 3 DctOber 1795 [Aulard,lI. �19)). , Zivy, op. cit., p. 85.

252) .
. Aulard/ ii. 318.
. A few luch cues are reported ;n the recordlL of the Military Couru'' but it is
1 Arch. Nat., W 5�6-8 . ZIVY, op. CLt., �
. 1.
les
•
al �tai�t mOL� coup�b1d
Iinpouible 10 estimate their importance (Arcl!. Nat., W 556-8).
que celolX du 13 vend�miaire, puitque la premi
nl obser vent que r�olt b de prairi
, 'Q)..Ldques.u pain d
eL"l ne demandlJ.ent que du
 VEND 2MIAIRE
.,.
ACTION ."
THE REVOLUTIONARY CRO WD IN
ens, without distinction, of the
� �
ut, q te apart from the differences in thelr aims, the par­
National Guard and of all citiz .
UClpants In these two events: were, of course, of a very different
st universally conde� ned as
rebellious Lepeletier, now almo kind. Among those killed and wounded in Vendemiaire' the
I'agiotag e et de l'ana rchte' .l All
'Ie foyer du royalisme, de authorities purported to find a predominance of imigrls and
hardened royalists. 'Parmi les blesses [wrote Barras in his
more, ordered to close dow n;
primary assemblies were, once
ts were set up to try those of
and three separate Military Cour Memoirs] on releve surtout des emigres, des collets verts ou
gators of the rebe llion ' who h �d
'the principal authors and insti noin, peu de boutiquien . . .' ;1 and a press report of 1 2 October
t 10
9
escape-they were t? mee
not already made good their
Theatre Franliais, Lepeletier, and
Butte des �
ouli � .
.
On �peaks of corpses dressed in rough outer garments, but swathed
repo rted 10 fanuh ar a ?d In fine underclothes bedecked withjleurs de lis!l Yet the govern­
police
October(1 7th Vendemiaire), the
spec tacle de la plus parf aIte �ent and its agents had too obvious an interest in presenting the
reassuring tones: 'Paris offre Ie l�surgents as a small minority of royalists for such reports to be
ed to add: 'Les plaintes et
tranquillite" , though they felt oblig given much credence. Such elements may well have existed
among the jeu1llSse dorle taking part in the rebellion; but they
des denr ee5 . . . sont Ies mem . es."
Ies murmures contre la cherte
Having crushed the revo lt the gove rnme nt was a �
ous �ot
itself and the Secuons which are no more typical of the insurgents as a whole than those
to drive too deep a wedge between
decided to treat the massof the 'ouvrien pris de vin' whom a police observer's report describes
had nourished it. It was therefore
been led astray, and to con­ as enrolling among the armed citizens of Lepeletier on 12th
rebels as ignorant sheep who had
agai?st a small �umber of Vendemiaire.J More typical of the active elements, at least,
centrate its repressive measures
royabsts, and preSIdents and were the few hundred penons whom the Committees arrested,
'instigators'-journalists, known
or sought to arrest, after the rebellion had been crushed. Those
whose homes and papers were searched by the police in the
. Even most of these were
secretaries of Sectional assemblies
allowed to get away, as the harrie
res were left open : in �e
n penons whom the pohce Sections were (as far as their identity can be traced) mainly
Theatre Section alone of fiftee
wished to arrest or int rrog �
ate durin g the following fortnight, journalists, printe�, civil servants, deputies, and stock-jobbers;
t 7�
h e was also a wme-merchant among them, Those tried by the
e their escap e.} Of maybe 200 persom
no less than twelve mad
or wished to arrest4 only thirty Mthtary Courts, apart from their official positions in the pri­
whom the Committees arrested mary Sections, were professional soldiers, civil servants, and
absence) before the three
were tried (in penon or in their
centres of revolt. Of these, members of the professions; in addition, they included a former
Military Courts set up in the main
were capitally convicted in �
o cer of the Royal Household, a wholesale grocer, and a shop
two were executed (five others
itted, and the rest were sen­ assistant (the only sans-culotte among them).4 Doubtless, there
their absence), eight were acqu .
were other SOCIal elements among the rank-and-file of the armed
A year later the sentences on
tenced to fines or imprisonment.
were quashed as part of a gene�al citizens of the Lepeletier, Butte des Moulins, Brutus, Theatre
those tried in their absence
�
en e�iaire were treate WIth � Fran�ais, Arcis, Luxembourg, and other actively rebellious
amnesty.s In short the rebels ofV .
Pramal-a fact WhICh dId not Secti�ns of 13th Vendemiaire ; but, apart from those specially
far greater leniency than those of
recruited for the purpose,s they must have been made up in the
escape public notice and comment.6
main, of the tax-payers, shopkeepers, and property-o ers of �
Aulard, ii. �06. 313.
• Ibid., p.
que ceux-ci voulaient attaquer et anbntir la repri:sentation nationale, et eepen_
Areh. Prtf. Pol., Aa
I
dant . . . ceux e pra . .al ont �rouvi une bien plUl grande Kv�rit� el prompti­
but the pollee n-ccmh are very In­
I have found 66 such Casel in 16 Sections,
243, fob. 2�-&. .
�
ude daru leur Jugement q':l� ccux du I� vend�miaire' (police observer'l report or
.

:
l
m
.
s for Lcpeletier for this period (Arch
4

158, 168, 175, 177, 2�2, 211, 2.14, 219,99-10

complete: there If,re, for example, no record
Prtf. Po!., Aa 71, 74, 75, 77, 1�4, • Ibid., p. 297. 4 See nn. 4, 5. p. 174.
242, 243. 3 DctOber 1795 [Aulard,lI. �19)). , Zivy, op. cit., p. 85.

252) .
. Aulard/ ii. 318.
. A few luch cues are reported ;n the recordlL of the Military Couru'' but it is
1 Arch. Nat., W 5�6-8 . ZIVY, op. CLt., �
. 1.
les
•
al �tai�t mOL� coup�b1d
Iinpouible 10 estimate their importance (Arcl!. Nat., W 556-8).
que celolX du 13 vend�miaire, puitque la premi
nl obser vent que r�olt b de prairi
, 'Q)..Ldques.u pain d
eL"l ne demandlJ.ent que du
 , THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
"
VEND2 MIAIRE
the spring of I 795· p
' lans were also suitabl
77
'
the capital, who alone had escaped the social purges carried out .
ans
restrained by the new y cowed and
since Thermidor. Such citizens had applauded the siege of the element that had entere
. d the po'Ile. '. ,
Bastille and supported, or condoned, the overthrow of the scenesmce Vendem a
I'air� ; the army, brough
. t in to the capital by

O:; ���; � �� � �
monarchy; but it was the first-and last-time that they them­ the Co n a d �
selves fonned the predominant element in a revolutionary crowd � aved �::�: f;: �:
y
�
li
P
�i��:
t
r h
o
irect ry d

� : : ;� �c;:a:: ;:/
or bore the main brunt of street-fighting during the years of the ays of 'revolutionary apar e. e
crowds' h th
culottes or of dissident hour d ans-
Revolution in Paris.
Yet, though playing little part in these events, the sans­
geois, er o e o
I Fo� early euntpl of the .. . ..
y
a
ocC\lpymg army (pilfering of
menace to Parw ovilu.n. conUltlu ed by
goods da thc
to properly, danger 10 life
.
an
ICC Arch, Prif. Pol.
culottes were, as always since Thermidor, the principal victims.
The Convention, it is true, played to the gallery by decredng , � 25� (Tuilcrla)m:ot.
, 3 .)6-68 and limb)
, 373 -,5, 378, 417- 1 9.
on 6
October that all who could afford to do so should forego
their bread ration and buy on the open market;! but the
measure was of little practical value. High prices and scarcity
continued and, as winter approached, became more severe, In
November the price of bread on the open market rose to 24
liures a pound and a voie of coal to 300 iiuTeS.1 On the 20th, in
the Bon Conseil Section, a dealer was forced by a crowd to sell
his bread at I O livres a pound.l But the prevailing mood was one
of hopelessness and despair in the face of mounting hardships
to which there no longer appeared to be any hopes of a solution,

Poverty (wrote an observer at this time] is at ilS lowest depths;

the streets of Paris present the grievous spectacle of women and
children on the point of collapse from lack of nourishment ; the
hospitals and almshouses will soon be insufficient to house the army
of sick and wretched. Poverty and hunger have almost completely
silenced their voices ; but when, on occasion, their voices are raised,
it is in muttered imprecations against the Government.4

The picture is reminiscent of that painted by the police just

a year before. As then, it was followed by worse hardships in
the months to come: in December, the price of a pound of
bread had risen to 45 and 50 livrtS, and to 80 iivrtS in May 17�;
and the price of meat to 75 livrts in January and to 97 /ivTeS in
March,S But, this time, the Jacobin remnants were silent, the
sans.cuiottes militants were dispirited, scattered, imprisoned, or
disarmed, and there was no revival of the combative spirit of

Arch. Pltf. Pol., � 74, fol. 608.

• Ibid., pp. 375, 434,
I
, Aulard, Ii. 308.
4 Aulard, ii. 434 (n:port of,,6 November) [my transb.tion].
I E. LcvUle\lr, Him,,, drs dasJrl oUllriu
ir In Franu dt 17119 .! 1870 (2 Yob., Palilt
1902), i. 236-44.
 , THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD IN ACTION
"
VEND2 MIAIRE
the spring of I 795· p
' lans were also suitabl
77
'
the capital, who alone had escaped the social purges carried out .
ans
restrained by the new y cowed and
since Thermidor. Such citizens had applauded the siege of the element that had entere
. d the po'Ile. '. ,
Bastille and supported, or condoned, the overthrow of the scenesmce Vendem a
I'air� ; the army, brough
. t in to the capital by

O:; ���; � �� � �
monarchy; but it was the first-and last-time that they them­ the Co n a d �
selves fonned the predominant element in a revolutionary crowd � aved �::�: f;: �:
y
�
li
P
�i��:
t
r h
o
irect ry d

� : : ;� �c;:a:: ;:/
or bore the main brunt of street-fighting during the years of the ays of 'revolutionary apar e. e
crowds' h th
culottes or of dissident hour d ans-
Revolution in Paris.
Yet, though playing little part in these events, the sans­
geois, er o e o
I Fo� early euntpl of the .. . ..
y
a
ocC\lpymg army (pilfering of
menace to Parw ovilu.n. conUltlu ed by
goods da thc
to properly, danger 10 life
.
an
ICC Arch, Prif. Pol.
culottes were, as always since Thermidor, the principal victims.
The Convention, it is true, played to the gallery by decredng , � 25� (Tuilcrla)m:ot.
, 3 .)6-68 and limb)
, 373 -,5, 378, 417- 1 9.
on 6
October that all who could afford to do so should forego
their bread ration and buy on the open market;! but the
measure was of little practical value. High prices and scarcity
continued and, as winter approached, became more severe, In
November the price of bread on the open market rose to 24
liures a pound and a voie of coal to 300 iiuTeS.1 On the 20th, in
the Bon Conseil Section, a dealer was forced by a crowd to sell
his bread at I O livres a pound.l But the prevailing mood was one
of hopelessness and despair in the face of mounting hardships
to which there no longer appeared to be any hopes of a solution,

Poverty (wrote an observer at this time] is at ilS lowest depths;

the streets of Paris present the grievous spectacle of women and
children on the point of collapse from lack of nourishment ; the
hospitals and almshouses will soon be insufficient to house the army
of sick and wretched. Poverty and hunger have almost completely
silenced their voices ; but when, on occasion, their voices are raised,
it is in muttered imprecations against the Government.4

The picture is reminiscent of that painted by the police just

a year before. As then, it was followed by worse hardships in
the months to come: in December, the price of a pound of
bread had risen to 45 and 50 livrtS, and to 80 iivrtS in May 17�;
and the price of meat to 75 livrts in January and to 97 /ivTeS in
March,S But, this time, the Jacobin remnants were silent, the
sans.cuiottes militants were dispirited, scattered, imprisoned, or
disarmed, and there was no revival of the combative spirit of

Arch. Pltf. Pol., � 74, fol. 608.

• Ibid., pp. 375, 434,
I
, Aulard, Ii. 308.
4 Aulard, ii. 434 (n:port of,,6 November) [my transb.tion].
I E. LcvUle\lr, Him,,, drs dasJrl oUllriu
ir In Franu dt 17119 .! 1870 (2 Yob., Palilt
1902), i. 236-44.
 THE COMPOSITION OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS t79

�ar this discrepancy in origins between leaders and participants

15 reflected in a discrepancy in their social and political aims.
PART THREE Yet, though overwhelmingly composed of sans-culottes, the
revolutionary crowds taking part in these events were by no

The Anatomy of the Revolutionary Crowd

means drawn from identical social groups. It would, in fact, be
a gross over-simplification to present them as a sort of homo­
geneous, nameless 'mob' of the lower orders of Parisian society
ever ready to spring into action at the behest of political
leaders or in spontaneous response to the promptings of hunger
XII
or of momentary grievance. Yet such has only too often been
the picture of them that has emerged from the pen of the
THE COMPOSITION OF memorialist or historian.
R E V O L U T I O N A RY C R O W D S To correct this picture we shall have to consider the motives

OR
underlying the revolutionary journits; but, before doing so, we
design,
all their diversity of scope, organization, and must also look once more at the elements taking part in them.
!he riots of the autumn of I 7B7 and 1 788 broke out, as we saw,
F
us revol u­
does a common thread run through the vario
in l he prece �­ In response to the agitation of the Paris Parlement in the course
tionary commotions and joumies described
IS
.
there a cert of its struggle with the king and his ministers in the period of
ing pages? In the first place, it is. evident th.a� ��
10 the social compositIO
n of the paruCl­ the rluolte nohiliaire. The original impulse to them was given by
the I�wyers' clerks and ushers of the Palais de Justice ; yet, ru
unif ormi ty of pattern
exc�ption. of the
the �IOts continued, the clerks were joined by the apprentices
pants in these movement s: with the single
were draw n 10 their over­
armed rebels of Vendemiaire, they
Paris ian sa1IS- l
cu ottes-from the and Journeymen of the Cite and, in 1 788, by the mnw peuple of
whelming majority from the the markets and the Faubourgs Saint-Marcel and Saint-Ger­
shopk e�pers•. �nd
SOCial
-earn ers,
m�n 3.5 well. In fact those arrested were composed, in the
workshop masters, crafts men, wage
capital. Thus , in respe ct of ongms,
o� demonstrat?n
petty traders of the
maIO, of small shopkeepers, craftsmen, and journeymen, of
a sharp division is revealed between the m� whom one-halfwere wage-earners in a variety of trades. ! Work­
or making
Electors of
and insurgents and the political leaders directmg,
Paris shop journeymen and labourers played an even more con­
political capital out of, these operations-the spicuous part in the Reveillon riots of April 17B9, when the
the leade rs ofthe
May-July 1789, the revolutionary journalists! houses ?f two manufacturers were pulled down by angry
Nabo nal Assem bly, of
Paris Commune, or the members of the
s. Thes e, with rema rkabl y few crow�s In the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. We saw that, on this
the Cordeliers and Jacobin Club
the comm ercial hourge oisie, the occasion, special efforts were made by the itinerant bands,
exceptions, were drawn from who formed the most active elements among the rioters, to
l l aristocracy . ' We shall see later how
professions, or the ibera
eh laser lights ..
enrol wage-earners both at their places of work-at docks, in
Mirabe:a u and Waye tleandwere, ofMarquis noblet -as were
urug e. R�bcsp i�ts and
workshops and manufactories-and in their lodgings; and wage­
de Saint-F tlix the de Saint·H
....

in et
Musqu weN: former ,,_.IU; Damoulins. Brisso., and Htbc:rt were)O
oourx,

Urnah. and
•
earners of every sort accounted for over fifty of some seventy
Danton and Jacques Roux were priests,·
J.�������������t?��f
Marat aendre tllmo:<!rousjourna
doctorprotp l menSieyb
ill.
M · ".ro � I
persons killed, wounded, or arrested as a result of the distur­
Legora
andson c:: tradesEven bances. While this is an unusually high proportion, it is perhaps
�
the
oftheaParisia
was
lOCial sense
was
well·to
that
-do Guard in the' Year. :II, though the
n Nationalofficial.
formerofcwtorru
lH/urlfOis.

abused term) among

lion General RO$Signol, a formerjourneyman goldsmilh.
he
t �
only geyetnuine
Perhaps the I�r, : :
known, I §�! .
cJourn�
,
Ot surprising in view of the particular hostility aroused among
men and labourers ofthefauhourg and its approaches
See Appendix III.
 THE COMPOSITION OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS t79

�ar this discrepancy in origins between leaders and participants

15 reflected in a discrepancy in their social and political aims.
PART THREE Yet, though overwhelmingly composed of sans-culottes, the
revolutionary crowds taking part in these events were by no

The Anatomy of the Revolutionary Crowd

means drawn from identical social groups. It would, in fact, be
a gross over-simplification to present them as a sort of homo­
geneous, nameless 'mob' of the lower orders of Parisian society
ever ready to spring into action at the behest of political
leaders or in spontaneous response to the promptings of hunger
XII
or of momentary grievance. Yet such has only too often been
the picture of them that has emerged from the pen of the
THE COMPOSITION OF memorialist or historian.
R E V O L U T I O N A RY C R O W D S To correct this picture we shall have to consider the motives

OR
underlying the revolutionary journits; but, before doing so, we
design,
all their diversity of scope, organization, and must also look once more at the elements taking part in them.
!he riots of the autumn of I 7B7 and 1 788 broke out, as we saw,
F
us revol u­
does a common thread run through the vario
in l he prece �­ In response to the agitation of the Paris Parlement in the course
tionary commotions and joumies described
IS
.
there a cert of its struggle with the king and his ministers in the period of
ing pages? In the first place, it is. evident th.a� ��
10 the social compositIO
n of the paruCl­ the rluolte nohiliaire. The original impulse to them was given by
the I�wyers' clerks and ushers of the Palais de Justice ; yet, ru
unif ormi ty of pattern
exc�ption. of the
the �IOts continued, the clerks were joined by the apprentices
pants in these movement s: with the single
were draw n 10 their over­
armed rebels of Vendemiaire, they
Paris ian sa1IS- l
cu ottes-from the and Journeymen of the Cite and, in 1 788, by the mnw peuple of
whelming majority from the the markets and the Faubourgs Saint-Marcel and Saint-Ger­
shopk e�pers•. �nd
SOCial
-earn ers,
m�n 3.5 well. In fact those arrested were composed, in the
workshop masters, crafts men, wage
capital. Thus , in respe ct of ongms,
o� demonstrat?n
petty traders of the
maIO, of small shopkeepers, craftsmen, and journeymen, of
a sharp division is revealed between the m� whom one-halfwere wage-earners in a variety of trades. ! Work­
or making
Electors of
and insurgents and the political leaders directmg,
Paris shop journeymen and labourers played an even more con­
political capital out of, these operations-the spicuous part in the Reveillon riots of April 17B9, when the
the leade rs ofthe
May-July 1789, the revolutionary journalists! houses ?f two manufacturers were pulled down by angry
Nabo nal Assem bly, of
Paris Commune, or the members of the
s. Thes e, with rema rkabl y few crow�s In the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. We saw that, on this
the Cordeliers and Jacobin Club
the comm ercial hourge oisie, the occasion, special efforts were made by the itinerant bands,
exceptions, were drawn from who formed the most active elements among the rioters, to
l l aristocracy . ' We shall see later how
professions, or the ibera
eh laser lights ..
enrol wage-earners both at their places of work-at docks, in
Mirabe:a u and Waye tleandwere, ofMarquis noblet -as were
urug e. R�bcsp i�ts and
workshops and manufactories-and in their lodgings; and wage­
de Saint-F tlix the de Saint·H
....

in et
Musqu weN: former ,,_.IU; Damoulins. Brisso., and Htbc:rt were)O
oourx,

Urnah. and
•
earners of every sort accounted for over fifty of some seventy
Danton and Jacques Roux were priests,·
J.�������������t?��f
Marat aendre tllmo:<!rousjourna
doctorprotp l menSieyb
ill.
M · ".ro � I
persons killed, wounded, or arrested as a result of the distur­
Legora
andson c:: tradesEven bances. While this is an unusually high proportion, it is perhaps
�
the
oftheaParisia
was
lOCial sense
was
well·to
that
-do Guard in the' Year. :II, though the
n Nationalofficial.
formerofcwtorru
lH/urlfOis.

abused term) among

lion General RO$Signol, a formerjourneyman goldsmilh.
he
t �
only geyetnuine
Perhaps the I�r, : :
known, I §�! .
cJourn�
,
Ot surprising in view of the particular hostility aroused among
men and labourers ofthefauhourg and its approaches
See Appendix III.
180 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD THE COMPOSITION
by the threats that Reveillon had, either by implication or among whom wi
OF REVOLUTIONAR

glen were muchne-inmeeVI rchants and alJegedly professio

Y CR OW DS 181
design, uttered against the workers' living standards at a time e but also wo king hOusewsmug_ nal
.

of acute shortage and high price of bread.I water-carriers buildi g 'denc d b

.
lves
In a very real sense it may be claimed that the Paris revolu­ from the neighbourin� a��iers ��;!a:�::� ; �edSu� emPIOYed
r

monastery, too the . amt_

tion ofJuly 1789 was the work of a great part of the population
as a whole: those under arms, may, as we have seen, have the main, to h�ve bewoe rk of I. �tIn ' g and destruction seeLmsazare , in
numbered as many as a quarter of a million. Yet the most played and unemploye� �:��rers! out b small tradesmen, em ­
active elements in the main episodes of that great upsurge were by craftsmen and joume en. h san� local poor rather than
far fewer and are reasonably well known to us. The immediate two other episodes a ur�� lOC: T1 aff i �as, of course, unlike the
a��ailants of the Bastille, most of whom were members of the part in it were al'm!t allY;:1�e �nlr and the persons taking
newly formed National Guard, were only a few hundred in junction of the rue du FaU � mt-� an a.rea adjoining the
number. While a handful of these were prosperous merchanu Faubourg Saint-Lazare on theU��� m Do erus. and the rue du
or other bourgtois, the great majority were craftsmen, shop­ In the case of the �h to�ersal��les UlSkiru of the city,:
keepers, and journeymen, drawn from a wide variety of trades brought Louis XVI mar b o cap ital,
on 5 October, which
and occupations, though predominantly from the building, participants to enIight:� u� and the !here are no lists of
furnishing, and luxurycrafts of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine and arrested and killed are f: t ' Iie . police reports on those
its adjoining districts.z At the Bastille, the unemployed country­
workers, whose influx into the capital had been one of the more �a���� j7ur�e::� : ��: ;
c u ns�:r:�::�
� tes tIm on y
: � �e�:����:!,�
striking manifestations of the economic crisis which heralded porters and
initiated the witness es that t e Women ofofthe vanous other re­
the Revolution, played little or no part j and wage-earners in
general, even workshop journeymen, appear to have been in a
wh
October and plaole � vem t f�r bread in Sepmatem rkets both
ber and
yed :; a t art in
distinct minority. Quite different was the composition of the o
c ntingent that set out ;o;�e����es, but we ha � P the first great
that . " ve als o no
crowds that burned down the customs posts between I I and
14 July and raided and sacked the monastery of the Saint­
the WOmen mar ch
pn.vl·1eged stall-holders fishmcers Iuded in addit. ion t0 the petted
' ty,
Lazare brotherhood. on the 13th. At the bambu, as at the m ar kets, -w " work ing , women of the
well-dressed ourgto ( es flmmes a ch
.�n d
apeau', as
h it�
Bastille, there was a small number of bourgtois--even of nobles­ Hardy called them)
among the most prominent of the insurgents. The aristocratic And Hardy in re ' and other women a;various social
e sight presentedcla sses J
adventurer, Musquinet de Saint-Felix, was seen at two of the women cro�ding korti':fe�eencs�ang es of the Assembly at Veth� by
hamtrts on the approaches to the Faubourg Saint-Marcel sailles, observed: r-
Among the incendiaries of two of the northern bamJres 'i1 y ell [Que) cet etrange spectacl
avait deux assez bien Vttus'. The leader ofthe rioters at d e l'ee:talt encore plus par ie
piusieun; d'elles qui costume de
champ 'avait l'air d'un seigneur'; at Passy, 'il etait vetu avec v
'daisaient pendre sur leurs /::pponste�ents
.

de femmes assez
redingote blanche'. Among eighty persons for whose ernj sabres.. es Couteaux de chasseeieougam des,
writs were subsequently issued by the Procureur-General, We know great deal less about th
described as wearing 'un habit bleu et canne a pomme
and another as being 'monte sur un cheval blanc'. Yet paraded inathe Pla-,
... e G '
rev
e 20,000 gardes naJioTU1llx that
e that
�pparently reluctant Lafayette to mo�'ng and com�elled the
were exceptional and the description most often given of
d
rioters by eyewitnesses was of roughly dressed men and In the evening in the wake 0f thIeeama d t e� to Versailles later
rchmg women-but it
of the people-local tradesmen, craftsmen and w"."·,,,""" , Arch. �at.
Z'. ...
• See pp • An:h
: . Nat., Z' 4691.
.
See Appendixes Ill-IV and pp. 58-!)9 above. . 73-7.5 above.
'

, Sec pp. 3S If. above. I

• Hillfdy, JmtmD/., viii. ,506.
180 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD THE COMPOSITION
by the threats that Reveillon had, either by implication or among whom wi
OF REVOLUTIONAR

glen were muchne-inmeeVI rchants and alJegedly professio

Y CR OW DS 181
design, uttered against the workers' living standards at a time e but also wo king hOusewsmug_ nal
.

of acute shortage and high price of bread.I water-carriers buildi g 'denc d b

.
lves
In a very real sense it may be claimed that the Paris revolu­ from the neighbourin� a��iers ��;!a:�::� ; �edSu� emPIOYed
r

monastery, too the . amt_

tion ofJuly 1789 was the work of a great part of the population
as a whole: those under arms, may, as we have seen, have the main, to h�ve bewoe rk of I. �tIn ' g and destruction seeLmsazare , in
numbered as many as a quarter of a million. Yet the most played and unemploye� �:��rers! out b small tradesmen, em ­
active elements in the main episodes of that great upsurge were by craftsmen and joume en. h san� local poor rather than
far fewer and are reasonably well known to us. The immediate two other episodes a ur�� lOC: T1 aff i �as, of course, unlike the
a��ailants of the Bastille, most of whom were members of the part in it were al'm!t allY;:1�e �nlr and the persons taking
newly formed National Guard, were only a few hundred in junction of the rue du FaU � mt-� an a.rea adjoining the
number. While a handful of these were prosperous merchanu Faubourg Saint-Lazare on theU��� m Do erus. and the rue du
or other bourgtois, the great majority were craftsmen, shop­ In the case of the �h to�ersal��les UlSkiru of the city,:
keepers, and journeymen, drawn from a wide variety of trades brought Louis XVI mar b o cap ital,
on 5 October, which
and occupations, though predominantly from the building, participants to enIight:� u� and the !here are no lists of
furnishing, and luxurycrafts of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine and arrested and killed are f: t ' Iie . police reports on those
its adjoining districts.z At the Bastille, the unemployed country­
workers, whose influx into the capital had been one of the more �a���� j7ur�e::� : ��: ;
c u ns�:r:�::�
� tes tIm on y
: � �e�:����:!,�
striking manifestations of the economic crisis which heralded porters and
initiated the witness es that t e Women ofofthe vanous other re­
the Revolution, played little or no part j and wage-earners in
general, even workshop journeymen, appear to have been in a
wh
October and plaole � vem t f�r bread in Sepmatem rkets both
ber and
yed :; a t art in
distinct minority. Quite different was the composition of the o
c ntingent that set out ;o;�e����es, but we ha � P the first great
that . " ve als o no
crowds that burned down the customs posts between I I and
14 July and raided and sacked the monastery of the Saint­
the WOmen mar ch
pn.vl·1eged stall-holders fishmcers Iuded in addit. ion t0 the petted
' ty,
Lazare brotherhood. on the 13th. At the bambu, as at the m ar kets, -w " work ing , women of the
well-dressed ourgto ( es flmmes a ch
.�n d
apeau', as
h it�
Bastille, there was a small number of bourgtois--even of nobles­ Hardy called them)
among the most prominent of the insurgents. The aristocratic And Hardy in re ' and other women a;various social
e sight presentedcla sses J
adventurer, Musquinet de Saint-Felix, was seen at two of the women cro�ding korti':fe�eencs�ang es of the Assembly at Veth� by
hamtrts on the approaches to the Faubourg Saint-Marcel sailles, observed: r-
Among the incendiaries of two of the northern bamJres 'i1 y ell [Que) cet etrange spectacl
avait deux assez bien Vttus'. The leader ofthe rioters at d e l'ee:talt encore plus par ie
piusieun; d'elles qui costume de
champ 'avait l'air d'un seigneur'; at Passy, 'il etait vetu avec v
'daisaient pendre sur leurs /::pponste�ents
.

de femmes assez
redingote blanche'. Among eighty persons for whose ernj sabres.. es Couteaux de chasseeieougam des,
writs were subsequently issued by the Procureur-General, We know great deal less about th
described as wearing 'un habit bleu et canne a pomme
and another as being 'monte sur un cheval blanc'. Yet paraded inathe Pla-,
... e G '
rev
e 20,000 gardes naJioTU1llx that
e that
�pparently reluctant Lafayette to mo�'ng and com�elled the
were exceptional and the description most often given of
d
rioters by eyewitnesses was of roughly dressed men and In the evening in the wake 0f thIeeama d t e� to Versailles later
rchmg women-but it
of the people-local tradesmen, craftsmen and w"."·,,,""" , Arch. �at.
Z'. ...
• See pp • An:h
: . Nat., Z' 4691.
.
See Appendixes Ill-IV and pp. 58-!)9 above. . 73-7.5 above.
'

, Sec pp. 3S If. above. I

• Hillfdy, JmtmD/., viii. ,506.
 THE COMPOSITION OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 183
VO LU TI ON AR Y CROWD
Y OF THE RE
TH E AN AT OM
.1 Pa s expect the insurgents of 10 August to be as broadly representa.
witnesses before the
.
.
18.:1

appears from tl:te

evidence g Ve bY � ests made at VCr5ailles
n
that rive of the Parisian san.Huiottes as a whole as those involved in
u l o
Ch:itelet and from the handf
rc composcd o
;;�e workshop maste
rs, cra .� the political movement of 1791. Yet, from the lists of those
they were once mo ine and Its applying for pensions for themselves or their dependents, we
men, and j�ur�eym
en of t� Fa bourg� Saint.Anto
n, un· have seen that once more it was the sans·culottes of thefaubourgs
adjoining dlstnc s.
t 1 Yet �
o Place on this
occasio
tral and markets that played the principal role : of 123 persons
stal -h �de� and sh- fi
n of the cen
doubtedly goes to the
� � wi ves
er sim ila r eve nt in whose occupations appear on these lists, the great majority were
any oth
ent, more t an n
markets . In this ev the craftsmen, shopkeepers, journeymen, and 'general' workers,
men played t e lea � din g par t and he ld
the Revolution, wo
centre of the stage
thr ou g �
ou . ; that the popular
wage·earners accounting for about two-fifths of the total. 1
M far as we can tell from incomplete records, the crowds
Iu 0 1790 we saw
After the prolonged democrats and the
taking part in the food riots of the early months of 1792
agItation f the
. , 0
movement, "ed by the . the spring of 1791. This and 1793 were of a somewhat different complexion. These
Cordeliers Club.
slarted �p agal. l � every were, it may be remembered, more or less spontaneous out·
time it became mo.
re wldespre �
S, and �oo
� � nvolving probably
n a distinc
tly politic al form. bursts directed against provision merchants, particularly
one of the Paris SectIOn d the aul de la pa lrie in grocers, at times ofsteeply rising prices. Not surprisingly, women
the meetmg roun
d
Its culmination was le were much in evidence in these disturbances : grocers'
the Champ de
Mars on 1 7
. .
'pet�t1on dra
J:� � 79 1 wh en 50
'
b the Cordeliers Club,
'
00 0 pe op
depositions spoke of cohorts of women invading their shops,
gathered to sign a and laundresses and market·women of the Faubourg Saint.
callin g for the ab h
c
cal lon of Louis :'vl. Of the 6,000 person
declared
s
Marcel were picked out for special mention. One woman,
t". re martial law
was
who h ad slgne · d the. petition bclo number couId Agnes Bernard by name, was sentenced to two years' prison
fire a great
llonale opencd . .'
and the Garde Na on sheets were
studded for her part in the riots of 1793;2 yet the number of women
r v: n·le and the petiti .
neither read no ind irect actually arrested-about one in eight of the prisoners-does not
s In the pIace
tures.1 From the
ofsigna
with circled crosse m that of some 250
lice reports we I.ea
persona fully reflect the part played by them in these episodes. Another
evidence of the po and autum n feature was the comparatively large number of cooks and
' aI charges dunng
er
arrested on porllic
lh- 'umm
itself, a domestic servants that were involved; and of the wage·eamers
ded or k.illed 'm
... �

the demon stration

months, or woun the rest being
mainly self­ arrested (some three·fifths of those appearing in the records),
re wa ge· earn ers ,
little ove r ha lf we with a the majority were, in fact, servants, porters, and other un·
nd petty traders
yed cra fts me n, shopke�pers, d clerks; skilled or general workers rather than journeymen of the
em plo
sprinkling of renlier
s, bourgeoIS, pr es �; sional men, an
traditional crafts.l
y were v:o�en.
about one in twent ust 1 2 was like
lh'" ,,.. Both women and craftsmen reappear in large numbers in the
the Tuil�nes iD Au g
The assault on
rs earher, a �rg
l�
l mi i ary affair and
.
great popular revolt against Robespierre's Thermidorian suc·
cessors in Prairial of the Year III (May 1 795)' In this respect
the Bastille twO yea .
carried out by orgamz .
e
�? atta ����� �f the Parisian
er there is a remarkable resemblance between this outbreak and
Guard , sup po rte d by vlsltmg C
wag�·earners had
ingents from a numb
been virtually
:'�����. that of October 1789, when Parisians marched to Versailles
provincial cities. As with the double object of protesting against the shortage of
from the Paris militi �
a ntll a few d � reviously and a

would only in exc

eptIOnal cases
� nroned, we should .
bread and of bringing the king back to the capital. In both

, See Appendix IV and pp. IQ5-6 a!x",e.

, See p. 77 abo...".
XI.
• Bucha Ct Roux,

V and pp. 90 j
2 abo...c. For a fullcr , A,ch. dep. Seine.el-Oille, llerieo B, Tribunal Crimine] de VcrsaiUeo, May 1793.
rioters of 1789-9' see
, See Ap�ndix IV and G. Rude, 'Lea tmeutes des 25, 26 ftwier 1793', Amr.
de t789 a 1791',
) Sec Ap�ndixeo IV_ . my
.
nlll .
social composition of
the msurg� tiM. hlSf.
in,urr<:eUOII$ a l5lCf\nes
par Itut. Rh.frmlf., no. 130, 1953, pp. 46-51 .
Composition sociale des
J,�1tf., no. 127, 1952, pp. 256-
.

-88.
 THE COMPOSITION OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 183
VO LU TI ON AR Y CROWD
Y OF THE RE
TH E AN AT OM
.1 Pa s expect the insurgents of 10 August to be as broadly representa.
witnesses before the
.
.
18.:1

appears from tl:te

evidence g Ve bY � ests made at VCr5ailles
n
that rive of the Parisian san.Huiottes as a whole as those involved in
u l o
Ch:itelet and from the handf
rc composcd o
;;�e workshop maste
rs, cra .� the political movement of 1791. Yet, from the lists of those
they were once mo ine and Its applying for pensions for themselves or their dependents, we
men, and j�ur�eym
en of t� Fa bourg� Saint.Anto
n, un· have seen that once more it was the sans·culottes of thefaubourgs
adjoining dlstnc s.
t 1 Yet �
o Place on this
occasio
tral and markets that played the principal role : of 123 persons
stal -h �de� and sh- fi
n of the cen
doubtedly goes to the
� � wi ves
er sim ila r eve nt in whose occupations appear on these lists, the great majority were
any oth
ent, more t an n
markets . In this ev the craftsmen, shopkeepers, journeymen, and 'general' workers,
men played t e lea � din g par t and he ld
the Revolution, wo
centre of the stage
thr ou g �
ou . ; that the popular
wage·earners accounting for about two-fifths of the total. 1
M far as we can tell from incomplete records, the crowds
Iu 0 1790 we saw
After the prolonged democrats and the
taking part in the food riots of the early months of 1792
agItation f the
. , 0
movement, "ed by the . the spring of 1791. This and 1793 were of a somewhat different complexion. These
Cordeliers Club.
slarted �p agal. l � every were, it may be remembered, more or less spontaneous out·
time it became mo.
re wldespre �
S, and �oo
� � nvolving probably
n a distinc
tly politic al form. bursts directed against provision merchants, particularly
one of the Paris SectIOn d the aul de la pa lrie in grocers, at times ofsteeply rising prices. Not surprisingly, women
the meetmg roun
d
Its culmination was le were much in evidence in these disturbances : grocers'
the Champ de
Mars on 1 7
. .
'pet�t1on dra
J:� � 79 1 wh en 50
'
b the Cordeliers Club,
'
00 0 pe op
depositions spoke of cohorts of women invading their shops,
gathered to sign a and laundresses and market·women of the Faubourg Saint.
callin g for the ab h
c
cal lon of Louis :'vl. Of the 6,000 person
declared
s
Marcel were picked out for special mention. One woman,
t". re martial law
was
who h ad slgne · d the. petition bclo number couId Agnes Bernard by name, was sentenced to two years' prison
fire a great
llonale opencd . .'
and the Garde Na on sheets were
studded for her part in the riots of 1793;2 yet the number of women
r v: n·le and the petiti .
neither read no ind irect actually arrested-about one in eight of the prisoners-does not
s In the pIace
tures.1 From the
ofsigna
with circled crosse m that of some 250
lice reports we I.ea
persona fully reflect the part played by them in these episodes. Another
evidence of the po and autum n feature was the comparatively large number of cooks and
' aI charges dunng
er
arrested on porllic
lh- 'umm
itself, a domestic servants that were involved; and of the wage·eamers
ded or k.illed 'm
... �

the demon stration

months, or woun the rest being
mainly self­ arrested (some three·fifths of those appearing in the records),
re wa ge· earn ers ,
little ove r ha lf we with a the majority were, in fact, servants, porters, and other un·
nd petty traders
yed cra fts me n, shopke�pers, d clerks; skilled or general workers rather than journeymen of the
em plo
sprinkling of renlier
s, bourgeoIS, pr es �; sional men, an
traditional crafts.l
y were v:o�en.
about one in twent ust 1 2 was like
lh'" ,,.. Both women and craftsmen reappear in large numbers in the
the Tuil�nes iD Au g
The assault on
rs earher, a �rg
l�
l mi i ary affair and
.
great popular revolt against Robespierre's Thermidorian suc·
cessors in Prairial of the Year III (May 1 795)' In this respect
the Bastille twO yea .
carried out by orgamz .
e
�? atta ����� �f the Parisian
er there is a remarkable resemblance between this outbreak and
Guard , sup po rte d by vlsltmg C
wag�·earners had
ingents from a numb
been virtually
:'�����. that of October 1789, when Parisians marched to Versailles
provincial cities. As with the double object of protesting against the shortage of
from the Paris militi �
a ntll a few d � reviously and a

would only in exc

eptIOnal cases
� nroned, we should .
bread and of bringing the king back to the capital. In both

, See Appendix IV and pp. IQ5-6 a!x",e.

, See p. 77 abo...".
XI.
• Bucha Ct Roux,

V and pp. 90 j
2 abo...c. For a fullcr , A,ch. dep. Seine.el-Oille, llerieo B, Tribunal Crimine] de VcrsaiUeo, May 1793.
rioters of 1789-9' see
, See Ap�ndix IV and G. Rude, 'Lea tmeutes des 25, 26 ftwier 1793', Amr.
de t789 a 1791',
) Sec Ap�ndixeo IV_ . my
.
nlll .
social composition of
the msurg� tiM. hlSf.
in,urr<:eUOII$ a l5lCf\nes
par Itut. Rh.frmlf., no. 130, 1953, pp. 46-51 .
Composition sociale des
J,�1tf., no. 127, 1952, pp. 256-
.

-88.
 D THE COMPOSITION OF REVOLUTIONARY CROW
IS. THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROW
w
cases the women of the markets and'faubourgs played a signifi
cant part and an insurrection of trades men and craftsm en en­
roUed in battalions of the National Guard foUowed c1oseI� �)D
�al
the heels of a women's revolt for bread. In the case of Pral
this feature is reflected in the lists of civilians a� ted �or t �king
of
part in the disturbances: alongside a substantJal mmonty
women we find a prevalence of workshop masters, indepe ndent
craftsmen, and journeymen of a wide variety of trades.'
From this brief review we may note both the com�on feature
and certain significant differences in the composlbon of t�e
rioten and insurgents of this period. Th� common feature 11,
ofcoune, the predominance ofsaru..t.aJo te.s In all but ooe of these
joumies. Yet other social elements played some part: overw
whelmingly so in Vendemiaire of the Year IV; bU,t �ere were
also small groups of bourgeois, renlitrs, merchants, ClVlI servants,
and professional men engaged in the d�tructi�n of the barriJre:
(possibly as direct agents of the Orleamst facbon at the Pah us
Mars
Royal) in the capture of the Bastille, the Champ de
affair 'the assault on the Tuileries, and in the outbreak of
Prairlal.1 Women, as we have seen, were particularly in eviden�e
in the march to Versailles, the food riots of 1792-3, and In
Prairial, This is, of course, not altogether surprising, � in these
episodes food prices and other bread and butter questions were
well to the fore; we find women playing a less conspicuo� p.art
in such an essentially political movement as t�at culnunau�g
in the 'massacre' ofthe Champ de Mars-less sbll, of co�rse, 10
largely military operations like the assaults o� the �asulle a?d
the Tuileries and in the expUlsion of the Glrondm deputies
from the Convention, Again, while wage-earners played a
substantial part on all these occasions, the only imp?rtant out­
break in which they appear to have clearly predommated was
the Reveillon riots,in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. The re�n
for this is not hard to find: though it cannot be termed a stnke
or a wages movement (Reveillon's own workers do not �ppe�
to have been engaged), it was the only �ne of thes� acuons 10
which there is the slightest trace of a direct �nfl�ct between
workers and employers. It is also no doubt slgmficant that
craftsmen-whether masters, independent craftsmen, or
journeymen-were more conspicuously in evidence in some of
, Sec Appendixes IV-V. • Sec Appendix IV.
DS 185
thejoumies than in others. This seems particularly to have
been
�e case w�en a district of small crafts became substantially
, ,
1Ovolved-like the Cite 10 the riots of 1787 and 1788
or the
Faubourg Saint-Antoine on various other occasions; but
it also
appears to have been a feature of the more organized, politic
al
movements-such as the Champ de Mars affair and the armed
attacks on the Bastille and the Tuileries-when the
driving
element was no doubt the small shopkeepers and works
, hop
masters who, !n many cases, brought their gar;ons, journeymen
,
and apprenuces along with them. In this connexion
it is
perhaps of interest to note the sustained militancy of memb
ers
of certain trades s,uch as furnishing, building, metal-work,
and
dr�, Most COnspiCUOUS of all were the locksmiths, joiners
and
ca�1Oet-maktrs, shoemakers, and tailors ; others frequently
in
eVIdence were stone-masons, hairdressers, and engravers;
and,
of those e?gaged in less skilful occupations, wine-merchants,
water-camers, porters, cooks, and domestic servants, Work
ers
employ�d in manufa�tories (textiles, glass, tobacco, tapest
ries,
porcelain) played, With the exception of the gauze-workers
'a
relatively inconspicuous role in these movements,'
A study ofthese records confirms the traditional view that the
par� of Pa� most fr�quently and wholeheartedly engaged
in
th� nots an? I nsurrecU?DS ofthe Revolution were the Faubourgs
�alnt-Antome a?d Satnt Marcel. This is strikingly borne
� out
�n, t�e case of Sa:II�t-Anto1Oe, whose craftsmen and journeymen
Imtt�ted and dommated the Reveillon riots, the capture of
the
Bastille, and the overthrow of the monarchy, and played
an
outstanding part in the revolution of May-June 1793 and
the
popular revolt o� Prairial; the police reports suggest, in
fact,
, was only In the
that It events of 1787-8 and in the Champ de
Mars affair �at Saint-Antoine played little or no part.
The
Faubourg Salnt-Marcel, on the other hand, while it contri
buted
substantially to the commotions of September-October
1788
and was represented by a score ofvoluntetrs at the siege
, of the
B�ulIe, only began to play a really conspicuous role in the
spnng and summer of 1791. After this the part it played
was
, See Appendix, IV, We have noted, of course,
workers engaged on the Qulitrl d'_1 in '794 and the early
the particular militancy of the
f�e lIP, 134, '36, '45-0 above); but thcsc wen:: generally fOmler
months of 1795
JOiners, and metal·workers from Imall worbhop$ of whom mentio locksmiths,
been made, n hal already
 D THE COMPOSITION OF REVOLUTIONARY CROW
IS. THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROW
w
cases the women of the markets and'faubourgs played a signifi
cant part and an insurrection of trades men and craftsm en en­
roUed in battalions of the National Guard foUowed c1oseI� �)D
�al
the heels of a women's revolt for bread. In the case of Pral
this feature is reflected in the lists of civilians a� ted �or t �king
of
part in the disturbances: alongside a substantJal mmonty
women we find a prevalence of workshop masters, indepe ndent
craftsmen, and journeymen of a wide variety of trades.'
From this brief review we may note both the com�on feature
and certain significant differences in the composlbon of t�e
rioten and insurgents of this period. Th� common feature 11,
ofcoune, the predominance ofsaru..t.aJo te.s In all but ooe of these
joumies. Yet other social elements played some part: overw
whelmingly so in Vendemiaire of the Year IV; bU,t �ere were
also small groups of bourgeois, renlitrs, merchants, ClVlI servants,
and professional men engaged in the d�tructi�n of the barriJre:
(possibly as direct agents of the Orleamst facbon at the Pah us
Mars
Royal) in the capture of the Bastille, the Champ de
affair 'the assault on the Tuileries, and in the outbreak of
Prairlal.1 Women, as we have seen, were particularly in eviden�e
in the march to Versailles, the food riots of 1792-3, and In
Prairial, This is, of course, not altogether surprising, � in these
episodes food prices and other bread and butter questions were
well to the fore; we find women playing a less conspicuo� p.art
in such an essentially political movement as t�at culnunau�g
in the 'massacre' ofthe Champ de Mars-less sbll, of co�rse, 10
largely military operations like the assaults o� the �asulle a?d
the Tuileries and in the expUlsion of the Glrondm deputies
from the Convention, Again, while wage-earners played a
substantial part on all these occasions, the only imp?rtant out­
break in which they appear to have clearly predommated was
the Reveillon riots,in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. The re�n
for this is not hard to find: though it cannot be termed a stnke
or a wages movement (Reveillon's own workers do not �ppe�
to have been engaged), it was the only �ne of thes� acuons 10
which there is the slightest trace of a direct �nfl�ct between
workers and employers. It is also no doubt slgmficant that
craftsmen-whether masters, independent craftsmen, or
journeymen-were more conspicuously in evidence in some of
, Sec Appendixes IV-V. • Sec Appendix IV.
DS 185
thejoumies than in others. This seems particularly to have
been
�e case w�en a district of small crafts became substantially
, ,
1Ovolved-like the Cite 10 the riots of 1787 and 1788
or the
Faubourg Saint-Antoine on various other occasions; but
it also
appears to have been a feature of the more organized, politic
al
movements-such as the Champ de Mars affair and the armed
attacks on the Bastille and the Tuileries-when the
driving
element was no doubt the small shopkeepers and works
, hop
masters who, !n many cases, brought their gar;ons, journeymen
,
and apprenuces along with them. In this connexion
it is
perhaps of interest to note the sustained militancy of memb
ers
of certain trades s,uch as furnishing, building, metal-work,
and
dr�, Most COnspiCUOUS of all were the locksmiths, joiners
and
ca�1Oet-maktrs, shoemakers, and tailors ; others frequently
in
eVIdence were stone-masons, hairdressers, and engravers;
and,
of those e?gaged in less skilful occupations, wine-merchants,
water-camers, porters, cooks, and domestic servants, Work
ers
employ�d in manufa�tories (textiles, glass, tobacco, tapest
ries,
porcelain) played, With the exception of the gauze-workers
'a
relatively inconspicuous role in these movements,'
A study ofthese records confirms the traditional view that the
par� of Pa� most fr�quently and wholeheartedly engaged
in
th� nots an? I nsurrecU?DS ofthe Revolution were the Faubourgs
�alnt-Antome a?d Satnt Marcel. This is strikingly borne
� out
�n, t�e case of Sa:II�t-Anto1Oe, whose craftsmen and journeymen
Imtt�ted and dommated the Reveillon riots, the capture of
the
Bastille, and the overthrow of the monarchy, and played
an
outstanding part in the revolution of May-June 1793 and
the
popular revolt o� Prairial; the police reports suggest, in
fact,
, was only In the
that It events of 1787-8 and in the Champ de
Mars affair �at Saint-Antoine played little or no part.
The
Faubourg Salnt-Marcel, on the other hand, while it contri
buted
substantially to the commotions of September-October
1788
and was represented by a score ofvoluntetrs at the siege
, of the
B�ulIe, only began to play a really conspicuous role in the
spnng and summer of 1791. After this the part it played
was
, See Appendix, IV, We have noted, of course,
workers engaged on the Qulitrl d'_1 in '794 and the early
the particular militancy of the
f�e lIP, 134, '36, '45-0 above); but thcsc wen:: generally fOmler
months of 1795
JOiners, and metal·workers from Imall worbhop$ of whom mentio locksmiths,
been made, n hal already
I86 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY C OWD
�
THE COMPOSITIO
second only to that of Sam
' t-Antoine in the revoluuons 0f N OF REVOLUTION
ARY CROW DS 187
August 1792 and May-June ' 93. and in the days oCPrairial. l least, it has little
foundation in fact
. Among
In Vendemiaire, of course, :'
P Hem was quite different.
persons arrested,
wounded, and killed in
the Sixty-eight
the Reveillon riots
Although propeny-owners aD �� �
erates' had by now taken whom details are
available, there were for
.
only three withou
� lOns, 1, was not they but the
charge of even th poPular S tet� abode-a cobbler, t fixed
. a carter, and a nav
vy. I Of nearly ei
traditional Sec�OJ
bourgeou ;:
0f Le detice (Bibliotheque) and scheduled for arrest
after the burning of
the
ghty
Butte des Moulins (PaialS oyaI)
. . . . .
�
at took the lead and held arrested for breaking
all were of fixed abode
the windows of the and
barribu
Barriere Saint.O
four
•:
the Imtl auve, Wh,·ie--c.haractensuca lly-it was the Quinze and OCcupation.: Of enis,
. . . some sixty perso
Vingts in the Faubourg Samt-Antome Which alone di . 1... d
spakllc arrested at the time ns
ofthe looting ofthe
Saint.Lazare monas
a contingent of armed volunteers to oppose the counter-revoIu-
in July 1 789, nine tery
were unemployed
abode, who were workers withou t
tionary rehels. caught up in the fixed
against vagrants, general drag-net directed
. . . aveu, and dwellers
gens sans
But even If It can �e demonstrated that the overwhelrrung at the time of the in lodging-hou
JUly revolution, and ses
, . aIl but the last of the revolu- probab ly had no direct
majority of the partl.Clp��ts m connexion with this
tionary were Pans an
journles -<ulolltS how far can they be
sans de la affair at all.l Every one
Bastille and of those of the 662 vainqfJeUrs
l . claiming compensatio
�
considered typical o� th SOCial rou
f
rom which they were and their depende
nts in August 1792
n for themselves
drawn? T�ine and hiS fo ghil ot denying the presence
:n settled occupation.4
In the weeks preced
was of fixed abode
and
in revolutlOnary crowds �;Vt:�d�men, wage.earners, and city
ing the Champ de
demonstration one Mars
. beggar was arrested
and queen, another for abusing the
poor, inSisted, neverthel�, that the dominant element �mong for applaUding their king
them were
.
is• and
vagabonds, mml1l� In View of
ens sans avtU.l two more for causing
a disturbance and
flight from Paris, and
the panic·fear engendered �mong l r e and small property. � Guard; three other
persons are described
insulting the Natio
as being sans
nal
owners by vagran", petty thieves, and nemployed at different
. .
� rest ofthe 250 arrested
during this period appe
ar to have been
the Itat;
stages of the Revolutio , . l settled abode.$ Noris
a charge should be m� e .. I
; .1\ :� �
e haps not surpnsmg. that sueh
ertainly voiced on more than or beggars among
there any mention in
the records ofvagr
of
ants
. those arrested in
Germinal and Prairia
one occasion by hosule Journ�lists' memorialists, and pohce Year III; nor, even l of the
. more surprisingly
perhaps, among those
authorities of the day. Yet, In ItS application to the capital at implicated in the
grocery riots of 1 792
these elements mingle and 1 793. Doubtl
. . d with the rioters ess
and
1 . . .n
See Ap�ndix III. ACC(lrdmg 0 the records aamined other fairly eoDSUl�ently insurgents on such
'�volutionary' Sections wen: th_ �dJO'
1
Ho
occasions, and we know
the i
tel de V lle,lueh til Ar al a �� that they caused
Concern to the Paris
Arsenal, and certain c.entra� �UOrll
:' : Electors during the
h Ii'! Louvre, Oratoi�, M l!colliel. revolution of July
oa da Innocenti" GravdlJen, and Loml»rdt-with occasional It king out-
March� � to have played an 1 789 ;6 but they appear
altogether minor role
hurstl ofmilitancy from Temp e, Bondy and Faubourg MonunartN: in the north
n
in these movements.
w;' t
. . This does not mean,
and from Invalida in the -outh.w t. W are of course, only dcahng h the of Course, that unempl
oyed
.
'trttt demonstration. and 'IUUrrecu���g
�
�
�
active participation of Sect�ons, or rge ou� of individual. within SecIJ� In
No accounl h.l..!. therefore, been ta �
. workers and crafts
houses (the often
men living in furnishe
workers or
d rOOms or lodgin
g.
here of such purely p repa
despised
....tory nary initiative til shown, for "",amp\e In did nOI form a
non-domicilils)
A ril 1793 by the Halle au BI� an
�� 'Con�il tttion There
S s.
j
ii, in fact, no� OJ(:
stantial elem( :It in
revolutionary crowds. sub_
e!cordance (e�ecpt for brief Jl:C" nods a d
This was particularly
bly in the cue: of the Fau urg
. . the case in Ihe early
Saint·Antoine) between the .
years of the Revoluti

eral asscmbly--often ta ng
m�'�;! ��;:i� � in �e Seclional committee room
�f �titions and raoluli n.
o � �d �
from the influx of
unemployment in
workless countrymen,
on,
there
when, quite apart
was considerable
�; !�er bodia-and that of demo.....tra.l o rs d . 1.1 enl:S resident n a large number
II be bccaUJ<': the X>Cl& .,� w ..-; I
�n of the two, except for a h. Nat., Y 18795, fola. ..
of Parisian crafts ;
this,
Arch. Nat., Z" 886; Y 'o6 --62
.. .
i " . e sa
m=
.
Section. Thll may we
. m

.ki I
I Arc
b ef ...riod
· . in 1793-4, w.. .trl ng y diffe",nt.
. f9, fol. 18.
y- I. ' 8,4', " _,., 8', 130,135.. P. Gaxolle, LA RlurXlI1_!,,'tIflJU4,
n•
inc, op. Cit.
. , Ibid., fob. �o-1
•

Ta - 1.
Arch. Pr�r. Pol., � p. 3�6g-74; F' 44�6.
4 Aren. Nat., T 5141;
pp. 112, '33-4, 146. 167, fol. 5 ' ; '57, fol.
• •

• P,�h'lInNJ
tkJ scIanas • . . tit 1'�DnMit 134; Ab 314, pp. 1�9, 32, 36, 37.
J

tnuroU tin Ekc/t1i'J tk

P",;s, Ii. 156 If.
I86 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY C OWD
�
THE COMPOSITIO
second only to that of Sam
' t-Antoine in the revoluuons 0f N OF REVOLUTION
ARY CROW DS 187
August 1792 and May-June ' 93. and in the days oCPrairial. l least, it has little
foundation in fact
. Among
In Vendemiaire, of course, :'
P Hem was quite different.
persons arrested,
wounded, and killed in
the Sixty-eight
the Reveillon riots
Although propeny-owners aD �� �
erates' had by now taken whom details are
available, there were for
.
only three withou
� lOns, 1, was not they but the
charge of even th poPular S tet� abode-a cobbler, t fixed
. a carter, and a nav
vy. I Of nearly ei
traditional Sec�OJ
bourgeou ;:
0f Le detice (Bibliotheque) and scheduled for arrest
after the burning of
the
ghty
Butte des Moulins (PaialS oyaI)
. . . . .
�
at took the lead and held arrested for breaking
all were of fixed abode
the windows of the and
barribu
Barriere Saint.O
four
•:
the Imtl auve, Wh,·ie--c.haractensuca lly-it was the Quinze and OCcupation.: Of enis,
. . . some sixty perso
Vingts in the Faubourg Samt-Antome Which alone di . 1... d
spakllc arrested at the time ns
ofthe looting ofthe
Saint.Lazare monas
a contingent of armed volunteers to oppose the counter-revoIu-
in July 1 789, nine tery
were unemployed
abode, who were workers withou t
tionary rehels. caught up in the fixed
against vagrants, general drag-net directed
. . . aveu, and dwellers
gens sans
But even If It can �e demonstrated that the overwhelrrung at the time of the in lodging-hou
JUly revolution, and ses
, . aIl but the last of the revolu- probab ly had no direct
majority of the partl.Clp��ts m connexion with this
tionary were Pans an
journles -<ulolltS how far can they be
sans de la affair at all.l Every one
Bastille and of those of the 662 vainqfJeUrs
l . claiming compensatio
�
considered typical o� th SOCial rou
f
rom which they were and their depende
nts in August 1792
n for themselves
drawn? T�ine and hiS fo ghil ot denying the presence
:n settled occupation.4
In the weeks preced
was of fixed abode
and
in revolutlOnary crowds �;Vt:�d�men, wage.earners, and city
ing the Champ de
demonstration one Mars
. beggar was arrested
and queen, another for abusing the
poor, inSisted, neverthel�, that the dominant element �mong for applaUding their king
them were
.
is• and
vagabonds, mml1l� In View of
ens sans avtU.l two more for causing
a disturbance and
flight from Paris, and
the panic·fear engendered �mong l r e and small property. � Guard; three other
persons are described
insulting the Natio
as being sans
nal
owners by vagran", petty thieves, and nemployed at different
. .
� rest ofthe 250 arrested
during this period appe
ar to have been
the Itat;
stages of the Revolutio , . l settled abode.$ Noris
a charge should be m� e .. I
; .1\ :� �
e haps not surpnsmg. that sueh
ertainly voiced on more than or beggars among
there any mention in
the records ofvagr
of
ants
. those arrested in
Germinal and Prairia
one occasion by hosule Journ�lists' memorialists, and pohce Year III; nor, even l of the
. more surprisingly
perhaps, among those
authorities of the day. Yet, In ItS application to the capital at implicated in the
grocery riots of 1 792
these elements mingle and 1 793. Doubtl
. . d with the rioters ess
and
1 . . .n
See Ap�ndix III. ACC(lrdmg 0 the records aamined other fairly eoDSUl�ently insurgents on such
'�volutionary' Sections wen: th_ �dJO'
1
Ho
occasions, and we know
the i
tel de V lle,lueh til Ar al a �� that they caused
Concern to the Paris
Arsenal, and certain c.entra� �UOrll
:' : Electors during the
h Ii'! Louvre, Oratoi�, M l!colliel. revolution of July
oa da Innocenti" GravdlJen, and Loml»rdt-with occasional It king out-
March� � to have played an 1 789 ;6 but they appear
altogether minor role
hurstl ofmilitancy from Temp e, Bondy and Faubourg MonunartN: in the north
n
in these movements.
w;' t
. . This does not mean,
and from Invalida in the -outh.w t. W are of course, only dcahng h the of Course, that unempl
oyed
.
'trttt demonstration. and 'IUUrrecu���g
�
�
�
active participation of Sect�ons, or rge ou� of individual. within SecIJ� In
No accounl h.l..!. therefore, been ta �
. workers and crafts
houses (the often
men living in furnishe
workers or
d rOOms or lodgin
g.
here of such purely p repa
despised
....tory nary initiative til shown, for "",amp\e In did nOI form a
non-domicilils)
A ril 1793 by the Halle au BI� an
�� 'Con�il tttion There
S s.
j
ii, in fact, no� OJ(:
stantial elem( :It in
revolutionary crowds. sub_
e!cordance (e�ecpt for brief Jl:C" nods a d
This was particularly
bly in the cue: of the Fau urg
. . the case in Ihe early
Saint·Antoine) between the .
years of the Revoluti

eral asscmbly--often ta ng
m�'�;! ��;:i� � in �e Seclional committee room
�f �titions and raoluli n.
o � �d �
from the influx of
unemployment in
workless countrymen,
on,
there
when, quite apart
was considerable
�; !�er bodia-and that of demo.....tra.l o rs d . 1.1 enl:S resident n a large number
II be bccaUJ<': the X>Cl& .,� w ..-; I
�n of the two, except for a h. Nat., Y 18795, fola. ..
of Parisian crafts ;
this,
Arch. Nat., Z" 886; Y 'o6 --62
.. .
i " . e sa
m=
.
Section. Thll may we
. m

.ki I
I Arc
b ef ...riod
· . in 1793-4, w.. .trl ng y diffe",nt.
. f9, fol. 18.
y- I. ' 8,4', " _,., 8', 130,135.. P. Gaxolle, LA RlurXlI1_!,,'tIflJU4,
n•
inc, op. Cit.
. , Ibid., fob. �o-1
•

Ta - 1.
Arch. Pr�r. Pol., � p. 3�6g-74; F' 44�6.
4 Aren. Nat., T 5141;
pp. 112, '33-4, 146. 167, fol. 5 ' ; '57, fol.
• •

• P,�h'lInNJ
tkJ scIanas • . . tit 1'�DnMit 134; Ab 314, pp. 1�9, 32, 36, 37.
J

tnuroU tin Ekc/t1i'J tk

P",;s, Ii. 156 If.
 LUTIONARY CROWD
188 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVO THE COMPO SITION OF REVOLUTION
ARY CROWDS ISg
n of 179 1 •
however, beca1'J)e a declining factor after the autum .
separate question from that of Taine's gens sans alJelJ
and gives
ded In or wou�
We find that eight of some fifty worken arrested no further indication of the number of vagrants involve
d.
Reveil lon riots were unemp loyed and that the prc:'poru?n was The further contention that criminals and bandits played
the a
lO wIth the
somewhat higher among those arrested in cOnne� ? signi�cant part in the revolutionary journies collaps
1.5
es no less
Champ de Mars affair.! In July 1789, too, there clrcurrutan. readily when looked at more closely. The police
. in cross­
loyed craftsm en, Journc:y• examining their prisoners habitually inquired whether
tial evidence to suggest that unemp they had
en and labourers (only a handful of whom were from
attlfets served previous tet'llU of imprisonment and it was easy enough
to
� ritJ) were among
'h� those that took part in
substan
the
ua .
assault
sums
on the
were
verify whether, as in the case of more serious offences,
they had
Bastille: we know, for examp le, that � been branded w�th the notorious V of the thiefor G ofthe
. galley•
. of the
ed after the fall of the fortress to relieve the distress conVlct . The eight commissioners examining the Reveillon
that, of 900 stone·c utters who later p etitione d the priso�e� were able t? find only three who had incurre
;:Shollrg and d previous
for unemp loymen t relief, several claimed to have conVicUons of any kind-m . two
Assemb ly cases these had involved short
that unem·
been present at its capture.� We have seen, too, . tenos of detention in the Hotel de la Force on minor
charges
ployed workers from neighbouring aIllins d
s
e chanti
and the
played a
raid on
whereas the port·worker Teteigne was found to be brande
d with
certain part in the destruction of the harrib'e a V.I Yet such a case is exceptional. Of those arreste
d for
non·dom ieiliis formed a sub­ looting the Saint·Lazare monastery only one had served
the Saint.Lazare monastery.) The a
wage·e arners , s,?,a craftsm en, and prison sentence-the butcher's boy Quatrevaux, who
stantial proportion of the ?
petty traders of the
had
capital , by no means hrrut � to the un �m. spent seventeen days in the Force on a previous convict
ion.l Not
labour ers, though it was a fiction of t � e � me one of the twenty·one arrested for the murder of
played or casual Chatel
that the /Wul or maison
garnu provid ed only for p rovInCI als, a municipal officer, during a food riot at Saint-Denis
i�
the
foreigners, cut.throats, thieves, and gens sans aueu : mdeed, August 1789, appears to have had a criminal record; and
only
by l�w to
logeurs or tenants of such premises were compelled three of fifteen arrested in a similar disturbance at Versail
les in
keep a daily check and to give a daily repo�. to the pohce �n September had served previous sentences--one for stealing
1.5
four
all their lodgers.• In view of their numbe J
rs! It hardty surp� p�ec� of wood in 788 and two for minor breaches of
dlSC1pli, ne.J Of some 150 persons arrested in the Paris Section
army
taking
ing to find them fairly well represente� among those
part in these disturbances- perhap s one m four of �ose
arrested for political offences during the months preceding and follow.
s

in the Reveillon affair, one in ten among the lIatnqueu

�s de la_ ing the Champ de Mars affair, only four appear to have served
.•
With the
Bastille one in five of those most actively concerned previous sentences, and these, again, were of a trivial nature
p ent, and one i �ix of those arrest� Not one of the thirty·nine tried in the Year IV for alleged
and jailed in the grocery riots.' But thU 15, of course, a
Cham de Mars movem ? com­
qUIte plicity in the September massacres had appeared in court bef
ore.5
, See Appendix V .
op. cit., !lnd Knel, v. Wo.
Such information is, unfortunately, not available for the other
• An:h. Nat., C t34, doD.6, rolt. 14-1,5; S. Lacroix,
.

•
great jollrnies of the Revolution; yet this evidence, as far
as it
1789, pp. III, n. 5; 419, n. 4·
See pp. 180-1 above. goes, is overwhelming and should prove conclusive. By
• In the eeruus of 1795-the only cc:nsw ofthe
period in which the rrtm-fIom idli/s
4 Monin, PfIris til and
'��1IU7I IIIU
a printet", lod� with a wine-merchant orthe rue de Pllue,
and Gamhi and Semain, rivenide worken, lodged
• • .

offlhe Plue Maubert·

al the H6tel de Chiloru in th;
iU fur 11 P. 32)' but this was a period of malt exodus, wh ich wu d
are accounted for-they number 9,7911 for 115 Seetions (P.
raullng the rue du Figuier in the parUh of Saint-Paul (Arch.
M.euriot, Un

(1. de la Monneraye.
Nal., T 5141).
hOlds ..,'d lodgi�g.houses of a large part o.f their �Clidents r Arch. Nat., Y 1,5101, 13454.
L4 eriu ill wpnwU d Paril penJaN III RlI1IIiIltIOlt (Pam, 19118) � pp. -: •
• Ar<:h. Nat., Z' 46g1.
�. Nat., Y 10497; Arch. dq,. Seine-et-Oix, teriCi B, PJiv6lt
lud I 1151 of the Mill'
!!I 13).
dix V To take a random sample from M a d du Ro•. Proo!dura, '78g, fob. 7--21.
.
, Sec A
de j'H6td

S iU �7:.stilu: J. A. Lamoureu.x a tinamith, lodged with one Boicharnp , 4 Ar<:b'. Pr�f. Pol., Aa 137, foil. '71-8; 173, foil. 114, 115�;
r:;"ging-howe keeper of the roe de Lappe; Marc-Anu:nne Saint·Paul. a tnaI�er See abo Appendix V.
!lIS, fob. 451-!l.

fisherman, lived in a lodging.hOUlt in the Faubourg Saint-Mar

cel; Jean Gabnel, f p. Caron, us Mamv:ru iU up""""', p. I I I .
 LUTIONARY CROWD
188 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVO THE COMPO SITION OF REVOLUTION
ARY CROWDS ISg
n of 179 1 •
however, beca1'J)e a declining factor after the autum .
separate question from that of Taine's gens sans alJelJ
and gives
ded In or wou�
We find that eight of some fifty worken arrested no further indication of the number of vagrants involve
d.
Reveil lon riots were unemp loyed and that the prc:'poru?n was The further contention that criminals and bandits played
the a
lO wIth the
somewhat higher among those arrested in cOnne� ? signi�cant part in the revolutionary journies collaps
1.5
es no less
Champ de Mars affair.! In July 1789, too, there clrcurrutan. readily when looked at more closely. The police
. in cross­
loyed craftsm en, Journc:y• examining their prisoners habitually inquired whether
tial evidence to suggest that unemp they had
en and labourers (only a handful of whom were from
attlfets served previous tet'llU of imprisonment and it was easy enough
to
� ritJ) were among
'h� those that took part in
substan
the
ua .
assault
sums
on the
were
verify whether, as in the case of more serious offences,
they had
Bastille: we know, for examp le, that � been branded w�th the notorious V of the thiefor G ofthe
. galley•
. of the
ed after the fall of the fortress to relieve the distress conVlct . The eight commissioners examining the Reveillon
that, of 900 stone·c utters who later p etitione d the priso�e� were able t? find only three who had incurre
;:Shollrg and d previous
for unemp loymen t relief, several claimed to have conVicUons of any kind-m . two
Assemb ly cases these had involved short
that unem·
been present at its capture.� We have seen, too, . tenos of detention in the Hotel de la Force on minor
charges
ployed workers from neighbouring aIllins d
s
e chanti
and the
played a
raid on
whereas the port·worker Teteigne was found to be brande
d with
certain part in the destruction of the harrib'e a V.I Yet such a case is exceptional. Of those arreste
d for
non·dom ieiliis formed a sub­ looting the Saint·Lazare monastery only one had served
the Saint.Lazare monastery.) The a
wage·e arners , s,?,a craftsm en, and prison sentence-the butcher's boy Quatrevaux, who
stantial proportion of the ?
petty traders of the
had
capital , by no means hrrut � to the un �m. spent seventeen days in the Force on a previous convict
ion.l Not
labour ers, though it was a fiction of t � e � me one of the twenty·one arrested for the murder of
played or casual Chatel
that the /Wul or maison
garnu provid ed only for p rovInCI als, a municipal officer, during a food riot at Saint-Denis
i�
the
foreigners, cut.throats, thieves, and gens sans aueu : mdeed, August 1789, appears to have had a criminal record; and
only
by l�w to
logeurs or tenants of such premises were compelled three of fifteen arrested in a similar disturbance at Versail
les in
keep a daily check and to give a daily repo�. to the pohce �n September had served previous sentences--one for stealing
1.5
four
all their lodgers.• In view of their numbe J
rs! It hardty surp� p�ec� of wood in 788 and two for minor breaches of
dlSC1pli, ne.J Of some 150 persons arrested in the Paris Section
army
taking
ing to find them fairly well represente� among those
part in these disturbances- perhap s one m four of �ose
arrested for political offences during the months preceding and follow.
s

in the Reveillon affair, one in ten among the lIatnqueu

�s de la_ ing the Champ de Mars affair, only four appear to have served
.•
With the
Bastille one in five of those most actively concerned previous sentences, and these, again, were of a trivial nature
p ent, and one i �ix of those arrest� Not one of the thirty·nine tried in the Year IV for alleged
and jailed in the grocery riots.' But thU 15, of course, a
Cham de Mars movem ? com­
qUIte plicity in the September massacres had appeared in court bef
ore.5
, See Appendix V .
op. cit., !lnd Knel, v. Wo.
Such information is, unfortunately, not available for the other
• An:h. Nat., C t34, doD.6, rolt. 14-1,5; S. Lacroix,
.

•
great jollrnies of the Revolution; yet this evidence, as far
as it
1789, pp. III, n. 5; 419, n. 4·
See pp. 180-1 above. goes, is overwhelming and should prove conclusive. By
• In the eeruus of 1795-the only cc:nsw ofthe
period in which the rrtm-fIom idli/s
4 Monin, PfIris til and
'��1IU7I IIIU
a printet", lod� with a wine-merchant orthe rue de Pllue,
and Gamhi and Semain, rivenide worken, lodged
• • .

offlhe Plue Maubert·

al the H6tel de Chiloru in th;
iU fur 11 P. 32)' but this was a period of malt exodus, wh ich wu d
are accounted for-they number 9,7911 for 115 Seetions (P.
raullng the rue du Figuier in the parUh of Saint-Paul (Arch.
M.euriot, Un

(1. de la Monneraye.
Nal., T 5141).
hOlds ..,'d lodgi�g.houses of a large part o.f their �Clidents r Arch. Nat., Y 1,5101, 13454.
L4 eriu ill wpnwU d Paril penJaN III RlI1IIiIltIOlt (Pam, 19118) � pp. -: •
• Ar<:h. Nat., Z' 46g1.
�. Nat., Y 10497; Arch. dq,. Seine-et-Oix, teriCi B, PJiv6lt
lud I 1151 of the Mill'
!!I 13).
dix V To take a random sample from M a d du Ro•. Proo!dura, '78g, fob. 7--21.
.
, Sec A
de j'H6td

S iU �7:.stilu: J. A. Lamoureu.x a tinamith, lodged with one Boicharnp , 4 Ar<:b'. Pr�f. Pol., Aa 137, foil. '71-8; 173, foil. 114, 115�;
r:;"ging-howe keeper of the roe de Lappe; Marc-Anu:nne Saint·Paul. a tnaI�er See abo Appendix V.
!lIS, fob. 451-!l.

fisherman, lived in a lodging.hOUlt in the Faubourg Saint-Mar

cel; Jean Gabnel, f p. Caron, us Mamv:ru iU up""""', p. I I I .
 19o THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD

large it does not appear, in fact, that those ta�ng part in

.
revolutionary crowds were any more gaven to come, or ��en XIII
to violence or disorder, than the ordinary run of Panslan
citizens from whom they were recruited.
THE MOTIVES OF
It may, of course, be argued that such perso�s wer� not
fully typical ofthe Parisian trUllUpeuple in so far as thelT par��lpa­
. REVOLUTI ONARY CROWDS
tion in revolutionary events marks them off as a mthtant
minority. This point should, however, not be pressed too far. It
is presumably true enough of the small groups of metUUrs (or AFTER
.t1.
wh�t has bee� sai�, it is perhaps not surpr
find Tame and hlStonans of his school insist
ising to
ing that
'hommes de main', as Caron called them), who probably bribery and corruption, and the quest for
played some part in even the most seemingly spontaneous or all
loot, were
among the major factors stimulating revol
utionary activity.
these movement!; we shall return to these in a later chapter. 'Dans la plupart des mouvements populaires
', wrote Mortimer­
Again, the term may no doubt be used of those sans.culotu�­ Ternaux, 'l'argent joue un plus grand role
que la passion."
rarely wage-earners, as we have seen-who played an acuve The market-women who marched to Vers
ailles in October
part in the Sections in the Year II, or were members of local 17�9 had, ac�ording to Taine, been
hired for the purpose;'
Revolutionary Committees or even of the Co��une: �hese �re whIle de Galher, a more recent writer, is even
they of course to whom the epithet sans-culotte, m Its soclo-poilu­
. more specific in
asserting that artisans and journeymen were
bribed to take
cal sense, has most generally been applied. Dou�tless, t�o, we part in the assault on the Bastille: 'On emba
ateliers [he writes) it. raison d'un louis par tete.'
uche dans les
should consider as a militant minority the recogmzed valnqtuurs
u la Bastille those who stormed the Tuileries in August J 792,
J The battalions
that �tormed the Tuileries in August 1792
or who adv �
are described by
nced on the Convention under arms in Prairial, Morumer-Ternaux as 'Ies miserables qui
emprunterent Ie
and even those few hundred who denounced the Constituent masque du devouement patriotique pour se livrer
impuncment
Assembly and the National Guard in such downright, poli­ au meurtre et au pillage'...
tical tenns-we have noted the case of the cook, Constance Certainly, there is no lack of contemporary
l!.vrard-in the spring and summer of I79I. Yet the term can
assertion that
appears to confirm this view. Both royalist
. opponents of the
hardly be applied with the same confidence to the labourers R�volutlon and revolutionary authorities were
remarkably free
and journeymen who destroyed Reveillon's house, to the men with such charges when it suited them. Mon
tioie, for instance
and women who invaded grocers' shops and imposed their own, the e�it�r o� L'Ami du Roi, claimed to have
first-hand proof of
popular, form of price-control in 1792-3, to the many who the dlstnbubon of money to the Reveillon
rioters :
applauded the September massacres (or even to the mamurturs
J'ai interroge plusieurs de ces miserables
themselves?), or to the women who marched to Versailles in [he wrote] ' " et il
ne m'est reste aucun dome qu'ils n'eussent tous
October or who demonstrated for bread and the Constitution ete payes et que la
tue n'eut eli: de douze livres.S
of 1793 in Prairial. Where, then, sbould we draw the line?
This, of course, raises wider issues than those we have been And B�enval, commander-in-chief of the
armed forces mus­
considering in the present chapter. It may perhaps be possible tered to quell theriots, claimed on the unan
imous testimony ofthe
to answer the question with greater assurance when we have
ur (8 voU.' Paris" 186�-81) viii 4�5
, , M. Mortimer-Temaux, His/Qi" d, fil Tnn
examined the motives and other forms of compulsion that drew
1 A. de Gallier, 'Lc:s e:meuti
Taine, op. cit. i. I �9.
ers de 1 789', R"w des tjUlSlUnu his/Qriq
I . •

crowds together and released their revolutionary energies.

�
( 1 3) , Ir�'.
ii. 105.
ulII, xxxiv
Montjole. A f nnoITU, 1. 91-93; quoted by Chauin,
Ln ludioM d /,s (allier. tk
. .
. . • Mortimer·Temaux, op. cit.

PQriJ ," 178:J. iii. 58.

 19o THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD

large it does not appear, in fact, that those ta�ng part in

.
revolutionary crowds were any more gaven to come, or ��en XIII
to violence or disorder, than the ordinary run of Panslan
citizens from whom they were recruited.
THE MOTIVES OF
It may, of course, be argued that such perso�s wer� not
fully typical ofthe Parisian trUllUpeuple in so far as thelT par��lpa­
. REVOLUTI ONARY CROWDS
tion in revolutionary events marks them off as a mthtant
minority. This point should, however, not be pressed too far. It
is presumably true enough of the small groups of metUUrs (or AFTER
.t1.
wh�t has bee� sai�, it is perhaps not surpr
find Tame and hlStonans of his school insist
ising to
ing that
'hommes de main', as Caron called them), who probably bribery and corruption, and the quest for
played some part in even the most seemingly spontaneous or all
loot, were
among the major factors stimulating revol
utionary activity.
these movement!; we shall return to these in a later chapter. 'Dans la plupart des mouvements populaires
', wrote Mortimer­
Again, the term may no doubt be used of those sans.culotu�­ Ternaux, 'l'argent joue un plus grand role
que la passion."
rarely wage-earners, as we have seen-who played an acuve The market-women who marched to Vers
ailles in October
part in the Sections in the Year II, or were members of local 17�9 had, ac�ording to Taine, been
hired for the purpose;'
Revolutionary Committees or even of the Co��une: �hese �re whIle de Galher, a more recent writer, is even
they of course to whom the epithet sans-culotte, m Its soclo-poilu­
. more specific in
asserting that artisans and journeymen were
bribed to take
cal sense, has most generally been applied. Dou�tless, t�o, we part in the assault on the Bastille: 'On emba
ateliers [he writes) it. raison d'un louis par tete.'
uche dans les
should consider as a militant minority the recogmzed valnqtuurs
u la Bastille those who stormed the Tuileries in August J 792,
J The battalions
that �tormed the Tuileries in August 1792
or who adv �
are described by
nced on the Convention under arms in Prairial, Morumer-Ternaux as 'Ies miserables qui
emprunterent Ie
and even those few hundred who denounced the Constituent masque du devouement patriotique pour se livrer
impuncment
Assembly and the National Guard in such downright, poli­ au meurtre et au pillage'...
tical tenns-we have noted the case of the cook, Constance Certainly, there is no lack of contemporary
l!.vrard-in the spring and summer of I79I. Yet the term can
assertion that
appears to confirm this view. Both royalist
. opponents of the
hardly be applied with the same confidence to the labourers R�volutlon and revolutionary authorities were
remarkably free
and journeymen who destroyed Reveillon's house, to the men with such charges when it suited them. Mon
tioie, for instance
and women who invaded grocers' shops and imposed their own, the e�it�r o� L'Ami du Roi, claimed to have
first-hand proof of
popular, form of price-control in 1792-3, to the many who the dlstnbubon of money to the Reveillon
rioters :
applauded the September massacres (or even to the mamurturs
J'ai interroge plusieurs de ces miserables
themselves?), or to the women who marched to Versailles in [he wrote] ' " et il
ne m'est reste aucun dome qu'ils n'eussent tous
October or who demonstrated for bread and the Constitution ete payes et que la
tue n'eut eli: de douze livres.S
of 1793 in Prairial. Where, then, sbould we draw the line?
This, of course, raises wider issues than those we have been And B�enval, commander-in-chief of the
armed forces mus­
considering in the present chapter. It may perhaps be possible tered to quell theriots, claimed on the unan
imous testimony ofthe
to answer the question with greater assurance when we have
ur (8 voU.' Paris" 186�-81) viii 4�5
, , M. Mortimer-Temaux, His/Qi" d, fil Tnn
examined the motives and other forms of compulsion that drew
1 A. de Gallier, 'Lc:s e:meuti
Taine, op. cit. i. I �9.
ers de 1 789', R"w des tjUlSlUnu his/Qriq
I . •

crowds together and released their revolutionary energies.

�
( 1 3) , Ir�'.
ii. 105.
ulII, xxxiv
Montjole. A f nnoITU, 1. 91-93; quoted by Chauin,
Ln ludioM d /,s (allier. tk
. .
. . • Mortimer·Temaux, op. cit.

PQriJ ," 178:J. iii. 58.

 THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 193
CROWD
E REVOLUTIONARY
THE ANATOMY OF TH vate� purely by their desire for cheaper coffee, sugar, or soap;
multe
voyait des gens .ex�ter Ie. t�
'9'
Chatelet1s police spies '�qu']on of and, lO the reports drawn up by police agents, there are various
r�fer�nc� to men and women carrying bundles of assignats or
t'.1 Both the pn nClpal VlC tlOlS
et meme distribuer de l'argen ila acc usa tion s.1
, made sim �
the riots, Henriot and Reveillon dlS�nbutlng handfuls of gold and silver.' In Prairial, too, it was
•

r
y a wit nes s of the Samt-L�zare aff:u �
c�all�ned y the police n �he testimony of their agents 'qu'on
Again, in Jul 178 9,
ile,
n displaying bags of silver; wh �
. ete d
claimed that he had seen me rioter dlSaJ.� qu Ii avalt lStnbue des assignats dans Ie faubourg.
orted that he had heard a
at the barrrii es, a witness rep wo rker Antome pour fomenter la rebellion'.z
Mirabeau, and a gauze-
boast of having been paid by a day 'po ur In the case of persons arrested, wounded, or killed in such
.
t he received 9 liures .
was reputed to have said tha a.l the dlSturbances, the autho��ies ha�, of course, a ready-ta-hand
rdy noted in his Journ tha t
commettre ces dtsordres'.J Ha a me�hod ?f not only vOICIng their suspicions but of checking
ad- riot ers, who attempted to �ang . �� their approach to this problem the French
ringleaders among the bre fou nd WIt h th�r valIdity.
ber, were each
33
baker at Versailles in Septem te polic� and mumclpal o� government committees of the day were
in their pockets.4 Th e Cb ate let inquiry set up to investig� no different from their counterparts in Britain or elsewhere
liures from num ero � s WIt ­
er solicited
the events of 5 and 6 Octob Fla nde rs Re gtm ent , w�en faced with a challenge to the existing order by 'the in­
iers of the
nesses the testimony that sold fenor set of people': the venality of the masses was taken for
ers of more dubious occupation
Paris market-women and oth ist granted �nd the remedy for popular insurrection was sought in
-presumably by the Orlean
had been handsomeiy bribed sou rce the trackmg down of presumed conspirators rather than in the
out to discredit. On this
faction which the inquiry set to removal of social grievances. Thus, after the Reveillon riots,
wn freely to give substance
Taine and his followers have dra the arreste,d and wounded are asked in their cross-examination
their arguments.s n by the polIce commissioners whether they have any knowledge
preceding the Champ de Ma
In the period of social tension rall y br� nde d as o� the pay,,?ent of money to instigate disturbances,J Jean­
ion were libe
affray critics of the administrat . N�colas PepI�, tallow-porter, when questioned in connexion
mie s of the new regtme. The gOSSip-sheet,
paid agents of the ene ed workers of the
WIth the lootlng of Saint-Lazare and the general events of 1 2
July at the Palais Royal and elsewhere is asked 's'il a
and
I.e Babillard describes the recently disb
itieux' ,6 Bailly, to J4
ateliers de'h�ritJ as 'ces gens soudoyes Fauboused
par les
rg Saint-Antoine rec;u �e l·argent de ces particuliers'.• Michel 'Adden, Bastille
d the . worker, later hanged for provoking a 'sedition' in the
mayor of Paris, had earlier ascribe by demohtlon
thieves were done t? death. �
riots of May 1790, when three est 105- � �ubo� rg a int-Antoine, is asked 'si avant ou depuis Ie 1 2
tives: 'L'administranon
excited crowds, to similar mo r JUlI �et II n a rec;u de l'argent de differentes personneS pour
and u dans Ie dessein d'entreteni
truite que I'argent a ete rep cha rge s o ma ss exciter �es tumultes a Paris'.5 Franc;ois Billon, charged with
Nor were such � .
une dangereuse fermentation." to the Revolutlon or threatenmg to hang a baker at the Ecole MTt ' 10 the
I I alre
ely by tho se hostile
corruption voiced mer , �utu �n 0f 1 789� 15 asked 's'i! a ete excite acela par quelques
.
.
mal
Bailly. To the Jaco�1O depu­ ". . en lUi remettant
1Otenuonnes quo au·•..· •nt cherche"a Ie ScuUlre
by constitutional monarchists like
ities of February 1793 It seem�
ties and Paris municipal author de I 'argent•.6 And so we can go on-with those arrested in the
rioters should have been mon-
inconceivable that the grocery
• �8
, Arch. Nat.' AFIV I470 (reporu ,or 2<r"• February (793). See a!Jo Mathia'
, Paris, 192'), ii. 346.
lection des Mtmoitel
IHhJrHI u �1tJriGJJl><lS14 T
au BorG" BUI_I (Col
,�.","' L4.Vi'
Ikrville and Samue, Mimoim
rchuifs l la Rtvolution .... . !I
I

H
. 2 vob.
tnriM
o;aiJe ,"tIlT' PP" !i3tr.
Exposijusl�ifpour k �iIUT
fran 6 ) Q
.
•
.
",
(Bib. Nat., Lb" . '9 ; Expoll )'
_

' Seetheeross-=am",abon al the H6lel-Dieu of �3 wounded by Conunissioner

pour k sind RJvrilltm (Bib. Nat., Lb"
• Hardy, ]0I,I11IIJi viii. ¥IS.
Aulard, PiUUpnu/MrJ Iii ,/«tUm II
"",.·� . .1· 74�·
Be:uva11et on , May '7Bg (Arch. Nat., Y • ,033).
t

; Z'. 886.
6
l Arch. Nat., Z' ,,69'
. .
•
. .8).
9, ,,�,
ul tU p",u (IC<' especially witnessca not. 20, 2
• Pr«iJur, ,ri",iM1J4 GU CMte
Arqh. Nal., Z' 469' (29 July 1 78g).
6 6 37 387) · , Arch. Nat., Y .8768 (2. October '78g).
• 1.1 BGbUliUJ. no. lOOv,
71, 87, Bg, 9', '44, 1 " 1 .j., 3, • Arch. Nat., Y .8769 (16 November 1789).

7 MtnU'k!Ir (r/imF.), iv. <!, ,S.

� July '79"
6
 THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 193
CROWD
E REVOLUTIONARY
THE ANATOMY OF TH vate� purely by their desire for cheaper coffee, sugar, or soap;
multe
voyait des gens .ex�ter Ie. t�
'9'
Chatelet1s police spies '�qu']on of and, lO the reports drawn up by police agents, there are various
r�fer�nc� to men and women carrying bundles of assignats or
t'.1 Both the pn nClpal VlC tlOlS
et meme distribuer de l'argen ila acc usa tion s.1
, made sim �
the riots, Henriot and Reveillon dlS�nbutlng handfuls of gold and silver.' In Prairial, too, it was
•

r
y a wit nes s of the Samt-L�zare aff:u �
c�all�ned y the police n �he testimony of their agents 'qu'on
Again, in Jul 178 9,
ile,
n displaying bags of silver; wh �
. ete d
claimed that he had seen me rioter dlSaJ.� qu Ii avalt lStnbue des assignats dans Ie faubourg.
orted that he had heard a
at the barrrii es, a witness rep wo rker Antome pour fomenter la rebellion'.z
Mirabeau, and a gauze-
boast of having been paid by a day 'po ur In the case of persons arrested, wounded, or killed in such
.
t he received 9 liures .
was reputed to have said tha a.l the dlSturbances, the autho��ies ha�, of course, a ready-ta-hand
rdy noted in his Journ tha t
commettre ces dtsordres'.J Ha a me�hod ?f not only vOICIng their suspicions but of checking
ad- riot ers, who attempted to �ang . �� their approach to this problem the French
ringleaders among the bre fou nd WIt h th�r valIdity.
ber, were each
33
baker at Versailles in Septem te polic� and mumclpal o� government committees of the day were
in their pockets.4 Th e Cb ate let inquiry set up to investig� no different from their counterparts in Britain or elsewhere
liures from num ero � s WIt ­
er solicited
the events of 5 and 6 Octob Fla nde rs Re gtm ent , w�en faced with a challenge to the existing order by 'the in­
iers of the
nesses the testimony that sold fenor set of people': the venality of the masses was taken for
ers of more dubious occupation
Paris market-women and oth ist granted �nd the remedy for popular insurrection was sought in
-presumably by the Orlean
had been handsomeiy bribed sou rce the trackmg down of presumed conspirators rather than in the
out to discredit. On this
faction which the inquiry set to removal of social grievances. Thus, after the Reveillon riots,
wn freely to give substance
Taine and his followers have dra the arreste,d and wounded are asked in their cross-examination
their arguments.s n by the polIce commissioners whether they have any knowledge
preceding the Champ de Ma
In the period of social tension rall y br� nde d as o� the pay,,?ent of money to instigate disturbances,J Jean­
ion were libe
affray critics of the administrat . N�colas PepI�, tallow-porter, when questioned in connexion
mie s of the new regtme. The gOSSip-sheet,
paid agents of the ene ed workers of the
WIth the lootlng of Saint-Lazare and the general events of 1 2
July at the Palais Royal and elsewhere is asked 's'il a
and
I.e Babillard describes the recently disb
itieux' ,6 Bailly, to J4
ateliers de'h�ritJ as 'ces gens soudoyes Fauboused
par les
rg Saint-Antoine rec;u �e l·argent de ces particuliers'.• Michel 'Adden, Bastille
d the . worker, later hanged for provoking a 'sedition' in the
mayor of Paris, had earlier ascribe by demohtlon
thieves were done t? death. �
riots of May 1790, when three est 105- � �ubo� rg a int-Antoine, is asked 'si avant ou depuis Ie 1 2
tives: 'L'administranon
excited crowds, to similar mo r JUlI �et II n a rec;u de l'argent de differentes personneS pour
and u dans Ie dessein d'entreteni
truite que I'argent a ete rep cha rge s o ma ss exciter �es tumultes a Paris'.5 Franc;ois Billon, charged with
Nor were such � .
une dangereuse fermentation." to the Revolutlon or threatenmg to hang a baker at the Ecole MTt ' 10 the
I I alre
ely by tho se hostile
corruption voiced mer , �utu �n 0f 1 789� 15 asked 's'i! a ete excite acela par quelques
.
.
mal
Bailly. To the Jaco�1O depu­ ". . en lUi remettant
1Otenuonnes quo au·•..· •nt cherche"a Ie ScuUlre
by constitutional monarchists like
ities of February 1793 It seem�
ties and Paris municipal author de I 'argent•.6 And so we can go on-with those arrested in the
rioters should have been mon-
inconceivable that the grocery
• �8
, Arch. Nat.' AFIV I470 (reporu ,or 2<r"• February (793). See a!Jo Mathia'
, Paris, 192'), ii. 346.
lection des Mtmoitel
IHhJrHI u �1tJriGJJl><lS14 T
au BorG" BUI_I (Col
,�.","' L4.Vi'
Ikrville and Samue, Mimoim
rchuifs l la Rtvolution .... . !I
I

H
. 2 vob.
tnriM
o;aiJe ,"tIlT' PP" !i3tr.
Exposijusl�ifpour k �iIUT
fran 6 ) Q
.
•
.
",
(Bib. Nat., Lb" . '9 ; Expoll )'
_

' Seetheeross-=am",abon al the H6lel-Dieu of �3 wounded by Conunissioner

pour k sind RJvrilltm (Bib. Nat., Lb"
• Hardy, ]0I,I11IIJi viii. ¥IS.
Aulard, PiUUpnu/MrJ Iii ,/«tUm II
"",.·� . .1· 74�·
Be:uva11et on , May '7Bg (Arch. Nat., Y • ,033).
t

; Z'. 886.
6
l Arch. Nat., Z' ,,69'
. .
•
. .8).
9, ,,�,
ul tU p",u (IC<' especially witnessca not. 20, 2
• Pr«iJur, ,ri",iM1J4 GU CMte
Arqh. Nal., Z' 469' (29 July 1 78g).
6 6 37 387) · , Arch. Nat., Y .8768 (2. October '78g).
• 1.1 BGbUliUJ. no. lOOv,
71, 87, Bg, 9', '44, 1 " 1 .j., 3, • Arch. Nat., Y .8769 (16 November 1789).

7 MtnU'k!Ir (r/imF.), iv. <!, ,S.

� July '79"
6
 THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 195
19+ THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD

summer and autumn of 1791, with those questioned in con­

witness, appears to have been completely misled by reports t at �
the Versailles bread-rioters of September 1789 were found with
nexion with the grocery riots, and those summoned to appear
considerable sums in their purses : the police reporu relating to
the case are completely silent on the matter,' As for the far more
before the Military Commission or the Committee of Gen:ral
Security in Prairial of the Year 1IJ.l Usually the answer
flat denial; but sometimes it is of greater interest. In 1791, for
15 a
substantial charges ofbribery made in the course of the C ate1et �
. inquiry into the events of October, for lack of other eVidence
example, we find a domestic servant of the Vend6me SectlOn
we must largely discount them owing to the vagueness of the
replying to the familiar question with the unexpc:cted re�ort
assertions and thedubious natureofthe majority ofthe witnesses,1
While, therefore, the evidence of widespread bribery is
.
that, far from receiving money for taking part m politIcal
so-­
negligible, we cannot discount so readily the desire for loot as
affairs, it has cost him 24 sow in the past four months to do
apparently a reference to his subscription to the Jacobin Club
a stimulus to participation in revolutionary activities. Yet, even
so, it has been greatly exaggerated and there is little sign at any
ofwhich he was a member.1 In Prairial a Quinze Vingts gunner,
when asked if he knows of any distribution of money in the
flWhourg, answers 'no'; though he adds that 'he has he�rd sevtr� stage of indiscriminate pillage. We have se�n that a nu�b�r of
.
food-shops were pillaged during the Reveillon nots-lD Itself
people say that money and two pounds of bread were given out
to stir up rebellion.' But in no single instance do we find a
significant of the underlying cause of those disturbances,l At

straightforward admission that a prisoner or other witness has

the harritrts, too, there was looting of the personal effects and
savings of customs officials, though it did not reach great pro­
personally been present at su�h a transaction.
. portions,. Looting played a far more substantial pa�t in thc
Moreover the police had the far more effecttve course of
raid on the Saint-Lazare monastery; yet even here It was a
searching their prisoners and had every motive for making
by-product of the main operation, which was to cart grain to
public the discovery of any suspicious objects or sums of money
the central corn market.! It played some part again, though a
found on them. In nearly every case for which we have records
the results of such searches are purely negative. It is true that
minor one, in the grocery riots of 1793.6 ]n the other of journitS
the Revolution it played no significant part at all. Yet we have
noted that one historian ascribed this motive to the assailants of
a paper-worker, arrested after the Reveillon riots, was found in
possession of 4 liurtS
which he admitted having received from
two individuals whom he had met at the Palais Royal-but this
the Tuileries in August 1 792. Considerable looting, it is true,
followed the fall of the tluittlW; in fact, we have the record of
happened a full week after the riots were over.4 This seerns a
134 persons detained in the Hotel de la Force between 10
pretty shaky foundation on which to base the charges of mass
August and 2 September of that year for pilfering, or being
bribery proffered by Besenval and Montjoie, and repeated by
suspected of pilfering, a wide variety of objects;7 and several
writers in the RtllUt dts questions historiques,
Again, one of four
others were arrested on such charges in the Sections'--though
young workers arrested at the Barriere Saint-Denis on 14 July
not one of these appears to have been among the armed attackers.
What is more remarkable is that many humble citizens, wage­
1789 was found with 157 iiurtS, 1 2 sow
in silver in his pockets; but
this sum had quite evidently either been stolen at the ham'irts
or
earners among them, went out of their way to deposit valuables
(as the prisoner insisted) been picked up in the raid on the Saint­
found at the Tuileries for safe-keeping with their Sections;9
Lazare monastery,S And even Hardy, who was usually a reliable
• Arch. s"ine-eI·O;,.-" seri"" B. PrMI� de I'HOlei du Roi. Proc�dur"" 11Sg,
, Arch. Prtf. Pol., Kriet Aa; Arch. Nal., W 546, F" (ltrie alphabethiq\le). roll. 7-21. • See pp. 72-13. ' See p. 43. • s"e p. 49·
• Arch. Prtf. Pol., Aa 206, rob. 366-7. • See p. !i0. • 5«: p. 116, ' Bib. Nat., Lb" 6'4U.
, Arch. Nal., F" 473!i, dou. 4 (my ilalia) . Arch. Prtr. PoL, Aa 88, fob. !i14-44; 1!i3, (01. 48; 1!i7. rol. 200; 173, fob. 43-
• Arch. Nat., Y 14119 (5-6 May 17Sg). See also the examination by Commis­
I

sioner Odenl of 18 COI'pICI, which had been brought 10 the Monlro\lge cemelery • Arch. Pdf. Pol., Aa 88, rob. ,546-7' ; �'9, 32; 262, fob. 42-44. Sre alo.o
44; �6�, fols. *0-42.
rol.
for identification (Arch. Nat., Y 15019), and pp. 41-42 above. Sagnac, La ChuJI: it /Q fOJH"'ll, pp. 291-8.
J Arch. Nat., Y 10634, fol. '49; 15683.
 THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 195
19+ THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD

summer and autumn of 1791, with those questioned in con­

witness, appears to have been completely misled by reports t at �
the Versailles bread-rioters of September 1789 were found with
nexion with the grocery riots, and those summoned to appear
considerable sums in their purses : the police reporu relating to
the case are completely silent on the matter,' As for the far more
before the Military Commission or the Committee of Gen:ral
Security in Prairial of the Year 1IJ.l Usually the answer
flat denial; but sometimes it is of greater interest. In 1791, for
15 a
substantial charges ofbribery made in the course of the C ate1et �
. inquiry into the events of October, for lack of other eVidence
example, we find a domestic servant of the Vend6me SectlOn
we must largely discount them owing to the vagueness of the
replying to the familiar question with the unexpc:cted re�ort
assertions and thedubious natureofthe majority ofthe witnesses,1
While, therefore, the evidence of widespread bribery is
.
that, far from receiving money for taking part m politIcal
so-­
negligible, we cannot discount so readily the desire for loot as
affairs, it has cost him 24 sow in the past four months to do
apparently a reference to his subscription to the Jacobin Club
a stimulus to participation in revolutionary activities. Yet, even
so, it has been greatly exaggerated and there is little sign at any
ofwhich he was a member.1 In Prairial a Quinze Vingts gunner,
when asked if he knows of any distribution of money in the
flWhourg, answers 'no'; though he adds that 'he has he�rd sevtr� stage of indiscriminate pillage. We have se�n that a nu�b�r of
.
food-shops were pillaged during the Reveillon nots-lD Itself
people say that money and two pounds of bread were given out
to stir up rebellion.' But in no single instance do we find a
significant of the underlying cause of those disturbances,l At

straightforward admission that a prisoner or other witness has

the harritrts, too, there was looting of the personal effects and
savings of customs officials, though it did not reach great pro­
personally been present at su�h a transaction.
. portions,. Looting played a far more substantial pa�t in thc
Moreover the police had the far more effecttve course of
raid on the Saint-Lazare monastery; yet even here It was a
searching their prisoners and had every motive for making
by-product of the main operation, which was to cart grain to
public the discovery of any suspicious objects or sums of money
the central corn market.! It played some part again, though a
found on them. In nearly every case for which we have records
the results of such searches are purely negative. It is true that
minor one, in the grocery riots of 1793.6 ]n the other of journitS
the Revolution it played no significant part at all. Yet we have
noted that one historian ascribed this motive to the assailants of
a paper-worker, arrested after the Reveillon riots, was found in
possession of 4 liurtS
which he admitted having received from
two individuals whom he had met at the Palais Royal-but this
the Tuileries in August 1 792. Considerable looting, it is true,
followed the fall of the tluittlW; in fact, we have the record of
happened a full week after the riots were over.4 This seerns a
134 persons detained in the Hotel de la Force between 10
pretty shaky foundation on which to base the charges of mass
August and 2 September of that year for pilfering, or being
bribery proffered by Besenval and Montjoie, and repeated by
suspected of pilfering, a wide variety of objects;7 and several
writers in the RtllUt dts questions historiques,
Again, one of four
others were arrested on such charges in the Sections'--though
young workers arrested at the Barriere Saint-Denis on 14 July
not one of these appears to have been among the armed attackers.
What is more remarkable is that many humble citizens, wage­
1789 was found with 157 iiurtS, 1 2 sow
in silver in his pockets; but
this sum had quite evidently either been stolen at the ham'irts
or
earners among them, went out of their way to deposit valuables
(as the prisoner insisted) been picked up in the raid on the Saint­
found at the Tuileries for safe-keeping with their Sections;9
Lazare monastery,S And even Hardy, who was usually a reliable
• Arch. s"ine-eI·O;,.-" seri"" B. PrMI� de I'HOlei du Roi. Proc�dur"" 11Sg,
, Arch. Prtf. Pol., Kriet Aa; Arch. Nal., W 546, F" (ltrie alphabethiq\le). roll. 7-21. • See pp. 72-13. ' See p. 43. • s"e p. 49·
• Arch. Prtf. Pol., Aa 206, rob. 366-7. • See p. !i0. • 5«: p. 116, ' Bib. Nat., Lb" 6'4U.
, Arch. Nal., F" 473!i, dou. 4 (my ilalia) . Arch. Prtr. PoL, Aa 88, fob. !i14-44; 1!i3, (01. 48; 1!i7. rol. 200; 173, fob. 43-
• Arch. Nat., Y 14119 (5-6 May 17Sg). See also the examination by Commis­
I

sioner Odenl of 18 COI'pICI, which had been brought 10 the Monlro\lge cemelery • Arch. Pdf. Pol., Aa 88, rob. ,546-7' ; �'9, 32; 262, fob. 42-44. Sre alo.o
44; �6�, fols. *0-42.
rol.
for identification (Arch. Nat., Y 15019), and pp. 41-42 above. Sagnac, La ChuJI: it /Q fOJH"'ll, pp. 291-8.
J Arch. Nat., Y 10634, fol. '49; 15683.
196 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
and that even bitterly hostile witnesses felt compelled to admit
that the armed battalions, far from condoning or taking part in
pillage, summarily executed those weaker brethren among
their unarmed supporters who attempted to engage in it.1 The
same fate befell many who tried to pillage during the September
massacres.1
In response to what motives, then, did the Parisian sans­
culottes participate in such large numbers in these events? And
how far did they differ from the aims of those who promoted or
initiated them? In the first place, it is evident that revolutionary
crowds, far from being mere passive instruments, absorbed
and adapted the slogans and ideas of the political groups
contending for power both on the eve and in the course of the
Revolution. During the rivolte nobiliaire, for example, we saw
how the rioting crowds of clerks and journeymen on the Pont
Neufburned Lamoignon, the unpopular garde in effigy des sceaux,
and chanted the slogans of the parltmentairts, 'A bas Lamoignon !'
and 'Vive Henri IV!') Later, during the Reveillon riots, when
popularity had already switched to the Third Estate, shortly to
meet at Versailles, the demonstrators (though widely believed
to have been incited by royalist agents) shouted the revolu­
tionary slogans of the day: 'Vive Ie Roi ! Vive M, Necker! Vive
Ie Tiers Etat!'4 The same political rallying cry of 'Tiers Etat'
was voiced by crowds who burned down the bamires and sacked
the monastery of the Saint-Lazare brotherhood in July5-
though, on occasion, its meaning appears to have been trans­
formed into a call to action of the poor against the rich.6 The
new ideas of 'liberty' and 'the rights of man' were also gaining
ground among the menu peuplt, and we find ajourneyman gun­
smith, arrested at Versailles in August for speaking slightingly
, Sagnac, op. cit., pp. 136, 195. Sagnac quotes the MiITw;res of the royali,t
Ie wI aux Tuileries el mettait impitoyablement a mort ceux qu'elle surprenait
Madame de Tound: 'II est remarquable que eelle annte de bandits ,'ttail interdit
s'appropriant qudque chose du chateau.'
• Caron, op. cit., p. [ I I . Roederer told Napoleon: 'Les massacreurs ne pil­
leren! pas'.
, Hardy, op. cit., viii. 4g--68. For a large part of what follows in this chapter
Revolution', Brdltlin of 1M 11tS11M' of Hi.r;lmical iWtMCh, xxvi (1953). 53-74.
� G. Rud�, 'The Motives of Popular In.mrrection in Paris during the French
• Hardy, op. cit. viii. 299; An:h. Nat., KK 641, foJ. 17.
• Arch. Nat., Z'· 886; Z' 469 1.
• Arthur Young, too, is inclined to identify 'tiers �tat' with 'the poor' (tec, e.g.,
TraVtls in Franct and Italy (Everyman edition), pp. 1711-3). See also p. 43 above.
THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 197
of Lafayette, supporting his claim to a fair hearing with an
appeal to 'Ie droit de I'homme'. 1 In the following weeks, as the
rift developed in the National Assembly between the constitu­
tional monarchists and the Court Party over the royal veto,
the Parisian menu peuple openly championed the former against
the latter, and we have seen that unemployed workers of the
Ecole Militaire and wage-earners and soldiers in the Place de
Greve and the Palais Royal expressed their readiness, several
days before the actual event, to go and fetch the royal family
"­ back to Paris_1 Another feature of this period was, of course, the
adoption by demonstrators and rioters of anti-clerical slogans;
and, at Versailles, the marchers treated the deputies of the
clergy with scant respect and greeted them with shouts of
'A bas la calotte!' l
In the midst of the social calm of the year 1790 Parisians
rallied in tens of thousands, at the call ofthe National Assembly,
to the Champ de Mars to celebrate the first anniversary of the
Revolution; but, before many months had passed, the social and
political ideas of the democrats and Republicans were begin­
ning to find a 'response among the more active, at least, of the
sans-culottes. The results of this indoctrination were clearly
evident in the Champ de Mars demonstration of July 1 7 9 1 ,
called by the Cordeliers Club with a purely political object­
to sign a petition questioning the king's right to continue in
office after his flight to Varennes. Among the 6,000 who had
time to sign the petition or scratch their crosses on it before the
arrival of the National Guard, there may have been many who
did so without a clear understanding of its contents; yet the
cook, Constance Evrard, at least, clearly stated under cross­
examination that she believed its purposes were 'it faire
organiser autrement Ie pouvoir executif' ; and of nearly 130
persons sent to the Force prison in connexion with the demon­
stration, the grea� majority had been arrested for expressing
[ An:h. Nat., Y 18,&>. The examiningpolice commissioner's retort is not without
annonce assez qu'il a I'esprit dispos� it. la sMition.'
interest: 'Qu'il parle souvent du mot de libert� et des droits de I'homme, ce qui
• See pp. 7'-7'1..
, See pp. 65-66. How far the anti-clerical movement ofthe Revolution and tbe
of the mtlJU peuple itself, and how far they owed their origins to non-popular sources
later 'deehristianization' movement sprang from the deeper feelings and experiences
The evidence in favour of the latter theory seems fairly .trong.
ouch as the professional classes or liberal aristocracy, are still matters for debate.
196 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
and that even bitterly hostile witnesses felt compelled to admit
that the armed battalions, far from condoning or taking part in
pillage, summarily executed those weaker brethren among
their unarmed supporters who attempted to engage in it.1 The
same fate befell many who tried to pillage during the September
massacres.1
In response to what motives, then, did the Parisian sans­
culottes participate in such large numbers in these events? And
how far did they differ from the aims of those who promoted or
initiated them? In the first place, it is evident that revolutionary
crowds, far from being mere passive instruments, absorbed
and adapted the slogans and ideas of the political groups
contending for power both on the eve and in the course of the
Revolution. During the rivolte nobiliaire, for example, we saw
how the rioting crowds of clerks and journeymen on the Pont
Neufburned Lamoignon, the unpopular garde in effigy des sceaux,
and chanted the slogans of the parltmentairts, 'A bas Lamoignon !'
and 'Vive Henri IV!') Later, during the Reveillon riots, when
popularity had already switched to the Third Estate, shortly to
meet at Versailles, the demonstrators (though widely believed
to have been incited by royalist agents) shouted the revolu­
tionary slogans of the day: 'Vive Ie Roi ! Vive M, Necker! Vive
Ie Tiers Etat!'4 The same political rallying cry of 'Tiers Etat'
was voiced by crowds who burned down the bamires and sacked
the monastery of the Saint-Lazare brotherhood in July5-
though, on occasion, its meaning appears to have been trans­
formed into a call to action of the poor against the rich.6 The
new ideas of 'liberty' and 'the rights of man' were also gaining
ground among the menu peuplt, and we find ajourneyman gun­
smith, arrested at Versailles in August for speaking slightingly
, Sagnac, op. cit., pp. 136, 195. Sagnac quotes the MiITw;res of the royali,t
Ie wI aux Tuileries el mettait impitoyablement a mort ceux qu'elle surprenait
Madame de Tound: 'II est remarquable que eelle annte de bandits ,'ttail interdit
s'appropriant qudque chose du chateau.'
• Caron, op. cit., p. [ I I . Roederer told Napoleon: 'Les massacreurs ne pil­
leren! pas'.
, Hardy, op. cit., viii. 4g--68. For a large part of what follows in this chapter
Revolution', Brdltlin of 1M 11tS11M' of Hi.r;lmical iWtMCh, xxvi (1953). 53-74.
� G. Rud�, 'The Motives of Popular In.mrrection in Paris during the French
• Hardy, op. cit. viii. 299; An:h. Nat., KK 641, foJ. 17.
• Arch. Nat., Z'· 886; Z' 469 1.
• Arthur Young, too, is inclined to identify 'tiers �tat' with 'the poor' (tec, e.g.,
TraVtls in Franct and Italy (Everyman edition), pp. 1711-3). See also p. 43 above.
THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 197
of Lafayette, supporting his claim to a fair hearing with an
appeal to 'Ie droit de I'homme'. 1 In the following weeks, as the
rift developed in the National Assembly between the constitu­
tional monarchists and the Court Party over the royal veto,
the Parisian menu peuple openly championed the former against
the latter, and we have seen that unemployed workers of the
Ecole Militaire and wage-earners and soldiers in the Place de
Greve and the Palais Royal expressed their readiness, several
days before the actual event, to go and fetch the royal family
"­ back to Paris_1 Another feature of this period was, of course, the
adoption by demonstrators and rioters of anti-clerical slogans;
and, at Versailles, the marchers treated the deputies of the
clergy with scant respect and greeted them with shouts of
'A bas la calotte!' l
In the midst of the social calm of the year 1790 Parisians
rallied in tens of thousands, at the call ofthe National Assembly,
to the Champ de Mars to celebrate the first anniversary of the
Revolution; but, before many months had passed, the social and
political ideas of the democrats and Republicans were begin­
ning to find a 'response among the more active, at least, of the
sans-culottes. The results of this indoctrination were clearly
evident in the Champ de Mars demonstration of July 1 7 9 1 ,
called by the Cordeliers Club with a purely political object­
to sign a petition questioning the king's right to continue in
office after his flight to Varennes. Among the 6,000 who had
time to sign the petition or scratch their crosses on it before the
arrival of the National Guard, there may have been many who
did so without a clear understanding of its contents; yet the
cook, Constance Evrard, at least, clearly stated under cross­
examination that she believed its purposes were 'it faire
organiser autrement Ie pouvoir executif' ; and of nearly 130
persons sent to the Force prison in connexion with the demon­
stration, the grea� majority had been arrested for expressing
[ An:h. Nat., Y 18,&>. The examiningpolice commissioner's retort is not without
annonce assez qu'il a I'esprit dispos� it. la sMition.'
interest: 'Qu'il parle souvent du mot de libert� et des droits de I'homme, ce qui
• See pp. 7'-7'1..
, See pp. 65-66. How far the anti-clerical movement ofthe Revolution and tbe
of the mtlJU peuple itself, and how far they owed their origins to non-popular sources
later 'deehristianization' movement sprang from the deeper feelings and experiences
The evidence in favour of the latter theory seems fairly .trong.
ouch as the professional classes or liberal aristocracy, are still matters for debate.
 LUTIONARY CRO WD THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS '99
,g8 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVO

political opposition to the ���onal Assembly,

the city ad­ tion preceded the revolution of May-June 1 793. Already in
March of that year the reports ofpolice agents revea1ed that the
ministration, or the armed nulitla.' need for a new insurrection to purge the Convention was being
openly canvassed in the clubs and markets '· in April, as we saw.
ar, evidence
It is not possible to produce the same document :
mona rchy 10 August
in the case of the armed overthrow of the �e . Jacobl.ns �ecided to give this movement a precise and
1792 and the expulsion of the Girondins � i May- J �ne 1793 ; . l ,e and, follo ing their lead, countless deputa·
wer Insur re tlons of an I�mtted obJec �,: �
yet this is hardly surprising, as these � �
tlons �nd petlnons demandmg the expulsion of the Girondin
dent for their execu tion, not on
entirely different order depen deputJ.es preceded the actual outbreak.' Finally, in the riots of
ed) revol ution ary crow ds, but on
unarmed (or largely unarm the Germinal and Prairial of the Year III the crowds that burst
iz d arme d force-
into the Convention d�manded suppo� for the political pro­
the deployment of a centr ally organ
Parisian National Guard, supplemented 10 the
,:,
former case by
armed units from Marseilles, Brest, and other cities
. Yet these �
g�amme of e Mountam and the release ofJacobin prisoners;
mont hs of ptnned to their caps and blouses they wore, side by side with the
actions, too, marked the culmination of many word 'bre �d', the politi�al slogan, 'The Constitution of 1 793'.1
ulotus were
There 1S t�er�fore httle doubt that these revolutionary
saru-c
political preparation in which the Parisian
eleme nt w the cam­
thoroughly involved. An important new �
paign, initiated by the Brissotins, for a . revol �
utl nary war �rowds enthUSiastically supported and assimilated the objects,
against the crowned head� of �u,:,pe, wh�ch
was Immensely Ideas, and slogans of the political groups in the National
f Its openm g stages: we find Assembly, Cordeliers, and Jacobin Clubs whose leadership they
popular-as was the war Itsel iO

evidence of this in the long lists of labou rers, craftsmen, and ,,:cknowledged and in whose interest they demonstrated, peti.
tloned, or took up arms. These were the objects, ideas, and
journeymen that volun teered to man the fronti � in the autumn
I1 .
hops and slogans of the hberal, democratic, and republican bourgeoisie
of 1 79',: and in the great numbers ofworkers 10 works . . (accord .
tng to the stage reached by the Revolution as it moved
patrw tlques,
manufactories who sent their contributions, or dons leftwards), which the active elements among the Parisian nunu
of the armie s of
to the Assembly for the feeding and equipment peuple, from whom the great bulk of these insurgents and demon­
to the captu re of the
1 792.J Again, we see a curtain-raiser strators were drawn, adopted as their own, because they
palac e on 20 June , when
Tuileries in the mass invasion of the appeared to correspond to their own interests in the fight to
�Antoine
man", thousands of citizens of the Faubourgs Saint destroy the old regime and to safeguard the RepUblic. Yet they
arme d and unarm ed, prese nted a
and Saint-Marcel, both cannot be regarded as the particular demands of wage-earners,
petition to the king and shout ed the curre nt slogan s �f the
four days befor e the revol ution of small shopkeepers, and workshop masters as such.l Therefore
while acknowledging, against the opinion of Taine and hi�
'patriots' ; and it was only
mp de Mars
10 August that a vast assembly ofcitizens in the C�� followers, the part played by the political ideas of the leaders in
prepara�
demanded the king's abdication.4 The same pohtIcal stimulating �ass revolu�onary activity, we can accept this
• 5« pp. 86-87, 9"
pnuJdnJ Id Rlw/lilldl<
only .as a partial explanatIOn. It does little to explain such non­
• Chassin and Hennet, W YoI""",;". ..alionaux
.
b rols.., pohtJ.cal movements as the Reveillon riots, the social unrest that
, ':V>3-2�, 17F-g· Th� . ... � - - � ,� , � .
. �
Paris, 1899-'9(4), i. ,6-136.
, A. Tuetey, Ripnl11i" ,11Ihg!, vol. iv, not. 2aS-392
_.,.,.., tU I. V .II, d, PIIT1S,
appeared, it is true, in March '79\1, an Adruu. U.
men (the Jailer �.n a.sm�
' not suggested that the SdlU-cJlllII/ts-particularly the Ihopkeepers, work_
' It IS
pers, crafUm en, and Journey lhop m�lers, and �Iher small proprietors among them-had, at no Itage, any
2.'10 shopkee .
.H:e�,. luch dements were very active in the Paris Scclionl, there we:e numerous
signed by about
minority), which Wall frankly hostile to the Revolution
.., 'l.'lo-' (10 MS.): Bib. Nat.,
and !o the agtl�t,on 1ft political .deall of ,he" own. In the period June 1793-July '794 when all we have
" .'I,
There teems lillie dou�t
fols. 249b
pellllons and resolutionl that expressed their particular lOCial and political claima
favour of war {Arch. Nat., C 284, no.
Lb" 1 1 162 (printed copy with significant variations)).
of 1792, though ,t (1«=�arkov and Soboul, Dil $alUkW/Ollell <'Oil PM;S, chaps. 2-5, passim). Tiles<: can
however, have playcd no part in lIimulating participation in revolutionary move-:
less popula r afier the autumn
that the waT became progressively
documentary lOurcCl.
would be difficult to illustrate the point adequately from
• See pp. '00, '04·
menlS, �ccpt In ' that of 4-5 September 1793.
 LUTIONARY CRO WD THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS '99
,g8 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVO

political opposition to the ���onal Assembly,

the city ad­ tion preceded the revolution of May-June 1 793. Already in
March of that year the reports ofpolice agents revea1ed that the
ministration, or the armed nulitla.' need for a new insurrection to purge the Convention was being
openly canvassed in the clubs and markets '· in April, as we saw.
ar, evidence
It is not possible to produce the same document :
mona rchy 10 August
in the case of the armed overthrow of the �e . Jacobl.ns �ecided to give this movement a precise and
1792 and the expulsion of the Girondins � i May- J �ne 1793 ; . l ,e and, follo ing their lead, countless deputa·
wer Insur re tlons of an I�mtted obJec �,: �
yet this is hardly surprising, as these � �
tlons �nd petlnons demandmg the expulsion of the Girondin
dent for their execu tion, not on
entirely different order depen deputJ.es preceded the actual outbreak.' Finally, in the riots of
ed) revol ution ary crow ds, but on
unarmed (or largely unarm the Germinal and Prairial of the Year III the crowds that burst
iz d arme d force-
into the Convention d�manded suppo� for the political pro­
the deployment of a centr ally organ
Parisian National Guard, supplemented 10 the
,:,
former case by
armed units from Marseilles, Brest, and other cities
. Yet these �
g�amme of e Mountam and the release ofJacobin prisoners;
mont hs of ptnned to their caps and blouses they wore, side by side with the
actions, too, marked the culmination of many word 'bre �d', the politi�al slogan, 'The Constitution of 1 793'.1
ulotus were
There 1S t�er�fore httle doubt that these revolutionary
saru-c
political preparation in which the Parisian
eleme nt w the cam­
thoroughly involved. An important new �
paign, initiated by the Brissotins, for a . revol �
utl nary war �rowds enthUSiastically supported and assimilated the objects,
against the crowned head� of �u,:,pe, wh�ch
was Immensely Ideas, and slogans of the political groups in the National
f Its openm g stages: we find Assembly, Cordeliers, and Jacobin Clubs whose leadership they
popular-as was the war Itsel iO

evidence of this in the long lists of labou rers, craftsmen, and ,,:cknowledged and in whose interest they demonstrated, peti.
tloned, or took up arms. These were the objects, ideas, and
journeymen that volun teered to man the fronti � in the autumn
I1 .
hops and slogans of the hberal, democratic, and republican bourgeoisie
of 1 79',: and in the great numbers ofworkers 10 works . . (accord .
tng to the stage reached by the Revolution as it moved
patrw tlques,
manufactories who sent their contributions, or dons leftwards), which the active elements among the Parisian nunu
of the armie s of
to the Assembly for the feeding and equipment peuple, from whom the great bulk of these insurgents and demon­
to the captu re of the
1 792.J Again, we see a curtain-raiser strators were drawn, adopted as their own, because they
palac e on 20 June , when
Tuileries in the mass invasion of the appeared to correspond to their own interests in the fight to
�Antoine
man", thousands of citizens of the Faubourgs Saint destroy the old regime and to safeguard the RepUblic. Yet they
arme d and unarm ed, prese nted a
and Saint-Marcel, both cannot be regarded as the particular demands of wage-earners,
petition to the king and shout ed the curre nt slogan s �f the
four days befor e the revol ution of small shopkeepers, and workshop masters as such.l Therefore
while acknowledging, against the opinion of Taine and hi�
'patriots' ; and it was only
mp de Mars
10 August that a vast assembly ofcitizens in the C�� followers, the part played by the political ideas of the leaders in
prepara�
demanded the king's abdication.4 The same pohtIcal stimulating �ass revolu�onary activity, we can accept this
• 5« pp. 86-87, 9"
pnuJdnJ Id Rlw/lilldl<
only .as a partial explanatIOn. It does little to explain such non­
• Chassin and Hennet, W YoI""",;". ..alionaux
.
b rols.., pohtJ.cal movements as the Reveillon riots, the social unrest that
, ':V>3-2�, 17F-g· Th� . ... � - - � ,� , � .
. �
Paris, 1899-'9(4), i. ,6-136.
, A. Tuetey, Ripnl11i" ,11Ihg!, vol. iv, not. 2aS-392
_.,.,.., tU I. V .II, d, PIIT1S,
appeared, it is true, in March '79\1, an Adruu. U.
men (the Jailer �.n a.sm�
' not suggested that the SdlU-cJlllII/ts-particularly the Ihopkeepers, work_
' It IS
pers, crafUm en, and Journey lhop m�lers, and �Iher small proprietors among them-had, at no Itage, any
2.'10 shopkee .
.H:e�,. luch dements were very active in the Paris Scclionl, there we:e numerous
signed by about
minority), which Wall frankly hostile to the Revolution
.., 'l.'lo-' (10 MS.): Bib. Nat.,
and !o the agtl�t,on 1ft political .deall of ,he" own. In the period June 1793-July '794 when all we have
" .'I,
There teems lillie dou�t
fols. 249b
pellllons and resolutionl that expressed their particular lOCial and political claima
favour of war {Arch. Nat., C 284, no.
Lb" 1 1 162 (printed copy with significant variations)).
of 1792, though ,t (1«=�arkov and Soboul, Dil $alUkW/Ollell <'Oil PM;S, chaps. 2-5, passim). Tiles<: can
however, have playcd no part in lIimulating participation in revolutionary move-:
less popula r afier the autumn
that the waT became progressively
documentary lOurcCl.
would be difficult to illustrate the point adequately from
• See pp. '00, '04·
menlS, �ccpt In ' that of 4-5 September 1793.
 IlOO THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
led up to the march to Vc:rsaiUes or the overthrow of the
Girondiru the invasion of the grocers' shops in 1 792 and 1793.
or even th
e essential character of the riots of Germinal and
Prairial-and yet these movemenU were an intrinsic part of
the Revolution and involved people drawn from (broadly) the
same social groups as those who stormed the Bastill�• overthrew
.
the monarchy, and signed the Champ de Mars petlllon. Above
all it does not explain the almost continuous undertone of
� ial unrest among the menu peuple, which characterized the
whole period under review, and with<>.u� which it would �ve
been impossible for the contending po��cal
FUPS
to mobtlize
the popular battalions o� the great polib�Joumtes themselves.
To arrive at a more satlS factory explanal10n we shall have to
find some more constant factor than the changing political
slogans of the leaders, look more closely at the al demands
.
of the participants themselves, and test the validity of Georges
Lefebvre's contention: 'L'intervention de la foule suppose des
motifs particuliers."
�
Perhaps not surprisingly such an nquiry �evea1s �hat the
most constant motive of popular insurrection dunng the
Revolution' as in the eighteenth century as a whole, was the
compelling need of the menu peuph for the provision of cheap
.
and plentiful bread and other esse�tIals, and the necessary
administrative measures to ensure It. We have already ob­
served that, on more than one occasion, this preoccupation,
being at variance with the ideas on free trade an property
held by all bourgeois groups, was apt to put a st��m on their
alliance with even the most advanced of the politIcal leaders.
It would, of course, have been comforting for the journalists
of the Palais Royal and the deputies and orators of the revolu­
tionary Assemblies and Jacobin Club if the common people of
the markets and faubourgs had been content to bedeck them­
selves with tricolour cockades and bonnets rouges and to mouth
patriotic-radical slogans without concerning themselves over­
much with the satisfaction of their own particular needs and
•
�
grievances-if the R veillo� riote�, for example, h�d not
insisted on accompanymg their shoutmg of the unexceptIOnable
�
slogan of'Vive Ie Tiers Iltat!' wi�h the estruction of the �roper­
ties of such stalwarts of the officl<ll Third Estate as HenrlOt and
G. Lefebvre, l.tJ. RlutH�lionjrQ"'QiJl. l.tJ. r/oolutitnl dl 178g, pp. 14'-�'
•
THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS �Ol
Re�eillon; or if the women of the markets had been merely
satiSfied to march to Versailles to fetch the royal family to Pam
-as required by the constitutional monarchists-without
agitating so violently and vociferously for more bread and
better quality flour. This divergence of interest is perhaps best
illustrated in the grocery riots of 1 792 and 1793. In the first it
was solemnly proposed by theJacobins that the crisis might be
solved if only the small consumers would voluntarily abstain
from purchasing such 'luxuries' as coffee and sugar-'ces
� chetives marchandises', as Robespierre termed them; in the
second, the rioters who, when the authorities refused to act,
imposed their own particular form of price-control, were
castigated by both Marat and Robespierre as the dupes of
Pitt and the counter.rC\·olution. 'Les hommes du 14 juitlet
� ne se battent pas pour des bonbons.'1 It was the old social
dilemma that few of the revolutionary leaders-the Jacobins
only for a brief period in 1794-were prepared to face.
Yet Barnave at least showed some appreciation of the
problem and its significance for the Revolution when, in
relating the events of October 1789 to his constituents, he
clearly distinguished between the purely political aims of the
bourgeoisie and the predominantly economic preoccupations of
the people-'y melant l'interet du pain qui commen�ait a
etre rare'.2
The theme ofshortage and high prices (particularly of bread)
? as a major cause of social disturbance in eighteenth-century
France has been given a new emphasis by Professor Labrousse's
studies in price fluctuations and budgets in the years preceding
the outbreak of the Revolution. He has shown the catastrophic
effects on the poorer sections of the urban population in parti­
cular of the chronic shortage and high price of wheat during
these years, reaching a climax in the period 1787 to 1 789.3
We can appreciate better the Parisian wage-earners' hosti­
lity to the old regime and their willingness to join with the
bourgeoisie in destroying it, when we learn, for example, that
the proportion of his income that a Paris builder's labourer
would have to spend on bread in order to maintain his normal
• Arch. Nat., W. I�, no.. �OO-I.
, Mathiez, op. cil., pp. 46-49, 151-7
.
J C.-E. Labrousr..:, LA Crist d, NWII1mUj'Q1IfIJis" pp. xlii·l.
 IlOO THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
led up to the march to Vc:rsaiUes or the overthrow of the
Girondiru the invasion of the grocers' shops in 1 792 and 1793.
or even th
e essential character of the riots of Germinal and
Prairial-and yet these movemenU were an intrinsic part of
the Revolution and involved people drawn from (broadly) the
same social groups as those who stormed the Bastill�• overthrew
.
the monarchy, and signed the Champ de Mars petlllon. Above
all it does not explain the almost continuous undertone of
� ial unrest among the menu peuple, which characterized the
whole period under review, and with<>.u� which it would �ve
been impossible for the contending po��cal
FUPS
to mobtlize
the popular battalions o� the great polib�Joumtes themselves.
To arrive at a more satlS factory explanal10n we shall have to
find some more constant factor than the changing political
slogans of the leaders, look more closely at the al demands
.
of the participants themselves, and test the validity of Georges
Lefebvre's contention: 'L'intervention de la foule suppose des
motifs particuliers."
�
Perhaps not surprisingly such an nquiry �evea1s �hat the
most constant motive of popular insurrection dunng the
Revolution' as in the eighteenth century as a whole, was the
compelling need of the menu peuph for the provision of cheap
.
and plentiful bread and other esse�tIals, and the necessary
administrative measures to ensure It. We have already ob­
served that, on more than one occasion, this preoccupation,
being at variance with the ideas on free trade an property
held by all bourgeois groups, was apt to put a st��m on their
alliance with even the most advanced of the politIcal leaders.
It would, of course, have been comforting for the journalists
of the Palais Royal and the deputies and orators of the revolu­
tionary Assemblies and Jacobin Club if the common people of
the markets and faubourgs had been content to bedeck them­
selves with tricolour cockades and bonnets rouges and to mouth
patriotic-radical slogans without concerning themselves over­
much with the satisfaction of their own particular needs and
•
�
grievances-if the R veillo� riote�, for example, h�d not
insisted on accompanymg their shoutmg of the unexceptIOnable
�
slogan of'Vive Ie Tiers Iltat!' wi�h the estruction of the �roper­
ties of such stalwarts of the officl<ll Third Estate as HenrlOt and
G. Lefebvre, l.tJ. RlutH�lionjrQ"'QiJl. l.tJ. r/oolutitnl dl 178g, pp. 14'-�'
•
THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS �Ol
Re�eillon; or if the women of the markets had been merely
satiSfied to march to Versailles to fetch the royal family to Pam
-as required by the constitutional monarchists-without
agitating so violently and vociferously for more bread and
better quality flour. This divergence of interest is perhaps best
illustrated in the grocery riots of 1 792 and 1793. In the first it
was solemnly proposed by theJacobins that the crisis might be
solved if only the small consumers would voluntarily abstain
from purchasing such 'luxuries' as coffee and sugar-'ces
� chetives marchandises', as Robespierre termed them; in the
second, the rioters who, when the authorities refused to act,
imposed their own particular form of price-control, were
castigated by both Marat and Robespierre as the dupes of
Pitt and the counter.rC\·olution. 'Les hommes du 14 juitlet
� ne se battent pas pour des bonbons.'1 It was the old social
dilemma that few of the revolutionary leaders-the Jacobins
only for a brief period in 1794-were prepared to face.
Yet Barnave at least showed some appreciation of the
problem and its significance for the Revolution when, in
relating the events of October 1789 to his constituents, he
clearly distinguished between the purely political aims of the
bourgeoisie and the predominantly economic preoccupations of
the people-'y melant l'interet du pain qui commen�ait a
etre rare'.2
The theme ofshortage and high prices (particularly of bread)
? as a major cause of social disturbance in eighteenth-century
France has been given a new emphasis by Professor Labrousse's
studies in price fluctuations and budgets in the years preceding
the outbreak of the Revolution. He has shown the catastrophic
effects on the poorer sections of the urban population in parti­
cular of the chronic shortage and high price of wheat during
these years, reaching a climax in the period 1787 to 1 789.3
We can appreciate better the Parisian wage-earners' hosti­
lity to the old regime and their willingness to join with the
bourgeoisie in destroying it, when we learn, for example, that
the proportion of his income that a Paris builder's labourer
would have to spend on bread in order to maintain his normal
• Arch. Nat., W. I�, no.. �OO-I.
, Mathiez, op. cil., pp. 46-49, 151-7
.
J C.-E. Labrousr..:, LA Crist d, NWII1mUj'Q1IfIJis" pp. xlii·l.
202 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
consumption rose from about 50 per cent. in August 1788 to
.
over 80 per cent. between February andJul� 1 789 [
It is, therefore, not surprising that the pnce and supply of
bread should emerge so clearly from contemporary documents
as a constant source of popular disquiet during the insurrec­
tionary movements of 1788 and the early yean of the Revolu­
tion. We saw, for instance, that the movement launched by the
Palau clerks in the Place Dauphine and on the Pont Neuf to
celebrate the recall of the Parlemmt in August 1788 coincided
with a sudden sharp rise in the price of bread-and that, a few
�
days later, th menu ptIJple of the faubourgs :"nd markets joined
the riots and changed their character. Agam, the fact that the
riots, after a fortnight's respite, started up again wi�h renew�d
vigour may have been due as much to the further 1Ocreas� 10
the price of bread in early September as to the. enthUSiasm
aroused by the dismissal of Lamoignon.1 Further mes followed
in November and December and, by the time of the Reveillon
riots in April, the price of the 4-lb. loaf had already, for thr�e
whole months stood at the unusually high level of 141 sow; 10
�
fact, as we ha e seen, it was this high cost and scarcity ofbrea
that served as the prime cause of the disturbances, thoug It
was not their immediate pretext.l Apart from other suppor�ng
?
evidence, the point is underlined by a report �ent to t e king
�
by the lieutenant of police, Thiroux e Cros�e, 10 t � Illiddle of
� purpose of bringing the royal family to Paris, was even more
the riots: 'Quoique la sedition paralsse touJ�u� dl?gee cont�e
Ie sr Reveillon: on demande vivement la dlmmutIon du pnx
�
du pain.'4 Afer this temporary erup on the br�ad motive
.
appears almost continuously as the malO stImulus m the pr.o­
tracted popular movement which sprang up �t the end of May,
rose to a climax in the days of 12-J4July, again on 5-6 October,
and did not visibly subside until the early days of November,
when the first stage of the political revolution, which placed
power firmly in the hands of the constitutional monarchists, was
already long completed.
. . '
In the weeks preceding theJuly revolution, which culmmated
in the seizure of the Bastille, Hardy vividly illustrates in his
Journal the popular mood and the authorities' constant fear of
an outbreak on a larger and more violent scale than that which
, See Ap�ndix VII, Table . . • Sec pp. 31-32; Hardy, op. <:it. viii. 72.
• See pp. 42-43. An:h. Nat., C -221, no. 160/146, fo!. 48.
• •
THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 203
had occurred in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine at the end of
April. On nine occasions during May, June, and the early days
ofJuly he records the posting ofspecial guards in the markets to
quell bread riots. On 13 June he noted that the police had
forbidden a rise in the 4-lb. loaf from 141 to 1 5 sous, as re­
quested by the bakers, for fear of social disturbance. A few days
before the political revolution itself, a crowd publicly' burned the
pamphlet, Esperance du peuple, which suggested two prices for
bread-3 sow and 5 sous per lb. 'Le but avait ete mal saisi par
la c1asse inferieure du peuple', wrote Hardy.1 During the July
revolution the same theme constantly recurs. A major purpose
of the organized attack on the Saint-Lazare monastery in the
early houn of 13 July was to remove grain stored in its barns to
the central markets, and among the local raiders, who looted
its rooms, the cry of 'allons chercher du pain' was heard; while to
the wage-earners, shopkeepers, and petty traders who burned
down the customs posts under orders from the poitical
l leaders
at the Palais Royal the issue was quite a simple one-to ensure
� cheaper food and drink : as a locksmith seen smashing the
� furniture in the office of the Chaillot barriire put it, 'nous allons
boire Ie vin it trois sols'.l
It has, of course, already been amply demonstrated that the
popular insurrection of5-6 October, which achieved its political
clearly connected with the provision of bread for the hungry
Parisian masses. We have seen that the lull following the murder
of Foullon and his son-in-law, Berthier, on 22 July was short­
lived. After a good harvest the price of bread was reduced
to 12 sow in early August ; but, partly owing to drought, the
expected abundance in the bakers' shops did not materialize
and the resultant shortage which lasted until November kept
the popular movement in a state of continuous animation.
There followed the remarkable series of demonstrations of
market-women and others at the Hotel de Ville and at bakers'
shops, culminating in the great march to Versailles. Note­
worthy features of this journie were of course the slogans
shouted by the marchers-'Cherchons Ie boulanger, la bou­
langere et Ie petit mitron'-and the persistence with which the
, Hardy, op. cit. viii. 310, 312, 3<1;0, 33<1;, 341, 3+" 3¥i,
,
35[, 378, 384.
Arch. Nat., Z' ¥>gl; Z'· 886.
202 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
consumption rose from about 50 per cent. in August 1788 to
.
over 80 per cent. between February andJul� 1 789 [
It is, therefore, not surprising that the pnce and supply of
bread should emerge so clearly from contemporary documents
as a constant source of popular disquiet during the insurrec­
tionary movements of 1788 and the early yean of the Revolu­
tion. We saw, for instance, that the movement launched by the
Palau clerks in the Place Dauphine and on the Pont Neuf to
celebrate the recall of the Parlemmt in August 1788 coincided
with a sudden sharp rise in the price of bread-and that, a few
�
days later, th menu ptIJple of the faubourgs :"nd markets joined
the riots and changed their character. Agam, the fact that the
riots, after a fortnight's respite, started up again wi�h renew�d
vigour may have been due as much to the further 1Ocreas� 10
the price of bread in early September as to the. enthUSiasm
aroused by the dismissal of Lamoignon.1 Further mes followed
in November and December and, by the time of the Reveillon
riots in April, the price of the 4-lb. loaf had already, for thr�e
whole months stood at the unusually high level of 141 sow; 10
�
fact, as we ha e seen, it was this high cost and scarcity ofbrea
that served as the prime cause of the disturbances, thoug It
was not their immediate pretext.l Apart from other suppor�ng
?
evidence, the point is underlined by a report �ent to t e king
�
by the lieutenant of police, Thiroux e Cros�e, 10 t � Illiddle of
� purpose of bringing the royal family to Paris, was even more
the riots: 'Quoique la sedition paralsse touJ�u� dl?gee cont�e
Ie sr Reveillon: on demande vivement la dlmmutIon du pnx
�
du pain.'4 Afer this temporary erup on the br�ad motive
.
appears almost continuously as the malO stImulus m the pr.o­
tracted popular movement which sprang up �t the end of May,
rose to a climax in the days of 12-J4July, again on 5-6 October,
and did not visibly subside until the early days of November,
when the first stage of the political revolution, which placed
power firmly in the hands of the constitutional monarchists, was
already long completed.
. . '
In the weeks preceding theJuly revolution, which culmmated
in the seizure of the Bastille, Hardy vividly illustrates in his
Journal the popular mood and the authorities' constant fear of
an outbreak on a larger and more violent scale than that which
, See Ap�ndix VII, Table . . • Sec pp. 31-32; Hardy, op. <:it. viii. 72.
• See pp. 42-43. An:h. Nat., C -221, no. 160/146, fo!. 48.
• •
THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 203
had occurred in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine at the end of
April. On nine occasions during May, June, and the early days
ofJuly he records the posting ofspecial guards in the markets to
quell bread riots. On 13 June he noted that the police had
forbidden a rise in the 4-lb. loaf from 141 to 1 5 sous, as re­
quested by the bakers, for fear of social disturbance. A few days
before the political revolution itself, a crowd publicly' burned the
pamphlet, Esperance du peuple, which suggested two prices for
bread-3 sow and 5 sous per lb. 'Le but avait ete mal saisi par
la c1asse inferieure du peuple', wrote Hardy.1 During the July
revolution the same theme constantly recurs. A major purpose
of the organized attack on the Saint-Lazare monastery in the
early houn of 13 July was to remove grain stored in its barns to
the central markets, and among the local raiders, who looted
its rooms, the cry of 'allons chercher du pain' was heard; while to
the wage-earners, shopkeepers, and petty traders who burned
down the customs posts under orders from the poitical
l leaders
at the Palais Royal the issue was quite a simple one-to ensure
� cheaper food and drink : as a locksmith seen smashing the
� furniture in the office of the Chaillot barriire put it, 'nous allons
boire Ie vin it trois sols'.l
It has, of course, already been amply demonstrated that the
popular insurrection of5-6 October, which achieved its political
clearly connected with the provision of bread for the hungry
Parisian masses. We have seen that the lull following the murder
of Foullon and his son-in-law, Berthier, on 22 July was short­
lived. After a good harvest the price of bread was reduced
to 12 sow in early August ; but, partly owing to drought, the
expected abundance in the bakers' shops did not materialize
and the resultant shortage which lasted until November kept
the popular movement in a state of continuous animation.
There followed the remarkable series of demonstrations of
market-women and others at the Hotel de Ville and at bakers'
shops, culminating in the great march to Versailles. Note­
worthy features of this journie were of course the slogans
shouted by the marchers-'Cherchons Ie boulanger, la bou­
langere et Ie petit mitron'-and the persistence with which the
, Hardy, op. cit. viii. 310, 312, 3<1;0, 33<1;, 341, 3+" 3¥i,
,
35[, 378, 384.
Arch. Nat., Z' ¥>gl; Z'· 886.
110+ THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
THE MOTIVES OF REVO LUTIO NARY
CROWDS 20:;
women and their spokesman, Maillard, urged the National Their demands or protests assum
e, rather, a political form­
Assembly to feed the people of Paris,1
? �
as witness the numerous insults hurled
The Champ de Mars demonstration, on t e othe: and, at the National Guard

although widely supported by the menu peuple 10 a maJonty of

and the complaints against the Assem
bly and citygovernment by
those arrested in the course of the move
ment. In a sense, there·
the Paris Sections, was, in many respects, the most purely fore, the Champ de Mars affair and the
popular movement of
political of the great Parisian joumtts, By early November 1789 the spring and summer of t 791 mark an
important stage in the
the protracted social movement of the first months of the development of the Parisian sans.r:uloties
as a force in the Revolu­
r
Revolution had been brought to an end as the result of the
�embly and Com·
tion. With the split in the revolutionar
y bou geoisie and the
energetic measures taken by the National determined attempts of the democrats and
Republicans to win
mune to supply Paris with cheap and plenuful b,read and to
� �
, a firm basis of support among the peopl
e, they are beginning
curb public disorder, The particular prob ems armng from th to play a more independent part: not
, , only are they voicing
collapse of the assignat and war·ume IOflauon were yet to �ome, the particular programme of the more
radical section of the
so it came about that the Champ de Mars demonstrauon, of bourgeoisie, but they are beginning, however hesita
July 1791 was the only one ofth� great Parisianjoumles which tingly, to
express their own social grievances in a
political form.
was not associated in any way With a popular d�mand for �he With the spring of t 792 the Revolution
control of bread or of any other commodity of pnme n:cesslty, entered on a new

�
stage which was to give a new intensity
The demonstration was, it is true, preceded by � conslderab e the popular movement. The fall in the
and a new direction to
value of the tl.fsignat had
wages movement, involving many thousa�ds ofJourneymen 10 already begun to react on prices in the
, autumn of 1791, but it
a variety of trades, and by months of agttaUon among the un· was the outbreak of war that ushered
in a long period of
employed, threatened with starvation by the closure of the catastrophic inflation, during which the
attention of the sans­
ateliers de chariti, Yet these movements, though taken under the
c,o
culottes was almost continuously riveted to the probl
protective wing of the rdeliers Club and its affiliates, can�ot em of prices,
food shortage, and the compelling need
to force measures of
be directly connected With the Champ de Mars demonst�auon control in the price and supply of the necess
ities of life on un·
itself, and the demands of these workers are not reflected 10 the willing authorities. From the point ofview
ofthe social historian
cross.examination of the numerous wage·earners, shopkee�ers, the whole period is dominated by this
preoccupation, It was
and workshop masters arrested during this period in the vano� only by degrees, however, that the Parisi
an sans-culottes, with
Paris Sections,: In this respect the Champ de Mars affair the assistance of the Hebertists and, even
more, of the Enrages,
appears to fall outside the general pattern of social disturbance
,
that is here emerging, The parucular dem�nds of the commo � found a programme of social demands
that corresponded to

people are, in this case, rarely expressed 10 econonuc terms,

their particular needs and which they
. were eventually to force
for a brief period on theJacobin Convention
• See Part n, Chap. v.
.
in the shape of the
Maximum General. In the first place
See Part II, Chap. VI. Despite the political importance of these Independent their anger was directed
� �
S
against grocers, as it had previously
movements ofwage-camen-particularly thO$e of 179' and 179;4:- ey o not been directed against
. bakers and millers, and found expression
jolllrllu of this period (unlCII, of count:, we include the worken demonstra?on at
appear to have played any significant part in stimulaung p�rt1c,patlon 'n the
. in attempts by revolu­
the H6tel de Ville on 9 Thcnnidor). The economic motive most frcqumtly ,mpel·
. tionary crowds to compel provision merch
ants (particularly the
ling the wage-earncn was ofmunc the one that they Ihared with e mmu � �� more substantial among them) to sell their
awhole-the need for cheap and plmtiful b«ad. [For a more dewled exam
as wares at pre-Revolu­

ice my article ill the BoJkti� oJlhe I.H.R. (cited n

tion prices. The first of these move
i nOle 3, p. 19Ei above), pp. 71-H·]
mauon ments-that of January­
�
February 1 792-was limited to a few north
the National Guard, retorted thaI her aCC\lJCr would not be 10 w
, There was, however, the lady who, when accu.ted ofinsultin �ayetle and -central districts and
""ked to'explain her hOitility to the National
their defence: 'Ii Ie comparanl avail aUlant de mill que Ics aUlrcs a gagner Ie pa,n
ll
hng 10 aasun;e

qu'il mange' (Arch. Pr8". Pol., � '53, fol. 7); and the kitchen·maid who, when small chang<: (Arch. PUr. Pol., Aa 8:).
Guard, said me found difficulty in
buying bn:ad owing to the baken' lack of
rol. 117).
110+ THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
THE MOTIVES OF REVO LUTIO NARY
CROWDS 20:;
women and their spokesman, Maillard, urged the National Their demands or protests assum
e, rather, a political form­
Assembly to feed the people of Paris,1
? �
as witness the numerous insults hurled
The Champ de Mars demonstration, on t e othe: and, at the National Guard

although widely supported by the menu peuple 10 a maJonty of

and the complaints against the Assem
bly and citygovernment by
those arrested in the course of the move
ment. In a sense, there·
the Paris Sections, was, in many respects, the most purely fore, the Champ de Mars affair and the
popular movement of
political of the great Parisian joumtts, By early November 1789 the spring and summer of t 791 mark an
important stage in the
the protracted social movement of the first months of the development of the Parisian sans.r:uloties
as a force in the Revolu­
r
Revolution had been brought to an end as the result of the
�embly and Com·
tion. With the split in the revolutionar
y bou geoisie and the
energetic measures taken by the National determined attempts of the democrats and
Republicans to win
mune to supply Paris with cheap and plenuful b,read and to
� �
, a firm basis of support among the peopl
e, they are beginning
curb public disorder, The particular prob ems armng from th to play a more independent part: not
, , only are they voicing
collapse of the assignat and war·ume IOflauon were yet to �ome, the particular programme of the more
radical section of the
so it came about that the Champ de Mars demonstrauon, of bourgeoisie, but they are beginning, however hesita
July 1791 was the only one ofth� great Parisianjoumles which tingly, to
express their own social grievances in a
political form.
was not associated in any way With a popular d�mand for �he With the spring of t 792 the Revolution
control of bread or of any other commodity of pnme n:cesslty, entered on a new

�
stage which was to give a new intensity
The demonstration was, it is true, preceded by � conslderab e the popular movement. The fall in the
and a new direction to
value of the tl.fsignat had
wages movement, involving many thousa�ds ofJourneymen 10 already begun to react on prices in the
, autumn of 1791, but it
a variety of trades, and by months of agttaUon among the un· was the outbreak of war that ushered
in a long period of
employed, threatened with starvation by the closure of the catastrophic inflation, during which the
attention of the sans­
ateliers de chariti, Yet these movements, though taken under the
c,o
culottes was almost continuously riveted to the probl
protective wing of the rdeliers Club and its affiliates, can�ot em of prices,
food shortage, and the compelling need
to force measures of
be directly connected With the Champ de Mars demonst�auon control in the price and supply of the necess
ities of life on un·
itself, and the demands of these workers are not reflected 10 the willing authorities. From the point ofview
ofthe social historian
cross.examination of the numerous wage·earners, shopkee�ers, the whole period is dominated by this
preoccupation, It was
and workshop masters arrested during this period in the vano� only by degrees, however, that the Parisi
an sans-culottes, with
Paris Sections,: In this respect the Champ de Mars affair the assistance of the Hebertists and, even
more, of the Enrages,
appears to fall outside the general pattern of social disturbance
,
that is here emerging, The parucular dem�nds of the commo � found a programme of social demands
that corresponded to

people are, in this case, rarely expressed 10 econonuc terms,

their particular needs and which they
. were eventually to force
for a brief period on theJacobin Convention
• See Part n, Chap. v.
.
in the shape of the
Maximum General. In the first place
See Part II, Chap. VI. Despite the political importance of these Independent their anger was directed
� �
S
against grocers, as it had previously
movements ofwage-camen-particularly thO$e of 179' and 179;4:- ey o not been directed against
. bakers and millers, and found expression
jolllrllu of this period (unlCII, of count:, we include the worken demonstra?on at
appear to have played any significant part in stimulaung p�rt1c,patlon 'n the
. in attempts by revolu­
the H6tel de Ville on 9 Thcnnidor). The economic motive most frcqumtly ,mpel·
. tionary crowds to compel provision merch
ants (particularly the
ling the wage-earncn was ofmunc the one that they Ihared with e mmu � �� more substantial among them) to sell their
awhole-the need for cheap and plmtiful b«ad. [For a more dewled exam
as wares at pre-Revolu­

ice my article ill the BoJkti� oJlhe I.H.R. (cited n

tion prices. The first of these move
i nOle 3, p. 19Ei above), pp. 71-H·]
mauon ments-that of January­
�
February 1 792-was limited to a few north
the National Guard, retorted thaI her aCC\lJCr would not be 10 w
, There was, however, the lady who, when accu.ted ofinsultin �ayetle and -central districts and
""ked to'explain her hOitility to the National
their defence: 'Ii Ie comparanl avail aUlant de mill que Ics aUlrcs a gagner Ie pa,n
ll
hng 10 aasun;e

qu'il mange' (Arch. Pr8". Pol., � '53, fol. 7); and the kitchen·maid who, when small chang<: (Arch. PUr. Pol., Aa 8:).
Guard, said me found difficulty in
buying bn:ad owing to the baken' lack of
rol. 117).
 ARY CROWD THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 207
THE REVOLUTION
THE ANATOMY OF
int-Marcel and hathdthe no the Convention and the Committee of Public Safety managed,
ml-Antoine and tSa
\I06

to the FauboUf85 Saences: ne xio n wi by a policy of controls, to halt inflation and to arrest for several
•

immediate consequ June at aoX ra e 'u which followed

con months the fall in the value of the assignat. Yet the demands of a
":ugust
political joumllS of 20 o�lY a: r :� e s1ight�t.1 The riots of revolutionary war and the hostility of the farmen, who tended
shortly afterwards, was t
�r great f scale moveme and of far great er to hoard their produce in anticipation of better times or failed
February 1793 wencere,lonOna �� the nt did not to produce at all for fear ofrequisition, kept food in short supply.
political importa er the mo z�::t'on ofthe National Guard, the The resultant hardships and the Committee's attempts to
come to a stop aft z�n riot . �nd th� adopuen of a number of appease the large producers and merchants naturally placed a
arrest of a f�v.: do UVe pa�:auves. I a general sense it con­ heavy strain on the alliance between the government and the
minor adffilwstraa er the ena m r the Maximum General Parisian sans-culottes, We have already shown that the dis­
tioued unabated179ft throug� �\� O pierre's Revolutionary satisfaction thus occasioned, together with the particular grie­
Septem ber 3. or, to the last outbreak of vance of the wage-earners at the authorities' decision to enforce
in
Government an,d Its ' IiII in Thco'mdar Mo re the Maximum on wages, served to deprive Robespierre and
the sans-culottes lme
D Pra�.tnaI f the Ye erIllmo, an d beyon d.
guided by his associates of the popular support on which they might have
immediately it b,rge � .� the revolutionentof, Ma
wid vem
y-June counted on the fatal night of9-IO Thermidor,'
the Jacobin Clu hrwhichf led�? th�·ns by this time identified,
Wl

Many Parisians of coune lived to regret the fall of Robes-­

1793 and the 0v�� ;:r� ���ivel�� a �cuioltls at least, ��the pierre. Yet they took some time to react: the arrest ofJacobin
in the eyes 0f eor hoarders o.f food. It is not pro.......-. to leaden, the purges of local committees, the closure of political
hated accapartufS daily reports 0f the lice and the National clubs, and, even, the destruction of their own creation, the
analyse here theand a Of t y rt they establish clearly Maximum General, left them more or less unmoved; but when,
Guard in April the�ac\ ��e ;:;ati�n of those months for largely in consequence of government policy. inflation ran riot
enough that, <1:tes and p �ges of the Convention, lay deep and the prices of essential goods soared, a popular movement of
violent remedi the unfnuoUS nse . 10 •lOUU.J prices ] formidable proportions took shape, gathered momentum in the
popular conc�m of at I ing power to early months of 1 795, and broke out in the violent eruptions
' __

' S, though transferr

•

The expulsIOn the �?�ron.dlO all ay this unrest. of Germinal and Prairial. As we saw, this movement merged
the Mountain, did nothl�g 'mmed.''atJelu�etoare almost identical with and drew strength from the political movement directed by
The reports sent i�lbyorpoMalice a of bre ad in bakers' the surviving popular societies and Jacobin remnants, but its
se of Ap n y. i� :� �: rta ge
wi th tho
shops had agam . begun to arouse concemriots in March, and by the most consistent and continuous element was the hunger for
qu��es d b dwas thehad again become bread.1
end of August bree ad
of,Panslan��r. e. ';��s immediate back­ Yet we must avoid the temptation, to which some historians
a familiar featu� mt'ts n�
a 5 Se tembemer ue 1 793, directed by have succumbed, of presenting the popular insurrection! of the
ground to the JOu der o�\ e crt and thau nventio . It was undeatr Revolution as being almost exclusively dominated by short­
the Commune un we sa,,; h t the CoGeneral nanddecid ed term economic considerations-as though each of these move­
their �timulus, as law of t :e ;; aXl. m urn. to set on ments were, in essence, an 'emeute de la faim'. This was, of
last to decree the t wh'ICh, as an instr u- COurse, far from being the case. Not only have we seen that the
a rmt.1 fl'7){JlUtlonnalr of
foot the long-delayer,dwa s.Intended to ensure the provisi on sons-culottes identified themselves fully with a wide and varying
ment of the Terro of gram and ffih:nsi the
t to Paris from pressure su'" range of political ideas and calls to action as the Revolution
adequate suppliesvside suc stent popular 8 advanc�d; but we noted in particular the essentially political
round'10g countr J 4 Under
.
� Sec nature of the Champ de Mars demonstration and the whole
, Ste pp. 95-g6, 10
•

pp. " 4-1 .

... , .70'' F'" t i l Seine: 27. , !ke Part II, Chr.p. IX.
• Arch. Nr.'., F' 3
• S« pp. ,26-7,
"
• . ,F" • Sec Pari II, Chr.p. X.
,
 ARY CROWD THE MOTIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS 207
THE REVOLUTION
THE ANATOMY OF
int-Marcel and hathdthe no the Convention and the Committee of Public Safety managed,
ml-Antoine and tSa
\I06

to the FauboUf85 Saences: ne xio n wi by a policy of controls, to halt inflation and to arrest for several
•

immediate consequ June at aoX ra e 'u which followed

con months the fall in the value of the assignat. Yet the demands of a
":ugust
political joumllS of 20 o�lY a: r :� e s1ight�t.1 The riots of revolutionary war and the hostility of the farmen, who tended
shortly afterwards, was t
�r great f scale moveme and of far great er to hoard their produce in anticipation of better times or failed
February 1793 wencere,lonOna �� the nt did not to produce at all for fear ofrequisition, kept food in short supply.
political importa er the mo z�::t'on ofthe National Guard, the The resultant hardships and the Committee's attempts to
come to a stop aft z�n riot . �nd th� adopuen of a number of appease the large producers and merchants naturally placed a
arrest of a f�v.: do UVe pa�:auves. I a general sense it con­ heavy strain on the alliance between the government and the
minor adffilwstraa er the ena m r the Maximum General Parisian sans-culottes, We have already shown that the dis­
tioued unabated179ft throug� �\� O pierre's Revolutionary satisfaction thus occasioned, together with the particular grie­
Septem ber 3. or, to the last outbreak of vance of the wage-earners at the authorities' decision to enforce
in
Government an,d Its ' IiII in Thco'mdar Mo re the Maximum on wages, served to deprive Robespierre and
the sans-culottes lme
D Pra�.tnaI f the Ye erIllmo, an d beyon d.
guided by his associates of the popular support on which they might have
immediately it b,rge � .� the revolutionentof, Ma
wid vem
y-June counted on the fatal night of9-IO Thermidor,'
the Jacobin Clu hrwhichf led�? th�·ns by this time identified,
Wl

Many Parisians of coune lived to regret the fall of Robes-­

1793 and the 0v�� ;:r� ���ivel�� a �cuioltls at least, ��the pierre. Yet they took some time to react: the arrest ofJacobin
in the eyes 0f eor hoarders o.f food. It is not pro.......-. to leaden, the purges of local committees, the closure of political
hated accapartufS daily reports 0f the lice and the National clubs, and, even, the destruction of their own creation, the
analyse here theand a Of t y rt they establish clearly Maximum General, left them more or less unmoved; but when,
Guard in April the�ac\ ��e ;:;ati�n of those months for largely in consequence of government policy. inflation ran riot
enough that, <1:tes and p �ges of the Convention, lay deep and the prices of essential goods soared, a popular movement of
violent remedi the unfnuoUS nse . 10 •lOUU.J prices ] formidable proportions took shape, gathered momentum in the
popular conc�m of at I ing power to early months of 1 795, and broke out in the violent eruptions
' __

' S, though transferr

•

The expulsIOn the �?�ron.dlO all ay this unrest. of Germinal and Prairial. As we saw, this movement merged
the Mountain, did nothl�g 'mmed.''atJelu�etoare almost identical with and drew strength from the political movement directed by
The reports sent i�lbyorpoMalice a of bre ad in bakers' the surviving popular societies and Jacobin remnants, but its
se of Ap n y. i� :� �: rta ge
wi th tho
shops had agam . begun to arouse concemriots in March, and by the most consistent and continuous element was the hunger for
qu��es d b dwas thehad again become bread.1
end of August bree ad
of,Panslan��r. e. ';��s immediate back­ Yet we must avoid the temptation, to which some historians
a familiar featu� mt'ts n�
a 5 Se tembemer ue 1 793, directed by have succumbed, of presenting the popular insurrection! of the
ground to the JOu der o�\ e crt and thau nventio . It was undeatr Revolution as being almost exclusively dominated by short­
the Commune un we sa,,; h t the CoGeneral nanddecid ed term economic considerations-as though each of these move­
their �timulus, as law of t :e ;; aXl. m urn. to set on ments were, in essence, an 'emeute de la faim'. This was, of
last to decree the t wh'ICh, as an instr u- COurse, far from being the case. Not only have we seen that the
a rmt.1 fl'7){JlUtlonnalr of
foot the long-delayer,dwa s.Intended to ensure the provisi on sons-culottes identified themselves fully with a wide and varying
ment of the Terro of gram and ffih:nsi the
t to Paris from pressure su'" range of political ideas and calls to action as the Revolution
adequate suppliesvside suc stent popular 8 advanc�d; but we noted in particular the essentially political
round'10g countr J 4 Under
.
� Sec nature of the Champ de Mars demonstration and the whole
, Ste pp. 95-g6, 10
•

pp. " 4-1 .

... , .70'' F'" t i l Seine: 27. , !ke Part II, Chr.p. IX.
• Arch. Nr.'., F' 3
• S« pp. ,26-7,
"
• . ,F" • Sec Pari II, Chr.p. X.
,
'l08 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD THE MOTIVES OF REVO LUTI ONAR
Y CROWDS 'log
preparatory movement leading up to it, not to mention the oc�asional outbreaks of i dependent activi
? � ty by the menu peuple,
active support of the sans-culottts for such exclusively military­ gomg ey�nd or runnmg counter to the intere
sts of their
political actions as the assault on the Bastille and the Tuileries bourgeolS allIes and castigated by them as 'coun
ter-revolutionary'
-5uch outbreaks as the bhnd .
and the expulsion of the Girondins from the Convention. In the fury of the Reveillon rioters or the
case of the Champ de Mars affair at least, the threat of famine more cons�ructive eff rts of Parisians
to impose a form of
��oce,!, riots of 1 792 and 1793.
�
or ofrising prices played no part whatsoever. On the other hand, popul�r pnce-c ntrol 10 the
�
Yet wlthou� the Impact ofpolltlcal ldeas
we have noted the abstention of the sans-culottes from any direct , mainly derived from
political intervention in the events ofVendemiaire of the Year the bourgeoIS leaders, such movements
would have remained
IV-in striking contrast with their active participation, a few strangely purposeless and barren of resul
t; and had the sans­
months earlier, in the days of Germinal and Prairial, though �ulottes not been able to absorb and to adapt these ideas, their
mfluence on the course and Outcome
popular concern with bread-shortage and inflation was as acute of the Revolution would
have been far less substantial than in
in the one case as in the other.' The essential difference lay of fact it was.
course in the changed political conditions and in the very
differing ainu of the rebels of Vendemiaire from those of
Prairial :1 in spite of continuing inflation and near-famine
conditions, the active sans-culottts were not prepared to carry
their hostility to the Therrnidorian Convention to the point of
giving comfort to the declared enemies of the Republic. The
point is of interest: for one thing, it serves to disprove the con­
tention that the mtnu peuple, for lack of political maturity, were
prepared to follow the lead of any demagogue irrespective of
their own interests or inclinations; for another, it shows that a
satisfactory explanation of popular participation in, or absten­
tion from, these movements cannot be given without proper
account being taken of both political and economic factors and
that concentration on the one to the exclusion of the other will
only produce a distorted picture.
Yet, when all is said and done, the inescapable conclusion
remains that the primary and most constant motive impelling
revolutionary crowds during this period was the concern for the
provision of cheap and plentiful food. This, more than any
other factor, was the raw material out of whieh the popular
Revolution was forged. It alone accounts for the continuity of
the social ferment that was such a marked feature of the
capital in these years and out of whieh the great political
joumitJ themselves developed. Even more it accounts for the

, S<:e Part II, Chap. XI.

wlU the pu�ly technical difficulty o{staging a concerted action after the cnahinl
• II iI true that the� were other raclo... involved, or which the mOl.t importAllt

defeat of Prairia1; but this docs not invalidate the argument in any way.
'l08 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD THE MOTIVES OF REVO LUTI ONAR
Y CROWDS 'log
preparatory movement leading up to it, not to mention the oc�asional outbreaks of i dependent activi
? � ty by the menu peuple,
active support of the sans-culottts for such exclusively military­ gomg ey�nd or runnmg counter to the intere
sts of their
political actions as the assault on the Bastille and the Tuileries bourgeolS allIes and castigated by them as 'coun
ter-revolutionary'
-5uch outbreaks as the bhnd .
and the expulsion of the Girondins from the Convention. In the fury of the Reveillon rioters or the
case of the Champ de Mars affair at least, the threat of famine more cons�ructive eff rts of Parisians
to impose a form of
��oce,!, riots of 1 792 and 1793.
�
or ofrising prices played no part whatsoever. On the other hand, popul�r pnce-c ntrol 10 the
�
Yet wlthou� the Impact ofpolltlcal ldeas
we have noted the abstention of the sans-culottes from any direct , mainly derived from
political intervention in the events ofVendemiaire of the Year the bourgeoIS leaders, such movements
would have remained
IV-in striking contrast with their active participation, a few strangely purposeless and barren of resul
t; and had the sans­
months earlier, in the days of Germinal and Prairial, though �ulottes not been able to absorb and to adapt these ideas, their
mfluence on the course and Outcome
popular concern with bread-shortage and inflation was as acute of the Revolution would
have been far less substantial than in
in the one case as in the other.' The essential difference lay of fact it was.
course in the changed political conditions and in the very
differing ainu of the rebels of Vendemiaire from those of
Prairial :1 in spite of continuing inflation and near-famine
conditions, the active sans-culottts were not prepared to carry
their hostility to the Therrnidorian Convention to the point of
giving comfort to the declared enemies of the Republic. The
point is of interest: for one thing, it serves to disprove the con­
tention that the mtnu peuple, for lack of political maturity, were
prepared to follow the lead of any demagogue irrespective of
their own interests or inclinations; for another, it shows that a
satisfactory explanation of popular participation in, or absten­
tion from, these movements cannot be given without proper
account being taken of both political and economic factors and
that concentration on the one to the exclusion of the other will
only produce a distorted picture.
Yet, when all is said and done, the inescapable conclusion
remains that the primary and most constant motive impelling
revolutionary crowds during this period was the concern for the
provision of cheap and plentiful food. This, more than any
other factor, was the raw material out of whieh the popular
Revolution was forged. It alone accounts for the continuity of
the social ferment that was such a marked feature of the
capital in these years and out of whieh the great political
joumitJ themselves developed. Even more it accounts for the

, S<:e Part II, Chap. XI.

wlU the pu�ly technical difficulty o{staging a concerted action after the cnahinl
• II iI true that the� were other raclo... involved, or which the mOl.t importAllt

defeat of Prairia1; but this docs not invalidate the argument in any way.
 THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY l li l

distributed free of charge to army units by the Ministry of War

in 1793,1 served a similar purpose in the barrack�room; and we
XIV are told that the Constitution of 1791 was read aloud and dis-­
cussed at meetings of outnitrs and others before its adoption by
F the Assembly,l
THE G E N ERATION O Yet it would be wrong to assume that the Parisian sans­
CTIVITY
REVOLUTI ONARY A culottts at least had no direct access to the writings of the political

£ T other questions still

� ay � thinkers and journalists, In the capital the degree of literacy

Y
we
remain, to some of w ich
1
appears to have been considerably higher than in the provinces :
this is attested by both contemporary observers and police
.
rev olu ona ry eas
wece the �
attem t an answer. How
and oga l ns tran smi tted ? Ho w did the particular atm
, , t at ? ark
o­
d
records, Restif de la Bretonne no doubt exaggerated when he

ous )oumteS
or her oISm
�
e, audacity, � � wrote in 1789:
sphere of tension, violenc
� � Depuis quelque temps, les ouvriers de la capitale sont devenw:
elop ? How were th� va
revolutionary crowds, dev Wh t we
prepared and orgaruzed. :
crthc Revolution in Paris
ers and the crowds that
r 0
ten orr;: intraitables parce qu'ils ont lu, dans nos livres, une verilt� trop forte
the links between the lead nt were t elT
. pour eux : que l'ouvrier est un homme precieux,)
resp ons e to thei r call s to action? To what exte
in

�
But the police reports of the Chatelet and the Sections on those
actions spontaneous? . .
t popular OpiniOn e 0rmaD}0
. ' f arrested in riots in this period suggest that the great majority of
It is evident, of course, tha
, fonned the main y 0
re ".o u­ the small workshop masters and tradesmen, and a large propor­
those who as individuals
�
cr wds-w as. in larg e par t, mo � ?
ulded Y t C direct tion of the adult male wage-eamers-the journeymen, in
tiona
Z
ex e nce of the sans-cul
ottts themselves. Some hl5t �
o ans h�ve
reac�
particular-could at least sign their names,4 While we may

�
de ied this,, but "
we have already said c:
rising food pnc
nou
ts
gh
not
of
to
theu
hav e to p .. .. ....
perhaps take it for granted that no considerable body of sans­
culottes read Rousseau or any other philosopht first-hand,s there is
to economiC cnsls and to
the Oint further, Yet her
:
thos ideas and slogans
e we are mainly concer�
that the mtnU peupu den
,
ed
ved
Wit
a
' h
r:: ample evidence that some pamphleteers and political writers
addressed themselves directly to them, their women-folk in­

al groups and whi ch, as we sa , cluded, This is suggested by the large number of pamphlets not
assimilated from other soci
�
tical voc�bula and drew , , ,
them mto
,
only purporting to reflect the views oftheJauhourgs and markets,
both gave them a new poli �
� clans
on but written in popular language, Hebert's Pht Duchtsm is an
obvious case in point ; and it is interesting to note the remark
lutionary Journali sts and poI
action as allies of the revo
olution, How wer e the: e I eas con ­
the reat 'ournitS of the Rev , eracy was
� i
con e e to them? In the
villages �t leas t, whe re lllit attributed to a market-woman in a tract of 1789, Premitr dialogut

, Thedainumber of
i ly as fromcopiesScplember
ordered by'793the(Tuetcy,
Ministry was increased from 8,000 to
n largelY
municauon must have bee
IB RlpnlOirt, vol. lI, no. �'.I2'),
almos ene ral such com
� �
oral '! a d eve in provincial
capital s and mar ket tow ns,
�
where
• !>IITCIIT.
1'.1,000
naJional II Ilfll",", no, viii, 23 April 1791,
, Reatifop.detil.,la Brelmlne, !>ItS iflSl7ijlliDtu. ]tnaMJ illlinu, p. 130; uot by
q O.
rep rts
h
Art ur Young found such a
dearth of newspapers,l the
� ��
rd Estate of 1789 were read
alo
� I� �Iornet,
• Sec
p. 426. ed

betw«n
one typeAppend; lI V. Theandincidence of lileracy orbetweenvaried
of the dcputies of the Thi , To � a
their constituents in the mai
n squa re or outs ide the
lCh w
an of wage-catn« another--cvc n more coone
one type of Satu..culDlu
widely

maste" than amongjourncymen; higher amongjourneymen than mongworuhop

d anOlher. It was considerably higher, wc should expecl, among
t Hebert's PiTt Duchtsru, w
We may assume, tOO, tha
, cy at th"IS ume sec E Champion
aa
'general'
pc:apnt(Pariilhter:a , La
«I,ulld
workers or workersmalein manufacture; considerably higher among men than among
, ..

S ''nk/J
FrlVlt. d'""," Ed
t O ; ..nd D. Momet, "
us 0"l·nt workers, lowell among the many unemployed worken and
'7119 l, (Paris,pp.1933), og- women; ¥Id, of
.
1 FOf"

pp. 4�pp.o-�·174, J7�, 18�, I8!j-6 P-t':uanu who fillnl. Ihe Dltiirrs ,/will in the early months of the Revolution,
19�1 ), �
coJrinl de

lIM JlIlly, ..A this

For a diac1.lDion of quealion Mornct, op. cit., �BI, 449. pp.
dt
d. ..
A, Young , TrlWtU
l RI,«)/wioltjrlll'\fllisr
17�, pp. 83-3.j.·
'

, G. Lefebvre, La Grand. Ptur

1 iN FrlJ/tU • sec
til
 THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY l li l

distributed free of charge to army units by the Ministry of War

in 1793,1 served a similar purpose in the barrack�room; and we
XIV are told that the Constitution of 1791 was read aloud and dis-­
cussed at meetings of outnitrs and others before its adoption by
F the Assembly,l
THE G E N ERATION O Yet it would be wrong to assume that the Parisian sans­
CTIVITY
REVOLUTI ONARY A culottts at least had no direct access to the writings of the political

£ T other questions still

� ay � thinkers and journalists, In the capital the degree of literacy

Y
we
remain, to some of w ich
1
appears to have been considerably higher than in the provinces :
this is attested by both contemporary observers and police
.
rev olu ona ry eas
wece the �
attem t an answer. How
and oga l ns tran smi tted ? Ho w did the particular atm
, , t at ? ark
o­
d
records, Restif de la Bretonne no doubt exaggerated when he

ous )oumteS
or her oISm
�
e, audacity, � � wrote in 1789:
sphere of tension, violenc
� � Depuis quelque temps, les ouvriers de la capitale sont devenw:
elop ? How were th� va
revolutionary crowds, dev Wh t we
prepared and orgaruzed. :
crthc Revolution in Paris
ers and the crowds that
r 0
ten orr;: intraitables parce qu'ils ont lu, dans nos livres, une verilt� trop forte
the links between the lead nt were t elT
. pour eux : que l'ouvrier est un homme precieux,)
resp ons e to thei r call s to action? To what exte
in

�
But the police reports of the Chatelet and the Sections on those
actions spontaneous? . .
t popular OpiniOn e 0rmaD}0
. ' f arrested in riots in this period suggest that the great majority of
It is evident, of course, tha
, fonned the main y 0
re ".o u­ the small workshop masters and tradesmen, and a large propor­
those who as individuals
�
cr wds-w as. in larg e par t, mo � ?
ulded Y t C direct tion of the adult male wage-eamers-the journeymen, in
tiona
Z
ex e nce of the sans-cul
ottts themselves. Some hl5t �
o ans h�ve
reac�
particular-could at least sign their names,4 While we may

�
de ied this,, but "
we have already said c:
rising food pnc
nou
ts
gh
not
of
to
theu
hav e to p .. .. ....
perhaps take it for granted that no considerable body of sans­
culottes read Rousseau or any other philosopht first-hand,s there is
to economiC cnsls and to
the Oint further, Yet her
:
thos ideas and slogans
e we are mainly concer�
that the mtnU peupu den
,
ed
ved
Wit
a
' h
r:: ample evidence that some pamphleteers and political writers
addressed themselves directly to them, their women-folk in­

al groups and whi ch, as we sa , cluded, This is suggested by the large number of pamphlets not
assimilated from other soci
�
tical voc�bula and drew , , ,
them mto
,
only purporting to reflect the views oftheJauhourgs and markets,
both gave them a new poli �
� clans
on but written in popular language, Hebert's Pht Duchtsm is an
obvious case in point ; and it is interesting to note the remark
lutionary Journali sts and poI
action as allies of the revo
olution, How wer e the: e I eas con ­
the reat 'ournitS of the Rev , eracy was
� i
con e e to them? In the
villages �t leas t, whe re lllit attributed to a market-woman in a tract of 1789, Premitr dialogut

, Thedainumber of
i ly as fromcopiesScplember
ordered by'793the(Tuetcy,
Ministry was increased from 8,000 to
n largelY
municauon must have bee
IB RlpnlOirt, vol. lI, no. �'.I2'),
almos ene ral such com
� �
oral '! a d eve in provincial
capital s and mar ket tow ns,
�
where
• !>IITCIIT.
1'.1,000
naJional II Ilfll",", no, viii, 23 April 1791,
, Reatifop.detil.,la Brelmlne, !>ItS iflSl7ijlliDtu. ]tnaMJ illlinu, p. 130; uot by
q O.
rep rts
h
Art ur Young found such a
dearth of newspapers,l the
� ��
rd Estate of 1789 were read
alo
� I� �Iornet,
• Sec
p. 426. ed

betw«n
one typeAppend; lI V. Theandincidence of lileracy orbetweenvaried
of the dcputies of the Thi , To � a
their constituents in the mai
n squa re or outs ide the
lCh w
an of wage-catn« another--cvc n more coone
one type of Satu..culDlu
widely

maste" than amongjourncymen; higher amongjourneymen than mongworuhop

d anOlher. It was considerably higher, wc should expecl, among
t Hebert's PiTt Duchtsru, w
We may assume, tOO, tha
, cy at th"IS ume sec E Champion
aa
'general'
pc:apnt(Pariilhter:a , La
«I,ulld
workers or workersmalein manufacture; considerably higher among men than among
, ..

S ''nk/J
FrlVlt. d'""," Ed
t O ; ..nd D. Momet, "
us 0"l·nt workers, lowell among the many unemployed worken and
'7119 l, (Paris,pp.1933), og- women; ¥Id, of
.
1 FOf"

pp. 4�pp.o-�·174, J7�, 18�, I8!j-6 P-t':uanu who fillnl. Ihe Dltiirrs ,/will in the early months of the Revolution,
19�1 ), �
coJrinl de

lIM JlIlly, ..A this

For a diac1.lDion of quealion Mornct, op. cit., �BI, 449. pp.
dt
d. ..
A, Young , TrlWtU
l RI,«)/wioltjrlll'\fllisr
17�, pp. 83-3.j.·
'

, G. Lefebvre, La Grand. Ptur

1 iN FrlJ/tU • sec
til
 THE GENERATION O F REVOLUTIONARY A CT I V I TY 1I13
CRO WD
212 THE ANATOMY OF TH
E REV OL UT ION AR Y
� �
to t e atmosp ere of the grocery riots that immediately followed
f
,
la halle: 'Dame! j'savons lire
entre une poissarde et un fort de orts to reach
Aga1O, accordmg to police informers, more than 500 copies o
in 179 1 made special eff
j'espere !'L The democrats the p �mphlet, L'lnsurrectjon du peuple, were distributed in a
ion : Marat's Ami du prop
le pub­
e
_

the wage-earning populat propnately selected districts of the capital on the eve of t
lished letters from journeym
en cobblers and building wor
ent of 'Ia
kers j1
c1asse
revolt of 1st Prairial of the Year III.' Yet, by and large, it see �
cribing the enrolm
and Louise Robert, in des ietie s in May
probable th�t the great body of participants in these events
on' in Fratern al Soc
la moins eclairee de la nati ils lui ava ient
were drawn m by other means.
ne lui suffisaie nt plu s:
179 1, wrote : 'Lesjournaux amo ng the
A more systematic indoctrination of the sans-culottes with the
'l There is evidenc e, too, . .
inspire Ie desir de s'instruire. Ideas of the advanced political groups took place by th
police reports drawn up in con
nexion with the Cha mp de Ma
tion
rs
,
enrolme?t in the Natio?al Guard and, above all, in the c1u ��
ch suggests that a fair propor . -
affair of the same year, whi the
and Socletlcs and SectIOnal committees. It IS- m- terestmg to
mcn and other workers read
at least, of the active journey observ� h�w the sons-culottes, at first excluded from positions of
the cook, Constance Evrard, told
revolutionary press. Thus Section
authonty 10 such bodies, gradually came to 'capture' them and
the Fontaine de Crenelle
the police commissioner of even, for a brief period, to convert them into vehicl- ..... '
!or the
l at
Cam ille Des­
Marat, Audouin, .
'qu'elle lisait Prudhomme, expression - 0fthelr. own views rather than those of the porti
ateur du Peuple' j4 a toba cco­
:
moulins et tres souvent l'Or
worker, when arrested, was
found in possessio
med to deri ve
n
his
of L'A
view s
mi
from
du
i
leaders �ho established them. When the National Guard as
}
orme� m Ju y 1 789, Barnave rejoiced that, in large part at
peuplej a commercial traveller clai
-
. . .

1" cllly ebarred from its ranks ;l yet such distinctions

east, It was bonne bourgeoise" "l soon atite'"J passIVe CItizens
•

Marat and Pru dho mm e; and a jour neyman cobbler asserted

tic
were Imp � �
through reading the democra - ,
that his opinions were formed arre sted
were abolIshed m the summer of 1)92 ,- and, WI-th Hannot s
that , of the 250 pers ons
press.s It is perhaps significant
.
appomtment as commander-in_chief in May 1793, it became
Paris Sect ions on poli tica l charges during this period, lar�ely composed of sans-culottes and, for many months' it re­
in the phlets
accused of distributing pam
-
twelve were news-vendors,
There seems 1�t.t1e dDubt that it was under these conditions that
mamed the obedient instrument of the Jacobin Commune.
case with
customers.6 If this is the
and newspapers among such the dem o­
can only assume tha t
the active wage-earners, we ll wor k­
the future milItary cadres of the armed uprising of Prairial
e widely among the sma
cratic press circulated far mor than thei r
developed.
were mor e liter ate
shop masters and tradesmen, who An e��n more signifi�ant part in the political education of
their view s.
journeymen and often moulded the PansJan menu peuple In Jacobin principles must have been
s likely, ther efor e, that the journals and pamphlets play�d by the clubs and popular societies. We have already
It seem
�
the
shaping popular opinion on
played an important part in con�ld.ere the rDI� of certain of these, the so-called Fraternal
day and, on occasion at leas in SOCletl�s, m mo�ldl?g the opinion of cooks, water-carriers, and
t,
main political questions of the
ctly for the great revolutionary
preparing such opinion dire other Slmple� ouuyurs 10 the months preceding the Champ de M
seen the part played by the ��
events in the capital. We have
democratic press and the Cor
deliers Club in the agitation
of
�Y'
demonstration and petition Ofl79 I-at a time when the 'pare
th� Co�dehers .
Club, opened its doors to 'passive' citizens
y reducmg �ts �ubscription to '2 soU! a month." During this
nst mer chan ts and
tement agai
1 7 9 ' ; and Marat's ferocious inci
grocers in Lt Publ icist eof'2 5 Feb ruar y '793 no doubt contributed .
penod,
.
SOCieties hke the Club Fratemel des Jacobins, the Club

.
'M· I.
�,
I Bib. Nat., Lb'" 7577, p. 16.
June 1791, pp. 1-5'
no. 468, 24 May 1791, p. 7; no. 487, 12
", Nal., \
II 12,
A. Aulard, Paris ptruliJn.l14 r'tJtli01l IhmnidiJr
,--· - 735·
1 L'Ami dupeupl.,
( 1 M. Tourncux, Bibliogrophil. d. l'hiJ/Qir' tit Pilris Y' 0,00IU,-"'" fi,allflUU
-
p. 376.
,
,,
.._.... '
., Ia ....
no. 10 May 1791, ' Are,
, nos. 197-8.

See p. 87.
, }'I.r<�" "a/iaMl d 'trang.f, xxiv,
fol. 40; Arch. Nat., DXXIXb
Arch. l'rH. Pol., Ab 324, p. 44; Nt. 76, ' 1 Il...":12-1913), II, • Sec pp. 85-86.
"
• 36, .. no, 670�.
• IV.
o
5 v J..s. Pans,
• �e Appendix
no. 376, fo!. 37.
 THE GENERATION O F REVOLUTIONARY A CT I V I TY 1I13
CRO WD
212 THE ANATOMY OF TH
E REV OL UT ION AR Y
� �
to t e atmosp ere of the grocery riots that immediately followed
f
,
la halle: 'Dame! j'savons lire
entre une poissarde et un fort de orts to reach
Aga1O, accordmg to police informers, more than 500 copies o
in 179 1 made special eff
j'espere !'L The democrats the p �mphlet, L'lnsurrectjon du peuple, were distributed in a
ion : Marat's Ami du prop
le pub­
e
_

the wage-earning populat propnately selected districts of the capital on the eve of t
lished letters from journeym
en cobblers and building wor
ent of 'Ia
kers j1
c1asse
revolt of 1st Prairial of the Year III.' Yet, by and large, it see �
cribing the enrolm
and Louise Robert, in des ietie s in May
probable th�t the great body of participants in these events
on' in Fratern al Soc
la moins eclairee de la nati ils lui ava ient
were drawn m by other means.
ne lui suffisaie nt plu s:
179 1, wrote : 'Lesjournaux amo ng the
A more systematic indoctrination of the sans-culottes with the
'l There is evidenc e, too, . .
inspire Ie desir de s'instruire. Ideas of the advanced political groups took place by th
police reports drawn up in con
nexion with the Cha mp de Ma
tion
rs
,
enrolme?t in the Natio?al Guard and, above all, in the c1u ��
ch suggests that a fair propor . -
affair of the same year, whi the
and Socletlcs and SectIOnal committees. It IS- m- terestmg to
mcn and other workers read
at least, of the active journey observ� h�w the sons-culottes, at first excluded from positions of
the cook, Constance Evrard, told
revolutionary press. Thus Section
authonty 10 such bodies, gradually came to 'capture' them and
the Fontaine de Crenelle
the police commissioner of even, for a brief period, to convert them into vehicl- ..... '
!or the
l at
Cam ille Des­
Marat, Audouin, .
'qu'elle lisait Prudhomme, expression - 0fthelr. own views rather than those of the porti
ateur du Peuple' j4 a toba cco­
:
moulins et tres souvent l'Or
worker, when arrested, was
found in possessio
med to deri ve
n
his
of L'A
view s
mi
from
du
i
leaders �ho established them. When the National Guard as
}
orme� m Ju y 1 789, Barnave rejoiced that, in large part at
peuplej a commercial traveller clai
-
. . .

1" cllly ebarred from its ranks ;l yet such distinctions

east, It was bonne bourgeoise" "l soon atite'"J passIVe CItizens
•

Marat and Pru dho mm e; and a jour neyman cobbler asserted

tic
were Imp � �
through reading the democra - ,
that his opinions were formed arre sted
were abolIshed m the summer of 1)92 ,- and, WI-th Hannot s
that , of the 250 pers ons
press.s It is perhaps significant
.
appomtment as commander-in_chief in May 1793, it became
Paris Sect ions on poli tica l charges during this period, lar�ely composed of sans-culottes and, for many months' it re­
in the phlets
accused of distributing pam
-
twelve were news-vendors,
There seems 1�t.t1e dDubt that it was under these conditions that
mamed the obedient instrument of the Jacobin Commune.
case with
customers.6 If this is the
and newspapers among such the dem o­
can only assume tha t
the active wage-earners, we ll wor k­
the future milItary cadres of the armed uprising of Prairial
e widely among the sma
cratic press circulated far mor than thei r
developed.
were mor e liter ate
shop masters and tradesmen, who An e��n more signifi�ant part in the political education of
their view s.
journeymen and often moulded the PansJan menu peuple In Jacobin principles must have been
s likely, ther efor e, that the journals and pamphlets play�d by the clubs and popular societies. We have already
It seem
�
the
shaping popular opinion on
played an important part in con�ld.ere the rDI� of certain of these, the so-called Fraternal
day and, on occasion at leas in SOCletl�s, m mo�ldl?g the opinion of cooks, water-carriers, and
t,
main political questions of the
ctly for the great revolutionary
preparing such opinion dire other Slmple� ouuyurs 10 the months preceding the Champ de M
seen the part played by the ��
events in the capital. We have
democratic press and the Cor
deliers Club in the agitation
of
�Y'
demonstration and petition Ofl79 I-at a time when the 'pare
th� Co�dehers .
Club, opened its doors to 'passive' citizens
y reducmg �ts �ubscription to '2 soU! a month." During this
nst mer chan ts and
tement agai
1 7 9 ' ; and Marat's ferocious inci
grocers in Lt Publ icist eof'2 5 Feb ruar y '793 no doubt contributed .
penod,
.
SOCieties hke the Club Fratemel des Jacobins, the Club

.
'M· I.
�,
I Bib. Nat., Lb'" 7577, p. 16.
June 1791, pp. 1-5'
no. 468, 24 May 1791, p. 7; no. 487, 12
", Nal., \
II 12,
A. Aulard, Paris ptruliJn.l14 r'tJtli01l IhmnidiJr
,--· - 735·
1 L'Ami dupeupl.,
( 1 M. Tourncux, Bibliogrophil. d. l'hiJ/Qir' tit Pilris Y' 0,00IU,-"'" fi,allflUU
-
p. 376.
,
,,
.._.... '
., Ia ....
no. 10 May 1791, ' Are,
, nos. 197-8.

See p. 87.
, }'I.r<�" "a/iaMl d 'trang.f, xxiv,
fol. 40; Arch. Nat., DXXIXb
Arch. l'rH. Pol., Ab 324, p. 44; Nt. 76, ' 1 Il...":12-1913), II, • Sec pp. 85-86.
"
• 36, .. no, 670�.
• IV.
o
5 v J..s. Pans,
• �e Appendix
no. 376, fo!. 37.
ill4- THE ANATOM Y OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD THE GEN ERA TIO N OF
REVOLUTIONARY ACT
This being the case, it is not surp
IVIT Y
des HaIles, and the Societe des Ennemis du Despotisme. argely ! rising that these bodies often
215

composed of such dements, were able to a�tract meeu!"gs of became centres for the propaga
, , tion of the views of the sans­
300 to 800 persons,' By early 1792 the SOCIeues wer� s�nngtng �otUs themselves-derived in
up everywhere and, in May of that year, the complatnt lS ade � part, it is true, from the revolu­
tlon�ry leaders- ther than
':" of those of the majority in the
tbat the workers of the Gobelins tapestry manufacture sont National Convention. This, of
, course, helps to explain why the
toujours de garde ou de club',1 A year later a bookhmde r of larg�r part of the societies was
, compelled to close down and
the Pantheon quarter protests at the scandalous behaVIour the mdependence of the Sect
of the workers employed on the construction of the c urch of � J 7941-a process that
ions restricted in the spring
of
Sainte.Genevieve, 'qui sc sont formes en club d se reuDissent en
was completed by' the more 'mo
dera te'
. , .,
Conventio after Thermidor,
dehors et apres l'assemhlee de Ia seeUon
� with the wholesale 'purging'
e, the comitis ciuils and comitls
reconstrucllon of the Commun and

al of the 'forty sous'.' A:5 we

The Revolutionary Committees were, from the start, largely rioolutionnaires, and the withdraw
have seen, by September J 795
, there were no societies club
, . rePre­
composed ofsans-culottes: at the inaugural meeung of theIr
sentatives they petitioned the Commune and the Co�venuo . s
to indemnify their members, 'presque touS des ouvn�rs qUi
� committees, or assemblies that
of the sans-culottes and, when
still directly voiced the o inio
the primary assemblies were
� �
vivent de leur travail'.4 Even the ChaJllPs tlysces SectlOn, on convened to discu the draft Con
the western boundary of the fashionable rc;sidentia quart:�,
,
� �
�
a h.and ul f ouvnm attended
�
stitution of the Year III, only
their meetings.J Henceforward,
had, in June 1 793, a Committee 'compose d ouv�ers, meles their agitation and the utteranc
e of their grievances were onc
avec quelques bourgeois'.s From figures quoted earher w.e s�w more confined to the streets, wor e
Wi.th all thi , a onsiderable-
kshops, and markets.
that in the Year II the overwhelming majority of commtSSa!res
part 10 spreadmg Ideas and mou
� � perhaps the preponderating­
were shopkeepers, small workshop masters, and independent
lding opinions must still have
craftsmen, while only a little over a quarter were made up of been played by the spoken
manufacturers, civil servants, contractors, and members
word in public meeting-places
renters,
i workshop�, wine-shops, markets
of the professions.' While we know a great deal less of the com­ ample eVidence for this view
, and food-shops. There i;
in the police reports and othe
position of the Popular Societies in Paris, it appears to have cont�mporary comment on the r
disturbances of the period.
been somewhat similar;7 the same is true of th� Commune of Dunng the rivolte nohiliaire, it
�
this period;8 and the regular attendance o a fair body of sans­ Dauphine that se ed as the
�
was the Pont Neuf and Plac
main focal points of politica
e
culottes at the general meetings of the Secllons was assured by .
gossip and revolullonary agit l
ation: this was of course due
the payment of40 sous as compensation for time lost from work.� their im�ediate proximity to to
the Palais de Justice, where the
, 1. Bourdin, In S«iilis JIoIIuUJirrs d Paris p.ndaroJ /� RllIOiululII (hr:', 1 937),
parlenunlalres and their mos
t vocal supporters, the law
pp. 131--"9. Mlle Bourdin', account coven only the penod 17�' clerks and ushers, bo h ad the � �
yers'
• Ac<:h. N..t., 0' 11053·
� r scene of operations. In June
1 789 the centre of agItatlon,
• Duuud's report to Garat on 119 May 1793 {A. Schmidt, op. (:It. I. 330) .
. . . which had lain for a while in
J Sehmidt, op. cit i�. 511.
the
• Arch. N t., F' 1150.
.. eastern /trubourgs, shifted to the
• Then: is only a handrul oflUch lists now s u rvlVm� for Pans. C!f th mt;"t
• Sec pp. 130-1. Palais Royal where the Duk
: .
t!'ese � �f Orleans and his retinue oforat
:
e
complet the ..t I have seen is that or the Socittt popuhu� etRqrubhcalnede I U
9
� hsts had established their hea
ors, pamphl teers, and journa
dquarters. It was from here that
­
in the Thtitre Fran�aiJ Section, whole 1180 memben m J,,?�al)' 17 4 comp
lOme 1100 crafumen and shopkeepen in 6o-odd tradco (15 jOtnen, 114 tallon, and
the crowds set out on the nigh
. t of 30 June to release the
shoc:m..lr.en) 118 clerks 16 misccllanwUl wage-carnen, and I. score oImerchants. eleven Gardes Fran�ais from
� ....
ntr..cton, and slock-jobbc (Brit. Mus., F. 827 �5)) ' What little I know of
membcnhip ofprovinciai JO(:ictico l owe to Mr. RIchard Cobb, who has wor
� had been locked up for refusing
the Abbaye prison, where they
to fire on Parisians who had
ulensivdy on French provincia I retOrd.s. • See p. 131. • 1)iirty.nine of these WeT<: dosed
• E. Mclli�, us &diDns r/, Paris pmdlVll /0: /UvolUIIOII jrtJ",nu, {Pans,
. •

. . ' down in Par� during May-June

18,.) • (A. Soboul, 'Robapierre and 1 79+ alone
the Popular Movement of ' 9
P· 145· 9
May [ 54, p. Gg). 7 3-4', PaJl lIIIIi Proso/ll,
• See p. '43.
) See p. [66.
ill4- THE ANATOM Y OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD THE GEN ERA TIO N OF
REVOLUTIONARY ACT
This being the case, it is not surp
IVIT Y
des HaIles, and the Societe des Ennemis du Despotisme. argely ! rising that these bodies often
215

composed of such dements, were able to a�tract meeu!"gs of became centres for the propaga
, , tion of the views of the sans­
300 to 800 persons,' By early 1792 the SOCIeues wer� s�nngtng �otUs themselves-derived in
up everywhere and, in May of that year, the complatnt lS ade � part, it is true, from the revolu­
tlon�ry leaders- ther than
':" of those of the majority in the
tbat the workers of the Gobelins tapestry manufacture sont National Convention. This, of
, course, helps to explain why the
toujours de garde ou de club',1 A year later a bookhmde r of larg�r part of the societies was
, compelled to close down and
the Pantheon quarter protests at the scandalous behaVIour the mdependence of the Sect
of the workers employed on the construction of the c urch of � J 7941-a process that
ions restricted in the spring
of
Sainte.Genevieve, 'qui sc sont formes en club d se reuDissent en
was completed by' the more 'mo
dera te'
. , .,
Conventio after Thermidor,
dehors et apres l'assemhlee de Ia seeUon
� with the wholesale 'purging'
e, the comitis ciuils and comitls
reconstrucllon of the Commun and

al of the 'forty sous'.' A:5 we

The Revolutionary Committees were, from the start, largely rioolutionnaires, and the withdraw
have seen, by September J 795
, there were no societies club
, . rePre­
composed ofsans-culottes: at the inaugural meeung of theIr
sentatives they petitioned the Commune and the Co�venuo . s
to indemnify their members, 'presque touS des ouvn�rs qUi
� committees, or assemblies that
of the sans-culottes and, when
still directly voiced the o inio
the primary assemblies were
� �
vivent de leur travail'.4 Even the ChaJllPs tlysces SectlOn, on convened to discu the draft Con
the western boundary of the fashionable rc;sidentia quart:�,
,
� �
�
a h.and ul f ouvnm attended
�
stitution of the Year III, only
their meetings.J Henceforward,
had, in June 1 793, a Committee 'compose d ouv�ers, meles their agitation and the utteranc
e of their grievances were onc
avec quelques bourgeois'.s From figures quoted earher w.e s�w more confined to the streets, wor e
Wi.th all thi , a onsiderable-
kshops, and markets.
that in the Year II the overwhelming majority of commtSSa!res
part 10 spreadmg Ideas and mou
� � perhaps the preponderating­
were shopkeepers, small workshop masters, and independent
lding opinions must still have
craftsmen, while only a little over a quarter were made up of been played by the spoken
manufacturers, civil servants, contractors, and members
word in public meeting-places
renters,
i workshop�, wine-shops, markets
of the professions.' While we know a great deal less of the com­ ample eVidence for this view
, and food-shops. There i;
in the police reports and othe
position of the Popular Societies in Paris, it appears to have cont�mporary comment on the r
disturbances of the period.
been somewhat similar;7 the same is true of th� Commune of Dunng the rivolte nohiliaire, it
�
this period;8 and the regular attendance o a fair body of sans­ Dauphine that se ed as the
�
was the Pont Neuf and Plac
main focal points of politica
e
culottes at the general meetings of the Secllons was assured by .
gossip and revolullonary agit l
ation: this was of course due
the payment of40 sous as compensation for time lost from work.� their im�ediate proximity to to
the Palais de Justice, where the
, 1. Bourdin, In S«iilis JIoIIuUJirrs d Paris p.ndaroJ /� RllIOiululII (hr:', 1 937),
parlenunlalres and their mos
t vocal supporters, the law
pp. 131--"9. Mlle Bourdin', account coven only the penod 17�' clerks and ushers, bo h ad the � �
yers'
• Ac<:h. N..t., 0' 11053·
� r scene of operations. In June
1 789 the centre of agItatlon,
• Duuud's report to Garat on 119 May 1793 {A. Schmidt, op. (:It. I. 330) .
. . . which had lain for a while in
J Sehmidt, op. cit i�. 511.
the
• Arch. N t., F' 1150.
.. eastern /trubourgs, shifted to the
• Then: is only a handrul oflUch lists now s u rvlVm� for Pans. C!f th mt;"t
• Sec pp. 130-1. Palais Royal where the Duk
: .
t!'ese � �f Orleans and his retinue oforat
:
e
complet the ..t I have seen is that or the Socittt popuhu� etRqrubhcalnede I U
9
� hsts had established their hea
ors, pamphl teers, and journa
dquarters. It was from here that
­
in the Thtitre Fran�aiJ Section, whole 1180 memben m J,,?�al)' 17 4 comp
lOme 1100 crafumen and shopkeepen in 6o-odd tradco (15 jOtnen, 114 tallon, and
the crowds set out on the nigh
. t of 30 June to release the
shoc:m..lr.en) 118 clerks 16 misccllanwUl wage-carnen, and I. score oImerchants. eleven Gardes Fran�ais from
� ....
ntr..cton, and slock-jobbc (Brit. Mus., F. 827 �5)) ' What little I know of
membcnhip ofprovinciai JO(:ictico l owe to Mr. RIchard Cobb, who has wor
� had been locked up for refusing
the Abbaye prison, where they
to fire on Parisians who had
ulensivdy on French provincia I retOrd.s. • See p. 131. • 1)iirty.nine of these WeT<: dosed
• E. Mclli�, us &diDns r/, Paris pmdlVll /0: /UvolUIIOII jrtJ",nu, {Pans,
. •

. . ' down in Par� during May-June

18,.) • (A. Soboul, 'Robapierre and 1 79+ alone
the Popular Movement of ' 9
P· 145· 9
May [ 54, p. Gg). 7 3-4', PaJl lIIIIi Proso/ll,
• See p. '43.
) See p. [66.
1116 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONA RY CROWD THE GENE RAT ION OF REVO LUT
IONA RY ACT IVIT Y
1117
demonstrated at Versailles against the attempt to dismiss and slept, under the same roof, and wher
e the former's influence
Necker a week before.1 It was at the Palais Royal, too, that
Camille Desmoulins and others gave the call to arms on 1 2
affecting the questions of the day must
often have been decisive.
Yet we catch occasional glimpses
of this relationship in the
July, which touched off the Paris revolution; a?d it was from police reports. We saw, for instance,
how the porcelain manu­
here that parties set out to destroy the bam eres, to search facturer Olivier, deliberately or other
wise, incited his work­
religious houses and gunsmiths' shops for arms, and to fetch people against Reveillon by relating
. in lurid detail the speech
grain to the central markets from the monastery of the S�lI�t­ that the latter was reputed to have
made in the local assembly
Lazare brotherhood.1 The Palais Royal played its part agam 10 of the Sainte.Marguerite District
- concerning his workmen's
preparing opinion for the march to Versailles in October: it was wages.' More typical are the cases
in its gardens and cafes that the Marquis �e �",:int-Hux:u�e and men shoulder arms together to parti
where masters and journey_

his associates tried to force the pace by moong Panslans �o

cipate in the armed up_
risings of the Revolution : we saw how
the brewer Santerre was
march at the end of August; and, with greater sur;cess, Its followed to the Bastille by one of his
orators repeated the incitement on 4- October,l In the years to
journeymen (and there
m�st have �een man other such cases
y that day in the Faubourg
come the arcades and gardens of the Palais Royal (soon to be Samt.Antome) ; agam, we saw Pierr
e Homettc, a journeyman
renamed the Maison de l'Egalite) became notorious as a cabinet-maker, accompanying his empl
oyer to the Tuileries on
haunt of prostitutes, money-jobbers, speculators, �nd gamblers 10 August 1792 ; and farmer Guerre of the Inva
lides Section
rather than of political journalists or � rato�; but It reappeared arranging for the attendance unde
r arms of his two [arm.
as a centre of agitation after Thenrudor: It was the scene of hands during the revolution of May
-June 1793.z On other
verbal exchanges between mtLfcadins and sans-culottes in t�e occasions we hear ofworkshop masters
spring of 1795 and of more violent outbreaks between r�y�lis
,
! witnesses of inciting their workpeop
being accused by hostile
le to take part in such
youth and republican trooPs. in the day's before V� ndemlalre. movements as the Champ de Mars
demonst.ration and the
On other occasions the Pala ls Royal might be ec hpsed by the rebellion of Prairial.J
Place de Greve, lying within easy reach of the popular distri�ts The wine-shop may have been equally
and on the threshold of the city government (we have seen I� potent as a channel of

importance on 13 July, on 5 October 1789, and on 9 Thernu­

communication for revolutionary ideas
. Not only do wine­
. merchants appear to have been a most
consistent revolutionary
dor) ;5 or again by the Champ de Mars, the mam venue for the group-note their numbers at the Bastille
. and, even more, at the
great organized demonstrations of celebratlon, or the Terr:use burning of the barrierut-but their shops
. were the common re­
des Feuillants, at the entrance to the NatlOnal ConventIon. sorts of the mtnu ptuple of thcfaubourgs
and markets who, on
Other local ra.1lying centres were the Grande rue du Faubourg Sundays and Mondays in particular, flocke
d beyond the barritrtS
Saint-Antoine and the rue Mouffetard. to the popular taverns of La Courtille,
Les Poreherons, and La
It s
i less frequently that we find documentary evidence of the
Nouvelle France. These became ready
centres for gossip and
part played in preparing popular opinion by the small work­ exchanges of news and rumour; for this
and other reasons it is
shop, where master and journeyman worked, and often supped 'Perhaps no coincidence that so many
, Hardy, up. cit. viii. 373; RtltJliIm th te qui "atJxw!.i rA�HJ" SI. c�, .Bib.
of the great journtts in
Paris should have started or gathered mom
entum at the week­
30 aout 1789', La Rkollllil1ftj,ilflfilu" Ixiii (July-Oceanbet' 1?12), 430-5+·
Nat., Lb" 1882; M. Rouff, 'Le peuple ouvrier de Pans aux Joumm du 30 JUlD et
end.s Gustave Bord overstates his case,
I Se<: pp. 70 -71, 72. See pp. 148, ,Gg.
but there may be more

I See pp. !i1 -�5, 74-75, ' 37-9. Police soundings on the Iiale of 1IHU-(;�IQ�1t.
, See pp. ¥I-�'. I Sec pp. 40, 43.

opinion tended, in the year ' 793-4, to be taken in �he Place de Grhe; later lD • Se<: Appendix IV and pp. 181, 185.
, Arch. PrH. PoL, Aa 1�3, fol. 6; Arch. Nat.
, f14707, doss. �; f'l' 4735, dOlI. 2.
R See pp. 8, 107, 124.
5

179�, however, the favourite ccntre for such opcr�uonl appea" to have move�
north 10 the Portes Saint-Martin and Saint-Dctm (lICe Caron., and Aulard I
� 'Jihe ReveilJon riOtll and women
't mardi of 17B!l and the grocery riOtll of 1793
eolle(tions of police raPJKnI3 for the period, pew;,"). Man demonstratIon ofJuly 1791 Will held
were on Monda ; Ihe Parit revolution of 1789
� began on a Sunday; the Champ de
on a Sunday; � June 1793 (the crucial
1116 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONA RY CROWD THE GENE RAT ION OF REVO LUT
IONA RY ACT IVIT Y
1117
demonstrated at Versailles against the attempt to dismiss and slept, under the same roof, and wher
e the former's influence
Necker a week before.1 It was at the Palais Royal, too, that
Camille Desmoulins and others gave the call to arms on 1 2
affecting the questions of the day must
often have been decisive.
Yet we catch occasional glimpses
of this relationship in the
July, which touched off the Paris revolution; a?d it was from police reports. We saw, for instance,
how the porcelain manu­
here that parties set out to destroy the bam eres, to search facturer Olivier, deliberately or other
wise, incited his work­
religious houses and gunsmiths' shops for arms, and to fetch people against Reveillon by relating
. in lurid detail the speech
grain to the central markets from the monastery of the S�lI�t­ that the latter was reputed to have
made in the local assembly
Lazare brotherhood.1 The Palais Royal played its part agam 10 of the Sainte.Marguerite District
- concerning his workmen's
preparing opinion for the march to Versailles in October: it was wages.' More typical are the cases
in its gardens and cafes that the Marquis �e �",:int-Hux:u�e and men shoulder arms together to parti
where masters and journey_

his associates tried to force the pace by moong Panslans �o

cipate in the armed up_
risings of the Revolution : we saw how
the brewer Santerre was
march at the end of August; and, with greater sur;cess, Its followed to the Bastille by one of his
orators repeated the incitement on 4- October,l In the years to
journeymen (and there
m�st have �een man other such cases
y that day in the Faubourg
come the arcades and gardens of the Palais Royal (soon to be Samt.Antome) ; agam, we saw Pierr
e Homettc, a journeyman
renamed the Maison de l'Egalite) became notorious as a cabinet-maker, accompanying his empl
oyer to the Tuileries on
haunt of prostitutes, money-jobbers, speculators, �nd gamblers 10 August 1792 ; and farmer Guerre of the Inva
lides Section
rather than of political journalists or � rato�; but It reappeared arranging for the attendance unde
r arms of his two [arm.
as a centre of agitation after Thenrudor: It was the scene of hands during the revolution of May
-June 1793.z On other
verbal exchanges between mtLfcadins and sans-culottes in t�e occasions we hear ofworkshop masters
spring of 1795 and of more violent outbreaks between r�y�lis
,
! witnesses of inciting their workpeop
being accused by hostile
le to take part in such
youth and republican trooPs. in the day's before V� ndemlalre. movements as the Champ de Mars
demonst.ration and the
On other occasions the Pala ls Royal might be ec hpsed by the rebellion of Prairial.J
Place de Greve, lying within easy reach of the popular distri�ts The wine-shop may have been equally
and on the threshold of the city government (we have seen I� potent as a channel of

importance on 13 July, on 5 October 1789, and on 9 Thernu­

communication for revolutionary ideas
. Not only do wine­
. merchants appear to have been a most
consistent revolutionary
dor) ;5 or again by the Champ de Mars, the mam venue for the group-note their numbers at the Bastille
. and, even more, at the
great organized demonstrations of celebratlon, or the Terr:use burning of the barrierut-but their shops
. were the common re­
des Feuillants, at the entrance to the NatlOnal ConventIon. sorts of the mtnu ptuple of thcfaubourgs
and markets who, on
Other local ra.1lying centres were the Grande rue du Faubourg Sundays and Mondays in particular, flocke
d beyond the barritrtS
Saint-Antoine and the rue Mouffetard. to the popular taverns of La Courtille,
Les Poreherons, and La
It s
i less frequently that we find documentary evidence of the
Nouvelle France. These became ready
centres for gossip and
part played in preparing popular opinion by the small work­ exchanges of news and rumour; for this
and other reasons it is
shop, where master and journeyman worked, and often supped 'Perhaps no coincidence that so many
, Hardy, up. cit. viii. 373; RtltJliIm th te qui "atJxw!.i rA�HJ" SI. c�, .Bib.
of the great journtts in
Paris should have started or gathered mom
entum at the week­
30 aout 1789', La Rkollllil1ftj,ilflfilu" Ixiii (July-Oceanbet' 1?12), 430-5+·
Nat., Lb" 1882; M. Rouff, 'Le peuple ouvrier de Pans aux Joumm du 30 JUlD et
end.s Gustave Bord overstates his case,
I Se<: pp. 70 -71, 72. See pp. 148, ,Gg.
but there may be more

I See pp. !i1 -�5, 74-75, ' 37-9. Police soundings on the Iiale of 1IHU-(;�IQ�1t.
, See pp. ¥I-�'. I Sec pp. 40, 43.

opinion tended, in the year ' 793-4, to be taken in �he Place de Grhe; later lD • Se<: Appendix IV and pp. 181, 185.
, Arch. PrH. PoL, Aa 1�3, fol. 6; Arch. Nat.
, f14707, doss. �; f'l' 4735, dOlI. 2.
R See pp. 8, 107, 124.
5

179�, however, the favourite ccntre for such opcr�uonl appea" to have move�
north 10 the Portes Saint-Martin and Saint-Dctm (lICe Caron., and Aulard I
� 'Jihe ReveilJon riOtll and women
't mardi of 17B!l and the grocery riOtll of 1793
eolle(tions of police raPJKnI3 for the period, pew;,"). Man demonstratIon ofJuly 1791 Will held
were on Monda ; Ihe Parit revolution of 1789
� began on a Sunday; the Champ de
on a Sunday; � June 1793 (the crucial
 D
218 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROW THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY 2'9
nts
than a grain of truth in hi� asse.rtion tha� many of the assail� perspective or exact documentation, may just as easily go
of the Bastille were recnu ted lD the WIne-s hops of 0e Salnt­ astray, as was the case with Gustave Lebon, the author of a
Antoine quarter.' Certainly the marble-dealer,Josep� Cha�ot, number of books on this subject. According to Lebon revolu­
who was injured by a falling tile during the RtvC;lllon nots, tionary crowds tended to be formed of criminal elements,
admitted being picked up by an itinerant band of noters as he degenerates, and persons with destructive instincts, who re�
sat drinking in a wine-shop; other pe�ns arrestc;d on that occ�
­ sponded more or less passively to the call of 'leaders" -which
sion told a similar tale.1 AndJean-Nicolas Pepm, a chandl er s suggests both that the author had fed on a surfeit of Taine and
tallow-bearer, related, in the course of a detailed �c�ount of that his generalized conception of revolutionary crowds would
his experiences during the July revolution, how he ��med .the be equally appropriate to all times and to all places. Georges
insurgents on the night of the 12th near the B�n:ere Samt­ Lefebvre, on the other hand, has argued that the revolutionary
Martin, after spending the evening drinking and d m mg 'chez Ie
a
crowd is not an abstraction but a social phenomenon which,
Sr Chevet Md de vin au Soleil d'Or la Nouve lle F:ance'.J though responding to certain general laws of development,
Food-shops and market s were ev :n mo �e obviou s centres of arises in particular historical circumstances and as the result of
agitation. In days of shortag e and high pnces tem ers becam,e particular social pressures and ideas; so it was in the case of the
�
easily frayed in the queues that formed at grocers , butchers , French Revolution.:
and bakers' shops. We have seen , on the eviden ce .ofHard y, t�e In this respect it is of course necessary to distinguish
precautions taken by the Government to keep disturb ances 10
from the rest those occasions when crowds collected in direct
check during the weeks preceding the outbreak of the Rev o.lu­ response to the call of leaders-for such demonstrations, for
tion in Paris by drafting troops into the marke� and posung instance, as that in the Champ de Mars on 1 7 July '791, or
guards at the door of bakers' shops; and how, dunng the follow­ such organized military operations as the armed assault on the
ing summer and autumn, when such measures �ere no I�n�er Tuileries in August 1792 and the expulsion of the Girondin
possible, bakers became, on more than one occ�lOn, the VlctUns deputies on 2 June 1 793. In such cases as these the participants
of popular violence." Although there was ?o further .resort have already been won over, both in general and in particular,
to 'Ia lanterne' after 1 789. bakers' and grocers shops conunue.d, to the objects ofthe demonstration, the collective mentality ofthe
as has been amply illustrated, to be common centr:s of d lS­ crowd corresponds closely to that of the groups of individuals
turbance and starting-points for popular demonstratIons that forming it, and there is no sharp mutation from one state of
often assumed insurrectionary proportions.
How then from such comparatively small begmrungs 10
. . . mind to anotherJ-unless, of course, some new and unexpected
factor intervenes to upset the balance.' A demonstration
marke�, bak;rs', and wine-shops did gatherings of cra�men, like that of 20 June 1792 belongs to a somewhat different
wage-earners, and housewives devel�p int� great revoluuo�ary category: on this occasion, the break-through into the Tuileries
crowds with all the attendant mamfestatIons of fear, herOIsm, I G. Lebon, 1.G Rivolwu. fiattftU-u It III psydtoiogU iUs r/DD/uJUms (Paris, '912),
pp. 55-fJ., 6g-g3· By the same author: pqdtolQtie iUs/QrJn (Paria, .8g5).
• G. Lefebvn:, 'Foulet �volutionnairea', AJI>I. "isl. Riv.JrtUIf. xi (1934), 1-26;
or destructive violence? Historians have shown a certain reluc­
tance to deal with such questions, believing that they �lo�g reprinted in Ehuus s.... /" RIlXJlwWn/rlUlf"is, (Pans, '954), pp. �7.-87. Although
more particularly to the province of the sociologist or s�ecl�hst
generally applicable to the whole period 1,87"""95. I am largely indebted to him for
Lefebvre's Itudy is concerned mainly with the year • 789, his condUlio!l$ are
the ideas diKuaed in the present chapter.
in crowd psychology.5 Yet the specialist, for lack of histoncal
day in the anti-Cirondin revolution) was abo a Sunday; 1 0 August 17�, on the • Ibid., p. 11711.
• Iu., for example, in the early Slagel of the Champ de Mars demorutration,
, G. Bord, 'La Co!l$piration m�onnique de 1789·, U (A,.,.,npondtml .0 and
other hand, was a Friday.
(Jtt p. 8t), and the 'treachery' of the Swiu guards who, On 10 August 1792,
when IWO unknown individuals were found hiding under Ihe 'aule! de ta patrie'
• Sec pp. 67-6g, 78. unexpeetedly opened fire on the Marseillais (see p. '04). Both n
2.5 May ' gOO, pp. 52'-44, 7.57-fJ7. • Arch. Nat., Y 11033, 15'01.
J Arch. Nat., Z' 46gJ. i cidenta led to
J See Caron, Lu M4JS4lTIS Ik s'iJnlllm, p. vi. paniea and provoked masucra.
 D
218 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROW THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY 2'9
nts
than a grain of truth in hi� asse.rtion tha� many of the assail� perspective or exact documentation, may just as easily go
of the Bastille were recnu ted lD the WIne-s hops of 0e Salnt­ astray, as was the case with Gustave Lebon, the author of a
Antoine quarter.' Certainly the marble-dealer,Josep� Cha�ot, number of books on this subject. According to Lebon revolu­
who was injured by a falling tile during the RtvC;lllon nots, tionary crowds tended to be formed of criminal elements,
admitted being picked up by an itinerant band of noters as he degenerates, and persons with destructive instincts, who re�
sat drinking in a wine-shop; other pe�ns arrestc;d on that occ�
­ sponded more or less passively to the call of 'leaders" -which
sion told a similar tale.1 AndJean-Nicolas Pepm, a chandl er s suggests both that the author had fed on a surfeit of Taine and
tallow-bearer, related, in the course of a detailed �c�ount of that his generalized conception of revolutionary crowds would
his experiences during the July revolution, how he ��med .the be equally appropriate to all times and to all places. Georges
insurgents on the night of the 12th near the B�n:ere Samt­ Lefebvre, on the other hand, has argued that the revolutionary
Martin, after spending the evening drinking and d m mg 'chez Ie
a
crowd is not an abstraction but a social phenomenon which,
Sr Chevet Md de vin au Soleil d'Or la Nouve lle F:ance'.J though responding to certain general laws of development,
Food-shops and market s were ev :n mo �e obviou s centres of arises in particular historical circumstances and as the result of
agitation. In days of shortag e and high pnces tem ers becam,e particular social pressures and ideas; so it was in the case of the
�
easily frayed in the queues that formed at grocers , butchers , French Revolution.:
and bakers' shops. We have seen , on the eviden ce .ofHard y, t�e In this respect it is of course necessary to distinguish
precautions taken by the Government to keep disturb ances 10
from the rest those occasions when crowds collected in direct
check during the weeks preceding the outbreak of the Rev o.lu­ response to the call of leaders-for such demonstrations, for
tion in Paris by drafting troops into the marke� and posung instance, as that in the Champ de Mars on 1 7 July '791, or
guards at the door of bakers' shops; and how, dunng the follow­ such organized military operations as the armed assault on the
ing summer and autumn, when such measures �ere no I�n�er Tuileries in August 1792 and the expulsion of the Girondin
possible, bakers became, on more than one occ�lOn, the VlctUns deputies on 2 June 1 793. In such cases as these the participants
of popular violence." Although there was ?o further .resort have already been won over, both in general and in particular,
to 'Ia lanterne' after 1 789. bakers' and grocers shops conunue.d, to the objects ofthe demonstration, the collective mentality ofthe
as has been amply illustrated, to be common centr:s of d lS­ crowd corresponds closely to that of the groups of individuals
turbance and starting-points for popular demonstratIons that forming it, and there is no sharp mutation from one state of
often assumed insurrectionary proportions.
How then from such comparatively small begmrungs 10
. . . mind to anotherJ-unless, of course, some new and unexpected
factor intervenes to upset the balance.' A demonstration
marke�, bak;rs', and wine-shops did gatherings of cra�men, like that of 20 June 1792 belongs to a somewhat different
wage-earners, and housewives devel�p int� great revoluuo�ary category: on this occasion, the break-through into the Tuileries
crowds with all the attendant mamfestatIons of fear, herOIsm, I G. Lebon, 1.G Rivolwu. fiattftU-u It III psydtoiogU iUs r/DD/uJUms (Paris, '912),
pp. 55-fJ., 6g-g3· By the same author: pqdtolQtie iUs/QrJn (Paria, .8g5).
• G. Lefebvn:, 'Foulet �volutionnairea', AJI>I. "isl. Riv.JrtUIf. xi (1934), 1-26;
or destructive violence? Historians have shown a certain reluc­
tance to deal with such questions, believing that they �lo�g reprinted in Ehuus s.... /" RIlXJlwWn/rlUlf"is, (Pans, '954), pp. �7.-87. Although
more particularly to the province of the sociologist or s�ecl�hst
generally applicable to the whole period 1,87"""95. I am largely indebted to him for
Lefebvre's Itudy is concerned mainly with the year • 789, his condUlio!l$ are
the ideas diKuaed in the present chapter.
in crowd psychology.5 Yet the specialist, for lack of histoncal
day in the anti-Cirondin revolution) was abo a Sunday; 1 0 August 17�, on the • Ibid., p. 11711.
• Iu., for example, in the early Slagel of the Champ de Mars demorutration,
, G. Bord, 'La Co!l$piration m�onnique de 1789·, U (A,.,.,npondtml .0 and
other hand, was a Friday.
(Jtt p. 8t), and the 'treachery' of the Swiu guards who, On 10 August 1792,
when IWO unknown individuals were found hiding under Ihe 'aule! de ta patrie'
• Sec pp. 67-6g, 78. unexpeetedly opened fire on the Marseillais (see p. '04). Both n
2.5 May ' gOO, pp. 52'-44, 7.57-fJ7. • Arch. Nat., Y 11033, 15'01.
J Arch. Nat., Z' 46gJ. i cidenta led to
J See Caron, Lu M4JS4lTIS Ik s'iJnlllm, p. vi. paniea and provoked masucra.
�20 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVO LUTIO NARY
CROW D THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY �UI

transformed a
(which may have been purely spontaneous� by even the most astute and determined ofthe court's opponents:
acknowledg�d
peaceful procession of citizens, headed by thetr the parades on the boulevards with the busts ofNecker and the
to the authonty
leaders, into a riotous and spontaneous challenge Duke of Orleans; the assaults on the barrieres and the Saint­
of the king in person.1 Lazare monastery; the search for arms in gunsmiths' shops, re­
on that
It is in fact this element of mutauon or transformatJ ligious houses, and arsenals; the massive demonstrations outside
•
•

'
�
marks the rev lutionary crowd in its most typica l form- such the Hotel de Ville, where the new city government was in the
tly in the openin g stages of the process of formation ; the storming of the Invalides in search of
as it appeared most frequen
n of the Nation al Guard and the weapons to arm the newly created mili,e bourgtoise; and finally
Revolution I before the creatio
:
Sections h d provided a framework �ithin which.
the challenge (partly planned, but mainly the outcome of a whole series of
be more system aucally orgam zed. We saw, fortuitous events) the frontal assault on the Bastille and the
to authority might
le, that the more or less harmles s jubilati ons of the murders of de Launay and de FlesseUes.1 In October we have a
for examp
clerks and Cite journe ymen in August 1788 were trans� similar pattern of growth and development, though the final
Palais
entry of
formed into riots of insurrectionary proportions by the stages of the insurrection bear the mark of a more conscious
the small masters and journeymen of the faubourgs and �arkets; political direction. Certainly, to the majority of the housewives
. .
t about by the Insidious
and this transformation was not brough and market-women demonstrating for cheaper and more
believe).
agitation of leaders (as Taine or Lebon would have us plentiful bread in the early morning of 5 October, as to the
consum er of the sudden rise in the casual obselVer, the opening shots of the uprising must have
but by the effect on the small
such abrupt transfor m tion took place in seemed no more than a continuation of a whole series of similar
price of bread.l No �
the course of the Revcillo n riots, whose contnb utory causes were demonstrations during September. Even the mass invasion of
their
already in being after Rev-eillon and Hanriot had made the Hotel de Ville was but a repetition on a larger and more
ed
offending speeches on 23 April. But nevertheless they develop violent scale of similar forms of protest in preceding weeks. Yet
ps and
from murmuring groups in wine�shops and worksho the diversion of the women to Versailles (partly the outcome of
into
marching bands parading through adjoining djstric� weeks ofagitation by the 'patriots' and partly ofthe intervention
. bullets- m the
orgies of destruction-and heroic � r lStance to of Maillard and his gave an entirely new,
volontaires de la Bastille)
on the mght of the 28th: here the political content to their demonstration. From this point,
Faubourg Saint�Antoine
tempo and characte r of the insurrec tion develope d not so m�ch although still professing mainly economic aims, it merged with
through the intervention of external factors as by the 5welhng the political insurrection launched by the 'patriots' and sup­
of the numbers of demonstrators by recruitment and the pre­ ported by the marching contingents of the Parisian National
vailing atmosphere of nervous excitement engendered by the Guard.l
approach of the meeting of the Sta�es General.4 We have seen that the transformation in the nature and
.
The classic examples of thiS k tnd of transformatJon are activities of revolutionary crowds may result from the interven­
•

afforded by the two great Parisian insurrections of the summer
and autumn of 1789. In the first a more or less peacefully
disposed Sunday crowd of strollers in the Palais Royal was g�l�
vanized into revolutionary vigour by the news of Necker's dIS­
missal and the call to arms issued by orators of the entourage of
the Duke of Orleans. From this followed a sequence of events
that could not possibly have been planned or foreseen in detail
Lefebvre, op. cit., p. 279.
, Set: p. 1 00.
.. Set: pp. 34-36.
I
tion of widely varying factors. Leaders are undoubtedly an
important element, though they do not play the outstanding
part assigned to them by Taine and Gustave Lebon; we shall
return to them later. But one factor should be noted here,
though it is by no means peculiar to the events of the French
Revolution and may be, in fact, one of the most constant
elements contributing to certain states of collective mentality
at all times and in all places. This is the element of panic�fear,
See pp. 7 3 ft'.

S See PP. 31-32. �

�20 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVO LUTIO NARY
CROW D THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY �UI

transformed a
(which may have been purely spontaneous� by even the most astute and determined ofthe court's opponents:
acknowledg�d
peaceful procession of citizens, headed by thetr the parades on the boulevards with the busts ofNecker and the
to the authonty
leaders, into a riotous and spontaneous challenge Duke of Orleans; the assaults on the barrieres and the Saint­
of the king in person.1 Lazare monastery; the search for arms in gunsmiths' shops, re­
on that
It is in fact this element of mutauon or transformatJ ligious houses, and arsenals; the massive demonstrations outside
•
•

'
�
marks the rev lutionary crowd in its most typica l form- such the Hotel de Ville, where the new city government was in the
tly in the openin g stages of the process of formation ; the storming of the Invalides in search of
as it appeared most frequen
n of the Nation al Guard and the weapons to arm the newly created mili,e bourgtoise; and finally
Revolution I before the creatio
:
Sections h d provided a framework �ithin which.
the challenge (partly planned, but mainly the outcome of a whole series of
be more system aucally orgam zed. We saw, fortuitous events) the frontal assault on the Bastille and the
to authority might
le, that the more or less harmles s jubilati ons of the murders of de Launay and de FlesseUes.1 In October we have a
for examp
clerks and Cite journe ymen in August 1788 were trans� similar pattern of growth and development, though the final
Palais
entry of
formed into riots of insurrectionary proportions by the stages of the insurrection bear the mark of a more conscious
the small masters and journeymen of the faubourgs and �arkets; political direction. Certainly, to the majority of the housewives
. .
t about by the Insidious
and this transformation was not brough and market-women demonstrating for cheaper and more
believe).
agitation of leaders (as Taine or Lebon would have us plentiful bread in the early morning of 5 October, as to the
consum er of the sudden rise in the casual obselVer, the opening shots of the uprising must have
but by the effect on the small
such abrupt transfor m tion took place in seemed no more than a continuation of a whole series of similar
price of bread.l No �
the course of the Revcillo n riots, whose contnb utory causes were demonstrations during September. Even the mass invasion of
their
already in being after Rev-eillon and Hanriot had made the Hotel de Ville was but a repetition on a larger and more
ed
offending speeches on 23 April. But nevertheless they develop violent scale of similar forms of protest in preceding weeks. Yet
ps and
from murmuring groups in wine�shops and worksho the diversion of the women to Versailles (partly the outcome of
into
marching bands parading through adjoining djstric� weeks ofagitation by the 'patriots' and partly ofthe intervention
. bullets- m the
orgies of destruction-and heroic � r lStance to of Maillard and his gave an entirely new,
volontaires de la Bastille)
on the mght of the 28th: here the political content to their demonstration. From this point,
Faubourg Saint�Antoine
tempo and characte r of the insurrec tion develope d not so m�ch although still professing mainly economic aims, it merged with
through the intervention of external factors as by the 5welhng the political insurrection launched by the 'patriots' and sup­
of the numbers of demonstrators by recruitment and the pre­ ported by the marching contingents of the Parisian National
vailing atmosphere of nervous excitement engendered by the Guard.l
approach of the meeting of the Sta�es General.4 We have seen that the transformation in the nature and
.
The classic examples of thiS k tnd of transformatJon are activities of revolutionary crowds may result from the interven­
•

afforded by the two great Parisian insurrections of the summer
and autumn of 1789. In the first a more or less peacefully
disposed Sunday crowd of strollers in the Palais Royal was g�l�
vanized into revolutionary vigour by the news of Necker's dIS­
missal and the call to arms issued by orators of the entourage of
the Duke of Orleans. From this followed a sequence of events
that could not possibly have been planned or foreseen in detail
Lefebvre, op. cit., p. 279.
, Set: p. 1 00.
.. Set: pp. 34-36.
I
tion of widely varying factors. Leaders are undoubtedly an
important element, though they do not play the outstanding
part assigned to them by Taine and Gustave Lebon; we shall
return to them later. But one factor should be noted here,
though it is by no means peculiar to the events of the French
Revolution and may be, in fact, one of the most constant
elements contributing to certain states of collective mentality
at all times and in all places. This is the element of panic�fear,
See pp. 7 3 ft'.

S See PP. 31-32. �

 2�� T H E ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
propagated by rumour-particularly liable to develop where
communications are scaree and news 18 slow and hard to come
. countryside and affected Paris itself in the summer of 178g--­
by. Whatever its immediate origins in other circunutances,
here it arose from the threat, real or imaginary, to three matters
ofvital moment-to property, life, and the means of subsistence.
In various forms we find such panics arising intermittently
during the revolutionary years-both in towns and country­
side-and becoming more frequent with the outbreak of war
in April 1792. The latter years of the old regime were haunt�
by the ptuk dt famine, according to which the king and .his
ministers were credited with the deliberate intention of seeking
to starve the people by creating an artificial scarcity of bread.
A similar notion gained credence-though this time associated
with Turgol and not with the king-at the time ofthe grain ri� ts
of 1 775, and probably contributed to their scope and penlS­
tence.1 During the Revolution, the new authorities, and some­
times millers and bakers, were cparged with similar designs : we
see it in the fermentation in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine in the
weeks following the Reveillon riots, in the persistent outcries
against accapareurs, in the violent assaults on millers and bakers
and on Chatel, mayor's lieutenant of Saint-Derus; and the
notion is almost continuously present, though diverted tempo­
rarily by the 'patriots', in the insurrection of 5-6 October. It
reappears in the invasions of grocers' shops in 1792 and 1793;
again in Prairial and on the eve ofVendemiaire; and the R.evo­
lutionary Government of the Year II was able to turn It to
good advantage in its indictment of Hebert and his associates
who, in the spring of 1794, were charged, along with other
crimes, with the design of creating disorders in order to starve
the capital of supplies.1
The panic-fear of an attack on property, another recurrent
theme, particularly affected the bourgeoisie, substantial farmers,
and peasant proprietors, but it also vitally concerned the small
property-owners among the sans-culottes. We see it graphicall�
illustrated in the constant repetition of the scare of 'Ia 10l
agraire', used with telling effect to weaken the resolve of
•
Jacobin and other bourgeois democrats, who might threaten to
effect even a partial distribution of property. Its most famous
• Arch. Nat., W 76, 78; Tuetey, Ri�loiTl, vol. xi, nos. '-'71.
, See pp. 23-24.
THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY �23
expression, however, was the panic that seized large parts of the
the episode known to historians as 'la Grande Peur'. It had its
origins in the combination ofrural unemployment and vagrancy.
arising from the economic crisis of 1787-9, with the widespread
belief that the privileged orders were about to shatter the hopes
and illusions aroused by the summoning of the States General.
Thus the vagrants of the countryside-the errants or brigands­
were seen as the agents of a complot aristocratique, whose assault
on small rural properties was hourly expected and aroused
widespread panic. In the villages, where the peasants armed
to meet a danger that proved illusory, their defensive units soon
transformed themselves into aggressive bands that fired chdteaux
and destroyed manorial rolls.' In Paris, which felt its back­
wash, the presence of several thousands of rural unemployed,
many of them herded into the ateliers de chariti on the hill of
Montmartre, while others roamed the streets, inspired similar
terrors. This was, of course, in part the background to the
creation of the Parisian milice bourgeoise, set up to meet the
double danger of an attack on property by the dreaded gens sans
aveu and a military coup against the capital by the Court Party
at Versailles : Hardy echoes these terrors in his relation of events
on the morrow of the fall of the Bastille.1 The theme recurs in
the spring of 1791 and, particularly. in the weeks following the
king's flight to Varennes: to the Parisian municipal authorities
and the majority in the Constituent Assembly, the unemployed,
soon to be finally disbanded from the ateliers de chante, seemed
the actual or potential agenu of the imigris at Coblenz-'ces
gens soudoyes par les seditieux·. as I.e Babillard called them.3
Some democrats inclined to this view : the radical journalist
1.oustalot equated the 'proIetaires' with 'tollS les citoyens
susceptibles d'etre facilement corrompus'; and even Maral, for
all his deep compassion for the poor, feared that the inmates of
the public workshops might become the ready tools of counter-
, G. Lcl'ebvn:, lA Cr/llllU p,,,, a, 178g.
• 'Le complot infemalqui avail Cxisl� de rai� cntrer, dam la nuil du 14 au '5,
30.0(10 homm<':l dans la capit.a.le, ICOJndb par do brigandi' (Hardy, op. cit.
viii. 395). Se.: aoo the Chevalier de Bcaurepalrc'l pamphlet of August 1789, in
whicH it is alleged that the Montmartre unemployed were building fortifications
for training artillery against Par;"'(IUo"JH1r1 II MM. du dis/rid dIS PI/its M4l1wriN:
Bib. Nat., Lb40 28S). I U Bdillflrd, no. xxiv, 6July 1791, p. ,.
 2�� T H E ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
propagated by rumour-particularly liable to develop where
communications are scaree and news 18 slow and hard to come
. countryside and affected Paris itself in the summer of 178g--­
by. Whatever its immediate origins in other circunutances,
here it arose from the threat, real or imaginary, to three matters
ofvital moment-to property, life, and the means of subsistence.
In various forms we find such panics arising intermittently
during the revolutionary years-both in towns and country­
side-and becoming more frequent with the outbreak of war
in April 1792. The latter years of the old regime were haunt�
by the ptuk dt famine, according to which the king and .his
ministers were credited with the deliberate intention of seeking
to starve the people by creating an artificial scarcity of bread.
A similar notion gained credence-though this time associated
with Turgol and not with the king-at the time ofthe grain ri� ts
of 1 775, and probably contributed to their scope and penlS­
tence.1 During the Revolution, the new authorities, and some­
times millers and bakers, were cparged with similar designs : we
see it in the fermentation in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine in the
weeks following the Reveillon riots, in the persistent outcries
against accapareurs, in the violent assaults on millers and bakers
and on Chatel, mayor's lieutenant of Saint-Derus; and the
notion is almost continuously present, though diverted tempo­
rarily by the 'patriots', in the insurrection of 5-6 October. It
reappears in the invasions of grocers' shops in 1792 and 1793;
again in Prairial and on the eve ofVendemiaire; and the R.evo­
lutionary Government of the Year II was able to turn It to
good advantage in its indictment of Hebert and his associates
who, in the spring of 1794, were charged, along with other
crimes, with the design of creating disorders in order to starve
the capital of supplies.1
The panic-fear of an attack on property, another recurrent
theme, particularly affected the bourgeoisie, substantial farmers,
and peasant proprietors, but it also vitally concerned the small
property-owners among the sans-culottes. We see it graphicall�
illustrated in the constant repetition of the scare of 'Ia 10l
agraire', used with telling effect to weaken the resolve of
•
Jacobin and other bourgeois democrats, who might threaten to
effect even a partial distribution of property. Its most famous
• Arch. Nat., W 76, 78; Tuetey, Ri�loiTl, vol. xi, nos. '-'71.
, See pp. 23-24.
THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY �23
expression, however, was the panic that seized large parts of the
the episode known to historians as 'la Grande Peur'. It had its
origins in the combination ofrural unemployment and vagrancy.
arising from the economic crisis of 1787-9, with the widespread
belief that the privileged orders were about to shatter the hopes
and illusions aroused by the summoning of the States General.
Thus the vagrants of the countryside-the errants or brigands­
were seen as the agents of a complot aristocratique, whose assault
on small rural properties was hourly expected and aroused
widespread panic. In the villages, where the peasants armed
to meet a danger that proved illusory, their defensive units soon
transformed themselves into aggressive bands that fired chdteaux
and destroyed manorial rolls.' In Paris, which felt its back­
wash, the presence of several thousands of rural unemployed,
many of them herded into the ateliers de chariti on the hill of
Montmartre, while others roamed the streets, inspired similar
terrors. This was, of course, in part the background to the
creation of the Parisian milice bourgeoise, set up to meet the
double danger of an attack on property by the dreaded gens sans
aveu and a military coup against the capital by the Court Party
at Versailles : Hardy echoes these terrors in his relation of events
on the morrow of the fall of the Bastille.1 The theme recurs in
the spring of 1791 and, particularly. in the weeks following the
king's flight to Varennes: to the Parisian municipal authorities
and the majority in the Constituent Assembly, the unemployed,
soon to be finally disbanded from the ateliers de chante, seemed
the actual or potential agenu of the imigris at Coblenz-'ces
gens soudoyes par les seditieux·. as I.e Babillard called them.3
Some democrats inclined to this view : the radical journalist
1.oustalot equated the 'proIetaires' with 'tollS les citoyens
susceptibles d'etre facilement corrompus'; and even Maral, for
all his deep compassion for the poor, feared that the inmates of
the public workshops might become the ready tools of counter-
, G. Lcl'ebvn:, lA Cr/llllU p,,,, a, 178g.
• 'Le complot infemalqui avail Cxisl� de rai� cntrer, dam la nuil du 14 au '5,
30.0(10 homm<':l dans la capit.a.le, ICOJndb par do brigandi' (Hardy, op. cit.
viii. 395). Se.: aoo the Chevalier de Bcaurepalrc'l pamphlet of August 1789, in
whicH it is alleged that the Montmartre unemployed were building fortifications
for training artillery against Par;"'(IUo"JH1r1 II MM. du dis/rid dIS PI/its M4l1wriN:
Bib. Nat., Lb40 28S). I U Bdillflrd, no. xxiv, 6July 1791, p. ,.
��4 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD THE GENERAT ION OF REVOLUT IONARY ACTIVITY �1I
5

revolution. I On the eve of the demonstration of July 1791 �

there was a report of a plot to abduct the royal family and to set
fire to the capital with the aid of 40,000 men mainly recruited
from the unemployed,l and it was widely believed that the poor
would stage a spectacular revenge on the propertied classes for
the 'massacre' of the Champ de Mars.J Such fears might arouse
a militant response both among revolutionary democrats and
among the conservative elements of the western districts. We
find examples of the former tendency in the frequent paniC!!
stirred up by rumours of imminent prison outbreaks-the
various complols des primns-and the lesser-known episode of the
of the spring of 1 794.4 We have seen a classic
complot militaire
example of the second in the panic that swept the Paris Sections
on the eve of Vendemiaire, when shopkeepers, civil servants,
and proprietors sprang to arms in order to defend their proper­
ties and lives against the dreaded terrorists or buoeurs de sang,
who were presumed to be letting loose on them the familiar
brigands and scum of the prison population. In this case, of
course, it was the royalists who turned the panic to their ad­
vantage by converting it into an anned rebellion against the
Convention.5
The third type of panic-arising from a threat to life-is, of
course, closely related to the last, and sometimes, as we have
seen, they appear together. We saw it in the siege of the Bastille,
when de Launay's folly in opening fire on the assembled
crowds led to the cry of treachery and the massacre of the Gover­
nor and a number of his garrison.' An almost identical situa­
tion arose during the assault on the T�ileries in August 1792.7
' Jaura, HiJwi'f $l)CiaJisu, iii. 366; L'A.mi Ju/JIupu, no. 4211, 7 April '791, p. 6.
There il eertainly ample evidence that attempts were made by counter.revolu­
But t ese panics were momentary and, though affecting the
behaVIour of the besiegers and their supporters, did little to
.
�
alter t e �ourse of events. On a far greater scale and more
drastiC m It� consequenc was the panic that developed in the
�
days followmg the expulSion of Louis XVI from the Tuileries
when the departure of the volunteers for the frontiers w �
ac�o�panied by the rumour that the inmates ofthe prisons were
walung to break loose and to slaughter the women children
' ,
and aged : thus was created the atmosphere of mass hysteria
that led to the September massacres,l
Such defensive reactions were typical of the response of sans­
�lotte:, small proprietors, and even bourgeois, to many of the
SituatIOns that developed on the eve and in the course of the
French Revolution. It is the failure to recognize this fact that
has led so many historians and writers from Burke onwards to
represent the Revolution as a sort of unbroken chain ofinnova­
tions or � the systematic unfolding of the long-conceived plans
ofthe phllosophes by the devotees of 'political messianism'.: Quite
apart from its other fallacies such a conception once more
?
reduces t e role of the sans-culoues to that of passive instruments
--:-unless It. can be shown, ofcourse, that they, too, were imbued
with a deSire for 'total renovation'. The opposite is, indeed, the
case. At every important stage of the Revolution the sans­
culottes intervened, not to renovate society or to remodel it after
a new patter�, but to reclaim traditional rights and to uphold
s�andards v.:h
�ch they believed to be imperilled by the innova­
bons of numsters, capitalists, speculators, agricultural 'im­
provers', or city authorities. This defensive reaction to events is
a characteristic feature of each one ofthe greatjournies that led
up to or marked the progress of the Revolution. The clerks and

tionaria in thoe early yean to stir up diseonlent-with the Revolution and the
journeymen who rioted in August-October 1 788 hailed Henri
IV and acclaimed the Par/tment as the custodian of 'ancient
�
new autho.ritia-am<.>ng the wage-eamcn of lhe fo.ul.tturls and. particularly,
among the unemployed in the public worluhops; but, allhough taken ICriowly li erties· against the innovations of the king's ministers. The
.
by the authorities and the democrats, they met with surprisingly little lueeos. .
Reveillon nots arose as a defensive action by Saint-Antoine
Itituante', Lo. Rivolutitmfill1l(o.iu, lvii (1909), 304-26, 38S-404; and my PaliJilUl
(Sec E. Tarl�, 'La Cluse ouvri�re et Ie parti eontre.r4!voh.tionnaire SOul la Con·
, Sec pp. t08-IO.
• Areh. Nat., DXXIX' 33, 00. 3¥'. rot 26.
. ' �, e.g., J. L. T�lm�n, The Ori,itU of ToIJJi/Mitut lJrmDao.q (London, 19511).
W.,f-£o.mm, i. �60-9.)

• R. C. Cobb, 'Le Complot miitaire l de vent<'>sl: an II', Puis tI fINl.-F,lllln,

, Ibid., no. 347, fols. 9-to.
to wh ch the Re\ oluuon IS repr�nted
I ' as lhe iogieal outcome of the thought of

vii (1956), lilli-SO.

ROllSSCa1;l Mablr, Mordly, &c., and the thought and deed. of their disciples
'
of total renovauon, and by lhe idea of a lOCiecy rec:orutrueted ddiberately wilh a
(RobCJpterre, S:unt-Jwt, and olhen)_men 'impelled by a revolutionary impetw
, Sec pp. t 7o-� above. The panie or the property-ownen tngendered, in turn,

(let: p. 173). • Sec pp. 55-56.

a panie among the prison population, who feam! a repetition ofScptcmUcr 179�
view to a logical and final pamm' (po 63).
7 Sec p. 219. n. 4, above.
��4 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD THE GENERAT ION OF REVOLUT IONARY ACTIVITY �1I
5

revolution. I On the eve of the demonstration of July 1791 �

there was a report of a plot to abduct the royal family and to set
fire to the capital with the aid of 40,000 men mainly recruited
from the unemployed,l and it was widely believed that the poor
would stage a spectacular revenge on the propertied classes for
the 'massacre' of the Champ de Mars.J Such fears might arouse
a militant response both among revolutionary democrats and
among the conservative elements of the western districts. We
find examples of the former tendency in the frequent paniC!!
stirred up by rumours of imminent prison outbreaks-the
various complols des primns-and the lesser-known episode of the
of the spring of 1 794.4 We have seen a classic
complot militaire
example of the second in the panic that swept the Paris Sections
on the eve of Vendemiaire, when shopkeepers, civil servants,
and proprietors sprang to arms in order to defend their proper­
ties and lives against the dreaded terrorists or buoeurs de sang,
who were presumed to be letting loose on them the familiar
brigands and scum of the prison population. In this case, of
course, it was the royalists who turned the panic to their ad­
vantage by converting it into an anned rebellion against the
Convention.5
The third type of panic-arising from a threat to life-is, of
course, closely related to the last, and sometimes, as we have
seen, they appear together. We saw it in the siege of the Bastille,
when de Launay's folly in opening fire on the assembled
crowds led to the cry of treachery and the massacre of the Gover­
nor and a number of his garrison.' An almost identical situa­
tion arose during the assault on the T�ileries in August 1792.7
' Jaura, HiJwi'f $l)CiaJisu, iii. 366; L'A.mi Ju/JIupu, no. 4211, 7 April '791, p. 6.
There il eertainly ample evidence that attempts were made by counter.revolu­
But t ese panics were momentary and, though affecting the
behaVIour of the besiegers and their supporters, did little to
.
�
alter t e �ourse of events. On a far greater scale and more
drastiC m It� consequenc was the panic that developed in the
�
days followmg the expulSion of Louis XVI from the Tuileries
when the departure of the volunteers for the frontiers w �
ac�o�panied by the rumour that the inmates ofthe prisons were
walung to break loose and to slaughter the women children
' ,
and aged : thus was created the atmosphere of mass hysteria
that led to the September massacres,l
Such defensive reactions were typical of the response of sans­
�lotte:, small proprietors, and even bourgeois, to many of the
SituatIOns that developed on the eve and in the course of the
French Revolution. It is the failure to recognize this fact that
has led so many historians and writers from Burke onwards to
represent the Revolution as a sort of unbroken chain ofinnova­
tions or � the systematic unfolding of the long-conceived plans
ofthe phllosophes by the devotees of 'political messianism'.: Quite
apart from its other fallacies such a conception once more
?
reduces t e role of the sans-culoues to that of passive instruments
--:-unless It. can be shown, ofcourse, that they, too, were imbued
with a deSire for 'total renovation'. The opposite is, indeed, the
case. At every important stage of the Revolution the sans­
culottes intervened, not to renovate society or to remodel it after
a new patter�, but to reclaim traditional rights and to uphold
s�andards v.:h
�ch they believed to be imperilled by the innova­
bons of numsters, capitalists, speculators, agricultural 'im­
provers', or city authorities. This defensive reaction to events is
a characteristic feature of each one ofthe greatjournies that led
up to or marked the progress of the Revolution. The clerks and

tionaria in thoe early yean to stir up diseonlent-with the Revolution and the
journeymen who rioted in August-October 1 788 hailed Henri
IV and acclaimed the Par/tment as the custodian of 'ancient
�
new autho.ritia-am<.>ng the wage-eamcn of lhe fo.ul.tturls and. particularly,
among the unemployed in the public worluhops; but, allhough taken ICriowly li erties· against the innovations of the king's ministers. The
.
by the authorities and the democrats, they met with surprisingly little lueeos. .
Reveillon nots arose as a defensive action by Saint-Antoine
Itituante', Lo. Rivolutitmfill1l(o.iu, lvii (1909), 304-26, 38S-404; and my PaliJilUl
(Sec E. Tarl�, 'La Cluse ouvri�re et Ie parti eontre.r4!voh.tionnaire SOul la Con·
, Sec pp. t08-IO.
• Areh. Nat., DXXIX' 33, 00. 3¥'. rot 26.
. ' �, e.g., J. L. T�lm�n, The Ori,itU of ToIJJi/Mitut lJrmDao.q (London, 19511).
W.,f-£o.mm, i. �60-9.)

• R. C. Cobb, 'Le Complot miitaire l de vent<'>sl: an II', Puis tI fINl.-F,lllln,

, Ibid., no. 347, fols. 9-to.
to wh ch the Re\ oluuon IS repr�nted
I ' as lhe iogieal outcome of the thought of

vii (1956), lilli-SO.

ROllSSCa1;l Mablr, Mordly, &c., and the thought and deed. of their disciples
'
of total renovauon, and by lhe idea of a lOCiecy rec:orutrueted ddiberately wilh a
(RobCJpterre, S:unt-Jwt, and olhen)_men 'impelled by a revolutionary impetw
, Sec pp. t 7o-� above. The panie or the property-ownen tngendered, in turn,

(let: p. 173). • Sec pp. 55-56.

a panie among the prison population, who feam! a repetition ofScptcmUcr 179�
view to a logical and final pamm' (po 63).
7 Sec p. 219. n. 4, above.

'26 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
wage-earners against the threats to wages and living standards
that were said to have been uttered by two employers of the
Faubourg Saint-Antoine. The Paris revolution of July 1 789
began as a protest against the dismissal of a popular minister
and developed into a massive defensive action against the
'aristocratic plot' visibly being hatched at Versailles. In the
following weeks the assaults of peasant bands on the chattaux of
the nobility and the destruction of fiscal records were a forceful
riposte to the innovations of the sagnmrs, whose systematization
of feudal contract and extension of seigneurial obligations con­
stituted an attack on the traditional property rights of the
peasantry, The October insurrection took the form of a de­
mand for the restoration of cheaper and more plentiful bread
and of a defensive action against the military measures being
prepared by the court ; and the forcible return of the king to
the capital revived an ancient tradition in the relations between
the monarch and the people of Paris. Even the overthrow of the
monarchy was as much the final act in a movement of self­
defence against counter-revolutionary intrigue as the logical
outcome of plans hatched by consistent Republicans. 1 We have
seen how the majority of the Sections that armed before Vende­
miaire, far from considering themselves as rebels against law­
fully constituted authority, believed that they were defending
themselves against the attacks of a tyrannous Assembly,1 And
what were the repeated outbreaks of popular price-control or
taxation populairt, but the assertion of the traditional right of the
small consumers to protection against the capitalist innovation
of the 'free market' and the new-fangled principles of supply
and demand? And yet, in the prevailing conditions of revolu­
tionary crisis, each one of these movements, with the exception
ofthat ofVendemiaire, tended to carry the Revolution forwards,
to drive another nail into the coffin offeudalism, and to advance
the aims of more consciously radical groups.
It is not surprising perhaps that the actions of such insurgents
and demonstrators should also tend to be clothed in traditional
forms and that in so many journitS of the Revolution we should
catch echoes of past events. There is no innovation about the
destruction of the chdttaux or the violent assaults on individuals
1 Sec pp. [0'-3.
who had incurred popular disfavour, such as de Launay, de
• Sec p. 170.
THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY 221
Flesselles, Foullon, and Berthier: they hark back to thejtuquerits
of the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries and other more
recent outbreaks of popular fury, The taxation populajrt of 1 789
and 1793 has its antecedents in that of 1 752' and 1775. Caron
tells us that the prison massacres of September 1 792 marked the
assertion by the people of the ancient right of'lajustice retenue'
-the sovereign's prerogative right to dispense justice without
recourse to the nonnal juridical processes-traditionally vested
in the king, but since iO August devolving upon the sovereign
people,1 The march to Versailles to solicit the intercession of the
king as protector of his people had precedents in the riots of
1775' and, more recently, in the Parisian carriers' strike of
1786,4 Even the chant of the marchers, 'Allons chercher Ie
boulanger, la boulangere et Ie petit mitron', expressed sentiments
similar to those expressed in the Bordeaux peasants' slogan of
1674: 'Vive Ie Roi et sans gabelle !';5 and in the cry ofa Parisian
master locksmith of May 1775: 'Vive Ie Roi et que Ie pain
ramende!'6 The same conception of the king as protector is
evident in the assumption by leaders of the rebellious peasantry
of July 1789 of the royal authority ('de par Ie Roi') for their
acts ofa�n and destruction against the property of the nobility ;
as such It echoes the conviction of the grain rioters of 1775 that
�
the king had persona ly intervened to reduce the price of corn,
flour, and bread to aJust level.1 Apart from the armed insurrec­
tions of to August and 2 June 1 793, it is perhaps only in the
arms workers of I 794 that we find the emergence of new forms
petitions ofJuly 1791 and June 1792 and the agitation of the
ofaction that look forward to the urban-industrial society of the
future.
We should not under-estimate either the degree to which the
revolutionary leaders themselves, though steeped in the ideas
of the new philosophy, relied upon precedent and, far from
following a consistent programme of total renovation, stumbled
, ]ocrrNJi.1 mJmoiUI au nu:rq�u d'A'lflUGfI, vii. il2g.
, G. Rud�, 'La Taxalion popuJaire de mai 1 115 i Paris ct dans [a r�gion
, Caron, op. <:il., pp. 435-45.
parillienn.,', Ann. frill. Riu.ftiltlf., no. 143, '956, p. 148. • Sec p. 21.
• Traditional.
1 C. t.ef.,bvre, l.tJ Grorui. Ptlll' d, 11119, pp. 1 1 1-'7, 141; C. Rudl!, op. cit.,
6 GJRud�, op. <:it., p. '11.
pp. J·n-60·

'26 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
wage-earners against the threats to wages and living standards
that were said to have been uttered by two employers of the
Faubourg Saint-Antoine. The Paris revolution of July 1 789
began as a protest against the dismissal of a popular minister
and developed into a massive defensive action against the
'aristocratic plot' visibly being hatched at Versailles. In the
following weeks the assaults of peasant bands on the chattaux of
the nobility and the destruction of fiscal records were a forceful
riposte to the innovations of the sagnmrs, whose systematization
of feudal contract and extension of seigneurial obligations con­
stituted an attack on the traditional property rights of the
peasantry, The October insurrection took the form of a de­
mand for the restoration of cheaper and more plentiful bread
and of a defensive action against the military measures being
prepared by the court ; and the forcible return of the king to
the capital revived an ancient tradition in the relations between
the monarch and the people of Paris. Even the overthrow of the
monarchy was as much the final act in a movement of self­
defence against counter-revolutionary intrigue as the logical
outcome of plans hatched by consistent Republicans. 1 We have
seen how the majority of the Sections that armed before Vende­
miaire, far from considering themselves as rebels against law­
fully constituted authority, believed that they were defending
themselves against the attacks of a tyrannous Assembly,1 And
what were the repeated outbreaks of popular price-control or
taxation populairt, but the assertion of the traditional right of the
small consumers to protection against the capitalist innovation
of the 'free market' and the new-fangled principles of supply
and demand? And yet, in the prevailing conditions of revolu­
tionary crisis, each one of these movements, with the exception
ofthat ofVendemiaire, tended to carry the Revolution forwards,
to drive another nail into the coffin offeudalism, and to advance
the aims of more consciously radical groups.
It is not surprising perhaps that the actions of such insurgents
and demonstrators should also tend to be clothed in traditional
forms and that in so many journitS of the Revolution we should
catch echoes of past events. There is no innovation about the
destruction of the chdttaux or the violent assaults on individuals
1 Sec pp. [0'-3.
who had incurred popular disfavour, such as de Launay, de
• Sec p. 170.
THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY 221
Flesselles, Foullon, and Berthier: they hark back to thejtuquerits
of the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries and other more
recent outbreaks of popular fury, The taxation populajrt of 1 789
and 1793 has its antecedents in that of 1 752' and 1775. Caron
tells us that the prison massacres of September 1 792 marked the
assertion by the people of the ancient right of'lajustice retenue'
-the sovereign's prerogative right to dispense justice without
recourse to the nonnal juridical processes-traditionally vested
in the king, but since iO August devolving upon the sovereign
people,1 The march to Versailles to solicit the intercession of the
king as protector of his people had precedents in the riots of
1775' and, more recently, in the Parisian carriers' strike of
1786,4 Even the chant of the marchers, 'Allons chercher Ie
boulanger, la boulangere et Ie petit mitron', expressed sentiments
similar to those expressed in the Bordeaux peasants' slogan of
1674: 'Vive Ie Roi et sans gabelle !';5 and in the cry ofa Parisian
master locksmith of May 1775: 'Vive Ie Roi et que Ie pain
ramende!'6 The same conception of the king as protector is
evident in the assumption by leaders of the rebellious peasantry
of July 1789 of the royal authority ('de par Ie Roi') for their
acts ofa�n and destruction against the property of the nobility ;
as such It echoes the conviction of the grain rioters of 1775 that
�
the king had persona ly intervened to reduce the price of corn,
flour, and bread to aJust level.1 Apart from the armed insurrec­
tions of to August and 2 June 1 793, it is perhaps only in the
arms workers of I 794 that we find the emergence of new forms
petitions ofJuly 1791 and June 1792 and the agitation of the
ofaction that look forward to the urban-industrial society of the
future.
We should not under-estimate either the degree to which the
revolutionary leaders themselves, though steeped in the ideas
of the new philosophy, relied upon precedent and, far from
following a consistent programme of total renovation, stumbled
, ]ocrrNJi.1 mJmoiUI au nu:rq�u d'A'lflUGfI, vii. il2g.
, G. Rud�, 'La Taxalion popuJaire de mai 1 115 i Paris ct dans [a r�gion
, Caron, op. <:il., pp. 435-45.
parillienn.,', Ann. frill. Riu.ftiltlf., no. 143, '956, p. 148. • Sec p. 21.
• Traditional.
1 C. t.ef.,bvre, l.tJ Grorui. Ptlll' d, 11119, pp. 1 1 1-'7, 141; C. Rudl!, op. cit.,
6 GJRud�, op. <:it., p. '11.
pp. J·n-60·
228 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
from one political expedient to another-in which process the
exigencies of war, the needs of social conciliation, and the ab­
sence of any traditions of political experience all played their
part. Yet their interests, or circumstance, led them to attempt
new solutions; and these, as we have seen, on more than one
occasion led them into conAict with the sans-cutoUtS or involved
them in devious attempts to conciliate them or to divert their
energies into 'safe' political channels. Such attempts were
successful, as we saw, in the preparation of the great political
journJts from the fall of the Bastille to the expulsion of the
Girondins. They failed when the sans-culottes followed their own
head, as in the Reveillon riots and food riots of February 1793;
yet these werc not irretrievable disasters. Far more serious was
the failure of the Jacobins to regain the allegiance of the saru­
cutoUts in the summer of 1794, when the gap between them
and the Revolutionary Government proved unbridgeable and
hastened the fall of Rob�spierre and his associates in Ther­
midor. 1 This only goes to show once more that the elements
composing revolutionary crowds, though permeated by the
political ideas of the Jacobins and advanced democrats, had
social claims of their own which they persisted in advancing
even against the advice and, on occasion, the interests of the
revolutionary leaders themselves.
It remains to consider by what human agency the sans­
culoUts were directly involved in or recruited for the great
political demonstrations and insurrections of the Revolution
and for those occasions when they acted on their own account.
It has become evident of course t.hat each of the great political
journits, though its exact result might rarely be foreseen, was the
outcome of considerable preparations, often carried out in full
view of the authorities of the day, involving Sectional resolu­
even-as on 10 August, in May-June 1 793, and again in
tions and deputations, speeches, and newspaper articles, or
Vendemiaire-the creation of a co"tspondanct, or liaison, com­
mittee of the Sections to concert and to conduct operations
on the day appointed. This, of course, already goes a long way
to explain how the sans-culollts became drawn in and their
sympathies enlisted-particularly during the years when their
most active elements crowded, or dominated, the local societies,
• Sec pp. 19B fr.
THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY 229
assemblies, or committees. Again, there is little mystery about
the channel ofcommunication between leaders and participants
on tho.se occasions when the operation in hand was carried
through by military units acting under their own commanders.
Yet, in the early months of the Revolution, there is still an
element that escapes us and on which the records are too often
silent: how and at what stage were the mass of the participants
engaged and the slogans and plans of action communicated?
Occasionally we catch a glimpse of this process of communica­
tion in action-at the burning of the harriirlS, for example,
where we learn from the testimony of numerous witnesses that
local leaders were acting under the direct orders of the Palais
Royal.' Again, on 5 October, we find Stanislas Maillard direct­
ing operations in consultation with spokesmen for the women;
and Fournier l'Americain hurrying back to stir up support for
the marchers in his own District ofSaint-Eustache, and inciting
the poissartks at Versailles to call for the king' s return to PariS.2
But such glimpses are rare and the exact mechanism of revolt
generally eludes us; yet we may assume from examples such as
these that it was through secondary leaders like Maillard and
Fournier-and otbers like Saint-Huruge. Saint-Felix, Theroigne
de Mericourt, and Claire Lacombe-that liaison was maintained,
on these and similar occasions, between the topmost leaders and
tbe rank-and-file participants.
These intermediaries, however, were not of the sans-culollts
themselves, being drawn from other social groups.' Thus the
further question arises-did the san.I-culoties have leaders of their
own to co-operate with, or receive the orders of, the agents or
emissaries of the bourgtois groups and factions, or to inspire and
guide them when they acted on their own account? Or was the
element of spontaneity considerable in this respect? There is,
of course, little doubt that, on these occasions, some showed
more spirit, enterprise, and daring, or engaged in more spec-
For cx.ample, Du Hamel, a former locbmith and leader of the incendiaria
at .everal Cl,lStonu POSII, lold a witnes, 'qu'ib avaient dell orol"Q pour en agir aina;
•
e� qu'it. avaienl d'autn:s cxpMitiona i raire'; at the �rrihe S;..im-Marlin, one
noter reproved another with the words: 'Brulons, I'il le faul, puiJque cela nOUI at
ordonn�, mais ne volona (p....), puitque eela al defrcndu' ; and, .Ill the Barriere
• PrtJe/duri fl"imjlllll� iIIU CMrel,1
Blaoehe, a 9'an called for quiet 'de I'ordre du Palais Royal' (Arch. Nat., Z" 886).
I See p. 1 78, nOle I, above.
• • , witness no. 8 1 ; Mlmo;rts Stmts d. FDUr"i"'
•
Am/,;till;".
228 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
from one political expedient to another-in which process the
exigencies of war, the needs of social conciliation, and the ab­
sence of any traditions of political experience all played their
part. Yet their interests, or circumstance, led them to attempt
new solutions; and these, as we have seen, on more than one
occasion led them into conAict with the sans-cutoUtS or involved
them in devious attempts to conciliate them or to divert their
energies into 'safe' political channels. Such attempts were
successful, as we saw, in the preparation of the great political
journJts from the fall of the Bastille to the expulsion of the
Girondins. They failed when the sans-culottes followed their own
head, as in the Reveillon riots and food riots of February 1793;
yet these werc not irretrievable disasters. Far more serious was
the failure of the Jacobins to regain the allegiance of the saru­
cutoUts in the summer of 1794, when the gap between them
and the Revolutionary Government proved unbridgeable and
hastened the fall of Rob�spierre and his associates in Ther­
midor. 1 This only goes to show once more that the elements
composing revolutionary crowds, though permeated by the
political ideas of the Jacobins and advanced democrats, had
social claims of their own which they persisted in advancing
even against the advice and, on occasion, the interests of the
revolutionary leaders themselves.
It remains to consider by what human agency the sans­
culoUts were directly involved in or recruited for the great
political demonstrations and insurrections of the Revolution
and for those occasions when they acted on their own account.
It has become evident of course t.hat each of the great political
journits, though its exact result might rarely be foreseen, was the
outcome of considerable preparations, often carried out in full
view of the authorities of the day, involving Sectional resolu­
even-as on 10 August, in May-June 1 793, and again in
tions and deputations, speeches, and newspaper articles, or
Vendemiaire-the creation of a co"tspondanct, or liaison, com­
mittee of the Sections to concert and to conduct operations
on the day appointed. This, of course, already goes a long way
to explain how the sans-culollts became drawn in and their
sympathies enlisted-particularly during the years when their
most active elements crowded, or dominated, the local societies,
• Sec pp. 19B fr.
THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY 229
assemblies, or committees. Again, there is little mystery about
the channel ofcommunication between leaders and participants
on tho.se occasions when the operation in hand was carried
through by military units acting under their own commanders.
Yet, in the early months of the Revolution, there is still an
element that escapes us and on which the records are too often
silent: how and at what stage were the mass of the participants
engaged and the slogans and plans of action communicated?
Occasionally we catch a glimpse of this process of communica­
tion in action-at the burning of the harriirlS, for example,
where we learn from the testimony of numerous witnesses that
local leaders were acting under the direct orders of the Palais
Royal.' Again, on 5 October, we find Stanislas Maillard direct­
ing operations in consultation with spokesmen for the women;
and Fournier l'Americain hurrying back to stir up support for
the marchers in his own District ofSaint-Eustache, and inciting
the poissartks at Versailles to call for the king' s return to PariS.2
But such glimpses are rare and the exact mechanism of revolt
generally eludes us; yet we may assume from examples such as
these that it was through secondary leaders like Maillard and
Fournier-and otbers like Saint-Huruge. Saint-Felix, Theroigne
de Mericourt, and Claire Lacombe-that liaison was maintained,
on these and similar occasions, between the topmost leaders and
tbe rank-and-file participants.
These intermediaries, however, were not of the sans-culollts
themselves, being drawn from other social groups.' Thus the
further question arises-did the san.I-culoties have leaders of their
own to co-operate with, or receive the orders of, the agents or
emissaries of the bourgtois groups and factions, or to inspire and
guide them when they acted on their own account? Or was the
element of spontaneity considerable in this respect? There is,
of course, little doubt that, on these occasions, some showed
more spirit, enterprise, and daring, or engaged in more spec-
For cx.ample, Du Hamel, a former locbmith and leader of the incendiaria
at .everal Cl,lStonu POSII, lold a witnes, 'qu'ib avaient dell orol"Q pour en agir aina;
•
e� qu'it. avaienl d'autn:s cxpMitiona i raire'; at the �rrihe S;..im-Marlin, one
noter reproved another with the words: 'Brulons, I'il le faul, puiJque cela nOUI at
ordonn�, mais ne volona (p....), puitque eela al defrcndu' ; and, .Ill the Barriere
• PrtJe/duri fl"imjlllll� iIIU CMrel,1
Blaoehe, a 9'an called for quiet 'de I'ordre du Palais Royal' (Arch. Nat., Z" 886).
I See p. 1 78, nOle I, above.
• • , witness no. 8 1 ; Mlmo;rts Stmts d. FDUr"i"'
•
Am/,;till;".
 OLU TION ARY CRO WD THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY �31
�30 THE ANATOMY OF THE REV
fellows and, as such, drew lead their local units of the insurgent National Guard because
tacular acts of violence, than their
the attention of the police, National
G:
uard, or bystanders. In
.
of their known record of militancy in the Year II.' In such a
c�, then, we are dealing with experienced cadres of Jace­
mg part was ascnbed. to
the Reveillon riots, for instance, a lead
Bertin, a market-woman, bmlSm, who have emerged as leaders in the course of the
one Marie-Jeanne Trumeau, jmlTrU
gh later reprieved) for having revolutionary years; but this is a later phenomenon and we see
who was sentenced to death (thou
with cries of 'Allons, vive Ie little trace of it before the summer of 1791,1 In the earlier
incited the rioters to loot and bum
Prom inent among the sans­ examples cited those reported as playing leading parts may
Tiers !!'tat!' and 'A la R�ve illon !"
were , said witnesses, well h�v� ha no previous records as militants and probably
�
culottes that burned down the barrii res
and Dum ont (alias Cadet), only distlOgwshed themselves by thcir vigour or violence on
Bataille a wine-merc hant's assist ant,
�
a dock r.1 In the women's marc
h to Versailles, their chief this particular occasion; we may even accept at its face value
the frequently voiced assertion that such 'leaders' were present
was the jmlme Lavarenne,
spokesman, according to Maillard,
porter, though she herself as much by accident as design, or were brought along by the
an illiterate sick-nurse and wife of a
r compulsion) Among penuasion or compulsion of neighbours or itinerant bands. In
claimed to have been brought along unde
demo nstration we have fact, may not Marie-Jeanne Trumeau or thefemme Lavarenne
those taking part in the Champ de Mars
Evra rd-m ore remark­ f?r all their momentary militancy, have had experienc �
noted the remarkable cook, Constance .
.
politi cal opini ons than slmIlar to that of a village woman who appeared to be the
able, it is true, for the maturity of her
.4 Durin g the groce ry nots l�ader of the rioters at Brie-Comte-Robert during the grain
for the part she played in the event
of February '793, the police recorded
that several persons nots of Ins? When asked by the police to explain her dis­
up dissatisfaction and orderly conduct, shc answered simply
played a prominent part in stirrin g
at which sugar , candl es, and coffee should be qu'elle a ete entrainee . . . et convient que sa tete ,'cst montee
fixing the price
t of the commissioner comme celle des autres, et qu'elle ne savait plw ce qu'elle disait ni
sold. Among these, so ran a detailed repor
of the Arsenal Section, was
ce qu'elle faisait.l

Une femme, assez bien, a nous n i connue . . . de la taille d'e�viron In such cases there are no leaders in the commonly accepted

cinq pieds un pouce, agee de trente ans . . . vetue d'un d6h�bllle de sense of the term and the distinction between militants or
a dessin coura nt, un mantdet de taffetas nOir et une active elements, and rank-and-file participants disappears As :
toile fond bleu
a fait tout ce qui
montre d'or a chaine d'acier. . . . Cctte femme we have seen, this was not so in the later stages of the Revolu­
1a sedition u t elle qui fixa Ie prix
etait en elle pour augmenter . . . ce f tion, when the clubs and societies had had time to train and
du savon a douze sols la livre et Ie sucre a dix-hu it.s equip militants and leaders from the ranb of the sQJU-culottu
themselves. But, in the early years at least, once we have
several persons de­
After the events of Prairial, there were accounted for the efficacy of pamphlets and journals and the
ity and the specially
nounced to the Committee of General Secur spoken propaganda in public meeting-places, food-shops, and
playe d leading parts
appointed Military Commission as having markets to generate revolutionary activity, there still remains
memb ers of the annie
in the revolt; among these were former an element of spontaneity that defies a more exact analysis.
at least, had been elected to
, R. Cobb and C. Rudt!, 'Lea Joumm dc germinal ct de pTairial an III''
rivolutionnaire, of whom some,

, Arch. Nat., Y 13gBl , ' 3454. ' Arch. Nat., Z" 886. R.UUf h.islori'lUf, t9.l5, p. 219, n. 2.
• We find Ihe earliellt signs in .he Champ dc Man movement of July 119 ' :
• Arch. Prtf. Pol., Aa '4B, rol. 30. among th ose arrellied in thc Sections for prOlellting al the brutality of the National
, /'roc/dure ui",illt/f, witnas a nOS. 8.-82.

Guard werc three WJinqutU's de la BIJJlil/e (Arch. Prt!f. Pol., Aa 85, foll. 8.l-86; .61,
. . . •

, Arch. Prtf. Pol., Aa �, fol. �g6. ln the rue d<:$ Lombards,

where thc r;oll! wcre

IUpposed to have Itarted, the poli<:e picked

out for special mention and condemna. foJ. fI,lo; �06, foJ.. 37O-�).
was latcr senten«d
tion Agnb Bernard, a fish-wife of the Section dell Hallell; she
1 Arch. Nat., Y "441 (interroga.oirc de la femmc Taflton,journaliere d'Ycrres).

to two yean in prison (see p. 183 abovc).

 OLU TION ARY CRO WD THE GENERATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY �31
�30 THE ANATOMY OF THE REV
fellows and, as such, drew lead their local units of the insurgent National Guard because
tacular acts of violence, than their
the attention of the police, National
G:
uard, or bystanders. In
.
of their known record of militancy in the Year II.' In such a
c�, then, we are dealing with experienced cadres of Jace­
mg part was ascnbed. to
the Reveillon riots, for instance, a lead
Bertin, a market-woman, bmlSm, who have emerged as leaders in the course of the
one Marie-Jeanne Trumeau, jmlTrU
gh later reprieved) for having revolutionary years; but this is a later phenomenon and we see
who was sentenced to death (thou
with cries of 'Allons, vive Ie little trace of it before the summer of 1791,1 In the earlier
incited the rioters to loot and bum
Prom inent among the sans­ examples cited those reported as playing leading parts may
Tiers !!'tat!' and 'A la R�ve illon !"
were , said witnesses, well h�v� ha no previous records as militants and probably
�
culottes that burned down the barrii res
and Dum ont (alias Cadet), only distlOgwshed themselves by thcir vigour or violence on
Bataille a wine-merc hant's assist ant,
�
a dock r.1 In the women's marc
h to Versailles, their chief this particular occasion; we may even accept at its face value
the frequently voiced assertion that such 'leaders' were present
was the jmlme Lavarenne,
spokesman, according to Maillard,
porter, though she herself as much by accident as design, or were brought along by the
an illiterate sick-nurse and wife of a
r compulsion) Among penuasion or compulsion of neighbours or itinerant bands. In
claimed to have been brought along unde
demo nstration we have fact, may not Marie-Jeanne Trumeau or thefemme Lavarenne
those taking part in the Champ de Mars
Evra rd-m ore remark­ f?r all their momentary militancy, have had experienc �
noted the remarkable cook, Constance .
.
politi cal opini ons than slmIlar to that of a village woman who appeared to be the
able, it is true, for the maturity of her
.4 Durin g the groce ry nots l�ader of the rioters at Brie-Comte-Robert during the grain
for the part she played in the event
of February '793, the police recorded
that several persons nots of Ins? When asked by the police to explain her dis­
up dissatisfaction and orderly conduct, shc answered simply
played a prominent part in stirrin g
at which sugar , candl es, and coffee should be qu'elle a ete entrainee . . . et convient que sa tete ,'cst montee
fixing the price
t of the commissioner comme celle des autres, et qu'elle ne savait plw ce qu'elle disait ni
sold. Among these, so ran a detailed repor
of the Arsenal Section, was
ce qu'elle faisait.l

Une femme, assez bien, a nous n i connue . . . de la taille d'e�viron In such cases there are no leaders in the commonly accepted

cinq pieds un pouce, agee de trente ans . . . vetue d'un d6h�bllle de sense of the term and the distinction between militants or
a dessin coura nt, un mantdet de taffetas nOir et une active elements, and rank-and-file participants disappears As :
toile fond bleu
a fait tout ce qui
montre d'or a chaine d'acier. . . . Cctte femme we have seen, this was not so in the later stages of the Revolu­
1a sedition u t elle qui fixa Ie prix
etait en elle pour augmenter . . . ce f tion, when the clubs and societies had had time to train and
du savon a douze sols la livre et Ie sucre a dix-hu it.s equip militants and leaders from the ranb of the sQJU-culottu
themselves. But, in the early years at least, once we have
several persons de­
After the events of Prairial, there were accounted for the efficacy of pamphlets and journals and the
ity and the specially
nounced to the Committee of General Secur spoken propaganda in public meeting-places, food-shops, and
playe d leading parts
appointed Military Commission as having markets to generate revolutionary activity, there still remains
memb ers of the annie
in the revolt; among these were former an element of spontaneity that defies a more exact analysis.
at least, had been elected to
, R. Cobb and C. Rudt!, 'Lea Joumm dc germinal ct de pTairial an III''
rivolutionnaire, of whom some,

, Arch. Nat., Y 13gBl , ' 3454. ' Arch. Nat., Z" 886. R.UUf h.islori'lUf, t9.l5, p. 219, n. 2.
• We find Ihe earliellt signs in .he Champ dc Man movement of July 119 ' :
• Arch. Prtf. Pol., Aa '4B, rol. 30. among th ose arrellied in thc Sections for prOlellting al the brutality of the National
, /'roc/dure ui",illt/f, witnas a nOS. 8.-82.

Guard werc three WJinqutU's de la BIJJlil/e (Arch. Prt!f. Pol., Aa 85, foll. 8.l-86; .61,
. . . •

, Arch. Prtf. Pol., Aa �, fol. �g6. ln the rue d<:$ Lombards,

where thc r;oll! wcre

IUpposed to have Itarted, the poli<:e picked

out for special mention and condemna. foJ. fI,lo; �06, foJ.. 37O-�).
was latcr senten«d
tion Agnb Bernard, a fish-wife of the Section dell Hallell; she
1 Arch. Nat., Y "441 (interroga.oirc de la femmc Taflton,journaliere d'Ycrres).

to two yean in prison (see p. 183 abovc).


xv
THE 'R E V O L U T I O N A R Y C R O W D'
IN H I STORY
E return to our central question-the nature of the
W crowds that took part in the grea� events of the Revolu­
tion in Paris. From our analysu these crowds have
emerged as active agents in the revolutionary process, com-
posed of social elements with their own distinctive iden ties.
interests, and aspirations. Yet these were n� t at vanance
with, or isolated from, those of other SOCial groups. In
fact we have seen that the Revolution was only able to
advance-and, indeed, to break out-because the sans-cutoUts,
from whom these elements were largely drawn, were able to
assimilate and to identify themselves with the new political
ideas promoted by the liberal aristocracy and bourgeois£e. But,
even when revolutionary crowds were impregnated with and
stimulated by such ideas, they cannot for that reason be dis­
missed as mere passive instruments of middle-class leaders an�
interests ; still less can they be presented as inchoate 'mobs'
without any social identity or, at best, as drawn from criminal
elements or the dregs or the city population. While these played
a part, it was an altogether minor one and on no OCCa5ion
corresponded to the unsympathetic picture of the all-prevailing
canailk painted by Taine and other writers.
Michelet's use of Ie ptuple corresponds, of course, far more
closely to the racts: we have seen Bamave, for one, applying the
term to those participants in revolutionary events who were
neither of the aristocracy nor or the bourgeoisie. Yet it is too
indefinite; for while the rrunu peuple, or sans-culotte.s, taken. collec­
tively, formed the main body ofrioters and insurgents, the part
played by their constituent elements-women, wage-earners,
craftsmen, journeymcn, petty traders, or workshop masters­
varied widely from one occasion to another. This, of course,
merely emphasizes the point that revolutionary crowds, far
from being social abstractions, were composed of ordinary men
and women with varying social needs, who responded to a
THE 'REVOLUTIONARY CROWD' IN H I STORY 233
variety ofimpulses, in which economic crisis, political upheaval,
and the urge to satisfy immediate and particular grievances all
played their part.
Are such conclusions only valid within the comparatively
restricted context of the French Revolution, or have they a
certain validity, as well, in the Ca5C of other 'revolutionary
crowds', whom historians have been inclined, either for con­
venience or from lack of sympathy, to depict as 'mobs' or as
social riff-raff?' It would, of course, be both presumptuous and
misleading to generalize too freely and too confidently from the
cases examined in the course of the present study; yet, even if
� we admit that there are no exact historical parallels, there are
certain features that are common both to these and to other
popular movements arising in Britain and France during the
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. To that extent,
at least, we may perhaps apply our conclusions to a wider
field.
We have already notcd the similarities berween certain
'economic' movements or the Revolution and those of the latter
years of the old regime in France-particularly that of t 775.
Here we havc the same spontaneous reaction to the rising cost
of Rour and bread ; rioting in markets and bakers' shops; the
imposition of popular price-control, the terms of which were
carried by word or mouth from market to market; the same
almost unquestioning faith in the efficacy and benevolence of
the royal authority; the role of rumour in stimulating activity ;
the active participation of different groups of the menu ptuple of
towns and villages, among whom criminal clements and down­
and-outs played an altogether insignificant part.z Several or
these features, though by no means all, reappear in French
more discriminating, label of 'the people' or 'the patriOtl'. Thil has generally
, Some!ima, of eourse, crowds are given Michekt', mort: sympathetic, if nOI
ba:n the case n i British historians' dexriptions of the European and South
Amerkan national movemenUo of the nineteenth centory in whkh erowds Were
promoting causes with which the writers w("re manifatly in sympathy. Even, on
oecasion. from a change of fashion or of official policy. a 'I""iteh' is made, in
yaterday become the 'patriolS' or 'frt:edom Iight,!"r"I' of today. (For an amuling
atimating a given mo\"emem, from one anitude to the other. Thul the 'bandits' of
ilIwtration, sec: Mr. R. H. S. CrO:l!lman', account of the 'switch' from Mihail.....
vitch to Tito in the Sc-cond World War in the Ntw Sialuma" aM Hario" of 15
, See the conchuion. to my article on the grain riott of 1775 (cited, "III. alia, on
Decembc:r 1956.)
p. 2"17, note J, above).

xv
THE 'R E V O L U T I O N A R Y C R O W D'
IN H I STORY
E return to our central question-the nature of the
W crowds that took part in the grea� events of the Revolu­
tion in Paris. From our analysu these crowds have
emerged as active agents in the revolutionary process, com-
posed of social elements with their own distinctive iden ties.
interests, and aspirations. Yet these were n� t at vanance
with, or isolated from, those of other SOCial groups. In
fact we have seen that the Revolution was only able to
advance-and, indeed, to break out-because the sans-cutoUts,
from whom these elements were largely drawn, were able to
assimilate and to identify themselves with the new political
ideas promoted by the liberal aristocracy and bourgeois£e. But,
even when revolutionary crowds were impregnated with and
stimulated by such ideas, they cannot for that reason be dis­
missed as mere passive instruments of middle-class leaders an�
interests ; still less can they be presented as inchoate 'mobs'
without any social identity or, at best, as drawn from criminal
elements or the dregs or the city population. While these played
a part, it was an altogether minor one and on no OCCa5ion
corresponded to the unsympathetic picture of the all-prevailing
canailk painted by Taine and other writers.
Michelet's use of Ie ptuple corresponds, of course, far more
closely to the racts: we have seen Bamave, for one, applying the
term to those participants in revolutionary events who were
neither of the aristocracy nor or the bourgeoisie. Yet it is too
indefinite; for while the rrunu peuple, or sans-culotte.s, taken. collec­
tively, formed the main body ofrioters and insurgents, the part
played by their constituent elements-women, wage-earners,
craftsmen, journeymcn, petty traders, or workshop masters­
varied widely from one occasion to another. This, of course,
merely emphasizes the point that revolutionary crowds, far
from being social abstractions, were composed of ordinary men
and women with varying social needs, who responded to a
THE 'REVOLUTIONARY CROWD' IN H I STORY 233
variety ofimpulses, in which economic crisis, political upheaval,
and the urge to satisfy immediate and particular grievances all
played their part.
Are such conclusions only valid within the comparatively
restricted context of the French Revolution, or have they a
certain validity, as well, in the Ca5C of other 'revolutionary
crowds', whom historians have been inclined, either for con­
venience or from lack of sympathy, to depict as 'mobs' or as
social riff-raff?' It would, of course, be both presumptuous and
misleading to generalize too freely and too confidently from the
cases examined in the course of the present study; yet, even if
� we admit that there are no exact historical parallels, there are
certain features that are common both to these and to other
popular movements arising in Britain and France during the
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. To that extent,
at least, we may perhaps apply our conclusions to a wider
field.
We have already notcd the similarities berween certain
'economic' movements or the Revolution and those of the latter
years of the old regime in France-particularly that of t 775.
Here we havc the same spontaneous reaction to the rising cost
of Rour and bread ; rioting in markets and bakers' shops; the
imposition of popular price-control, the terms of which were
carried by word or mouth from market to market; the same
almost unquestioning faith in the efficacy and benevolence of
the royal authority; the role of rumour in stimulating activity ;
the active participation of different groups of the menu ptuple of
towns and villages, among whom criminal clements and down­
and-outs played an altogether insignificant part.z Several or
these features, though by no means all, reappear in French
more discriminating, label of 'the people' or 'the patriOtl'. Thil has generally
, Some!ima, of eourse, crowds are given Michekt', mort: sympathetic, if nOI
ba:n the case n i British historians' dexriptions of the European and South
Amerkan national movemenUo of the nineteenth centory in whkh erowds Were
promoting causes with which the writers w("re manifatly in sympathy. Even, on
oecasion. from a change of fashion or of official policy. a 'I""iteh' is made, in
yaterday become the 'patriolS' or 'frt:edom Iight,!"r"I' of today. (For an amuling
atimating a given mo\"emem, from one anitude to the other. Thul the 'bandits' of
ilIwtration, sec: Mr. R. H. S. CrO:l!lman', account of the 'switch' from Mihail.....
vitch to Tito in the Sc-cond World War in the Ntw Sialuma" aM Hario" of 15
, See the conchuion. to my article on the grain riott of 1775 (cited, "III. alia, on
Decembc:r 1956.)
p. 2"17, note J, above).
234 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
rural riots as latc as 1848.1 In the urban revolutions oClhe early
nineteenth century, too, a large measure of continuity with that
of 1789 still persists, though new features emerge with industrial
advance and gradual social change. The external appearance
of Paris and the geographical distribution of its population
remained much the same in 1848 as sixty years before;2 the
small workshop still predominated and, far from disappearing,
was increasing its holdil while the main centres of the menu
peuple were still the Faubourgs Saint·Antoine and Saint-Marcd
and the districts north of the markets.4 As far as can be told
from limited records, the composition of the participants in the
J
'trois gJorieuses' of July 830 was not very different from that
of the captors of the Bastille,s Like their forbears of 10 August
1792 the ouvriers of 1830 left their workshops to take up arms
and, far from encouraging looting, shot those who engaged in it
out ofhand,6 In 1848, again, masters and journeymen marched
together, and jointly manned the barricades and occupie the � of mechanized industry: among the arrested irJSurgents ofJune,
Chamber of Deputies in the February days.' De Tocquevllle's
descriptions of the popular invasion of the parliamentary
sessions of 24 February and 15 May of that year read like
accounts of the great demonstrations in the National Convention
in Germinal and Prairial of the Year III;8 and even in theJune
revolution that followed, when bourgeois and ouurim found them­
selves ranged in armed conflict on opposing sides, we find the
insurgents largely belonging to the familiar trades of those who
stormed the Bastille and reduced the Tuileries: of J 1 ,6g3 persons
, Sec R. Gossez'J 'earle des troubles' n i E. Lab� (ed.), N� 14 III tris�
141" "lJNlRUm Ik I'ko,."mu/rtulf"in IIU milint tW m sikk (18f6-185r) (Paris, 19�6) ;
G. Lefebv�, LD CrllNU p,,,, d� IJlIfJ. pp. 61-6�.
d rural riot of the eighteenth century had its origins in the high
• Sec C. �ignobol, LD RJuoIutitnt 14 18p] (Paris, I!JII I ), pp. 3+4-�.
J L. Chevalier, LD Fl11fIiMt
IIIt th 14 JIoPIIhUiMt Jlllrisinrnl Illl X/X· sikh (Paris, 1950),
• G. Vaulhier, 'La MiJtre des ouvnen en I831 ', .... (""'ulttm. L 18"r, leUl
P· 77· . ..
'-. R '-" ...
{192�}, 607-17.
participation in the eventJ of 27-29Juiy 1830 in Par;' (Arch. PrU. Pol., Aa. ,6g-
J Sec the very incomplete luIS or those killed and decorated a:t a result of their
• 'Une Leurc intdite lur 10 joum� de juiUet 1830', LD Rlwlution th 18pJ,
70,420).
the absence of looting (Titt R,colltdiotu of AItJ:;s dt Toc�uillt, ed. J. P. Mayer
vii (1910), 272-�. In 184B, too, de Toequevillc noted (without surpriJC, he added)
(London, 1948), p. 80).
LD Rivolul;rm dt 18.,8, viii (1911), 99-1.:1:4; F. Dutacq, 'Un Rkit da journ� de
7 A. CrtmieUK, 'La Fusillade du boulevard des Capudnes du 23 revrie. 1848',
f�vrier 1848', ibid. ix (1912), 266-70. I R,col/«lionJ, pp. 5 1-:;9, 13:;-4�·
THE 'REVOLUTIONARY CROWD' IN HISTORY .:1:35
arrested and charged in this affair, there were 554 stonemasons,
286 tailors, 283 painters, and 191 wine-merchants.I But the
510joiners, 416 shoemakers, 321 cabinet-makers, 28s locksmiths,
differences are equally, ifnot more, striking. Even in February
the proportion of wage-earners among the insurgents was far
greater than it was in 1789: de Tocqueville actually believed
that the victors of the Revolution-up to May, at least-were
the working classes and that its sole victims were the bourgeoisie,'
This is an exaggeration; yet the fact remains that the wage­
earners and independent craftsmen, who played the principal
part in the insurrections and journles of the period, were now
organized in their own political clubs, marched under their
own banners and leaders, and, far from responding to the ideas
and slogans of the bourgeoisie, were deeply imbued with the new
ideas of Socialism.l The Industrial Revolution of Louis­
Philippe's reign had brought in railways and the beginnings
we note, alongside the joiners, cabinet-makers, and locksmiths
of the traditional crafts and small workshops, the names of
some eighty railwaymen and 257 micaniciens.4 As June 1848
marks the first great armed collision between ouvriers and
bourgeoisie, so it marks the final eclipse of the Jons-culoUts and the
emergence of the wage-earners as the new shock-troops of in­
surrection and the predominant element in revolutionary
crowds.
We find a similar process taking place in Britain, though it
begins at an earlier date. Even more than in France the typical
price of corn, flour, or bread and expressed itself in various
forms of direct action, ranging from personal assaults on mill­
owners, farmers, or magistrates, the destruction of fences, turn­
pikes, houses, or mills, the seizure of stocks of grain and stop­
.
page of food convoys, to great demonstrations of farm-workers,
, Lis� gbtlraJe ." Drd" aJp!ul!Jitiqllt des iN;U/fJls drjwin I¥. Ar<:h. Nat., F>. 2585-6.
• Ruo//tc/ions, pp. 78 If.
mann, 'Le Club de Ra$pail en 1848', LD Rivoiulion d, 18�, v ( l goS-g), 589-605,
• �ignobos, op. cit., pp. 24-.:1:5, 57-58, 67-70, 89-106, T38-g; Sunnne Wauer_
655-74, 74B--6�; R. Gossez , 'L'organisalion ouvricre a Paris $<)\1$ I" Se.:onde
• p• .:1:585-6. See also G. Duveau, LD Vit OUlTiir, In FraNt ltIUI It StroM Em"i,.
R�publlque', 18�. Rtl'Ut dts r(voiuliotu (onltmporai/ltS, xli (1949), 31-45.
(Par;', 1946), pp. 42-..3.
234 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
rural riots as latc as 1848.1 In the urban revolutions oClhe early
nineteenth century, too, a large measure of continuity with that
of 1789 still persists, though new features emerge with industrial
advance and gradual social change. The external appearance
of Paris and the geographical distribution of its population
remained much the same in 1848 as sixty years before;2 the
small workshop still predominated and, far from disappearing,
was increasing its holdil while the main centres of the menu
peuple were still the Faubourgs Saint·Antoine and Saint-Marcd
and the districts north of the markets.4 As far as can be told
from limited records, the composition of the participants in the
J
'trois gJorieuses' of July 830 was not very different from that
of the captors of the Bastille,s Like their forbears of 10 August
1792 the ouvriers of 1830 left their workshops to take up arms
and, far from encouraging looting, shot those who engaged in it
out ofhand,6 In 1848, again, masters and journeymen marched
together, and jointly manned the barricades and occupie the � of mechanized industry: among the arrested irJSurgents ofJune,
Chamber of Deputies in the February days.' De Tocquevllle's
descriptions of the popular invasion of the parliamentary
sessions of 24 February and 15 May of that year read like
accounts of the great demonstrations in the National Convention
in Germinal and Prairial of the Year III;8 and even in theJune
revolution that followed, when bourgeois and ouurim found them­
selves ranged in armed conflict on opposing sides, we find the
insurgents largely belonging to the familiar trades of those who
stormed the Bastille and reduced the Tuileries: of J 1 ,6g3 persons
, Sec R. Gossez'J 'earle des troubles' n i E. Lab� (ed.), N� 14 III tris�
141" "lJNlRUm Ik I'ko,."mu/rtulf"in IIU milint tW m sikk (18f6-185r) (Paris, 19�6) ;
G. Lefebv�, LD CrllNU p,,,, d� IJlIfJ. pp. 61-6�.
d rural riot of the eighteenth century had its origins in the high
• Sec C. �ignobol, LD RJuoIutitnt 14 18p] (Paris, I!JII I ), pp. 3+4-�.
J L. Chevalier, LD Fl11fIiMt
IIIt th 14 JIoPIIhUiMt Jlllrisinrnl Illl X/X· sikh (Paris, 1950),
• G. Vaulhier, 'La MiJtre des ouvnen en I831 ', .... (""'ulttm. L 18"r, leUl
P· 77· . ..
'-. R '-" ...
{192�}, 607-17.
participation in the eventJ of 27-29Juiy 1830 in Par;' (Arch. PrU. Pol., Aa. ,6g-
J Sec the very incomplete luIS or those killed and decorated a:t a result of their
• 'Une Leurc intdite lur 10 joum� de juiUet 1830', LD Rlwlution th 18pJ,
70,420).
the absence of looting (Titt R,colltdiotu of AItJ:;s dt Toc�uillt, ed. J. P. Mayer
vii (1910), 272-�. In 184B, too, de Toequevillc noted (without surpriJC, he added)
(London, 1948), p. 80).
LD Rivolul;rm dt 18.,8, viii (1911), 99-1.:1:4; F. Dutacq, 'Un Rkit da journ� de
7 A. CrtmieUK, 'La Fusillade du boulevard des Capudnes du 23 revrie. 1848',
f�vrier 1848', ibid. ix (1912), 266-70. I R,col/«lionJ, pp. 5 1-:;9, 13:;-4�·
THE 'REVOLUTIONARY CROWD' IN HISTORY .:1:35
arrested and charged in this affair, there were 554 stonemasons,
286 tailors, 283 painters, and 191 wine-merchants.I But the
510joiners, 416 shoemakers, 321 cabinet-makers, 28s locksmiths,
differences are equally, ifnot more, striking. Even in February
the proportion of wage-earners among the insurgents was far
greater than it was in 1789: de Tocqueville actually believed
that the victors of the Revolution-up to May, at least-were
the working classes and that its sole victims were the bourgeoisie,'
This is an exaggeration; yet the fact remains that the wage­
earners and independent craftsmen, who played the principal
part in the insurrections and journles of the period, were now
organized in their own political clubs, marched under their
own banners and leaders, and, far from responding to the ideas
and slogans of the bourgeoisie, were deeply imbued with the new
ideas of Socialism.l The Industrial Revolution of Louis­
Philippe's reign had brought in railways and the beginnings
we note, alongside the joiners, cabinet-makers, and locksmiths
of the traditional crafts and small workshops, the names of
some eighty railwaymen and 257 micaniciens.4 As June 1848
marks the first great armed collision between ouvriers and
bourgeoisie, so it marks the final eclipse of the Jons-culoUts and the
emergence of the wage-earners as the new shock-troops of in­
surrection and the predominant element in revolutionary
crowds.
We find a similar process taking place in Britain, though it
begins at an earlier date. Even more than in France the typical
price of corn, flour, or bread and expressed itself in various
forms of direct action, ranging from personal assaults on mill­
owners, farmers, or magistrates, the destruction of fences, turn­
pikes, houses, or mills, the seizure of stocks of grain and stop­
.
page of food convoys, to great demonstrations of farm-workers,
, Lis� gbtlraJe ." Drd" aJp!ul!Jitiqllt des iN;U/fJls drjwin I¥. Ar<:h. Nat., F>. 2585-6.
• Ruo//tc/ions, pp. 78 If.
mann, 'Le Club de Ra$pail en 1848', LD Rivoiulion d, 18�, v ( l goS-g), 589-605,
• �ignobos, op. cit., pp. 24-.:1:5, 57-58, 67-70, 89-106, T38-g; Sunnne Wauer_
655-74, 74B--6�; R. Gossez , 'L'organisalion ouvricre a Paris $<)\1$ I" Se.:onde
• p• .:1:585-6. See also G. Duveau, LD Vit OUlTiir, In FraNt ltIUI It StroM Em"i,.
R�publlque', 18�. Rtl'Ut dts r(voiuliotu (onltmporai/ltS, xli (1949), 31-45.
(Par;', 1946), pp. 42-..3.
236 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
miners and rural craftsmen in the local market towns. Such
t?
' nocturnal antics were called off and gave way to mass meetings
activities are, of course, remioucent of 0se engaged i� by
�
French peasants and village tradesmen dunng t e same penod;
but none is more strikingly similar than the wIdespread resort
to the taxation populaire, or popular price·control, examples of
.
which seem to have been even more abundant in the Enghsh
countryside than in the French : for the year 1766 alone Dr.
Wearmouth has recorded no less than twenty·two such instances
from market towns and villages all over the country;1 and local
records would no doubt reveal many more. It was only in the
rural districts of England and Wales that this type of riot-with
its emphasis on popular, or 'natural', justice -pers ted �ell
THE 'REVOLUTIONARY CROWD' I N HISTORY iJ�7
and petitions to Parliament-not so much owing to successful
government repression as to the farmers' change of heart when
faced with their labourers' insistence on pressing their own
particular claims.'
It was similar changes in the relations of social classes that
transformed the nature of English urban riots. During the
eighteenth century, despite the wide variety ofissues involvt:d
,
there is a certain continuity of pattern which, again, is reminis­
cent of the French. In market towns and all but the largest
� cities the prevailing form continued to be the food. riot.
London it rarely took this form, though the high price of food.
In

into the nineteenth century, at a time when such maru festaUons might be a contributory cause of disturbance.1 The constant
had long been superseded in urban communities. Perhaps the
repetition by historians ofsuch catch-phrases as Tory or Wilkite
latest and certainly the most spectacular, example of It was
i
'mobs' has of course tended to obscure the true nature of such
seen n the Rebecca Riots which broke out in West Wales in disturbances and the fact that crowds taking part in them were
1839 and again in I842-ostensibly direct�d against toll-gates,
both socially identifiable and were impelled by specific grievances
but actually expressing the accumulated gnevances �fthe Wel�h and by motives other than those of loot or monetary gain. The
peasantry over tithe, 'alien' landowners, tyranmcal magts­
trates, church rates, high rents, and the New Poor �w, � East London riots ofJuly 1736 were largely the work ofjourney­
mt:n and labourers, who had been roused to violence against
besides.' Here again, even at this late d�te, ther� are st
n king
. the local Irish by the employment of Irish workt:rs at lower
resemblances with certain of the French nots and JDsurrecuoru, rates of wages;' yet otht:r factors, such as the Gin Act of that
both urban and rural, of the late eighteenth century-the
year and mt:mories of Walpole's threatened Excise, entered
appeal to tradition in both the propaganda and the costume of into the picture. In the 'Wilkes and Liberty' riots of 1 768-g and
the rioters ·J the sporadic emergence of local leaders or 'Re­
h
the Gordon Riots of a dozen years later, those taking part were
beccas" 4 t e visible expression of ,naturaljustice' in the destruc­
;
mainly journt:ymen, apprentices. servants, labourers, small
tion of oll-gates and workhouses ; thejoint action offarmers and
crafumen, and petty traders. Though the immediate causes of
farm-labourers; and the spontaneous spreading of rioting, as
disturbance were very differt:nt in the two cases, both movt:­
though by contagion, from one area to another.s But new social
mt:nts were movements ofsocial protest, in which the underlying
forces were at work ; and it is certainly significant that 'Rebecca's'
, R. W. Wunnouth, .M�t1wJism and 1M Commoll Pwpk of 1M Eighlnfllh unJury
conflict of poor against rich (though not yet of labour against
capital) is clearly visible beneath the surface. All these move-
v
(London, 1945), pp. 19-50, 51-76, 77-91 .

J 'Rebecu'l' !euer'S rem

• Da id Williams, Tiv IUlHcrQ RilM (Univ. ofWala PrCSII, 1955)·
. , Ibid., pp. �43, 262.
• Thill: WI.I probably.o in the anti-Irish and Gin Riou of 1736 and in the 'Wilkct
inded the Welsh of their emla�ent by the �ngllJh .

had been cnslav«t by the 'Norman yoke'}; and rioten commonly disguised them.
'som of HengUt' (ibid., p. 192) (cr. the Engsh
il radiul tndiuon that Englishmen
movements of 1763 <:K 176g, or in the Gordon Riots of 1780. {For these and other
and Liberty' riots of March.May 1jii8, though probably not 10 in the Wilkct
Idva by blackening their face! « by draaing up aI women (th� last was a charge
points �Iating 10 these movements lICe G. Rud�, '''Mother Gin" and the London
I
iruill:lently made agaiNt the Parniam who marched to Vertalll"" on 5 October
Riots of 1736', Th GuildMlI Mual/any, no. 10, 1959; 'WiJl<a and Liberty, 768-6g',
"Sg). ibid., no. 8, '957, pp. 3--'24; 'The Cordon Riots: a Study of the Rioters
'gentlemen', publicans, and even labourers (ibid., p�. 19o, '95, �g8, 221 ' 250).
• Thae were mod often tenant farmers, though OCCallona . 1 reports spcak of and
their Victims', TTQ/1J4Clions q/lh, R...,ol Hisltnical Sarj,v, 5th seria, vol. vi, 1956,
• Ibid., p. 212. Some of these featura appear In th� English agnC\lhural
pp.
•
. 93-1,+)1
Dapite their origins, these riots, like the Pam R�veil1on riots of fitly years
later, had little in common with the ninftCC:llth-century ()'pC of
wacct movement,
labouren' revolt of 18�()-1, the 11.11 movement ofits kind In rural England.
236 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD
miners and rural craftsmen in the local market towns. Such
t?
' nocturnal antics were called off and gave way to mass meetings
activities are, of course, remioucent of 0se engaged i� by
�
French peasants and village tradesmen dunng t e same penod;
but none is more strikingly similar than the wIdespread resort
to the taxation populaire, or popular price·control, examples of
.
which seem to have been even more abundant in the Enghsh
countryside than in the French : for the year 1766 alone Dr.
Wearmouth has recorded no less than twenty·two such instances
from market towns and villages all over the country;1 and local
records would no doubt reveal many more. It was only in the
rural districts of England and Wales that this type of riot-with
its emphasis on popular, or 'natural', justice -pers ted �ell
THE 'REVOLUTIONARY CROWD' I N HISTORY iJ�7
and petitions to Parliament-not so much owing to successful
government repression as to the farmers' change of heart when
faced with their labourers' insistence on pressing their own
particular claims.'
It was similar changes in the relations of social classes that
transformed the nature of English urban riots. During the
eighteenth century, despite the wide variety ofissues involvt:d
,
there is a certain continuity of pattern which, again, is reminis­
cent of the French. In market towns and all but the largest
� cities the prevailing form continued to be the food. riot.
London it rarely took this form, though the high price of food.
In

into the nineteenth century, at a time when such maru festaUons might be a contributory cause of disturbance.1 The constant
had long been superseded in urban communities. Perhaps the
repetition by historians ofsuch catch-phrases as Tory or Wilkite
latest and certainly the most spectacular, example of It was
i
'mobs' has of course tended to obscure the true nature of such
seen n the Rebecca Riots which broke out in West Wales in disturbances and the fact that crowds taking part in them were
1839 and again in I842-ostensibly direct�d against toll-gates,
both socially identifiable and were impelled by specific grievances
but actually expressing the accumulated gnevances �fthe Wel�h and by motives other than those of loot or monetary gain. The
peasantry over tithe, 'alien' landowners, tyranmcal magts­
trates, church rates, high rents, and the New Poor �w, � East London riots ofJuly 1736 were largely the work ofjourney­
mt:n and labourers, who had been roused to violence against
besides.' Here again, even at this late d�te, ther� are st
n king
. the local Irish by the employment of Irish workt:rs at lower
resemblances with certain of the French nots and JDsurrecuoru, rates of wages;' yet otht:r factors, such as the Gin Act of that
both urban and rural, of the late eighteenth century-the
year and mt:mories of Walpole's threatened Excise, entered
appeal to tradition in both the propaganda and the costume of into the picture. In the 'Wilkes and Liberty' riots of 1 768-g and
the rioters ·J the sporadic emergence of local leaders or 'Re­
h
the Gordon Riots of a dozen years later, those taking part were
beccas" 4 t e visible expression of ,naturaljustice' in the destruc­
;
mainly journt:ymen, apprentices. servants, labourers, small
tion of oll-gates and workhouses ; thejoint action offarmers and
crafumen, and petty traders. Though the immediate causes of
farm-labourers; and the spontaneous spreading of rioting, as
disturbance were very differt:nt in the two cases, both movt:­
though by contagion, from one area to another.s But new social
mt:nts were movements ofsocial protest, in which the underlying
forces were at work ; and it is certainly significant that 'Rebecca's'
, R. W. Wunnouth, .M�t1wJism and 1M Commoll Pwpk of 1M Eighlnfllh unJury
conflict of poor against rich (though not yet of labour against
capital) is clearly visible beneath the surface. All these move-
v
(London, 1945), pp. 19-50, 51-76, 77-91 .

J 'Rebecu'l' !euer'S rem

• Da id Williams, Tiv IUlHcrQ RilM (Univ. ofWala PrCSII, 1955)·
. , Ibid., pp. �43, 262.
• Thill: WI.I probably.o in the anti-Irish and Gin Riou of 1736 and in the 'Wilkct
inded the Welsh of their emla�ent by the �ngllJh .

had been cnslav«t by the 'Norman yoke'}; and rioten commonly disguised them.
'som of HengUt' (ibid., p. 192) (cr. the Engsh
il radiul tndiuon that Englishmen
movements of 1763 <:K 176g, or in the Gordon Riots of 1780. {For these and other
and Liberty' riots of March.May 1jii8, though probably not 10 in the Wilkct
Idva by blackening their face! « by draaing up aI women (th� last was a charge
points �Iating 10 these movements lICe G. Rud�, '''Mother Gin" and the London
I
iruill:lently made agaiNt the Parniam who marched to Vertalll"" on 5 October
Riots of 1736', Th GuildMlI Mual/any, no. 10, 1959; 'WiJl<a and Liberty, 768-6g',
"Sg). ibid., no. 8, '957, pp. 3--'24; 'The Cordon Riots: a Study of the Rioters
'gentlemen', publicans, and even labourers (ibid., p�. 19o, '95, �g8, 221 ' 250).
• Thae were mod often tenant farmers, though OCCallona . 1 reports spcak of and
their Victims', TTQ/1J4Clions q/lh, R...,ol Hisltnical Sarj,v, 5th seria, vol. vi, 1956,
• Ibid., p. 212. Some of these featura appear In th� English agnC\lhural
pp.
•
. 93-1,+)1
Dapite their origins, these riots, like the Pam R�veil1on riots of fitly years
later, had little in common with the ninftCC:llth-century ()'pC of
wacct movement,
labouren' revolt of 18�()-1, the 11.11 movement ofits kind In rural England.
1138 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD THE 'REVOLUTIONARY CROWD' IN HISTORy '"
ments are typical of French and English urban popular move­ proc� started sooner and, by the advent of Chartism i the
. n
ments of the period, in which the peupJe of wage-earners, 1830 s, It was already completed.
From these. few examples it would appear, then, that
craftsmen, and small tradesmen, led by local captains, dispense Q. new
mltW

a rough and ready kind of natural justice by breaking windows, type of 'revolutionary crowd'-to use the term in its b�
. dest
burning their enemies of the moment in effigy, or 'pulling down' pos.S1bl� sense-with new social objectives and new mO(i�
of
their dwelling-houses, pubs, or mills.' In the Gordon Riots this expressIOn was evolving in western Europe in the first p t
ar of
activity reached alarming proportions, settled claims for damage the mneteent
" h century; wit" h the advance of capitalist i n
" " " ..l t�
- -,
to private buildings and personal property alone amounting It was to spread raptdly elsewhere. Thl! newer type of c�
wd is
to over £70,000. This particular feature was due not so much prob�bly easier to identify than the older type that prevlt
il d at
to the deeper social antagonisms as to the immediate panic­ the Ume of the French Revolution, and historians of tht l':
. ade
fear of the consequences of the believed increase in the numbers Uruon an� La�ur m�vement, in particular, have nOt
been
and influence of the Roman Catholics: it was even rumoured �ackward 10 USlOg av�la�le sources of inquiry to brit'lg t
i to
that Lord Mansfield, the Lord ChiefJustice, 'had made the �gh�. Bu! bad old hab ts die hard, and the general histo
i rian is
IOchned 10 such matters to cover up his tracks by reso... "••
.:
king one' overnight ! An interesting by-product of all this was " w
that the merchants and householders of the City of London, a convement and ready-to-hand vocabulary which, III
gh
facing a double threat-to their liberties from the Govern­ hallowed by time, is none the less misleading and inadeo
�uaOUte.
ment's military measures and to their properties from the The term ' rnabs'� "10 the sense of hired bands operatin.
on
destructive zeal of 'the inferior set of people'-anticipated the behalf of external 1Oterests, doubtless has its place in the \v �
. " . htm g
request made nine years later by their counterparts in of sooa " I histo,?,; but It
· should be mvoked With dlscrel.J.ol), nd
•

. a
Paris for the institution of a milice hourgeoise to defend their only when Jusl:l.fied by the particular occasion. In so far as ny
a
interests.' conclusion of general validity emerges from the present ttudy
" "
Such forms ofpopular demonstration did not long survive the It IS, perhaps, that such occasions are rare and that "tai e's
arrival of the new industrial age. With the growth of urban 'mob' should be seen as a term of convenience, or as \ Cifi k
population and the dawn of the factory system at the end of the symbol of prejudice, rather than as a verifiable hQt()�C�
century, trade unions became more frequent and more stable, phenomenon.
and direct conflicts between wage-earners and employers a more
common feature of industrial and urban communities. From
the 1780'S onwards strikes were beginning to eclipse food riots
and other movements of natural justice as the typical form of
social protest. At the same time, as we have seen, the wage­
earners were beginning to replace such social groupings as
'the urban poor', 'the inferior set of people', or the menu peuple-­
tcrms appropriate to an earlier age-as the main participants
in urban social movemcnts. In Britain this process was not
attended by as much violence or as rapid a maturing ofpolitical
ideas as was witnessed in France in 1848; but the general
1 Thge features also appear in the 'Church and King' riots of '79O-ll in
Birmingham and Manchater; but in these CMeil other demenu enter which
require to be separately studied.
• G. Rud�, ·r "tumulti di Gordon" (1 780)', MOl.'imtl!l� Op"(Ji� (Milan), 19:'0:'0.
p. 8:'o�. Not lurprisingly the uque$t Willi coldly received and had 10 be droppW..
1138 THE ANATOMY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD THE 'REVOLUTIONARY CROWD' IN HISTORy '"
ments are typical of French and English urban popular move­ proc� started sooner and, by the advent of Chartism i the
. n
ments of the period, in which the peupJe of wage-earners, 1830 s, It was already completed.
From these. few examples it would appear, then, that
craftsmen, and small tradesmen, led by local captains, dispense Q. new
mltW

a rough and ready kind of natural justice by breaking windows, type of 'revolutionary crowd'-to use the term in its b�
. dest
burning their enemies of the moment in effigy, or 'pulling down' pos.S1bl� sense-with new social objectives and new mO(i�
of
their dwelling-houses, pubs, or mills.' In the Gordon Riots this expressIOn was evolving in western Europe in the first p t
ar of
activity reached alarming proportions, settled claims for damage the mneteent
" h century; wit" h the advance of capitalist i n
" " " ..l t�
- -,
to private buildings and personal property alone amounting It was to spread raptdly elsewhere. Thl! newer type of c�
wd is
to over £70,000. This particular feature was due not so much prob�bly easier to identify than the older type that prevlt
il d at
to the deeper social antagonisms as to the immediate panic­ the Ume of the French Revolution, and historians of tht l':
. ade
fear of the consequences of the believed increase in the numbers Uruon an� La�ur m�vement, in particular, have nOt
been
and influence of the Roman Catholics: it was even rumoured �ackward 10 USlOg av�la�le sources of inquiry to brit'lg t
i to
that Lord Mansfield, the Lord ChiefJustice, 'had made the �gh�. Bu! bad old hab ts die hard, and the general histo
i rian is
IOchned 10 such matters to cover up his tracks by reso... "••
.:
king one' overnight ! An interesting by-product of all this was " w
that the merchants and householders of the City of London, a convement and ready-to-hand vocabulary which, III
gh
facing a double threat-to their liberties from the Govern­ hallowed by time, is none the less misleading and inadeo
�uaOUte.
ment's military measures and to their properties from the The term ' rnabs'� "10 the sense of hired bands operatin.
on
destructive zeal of 'the inferior set of people'-anticipated the behalf of external 1Oterests, doubtless has its place in the \v �
. " . htm g
request made nine years later by their counterparts in of sooa " I histo,?,; but It
· should be mvoked With dlscrel.J.ol), nd
•

. a
Paris for the institution of a milice hourgeoise to defend their only when Jusl:l.fied by the particular occasion. In so far as ny
a
interests.' conclusion of general validity emerges from the present ttudy
" "
Such forms ofpopular demonstration did not long survive the It IS, perhaps, that such occasions are rare and that "tai e's
arrival of the new industrial age. With the growth of urban 'mob' should be seen as a term of convenience, or as \ Cifi k
population and the dawn of the factory system at the end of the symbol of prejudice, rather than as a verifiable hQt()�C�
century, trade unions became more frequent and more stable, phenomenon.
and direct conflicts between wage-earners and employers a more
common feature of industrial and urban communities. From
the 1780'S onwards strikes were beginning to eclipse food riots
and other movements of natural justice as the typical form of
social protest. At the same time, as we have seen, the wage­
earners were beginning to replace such social groupings as
'the urban poor', 'the inferior set of people', or the menu peuple-­
tcrms appropriate to an earlier age-as the main participants
in urban social movemcnts. In Britain this process was not
attended by as much violence or as rapid a maturing ofpolitical
ideas as was witnessed in France in 1848; but the general
1 Thge features also appear in the 'Church and King' riots of '79O-ll in
Birmingham and Manchater; but in these CMeil other demenu enter which
require to be separately studied.
• G. Rud�, ·r "tumulti di Gordon" (1 780)', MOl.'imtl!l� Op"(Ji� (Milan), 19:'0:'0.
p. 8:'o�. Not lurprisingly the uque$t Willi coldly received and had 10 be droppW..
 APPENDIX I

Paris Sections of I7�5

(The first name given is that OfI790-1; later names are in brackets.)

I . TUILERIES �8. FAt)BOURO SAINT - DENJS

2. CHAMPS ELvstES (Fbg.-du-Nord)
3. ROULE (Republique) 29· BEAUBOURG (Reunion)
4. PALAIS ROYAL (Butte des go. ENPANTS ROUGES (Marais.
Moulins. Montagne) Hommr: Arme)
5. PLACE VENoOME (Piques) 3 '· ROI DE SICILE (Droit! de
I'Homme)
6. BIBLIOTHEQ.UE ( 1 792. Lepe.
letier) 32. H6TEL DE VILLE (Maison
Commune. Fidelite)
7. GRANGE BATEubE (Mira-
beau. Mont Blanc) 33. PLACE ROYALE (FCderes.
Indivillibilite)
8. LoUVRE (Museum).
9. ORATOIRE (Gardes Fran- 34· ARSENAL
�ises) 35. ILE SAlNT-Lout5 (Frater-
nite)
10. HALLE AU BLE
36. NOTRE DAME (Cite. Raison)
37· HENRI IV (Pont Neur. Re·
I I . POSTES (Contrat Social)
12. PLACE LoUIS XIV (Mail.
volutionnaire)
Guillaume Tell)
1 3- FONTAINE MONTMORENCY 38• INVALIDE$
(Moliere et la Fontaine. 39· FONTAINE DE GRENELLE
Brutus.) 40. QUATRE NATIONS (Unite)
14. BoNNE NOUVELLE 41. THt.\TRE FRAN� (Mar-
IS. PONCEAU (Amis de la Patrie) seille. Marat)
16. MAUCONsEIL (Bon Comeil) 42. CROIX ROUGE (Bonnet
Rouge. Bonnet dela Liberte.
17. MAllCHts Des INNOCENTS
Ouest)
(Hailes. March6)
43· LUXEMBOURG (Mutius Scae-
18. LoMBARDS
vola)
4+ THERM£S DE JULIEN (Beau-
19. ARCili
20. FAUBOURG MONTMARTRE
repaire. Chalier. Regeneree.
(Fbg. Mont-Marat) Thermes)
2 1 . PQlSSONN1E:RE
45· SA1NTE-GENEvl£VE (Pan-
22. BoNDY thean Fran.-;ais)
23· TEMPLE 46. OSSERVATOIRE
24. POPINCOURT 47. JARDIN DES PLANTES (Sans-
l\.;fONTREUIL Culottes)
QUINZE VINGT'S 48. GODELINS (Lazowski. Finis­
'7· GRAVILLIERS tere)
 APPENDIX I

Paris Sections of I7�5

(The first name given is that OfI790-1; later names are in brackets.)

I . TUILERIES �8. FAt)BOURO SAINT - DENJS

2. CHAMPS ELvstES (Fbg.-du-Nord)
3. ROULE (Republique) 29· BEAUBOURG (Reunion)
4. PALAIS ROYAL (Butte des go. ENPANTS ROUGES (Marais.
Moulins. Montagne) Hommr: Arme)
5. PLACE VENoOME (Piques) 3 '· ROI DE SICILE (Droit! de
I'Homme)
6. BIBLIOTHEQ.UE ( 1 792. Lepe.
letier) 32. H6TEL DE VILLE (Maison
Commune. Fidelite)
7. GRANGE BATEubE (Mira-
beau. Mont Blanc) 33. PLACE ROYALE (FCderes.
Indivillibilite)
8. LoUVRE (Museum).
9. ORATOIRE (Gardes Fran- 34· ARSENAL
�ises) 35. ILE SAlNT-Lout5 (Frater-
nite)
10. HALLE AU BLE
36. NOTRE DAME (Cite. Raison)
37· HENRI IV (Pont Neur. Re·
I I . POSTES (Contrat Social)
12. PLACE LoUIS XIV (Mail.
volutionnaire)
Guillaume Tell)
1 3- FONTAINE MONTMORENCY 38• INVALIDE$
(Moliere et la Fontaine. 39· FONTAINE DE GRENELLE
Brutus.) 40. QUATRE NATIONS (Unite)
14. BoNNE NOUVELLE 41. THt.\TRE FRAN� (Mar-
IS. PONCEAU (Amis de la Patrie) seille. Marat)
16. MAUCONsEIL (Bon Comeil) 42. CROIX ROUGE (Bonnet
Rouge. Bonnet dela Liberte.
17. MAllCHts Des INNOCENTS
Ouest)
(Hailes. March6)
43· LUXEMBOURG (Mutius Scae-
18. LoMBARDS
vola)
4+ THERM£S DE JULIEN (Beau-
19. ARCili
20. FAUBOURG MONTMARTRE
repaire. Chalier. Regeneree.
(Fbg. Mont-Marat) Thermes)
2 1 . PQlSSONN1E:RE
45· SA1NTE-GENEvl£VE (Pan-
22. BoNDY thean Fran.-;ais)
23· TEMPLE 46. OSSERVATOIRE
24. POPINCOURT 47. JARDIN DES PLANTES (Sans-
l\.;fONTREUIL Culottes)
QUINZE VINGT'S 48. GODELINS (Lazowski. Finis­
'7· GRAVILLIERS tere)
 APPENDIX I I ,,,

P...-.

'Ik,w,,' ,800 :
Jncsity
APPENDIX I I
iff 179"
Wagf-unorrS
iM4bs.
ll
i

ntiuv
PopuWiort: ill
The PopuilJtion <if the Paris Sections In IJ91-5 Sa"",' _On, -, '79" ,,... ''1. _Ins'
EmpJ..�tl No. oj i. "' ,-
,,,,'
86
" goo "
.•
39. Fonl. de Grcnelle ,as " 2,100 10,878 12,55-4
Po;.d4liM
',000
40. Qualrc Nations 2,310 ' .. 21,516 21,&>1
Ut ,b:
dmsi�
itt '79" Croix Rouge
W..,...,.,.. 41. Th,utre F,..n� 2,207 '" 16,600 14,.fOG '75
cili.{.11U ;Md,.
'AtliI¥'
Popu/4Iiott: ill 8;
42. ' ,'" ,,8 1,551 17,600 16,7'" .,
43. Luxembourg 1,061 2,100 '7,000 17,633 "

5«1;'" _0." ,,... ,,,,'

�. NII. llf i. "',IX» +-I. The.-mes de Juli<'n "� 140490 12,394
1,'39 " " ,
mP"7'" '79" Sq. INIJ
- ,,...
45. Sainte-Genevib>:: 2,'36 '" 2,762 112,645 24,977 ,,,

Champ' t.t� 1,6g5

I. Tuilcrics ... ;' 1,6s. 1�,600 '5,1¥! 46. ObiervalOire 1,'33 55 19.907 '3,193 "
,.
2, . . . . 8)3 8,� 8,� " 47. Jardin del Plantes 66 2,178 16,000 15,185 ...
3. Roule '..497 .... .,:l8g 12,850 11.377 " .f8. Gobelins ." ,8 1,200 12,741 1 1 ,775 "

..
.---
4. Palais Royal 1,334 9' '.395 ,, 16,719 " , TOlals 62,743 ],776 82,270 6]5,504 636,772 ..
5. PI� VcndOmc . 1 ,030 -
14,000 75
. 13�8 (41 Sections)
6. Biblioth�uc ,8, .' 1,5" 12,gB, 9.930 '"
,. Grange Batclib-e /,197 55 8,. 11,570 10,920 "
I Names of Sc:ctiolll as in 1790"'1. (For later changes Ice Appendix I.)
8. Louvre ' ,'" ., 2,0'23 11,800 22,6g1 '59
1791', La Rlv. ftO"f. lxiii (July-Dee. 1912), 289-321. For a dilCws;on of the gaps ll i
•
J.'rom F. Braesch, 'Un Euai de natillique de la population ou"ri�re de Paris ven
7,DI I
9. Oraloire 1,677 77 ',,.., 6,612 12,567 444

II. ..
10. Halle au BI� ." , ,870 1 1 ,640 '94
1 From E. Charavay, Alumbll� oIode,au.u Paris (3 VOII., pam., ,8g0-S), vol. ii, pp. \/-vii.
"
M, B,..esch'l ligures see my Parisia" Wagf-EarlllTs, i. 46-5 1 .
,66
POIta .. ' ,'" 9,.... 12,567 33'
• From N, Kamev, La Dnui/l .u /4 population .us dill""II" udWtu til Paris /JtftdtuIt In
12. Louis XIV '" " ',394 '3,000 9,,....

=-=1'
13. Fontaine Mont·
I Arch. Nat., F' 3688\ doss. 1 (Jaouary 179S).
JU""'�lion, pp. 14-15.
"" '9 1,08, 12.472 9>424 ";

'<"
'4. Bonne Nouvelle 2,369 ..8 1,60, 9.950 ' ..... ,,,,
' 5- Ponceau 5,268 1,60, 13,645 16,648 , Kareiev, loe. cit.
,'"

I,.
.6. Maucoruc:il ',866 '" 1,,08 1 1 ,000 '3,8·8 ,88

18.
Man:bb da Innocenti 1.705 •• 1,072 '4,722 13.146 55'

,so
Lombanb '",, ' no ',,... 12,550 '4.811 .,8
Ig. Arcit . . .. 1,753 12,000 1 1,600

1I1. Poissonni�rc
20. Faub. Monlmarlre ',242 ,8 68, 13,800 10,104 "
1,517 97 834 11I,000 8,435 "

99 ',660 ;8
n. Bondy . . .. 1 0439 13,315 "..... "

1I+ Popioeourl -,068

1I3. Temple 1,1I73 1I5,000 1 1,g88
1,3sa
.,
8; 13,747 10,933 "
liS' Moolreuil 1,33° 8; 1,·n8 15,000 13,479
1I6. Quinze Viogts 1,831 '.- 1,9sa 12,5� 18,283 "

28. Faub. Saint.Omis 1 ,330

27. G,.."illicn ;,6gg '" 3,3°5 11,000 24,774 ,'.
3,217 '" 13,f40 11,630 .,
1Ig.. s.:aubourg �,9]� '" 2,285 11,015 16,320 '"
30. Enfants Rouges 1,015 ." 1,7f4 80974 10,4th ."

..
]1. Roi de Sicile 1,028 6, 1,81 i 10,500 12,321 ,,,
32. Hiltel de Ville . . 1,729 1 1 ,230 12,2]1 ''4
33. Place Royale /,172 75 1,883 1,f,5°° 11,836 '"

35, tie Saini-Louis

34. Ancnal . 8.. '" 1,407 2 1,000 10,264 8,
'" ,8 1,0]2 5,257 4,862 ".
36, NOire Dame .. 1,657 1 1 ,780 1 1 ,402 '"
]7. Henri IV . 45' 54 88, ],581 5,126 '97
]8. In"alidel ,6, " 1,1 00 1 1,000 10,401 "
 APPENDIX I I ,,,

P...-.

'Ik,w,,' ,800 :
Jncsity
APPENDIX I I
iff 179"
Wagf-unorrS
iM4bs.
ll
i

ntiuv
PopuWiort: ill
The PopuilJtion <if the Paris Sections In IJ91-5 Sa"",' _On, -, '79" ,,... ''1. _Ins'
EmpJ..�tl No. oj i. "' ,-
,,,,'
86
" goo "
.•
39. Fonl. de Grcnelle ,as " 2,100 10,878 12,55-4
Po;.d4liM
',000
40. Qualrc Nations 2,310 ' .. 21,516 21,&>1
Ut ,b:
dmsi�
itt '79" Croix Rouge
W..,...,.,.. 41. Th,utre F,..n� 2,207 '" 16,600 14,.fOG '75
cili.{.11U ;Md,.
'AtliI¥'
Popu/4Iiott: ill 8;
42. ' ,'" ,,8 1,551 17,600 16,7'" .,
43. Luxembourg 1,061 2,100 '7,000 17,633 "

5«1;'" _0." ,,... ,,,,'

�. NII. llf i. "',IX» +-I. The.-mes de Juli<'n "� 140490 12,394
1,'39 " " ,
mP"7'" '79" Sq. INIJ
- ,,...
45. Sainte-Genevib>:: 2,'36 '" 2,762 112,645 24,977 ,,,

Champ' t.t� 1,6g5

I. Tuilcrics ... ;' 1,6s. 1�,600 '5,1¥! 46. ObiervalOire 1,'33 55 19.907 '3,193 "
,.
2, . . . . 8)3 8,� 8,� " 47. Jardin del Plantes 66 2,178 16,000 15,185 ...
3. Roule '..497 .... .,:l8g 12,850 11.377 " .f8. Gobelins ." ,8 1,200 12,741 1 1 ,775 "

..
.---
4. Palais Royal 1,334 9' '.395 ,, 16,719 " , TOlals 62,743 ],776 82,270 6]5,504 636,772 ..
5. PI� VcndOmc . 1 ,030 -
14,000 75
. 13�8 (41 Sections)
6. Biblioth�uc ,8, .' 1,5" 12,gB, 9.930 '"
,. Grange Batclib-e /,197 55 8,. 11,570 10,920 "
I Names of Sc:ctiolll as in 1790"'1. (For later changes Ice Appendix I.)
8. Louvre ' ,'" ., 2,0'23 11,800 22,6g1 '59
1791', La Rlv. ftO"f. lxiii (July-Dee. 1912), 289-321. For a dilCws;on of the gaps ll i
•
J.'rom F. Braesch, 'Un Euai de natillique de la population ou"ri�re de Paris ven
7,DI I
9. Oraloire 1,677 77 ',,.., 6,612 12,567 444

II. ..
10. Halle au BI� ." , ,870 1 1 ,640 '94
1 From E. Charavay, Alumbll� oIode,au.u Paris (3 VOII., pam., ,8g0-S), vol. ii, pp. \/-vii.
"
M, B,..esch'l ligures see my Parisia" Wagf-EarlllTs, i. 46-5 1 .
,66
POIta .. ' ,'" 9,.... 12,567 33'
• From N, Kamev, La Dnui/l .u /4 population .us dill""II" udWtu til Paris /JtftdtuIt In
12. Louis XIV '" " ',394 '3,000 9,,....

=-=1'
13. Fontaine Mont·
I Arch. Nat., F' 3688\ doss. 1 (Jaouary 179S).
JU""'�lion, pp. 14-15.
"" '9 1,08, 12.472 9>424 ";

'<"
'4. Bonne Nouvelle 2,369 ..8 1,60, 9.950 ' ..... ,,,,
' 5- Ponceau 5,268 1,60, 13,645 16,648 , Kareiev, loe. cit.
,'"

I,.
.6. Maucoruc:il ',866 '" 1,,08 1 1 ,000 '3,8·8 ,88

18.
Man:bb da Innocenti 1.705 •• 1,072 '4,722 13.146 55'

,so
Lombanb '",, ' no ',,... 12,550 '4.811 .,8
Ig. Arcit . . .. 1,753 12,000 1 1,600

1I1. Poissonni�rc
20. Faub. Monlmarlre ',242 ,8 68, 13,800 10,104 "
1,517 97 834 11I,000 8,435 "

99 ',660 ;8
n. Bondy . . .. 1 0439 13,315 "..... "

1I+ Popioeourl -,068

1I3. Temple 1,1I73 1I5,000 1 1,g88
1,3sa
.,
8; 13,747 10,933 "
liS' Moolreuil 1,33° 8; 1,·n8 15,000 13,479
1I6. Quinze Viogts 1,831 '.- 1,9sa 12,5� 18,283 "

28. Faub. Saint.Omis 1 ,330

27. G,.."illicn ;,6gg '" 3,3°5 11,000 24,774 ,'.
3,217 '" 13,f40 11,630 .,
1Ig.. s.:aubourg �,9]� '" 2,285 11,015 16,320 '"
30. Enfants Rouges 1,015 ." 1,7f4 80974 10,4th ."

..
]1. Roi de Sicile 1,028 6, 1,81 i 10,500 12,321 ,,,
32. Hiltel de Ville . . 1,729 1 1 ,230 12,2]1 ''4
33. Place Royale /,172 75 1,883 1,f,5°° 11,836 '"

35, tie Saini-Louis

34. Ancnal . 8.. '" 1,407 2 1,000 10,264 8,
'" ,8 1,0]2 5,257 4,862 ".
36, NOire Dame .. 1,657 1 1 ,780 1 1 ,402 '"
]7. Henri IV . 45' 54 88, ],581 5,126 '97
]8. In"alidel ,6, " 1,1 00 1 1,000 10,401 "
 APPENDIX I I I '"

,.J (2) ,18!J bl " J " J ,OJ 'oJ

�'
Rlml· .
'"

C...", /'r..',;.. t .,;.or<

APPENDIX III ,-
Rio's B. J_
...

,,.,� (.04..,.1) a.',,) ":iI

M." M.�
, till< '0 A.,.., Ri.<, ,.• ,-
'" "

40. Quatre Nations , . .. 225_ ..

·s""....
. , �, ,� ,.,, �, ' 1!IJ

.. .. .. ..
Paris Sections and Insurgents tif q87-95 . , , , ..

Crou. Rouge .. . . .. I."sa

(Numben arrated, killed, wounded, or participants injoumkf)
4" Th<'itre Fr.an�a.i•. , , , ,

.. '" . .
42. , , 5 , ,

.. ..
.
C�) ,,110 C,)
43. Luxembourg
',J
,
'oJ
. , , , ,

�.
44. ThermQ deJulien
t
3
.
',J '" , , , , ,

�
,OJ
RlotiJ.
,,,
. .. I ,00.
.
.. Sainl�eviM. , " " . ,

I'r.rn.J .;.u,
. .

Ri." 8..,,11< (JO, .. .. ..

..
A.,."" ,�
,,- ,
,..
.. Obscrv;l.Ioir<:
J_
, , , 90' , .

..
•

..
...
,,#]4 � U,,/JI '111')
M•• C.o� M.�
47- Jardin des Plantes .. , , , , ,

..
I. '.0
0 $<,,;_ ", " 48. Gobclins 3 " 5 660 ,
.
,� , -, 'm , ,
' Tuilerie.
-

� ..
..
.
.

..
, , ,
.
, 68
..
,
..
,
Outside Paril , , ..
'or i-'-'-
..
-.!.. n,860
..
,68
..

,. 660
'
,. Champs tl a . , 5 . .. Total. 5' " .'
' ,, " '9

•• ..
Roule .. .. ..

j
, ,
• Names of Sections ;...e as in 1790-"
, , 5

• •
Palai, Royal , , , , , ", , ,
For later changes Ice Ap�ndix I.
I: .. •
Vend6mc , , , , 33' , ,

(' Arch. Nat., Y '3014, 9491, 99B9, 1 1 206, 11517, t53Q9A. 1875', 18795; X') S98g.
Bibliolhtque .. , , , .. 59 , Sourcu:
•• 6
,. Gr;o.nge Batclihe .. .. , , , , 5" ..

• .. " T 5 '4(": Noms d.s t""�qutUl'S d. 11I Bill/iii..

Louvre , , , 8 , , " , .. (2 " " Y 1049[, 10!:>30, t I O�3, 13582, 15019. 15101, ,8795,
.. " 5 6 .. (of An:h PTer. Pol., Aa (liS cartons), Ab 324; Arch. Nat., W 294, T 214. [For detalb
,. Oraloire , , , , , ., (3 "
...
.
• • ..
". Halle au Dlt .. '. 5 , ,

... .. .. ..
PaStes ..
(s) AT<::h Nat., F" 32!ig-74; F' #26.
, , , " , , seep. 91, n. 5-1
(6) Arch. PrU. Pol., Aa 9, t I (arrestation.) ; Ab 3�5, 3�1; AM. hill. •Iv. frll1lf.
Louis XIV . .. .. , , , ,

.. .. .. no. 130, p. 33.

" . Fontaine Mont.
' .. Bonne Nouvelle .. 6 .. • . . (1) Arch. Nat., BB' 80, doss. 7, I I . Figura for Sections nos. 311, 39, 40, 45 aT<: esti­
mo�ncy . .. , .. , ..
.. .. ..
. .. ..
' !.
.
,

• • (8) Arch Nat., W 55+-5, F> (variow); Arch. PrU. Pol., Aa (varioua).
Ponen.... .. , , , .. .. mates b:aKd on incomplete return•.
, Maueonseil , 8 5 , 1,400 , ..
centi , .. .
" . Mareht da Inno- (9) " .. W 556-8·
• .. .. 6 .
, . . , , , .

sso n.:
..
.8. LombardJ . 5 • .. .
ro.
.

Faubourg �'font-
" . Arcis . , , , '7 , .. " ,

. .. . .
Poi nnit .. .. ' ..
marlre .. .. , ,6 •...38 .
22.
. .

..
or. • , • • 5 ,

2]. .. ..
Bondy .. , , , 5 , 8" ,

.. .. ..
Temple .. , • , 66, 5 ,
:tao .. ..
2._ Popincourt , " , 6 97' "

. .. ..
Montreuil . " ,,, , ,. , :1.946 ,

. •
:I Quin�c Vingu " , ,, , 5' .. 2,<>39 "

,•. Faubourg 51. Denis .. .. ..

'7· Gravillien .. , , '5 , /,451 , ,

. ..
• , , .. ,

. .. . .
" 8caubourg . , .. 5 , , .. " , , ,

.. ..
" . En(antll Rouges . , , 5 , ..
" . lillie! de Ville .. ..
,' - Rai de Sidle , , , 6 , .. ,

.. .. ..
.. 6 ,8 5 , 700. ,

.. ..
33· Place Royale '7 , .. 5 6
� .. .. ..
34. Arsenal . , " , , , ',8 ,
3 • Notre L>ame , .. ..
3 . tie Saint.Loui. , , •
.. • ..
, , 7 , ..
:I .. ..
3�. Henri IV , , .. " , ..
. Invalida , 5 , 5 1,3.'iU .. ..
. '!)O. ..
39· Funtaine de
Grcndle . , . ,
Names orSectionl are as in '790-1. For later changes see Appendix 1.
5 , , ,

•
 APPENDIX I I I '"

,.J (2) ,18!J bl " J " J ,OJ 'oJ

�'
Rlml· .
'"

C...", /'r..',;.. t .,;.or<

APPENDIX III ,-
Rio's B. J_
...

,,.,� (.04..,.1) a.',,) ":iI

M." M.�
, till< '0 A.,.., Ri.<, ,.• ,-
'" "

40. Quatre Nations , . .. 225_ ..

·s""....
. , �, ,� ,.,, �, ' 1!IJ

.. .. .. ..
Paris Sections and Insurgents tif q87-95 . , , , ..

Crou. Rouge .. . . .. I."sa

(Numben arrated, killed, wounded, or participants injoumkf)
4" Th<'itre Fr.an�a.i•. , , , ,

.. '" . .
42. , , 5 , ,

.. ..
.
C�) ,,110 C,)
43. Luxembourg
',J
,
'oJ
. , , , ,

�.
44. ThermQ deJulien
t
3
.
',J '" , , , , ,

�
,OJ
RlotiJ.
,,,
. .. I ,00.
.
.. Sainl�eviM. , " " . ,

I'r.rn.J .;.u,
. .

Ri." 8..,,11< (JO, .. .. ..

..
A.,."" ,�
,,- ,
,..
.. Obscrv;l.Ioir<:
J_
, , , 90' , .

..
•

..
...
,,#]4 � U,,/JI '111')
M•• C.o� M.�
47- Jardin des Plantes .. , , , , ,

..
I. '.0
0 $<,,;_ ", " 48. Gobclins 3 " 5 660 ,
.
,� , -, 'm , ,
' Tuilerie.
-

� ..
..
.
.

..
, , ,
.
, 68
..
,
..
,
Outside Paril , , ..
'or i-'-'-
..
-.!.. n,860
..
,68
..

,. 660
'
,. Champs tl a . , 5 . .. Total. 5' " .'
' ,, " '9

•• ..
Roule .. .. ..

j
, ,
• Names of Sections ;...e as in 1790-"
, , 5

• •
Palai, Royal , , , , , ", , ,
For later changes Ice Ap�ndix I.
I: .. •
Vend6mc , , , , 33' , ,

(' Arch. Nat., Y '3014, 9491, 99B9, 1 1 206, 11517, t53Q9A. 1875', 18795; X') S98g.
Bibliolhtque .. , , , .. 59 , Sourcu:
•• 6
,. Gr;o.nge Batclihe .. .. , , , , 5" ..

• .. " T 5 '4(": Noms d.s t""�qutUl'S d. 11I Bill/iii..

Louvre , , , 8 , , " , .. (2 " " Y 1049[, 10!:>30, t I O�3, 13582, 15019. 15101, ,8795,
.. " 5 6 .. (of An:h PTer. Pol., Aa (liS cartons), Ab 324; Arch. Nat., W 294, T 214. [For detalb
,. Oraloire , , , , , ., (3 "
...
.
• • ..
". Halle au Dlt .. '. 5 , ,

... .. .. ..
PaStes ..
(s) AT<::h Nat., F" 32!ig-74; F' #26.
, , , " , , seep. 91, n. 5-1
(6) Arch. PrU. Pol., Aa 9, t I (arrestation.) ; Ab 3�5, 3�1; AM. hill. •Iv. frll1lf.
Louis XIV . .. .. , , , ,

.. .. .. no. 130, p. 33.

" . Fontaine Mont.
' .. Bonne Nouvelle .. 6 .. • . . (1) Arch. Nat., BB' 80, doss. 7, I I . Figura for Sections nos. 311, 39, 40, 45 aT<: esti­
mo�ncy . .. , .. , ..
.. .. ..
. .. ..
' !.
.
,

• • (8) Arch Nat., W 55+-5, F> (variow); Arch. PrU. Pol., Aa (varioua).
Ponen.... .. , , , .. .. mates b:aKd on incomplete return•.
, Maueonseil , 8 5 , 1,400 , ..
centi , .. .
" . Mareht da Inno- (9) " .. W 556-8·
• .. .. 6 .
, . . , , , .

sso n.:
..
.8. LombardJ . 5 • .. .
ro.
.

Faubourg �'font-
" . Arcis . , , , '7 , .. " ,

. .. . .
Poi nnit .. .. ' ..
marlre .. .. , ,6 •...38 .
22.
. .

..
or. • , • • 5 ,

2]. .. ..
Bondy .. , , , 5 , 8" ,

.. .. ..
Temple .. , • , 66, 5 ,
:tao .. ..
2._ Popincourt , " , 6 97' "

. .. ..
Montreuil . " ,,, , ,. , :1.946 ,

. •
:I Quin�c Vingu " , ,, , 5' .. 2,<>39 "

,•. Faubourg 51. Denis .. .. ..

'7· Gravillien .. , , '5 , /,451 , ,

. ..
• , , .. ,

. .. . .
" 8caubourg . , .. 5 , , .. " , , ,

.. ..
" . En(antll Rouges . , , 5 , ..
" . lillie! de Ville .. ..
,' - Rai de Sidle , , , 6 , .. ,

.. .. ..
.. 6 ,8 5 , 700. ,

.. ..
33· Place Royale '7 , .. 5 6
� .. .. ..
34. Arsenal . , " , , , ',8 ,
3 • Notre L>ame , .. ..
3 . tie Saint.Loui. , , •
.. • ..
, , 7 , ..
:I .. ..
3�. Henri IV , , .. " , ..
. Invalida , 5 , 5 1,3.'iU .. ..
. '!)O. ..
39· Funtaine de
Grcndle . , . ,
Names orSectionl are as in '790-1. For later changes see Appendix 1.
5 , , ,

•
 ."
APPI!.ND
IX 1V

,.J

APPENDIX IV
y,"".

Paris Trades and Insurgents oj IJ87--95 !'i�!

(I) )b)
o (,} ()
5(,)
4(')

,.(
•

.' i,) ..i,) �)

(Figures in brack�1J denote probable wage_earnel'J)
'i.)
. .

ii'l
(sl·
J.::l. (.1 1(,1 .• (.)
,'I;)
,.J 'oJ (.)0 OJ ''I ',J {OJ ,.J

BT "'r' ,�. ";t:;: y- y- 0

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T,_, .,.., ;i.)
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4(,1

2(')
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...... (I) «,) , ('l • ;i.) . <.)

) . (,)
6(. )
5 (,
0

;i.)
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1 1:1
" 1 (,) 0

Bu'ch.n : ' ,) ,
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(,)
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- - - - -- - - --

c.u., R"Ia"'�
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.

.'i.) J (,) ,ill

,
,(;)
-- -- - - --

Frul'nen' • 0 , ,'(;)
-- -- -- -- -- --

Coob
. (.) . (.) •
-- -- -- -- -- --

IlIkeepcn'
• 0
�!:!
-- -- - - --

PM.ryeoob " i,l ,'i,)

""'"" - - -- -- - - - - •

Tobotto .
-- • • - - --

, (.)
,
Wine-m<n:haou • • (S) :1:1
- - •

�(.) . <.)
- - -- - - --

' •
t. S"uu." R.J. , (.) .. ;i.)
-- - - - - - - - - - - - -

'7 -- " -- • - -

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,'i,) ,;(6)
,
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c..,..,.,ten .

,W IS) 2(;) "'• 1�2)

-- - - - - - - -- -- --

: 1:1
s. T ..us.
.

M.,.,......
.. ..
-- •
-- --

, 4' c..�

� 1 (1) '('I "i.)

Lo.;bmi.... -- , --

( ,) is) WU�
G._

:• !!l �Ml
.J

.'i.) ii.)
Silk

P';n,.".
lItl •
•

3 {')
- - - - --
•
Na..... ics
•
, " -- -- --

,
PI....,... ' ('1
-- -- - - - -

,'i,) , (.) ,.i,) . (.)

Fav;"'"

",""",- ,
- - - - - - - - - - - - -- --

- - - - - - - - -- --

'i,) •
im
-- - - - - - - -- --

ilil
-

•
'"- - - - - - - -- -- -- --

5•.,.,..... ;i.) t'i.) ,'i,) (II ;i,) :• I!! ii,) •

'""- - - -- -- -- -- --

S(;) ;i,) . (,)

s,--=u,� -- • -

: 1:1
-

, •

i.l
- -
8(4)
,. (o) 3 (I)
•

•
,� -- -- -- -- -- ' -- --

T�" - - -- -- -- -- -- t -- -- --

'
oncI Shoe : , (I) ,'(s) " (IJ .8(�) 11'(.S) , . (.) .' i.)
,. 1),...
,
1 (.) • ,. (I)
Belt-mu.... -- • -- --

,'i,) , . (.)
Boot , •• --
' ('I
Onsmab.. -- -- -- -- -- -- --
• (0)
- "'-
• 0(.) (,) • . (.) , ( .)
-- -- -- -- -- --

,'"""-
F�
.:111
,
.
,
t(,) .-�S)
-- -- . --

� l:l
•

,'j;'
-- -- -- -- -- --
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,
,'i,)
, , ,
--
Ht.ird.-n -- "'J -- -- ,
' .J
--
. ,J

'I"
..
"I -
Hanen -- -- -- -- --
• •

;i,) -- , .) � '!�! ,• (,I ii,)

Ribbo<l''''
nv.�
· -- -- -- -- - -
,
,'i,)
Stoc1!ol'

.. FwoU/oi.,
--
" -- - --

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• (I)
,
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,
Cabind�"'" ;i.) 8 (,)
.. ;i.)
1I.uk ••.....u..n -- -- -

;(;
-- -- -- -- -- - - -
" (I I) 0(0) 0 (0)
" i,)
,

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&0- •
-- -- -- -- -- --
"
FaDCyW� (,) sis)
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-- -- -- -- --

(5) . (,) '" 1) ! i�! ii:1

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-- -- -- --

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5, T,...,... 4(4)
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,
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8Ioclumilho

;' i;! 'W :�I

-- -

Cort," -- --
.
� -- -- , .J - - --
 ."
APPI!.ND
IX 1V

,.J

APPENDIX IV
y,"".

Paris Trades and Insurgents oj IJ87--95 !'i�!

(I) )b)
o (,} ()
5(,)
4(')

,.(
•

.' i,) ..i,) �)

(Figures in brack�1J denote probable wage_earnel'J)
'i.)
. .

ii'l
(sl·
J.::l. (.1 1(,1 .• (.)
,'I;)
,.J 'oJ (.)0 OJ ''I ',J {OJ ,.J

BT "'r' ,�. ";t:;: y- y- 0

•
RIM/· ,"",- ..... ,
T,_, .,.., ;i.)
'"""'
- '-'
" ,,", - _. SOl';", M•• '" "
4(,1

2(')
.� . _,

...... (I) «,) , ('l • ;i.) . <.)

) . (,)
6(. )
5 (,
0

;i.)
I, F'-. Dri..t

1 1:1
" 1 (,) 0

Bu'ch.n : ' ,) ,
, • (II ,
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(,)
- - - - - - ( - - --

M. • , (,) • • , (.
·

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- - - - -- - - --

c.u., R"Ia"'�
0!0c0Ia.'; • ,oW
.

.'i.) J (,) ,ill

,
,(;)
-- -- - - --

Frul'nen' • 0 , ,'(;)
-- -- -- -- -- --

Coob
. (.) . (.) •
-- -- -- -- -- --

IlIkeepcn'
• 0
�!:!
-- -- - - --

PM.ryeoob " i,l ,'i,)

""'"" - - -- -- - - - - •

Tobotto .
-- • • - - --

, (.)
,
Wine-m<n:haou • • (S) :1:1
- - •

�(.) . <.)
- - -- - - --

' •
t. S"uu." R.J. , (.) .. ;i.)
-- - - - - - - - - - - - -

'7 -- " -- • - -

4 (S)
Clu;on . :\:\ ,( .) . (.)
,'i,) ,;(6)
,
,is) 6 (5)
c..,..,.,ten .

,W IS) 2(;) "'• 1�2)

-- - - - - - - -- -- --

: 1:1
s. T ..us.
.

M.,.,......
.. ..
-- •
-- --

, 4' c..�

� 1 (1) '('I "i.)

Lo.;bmi.... -- , --

( ,) is) WU�
G._

:• !!l �Ml
.J

.'i.) ii.)
Silk

P';n,.".
lItl •
•

3 {')
- - - - --
•
Na..... ics
•
, " -- -- --

,
PI....,... ' ('1
-- -- - - - -

,'i,) , (.) ,.i,) . (.)

Fav;"'"

",""",- ,
- - - - - - - - - - - - -- --

- - - - - - - - -- --

'i,) •
im
-- - - - - - - -- --

ilil
-

•
'"- - - - - - - -- -- -- --

5•.,.,..... ;i.) t'i.) ,'i,) (II ;i,) :• I!! ii,) •

'""- - - -- -- -- -- --

S(;) ;i,) . (,)

s,--=u,� -- • -

: 1:1
-

, •

i.l
- -
8(4)
,. (o) 3 (I)
•

•
,� -- -- -- -- -- ' -- --

T�" - - -- -- -- -- -- t -- -- --

'
oncI Shoe : , (I) ,'(s) " (IJ .8(�) 11'(.S) , . (.) .' i.)
,. 1),...
,
1 (.) • ,. (I)
Belt-mu.... -- • -- --

,'i,) , . (.)
Boot , •• --
' ('I
Onsmab.. -- -- -- -- -- -- --
• (0)
- "'-
• 0(.) (,) • . (.) , ( .)
-- -- -- -- -- --

,'"""-
F�
.:111
,
.
,
t(,) .-�S)
-- -- . --

� l:l
•

,'j;'
-- -- -- -- -- --
,OJ
,
,'i,)
, , ,
--
Ht.ird.-n -- "'J -- -- ,
' .J
--
. ,J

'I"
..
"I -
Hanen -- -- -- -- --
• •

;i,) -- , .) � '!�! ,• (,I ii,)

Ribbo<l''''
nv.�
· -- -- -- -- - -
,
,'i,)
Stoc1!ol'

.. FwoU/oi.,
--
" -- - --

� (.)
T.iLon , -- -- I , -- • ,

• (I)
,
.( ) .
,
Cabind�"'" ;i.) 8 (,)
.. ;i.)
1I.uk ••.....u..n -- -- -

;(;
-- -- -- -- -- - - -
" (I I) 0(0) 0 (0)
" i,)
,

l )
&0- •
-- -- -- -- -- --
"
FaDCyW� (,) sis)
..ml t " '
-- -- -- -- --

(5) . (,) '" 1) ! i�! ii:1

"'�....

<>ia<rt ,
-- -- -- --

Lphohl..... • '\4} •
· ' • --

, (,I
,
• (I)
--
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. (.) . (,) 0 (1.1

,
6(6) .(.)
- - -- , 'J

8. .... � (�) :1:1

-- --

• - ,,
5, T,...,... 4(4)
.
2'i,) ,'i,) .)
,
.• [.).J ,, (
/mh -- -- -- -- -- - - -- - - --

�' i!! 3 (oJ

8Ioclumilho

;' i;! 'W :�I

-- -

Cort," -- --
.
� -- -- , .J - - --
 APPENDIX IV

(. , (., () w· (" (0) '"

RIMiI-
J::J,.
CO, (0'
"'-
"

.� APPENDIX V
."'.. .� :t
,....

4-
c.-, I'r.tn.l ....
.. "" .. • '-' ,- ,-

P ...... .. . .. 4 (.) ,I,) •

,.... ....� M•• ..' m "

..
._,

.. • .. • •
..

.
• .. .

.
.

..
..... • ..
Parisian Insurgents and Rioters of 1775-95
medicine) ..
......

LardU-.... •
Age, leX, literacy, ongu" previous convie:Uoru, .!te:.
, I,) ..
.. ..

.
.
•
.. ..
10(')
,

' I')
w,
, ,

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.......

T..., . ..
�. ..

(.,
••

'1::e.�' (., b' (0' b'

.. .. ,

,,>
sil)' ;i,)
..
Trades (om-IL) • ,'i,) ..
..

ii.)
.. ..
�(,) No.
..

B�) r.;;".-
',,!:..,.
1 ....
..

, (0)
" .. ..

I
. ..
�_t
• •

14 (%1
, "'-

"'-
u.
Ann " poIi«. ....lkl. Wq._ U..._ ,to. P....... _.........

-
-C
I. ::-
�,
.-. iotsof'775
:·'-"·"'-:'·: I_'·"'-I
_ 139 '· �102 I'_"'""
18 �W"'_"'· I 30 --!!L..�
N.,..,..al C'd:

'4
__ �...

II) •
(0) 0fS«t0r,.

I
.. _
N.CO.• .. .. .. .. • .. .. 0 • ComR 33 '5 80 37'

" (d) b.) n t")

..
37(,,) 6h (lf'.l) • ..a ( ..8) "3 {�1)
..
�B(") tlI6(4' 10(.)
ou..... • .. " , .. ..

3. R�vCllon Riots . I
2. Riots of 1787-8 . 60 ?
0'
''''''
55 28 ? 23 _ 31 10
&e
68 52 8 29 62 '3 66
4. BIUT;;m ?
1'1' N.,., Z" 8861 Y ,06f�
s-,,"

,o6tv; An::h. 5&_ et Loire, B 70). Sou.- eo. noo. (,)-(.), bl-{,o)
77 26 ? 9 ? ? ? ?
4 Arch N.\., Z· ,.&p,; Y '4'40,
.,.., .. 10 Appo<>d... Ill.
Arc".
' . 5. Saint·Lazare
affair 37 33 ..
,
"

6. Bastille '49 6,
".
662 ,. "

7. Champ de Mars 248 '3 3' 80 7° "

9. Gro«ry Riots or
8. 10 August t792 . u3 ,. 3 "

1792-3 . '7
.,
58 " 7 "

II.
10. Prainal Year III tB6 ,6 " ,6 7°

.. ,�
Vendbniaire
Year IV 3' ,

$mur:n:
For Com Riots of 1775 see G . Rud�, 'La Taulion popula.ire de mai 1775 & Pari. et
dam la region parisienne', A"". hUt. rllI.filUlf., 1956, p. 239-
(Other sour<:es as for Ap(>Cfldix,," Ill-IV.]

i Paris it _ ¢ per cmt.

, In the case of those relidf;Jlt n

b 1
 APPENDIX IV

(. , (., () w· (" (0) '"

RIMiI-
J::J,.
CO, (0'
"'-
"

.� APPENDIX V
."'.. .� :t
,....

4-
c.-, I'r.tn.l ....
.. "" .. • '-' ,- ,-

P ...... .. . .. 4 (.) ,I,) •

,.... ....� M•• ..' m "

..
._,

.. • .. • •
..

.
• .. .

.
.

..
..... • ..
Parisian Insurgents and Rioters of 1775-95
medicine) ..
......

LardU-.... •
Age, leX, literacy, ongu" previous convie:Uoru, .!te:.
, I,) ..
.. ..

.
.
•
.. ..
10(')
,

' I')
w,
, ,

..
.......

T..., . ..
�. ..

(.,
••

'1::e.�' (., b' (0' b'

.. .. ,

,,>
sil)' ;i,)
..
Trades (om-IL) • ,'i,) ..
..

ii.)
.. ..
�(,) No.
..

B�) r.;;".-
',,!:..,.
1 ....
..

, (0)
" .. ..

I
. ..
�_t
• •

14 (%1
, "'-

"'-
u.
Ann " poIi«. ....lkl. Wq._ U..._ ,to. P....... _.........

-
-C
I. ::-
�,
.-. iotsof'775
:·'-"·"'-:'·: I_'·"'-I
_ 139 '· �102 I'_"'""
18 �W"'_"'· I 30 --!!L..�
N.,..,..al C'd:

'4
__ �...

II) •
(0) 0fS«t0r,.

I
.. _
N.CO.• .. .. .. .. • .. .. 0 • ComR 33 '5 80 37'

" (d) b.) n t")

..
37(,,) 6h (lf'.l) • ..a ( ..8) "3 {�1)
..
�B(") tlI6(4' 10(.)
ou..... • .. " , .. ..

3. R�vCllon Riots . I
2. Riots of 1787-8 . 60 ?
0'
''''''
55 28 ? 23 _ 31 10
&e
68 52 8 29 62 '3 66
4. BIUT;;m ?
1'1' N.,., Z" 8861 Y ,06f�
s-,,"

,o6tv; An::h. 5&_ et Loire, B 70). Sou.- eo. noo. (,)-(.), bl-{,o)
77 26 ? 9 ? ? ? ?
4 Arch N.\., Z· ,.&p,; Y '4'40,
.,.., .. 10 Appo<>d... Ill.
Arc".
' . 5. Saint·Lazare
affair 37 33 ..
,
"

6. Bastille '49 6,
".
662 ,. "

7. Champ de Mars 248 '3 3' 80 7° "

9. Gro«ry Riots or
8. 10 August t792 . u3 ,. 3 "

1792-3 . '7
.,
58 " 7 "

II.
10. Prainal Year III tB6 ,6 " ,6 7°

.. ,�
Vendbniaire
Year IV 3' ,

$mur:n:
For Com Riots of 1775 see G . Rud�, 'La Taulion popula.ire de mai 1775 & Pari. et
dam la region parisienne', A"". hUt. rllI.filUlf., 1956, p. 239-
(Other sour<:es as for Ap(>Cfldix,," Ill-IV.]

i Paris it _ ¢ per cmt.

, In the case of those relidf;Jlt n

b 1
 APPENDIX VI A P PENDIX VII

The Revolutionary Cakndar' Pn'ces and Wages in Paris, IJ89-93

from The £CoMmie History Rnriew, vol. vi, 1954> 3.
t ! I
[Reproduced

I� H I� ��� I i n 11
no.

�
,

R� •

�
•

..
�
1.
' "
::: .;: j'
�
"i
� �, d � H�
1 1 �tt !H PP· 248-55]
• • .,
. .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . " . " . ., . .,
Percentage of ineome spent on bread by PariJian workers in 17/Jg
..
TADLE I ,
. " . ., · .. . .. . .. . ., .. • .. . .. . .. .. . "

• ••
•

� - ..... .. �
, .. . ' " . ., , .. , .. , ., ,.. , .. , .. , .. , .. , "

'£I"';"
. " . .. . .. . . ..
. " . .. .. ... . ., . .. .
.. . "
, ,, , ,, , .. . ., . .. , ., . ., , .. . .. , .. . ., , .. , ..

A" .. A' ,#I .. A, .,ri ..

--- .--
, ., , ,, , .. , .. " , .. , .. _I,
• ••
' " ' " ' " ' " ' "

• •• .
' ...
, ., p' ' " ' " , ,, , .. , ., , ,, , ,, , .. , .. p. "-"" ..."
- AI " ..
�

10 " 30
' " ' " " ' oO . .. ' " ' " . .. ' oO ' "

.. • t o 28 10 .8 10 ,. .
Labour... in �'. f.o.clOo'y '

" • " • " 30 "

". ". , .. , ., , ., , ., , .. . ., . ., . " . " . ., .. .. H ,. ..

" .g " 2g " .8 •• •

.� .. .

�.
Builckt', labourer

30 30
. ,. .. .. .. ., .. ,. .. .. .... '7 ." ,. .. " "

• ..
.g .

Journeyman muon .. ,.

'3 3'
" • " " • " " " ,. " ,. " ..

., • • •
" , " .. • .. .. " • " " " I, I, ., loum<ymaD loc:bmilh. eatp<nIU.

•• • .. • '4
• ,. • 'V

• .. • .. .. •
•

,. . ,. .. ..
., , ., • ., • " • • •• ..

•
, " " , " • " .,
" ,. ,..
.. • .. .. Sculp..... ..<>Id.milh •00 • �. .. .., ..

•
.. , , .. • .. , , " ,.

• ., ., • •
'W",.. Ii""" hue. wtJ.. oIhuwiM: "ated. _ r ....... 1.. BioIla,. I..I Jriz .. 'n- (P..... .886).
., , " , " , " • " , .. , ., • .. • ., , ., .
, , • .,

•
. there • r.... " eg
" , ., , ., , ., , ., , ., , ., , ., ., , .,

, ••
., , , " , ., " , " , " , " , ., .,

, ••
., , " , " , ,

•
pp. '4-71. Narly aU thae, fat. lad:. oroth.. �. _ ..... I,..,. Whal ma. ....

.... cue 01 <he jooumeymcn tailon who, In A,..uot " eg, obtalntd an Incteuc or ,.. ... _ day by
., • ., , ., • •• , •• , ., , ., , ., , ., , ., , ., • l
."'...... �. tha. <he ditr<rUlCef bctweao <he 1_ yurt ate ¥Ul' oIi.hL A DOlabIe _iaa 10

"
.. .. •• • " , " • •• , ., , ., , ., , •• , " ,

•
••

" .... 'riJecli",' urn""" .u.:.w....u hao b«t> Inade fat. <he tt_ ....pUd F.ul
.. " .. .. .. .. .. • .. , .. . .. , .. , .. , .. , .. , .. ,

•
.

.. " .. oon«nod o.nion (Hardy. J--l. ";il. 4s8-9).

Dap ollh• .,.."", ,IZ;_. Hcn: I..... ...,. -.mod 10 ,,,,bet , , , _ rut (C. M. Jafl"�. I.. M_
" " " " .. " " • " " .. .. .. , " .. I " ,
• I.. com"".
i

...""' . "v;, � t. RhoI.n. ""rD. pp. �l). FtItth.. ..uow""c< ohouId aIoo be made ro.
.. . . .. " .. " .. " .. . . .. . . .. " .. .. .. .. .. .. • ..

•• ..
.. .. . . .. " ., .. .. .. " .. " .. .. .. ,,,
.. ., ., . , ., .. " " ,
..

&,0.1jvJljfo<olifP>w t. si.... Ilhoill.... Bib. NaL U"

.. ., .. . . .. . . .. " .. . . .. " .. .. .. " .. " .. " ..
.. .. .. .. .. " .. lidn...
.. . , .. .. " .. " .. .. .. " .. .. .. .. .. "
.. · , .. . , .. ., .. .. .. .. .. ., .. ., ., ., .. .. •• .. . , oO " ,6,8.

•1 •• .1 ••
.. •

" ., " " " " " ., " .. . , ., " ., ., ., " ., " .. " .. " .,

.. ., .1 •• • • •1 " •• ., •• •• " ., ., ., .1 . , .1 . , .,
.... .. " .. " .. •• .. " ..
•
" ., 1 " . 1 .. . , .. . , .. . , .. ..
,. . . ,. .. ,. .. ,. ., ,. ., ,. .. ,. " ,. •• ,. ., ,. .1 ,. . , ,. .,

n.., R<M>Iu.ionuy (or lI.opublka.a) Calcodt.. w.. in offio:ia1 ux bet_ n �'<mbcr IXl3
C .., V...&!mi."" oI,hc Yc"," 11) '0 the end ",,� (0 tlh Ni.(l,c "rob. v••• XIV). In lea!».....
•

('7&6• •500. '....). " ,II V...,o..: wnuponded 10 09 rcbtuuy "nd the Uk. day "'1M R<""bG<.o.n
Ye.< __ 'found' by .eldin, .. ,iJuh .joout ....uIouid.'
.. (or 'jour """,pUmen'a",,') 10 the 6..., TABLE !2. Hypotluticai budgds oj Parisian workus 111 JUfII! 17f19 and
.!Iowa above.
JUfII! 1791

B"" "',�"'",-,
BtJt.1 O{. hiU.,·, w-... t.oU.'.Ilt. U••
( _ ,.. .. ; ',I""... .-- " ..) (_"' ''' ''1 '" .ai.' .-- " ..)
J- .,., joo ,� joo .,., :1-,,,,
4 110. br..d 14l .. 4 Ib. bt.o.d I. 4 1b. bRad '41 .. 4 Ib. bRad "

..
R_, ,. �. ,. R_. ,. Roo.

'i lb. meat i Ih. meat

,.
I Ii.... wiDe I Ii,", wioc ,. I ll.... ...... I•
.,. I Ih. meat .. ,.

••
BJolance ror oil, vq._
tabl.., dOlhl"". 8oc. Balance , .. Bala"""
TOT"� •1 .
,. BaI"".. ., .

., . ,. . ,. .
 APPENDIX VI A P PENDIX VII

The Revolutionary Cakndar' Pn'ces and Wages in Paris, IJ89-93

from The £CoMmie History Rnriew, vol. vi, 1954> 3.
t ! I
[Reproduced

I� H I� ��� I i n 11
no.

�
,

R� •

�
•

..
�
1.
' "
::: .;: j'
�
"i
� �, d � H�
1 1 �tt !H PP· 248-55]
• • .,
. .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . " . " . ., . .,
Percentage of ineome spent on bread by PariJian workers in 17/Jg
..
TADLE I ,
. " . ., · .. . .. . .. . ., .. • .. . .. . .. .. . "

• ••
•

� - ..... .. �
, .. . ' " . ., , .. , .. , ., ,.. , .. , .. , .. , .. , "

'£I"';"
. " . .. . .. . . ..
. " . .. .. ... . ., . .. .
.. . "
, ,, , ,, , .. . ., . .. , ., . ., , .. . .. , .. . ., , .. , ..

A" .. A' ,#I .. A, .,ri ..

--- .--
, ., , ,, , .. , .. " , .. , .. _I,
• ••
' " ' " ' " ' " ' "

• •• .
' ...
, ., p' ' " ' " , ,, , .. , ., , ,, , ,, , .. , .. p. "-"" ..."
- AI " ..
�

10 " 30
' " ' " " ' oO . .. ' " ' " . .. ' oO ' "

.. • t o 28 10 .8 10 ,. .
Labour... in �'. f.o.clOo'y '

" • " • " 30 "

". ". , .. , ., , ., , ., , .. . ., . ., . " . " . ., .. .. H ,. ..

" .g " 2g " .8 •• •

.� .. .

�.
Builckt', labourer

30 30
. ,. .. .. .. ., .. ,. .. .. .... '7 ." ,. .. " "

• ..
.g .

Journeyman muon .. ,.

'3 3'
" • " " • " " " ,. " ,. " ..

., • • •
" , " .. • .. .. " • " " " I, I, ., loum<ymaD loc:bmilh. eatp<nIU.

•• • .. • '4
• ,. • 'V

• .. • .. .. •
•

,. . ,. .. ..
., , ., • ., • " • • •• ..

•
, " " , " • " .,
" ,. ,..
.. • .. .. Sculp..... ..<>Id.milh •00 • �. .. .., ..

•
.. , , .. • .. , , " ,.

• ., ., • •
'W",.. Ii""" hue. wtJ.. oIhuwiM: "ated. _ r ....... 1.. BioIla,. I..I Jriz .. 'n- (P..... .886).
., , " , " , " • " , .. , ., • .. • ., , ., .
, , • .,

•
. there • r.... " eg
" , ., , ., , ., , ., , ., , ., , ., ., , .,

, ••
., , , " , ., " , " , " , " , ., .,

, ••
., , " , " , ,

•
pp. '4-71. Narly aU thae, fat. lad:. oroth.. �. _ ..... I,..,. Whal ma. ....

.... cue 01 <he jooumeymcn tailon who, In A,..uot " eg, obtalntd an Incteuc or ,.. ... _ day by
., • ., , ., • •• , •• , ., , ., , ., , ., , ., , ., • l
."'...... �. tha. <he ditr<rUlCef bctweao <he 1_ yurt ate ¥Ul' oIi.hL A DOlabIe _iaa 10

"
.. .. •• • " , " • •• , ., , ., , ., , •• , " ,

•
••

" .... 'riJecli",' urn""" .u.:.w....u hao b«t> Inade fat. <he tt_ ....pUd F.ul
.. " .. .. .. .. .. • .. , .. . .. , .. , .. , .. , .. , .. ,

•
.

.. " .. oon«nod o.nion (Hardy. J--l. ";il. 4s8-9).

Dap ollh• .,.."", ,IZ;_. Hcn: I..... ...,. -.mod 10 ,,,,bet , , , _ rut (C. M. Jafl"�. I.. M_
" " " " .. " " • " " .. .. .. , " .. I " ,
• I.. com"".
i

...""' . "v;, � t. RhoI.n. ""rD. pp. �l). FtItth.. ..uow""c< ohouId aIoo be made ro.
.. . . .. " .. " .. " .. . . .. . . .. " .. .. .. .. .. .. • ..

•• ..
.. .. . . .. " ., .. .. .. " .. " .. .. .. ,,,
.. ., ., . , ., .. " " ,
..

&,0.1jvJljfo<olifP>w t. si.... Ilhoill.... Bib. NaL U"

.. ., .. . . .. . . .. " .. . . .. " .. .. .. " .. " .. " ..
.. .. .. .. .. " .. lidn...
.. . , .. .. " .. " .. .. .. " .. .. .. .. .. "
.. · , .. . , .. ., .. .. .. .. .. ., .. ., ., ., .. .. •• .. . , oO " ,6,8.

•1 •• .1 ••
.. •

" ., " " " " " ., " .. . , ., " ., ., ., " ., " .. " .. " .,

.. ., .1 •• • • •1 " •• ., •• •• " ., ., ., .1 . , .1 . , .,
.... .. " .. " .. •• .. " ..
•
" ., 1 " . 1 .. . , .. . , .. . , .. ..
,. . . ,. .. ,. .. ,. ., ,. ., ,. .. ,. " ,. •• ,. ., ,. .1 ,. . , ,. .,

n.., R<M>Iu.ionuy (or lI.opublka.a) Calcodt.. w.. in offio:ia1 ux bet_ n �'<mbcr IXl3
C .., V...&!mi."" oI,hc Yc"," 11) '0 the end ",,� (0 tlh Ni.(l,c "rob. v••• XIV). In lea!».....
•

('7&6• •500. '....). " ,II V...,o..: wnuponded 10 09 rcbtuuy "nd the Uk. day "'1M R<""bG<.o.n
Ye.< __ 'found' by .eldin, .. ,iJuh .joout ....uIouid.'
.. (or 'jour """,pUmen'a",,') 10 the 6..., TABLE !2. Hypotluticai budgds oj Parisian workus 111 JUfII! 17f19 and
.!Iowa above.
JUfII! 1791

B"" "',�"'",-,
BtJt.1 O{. hiU.,·, w-... t.oU.'.Ilt. U••
( _ ,.. .. ; ',I""... .-- " ..) (_"' ''' ''1 '" .ai.' .-- " ..)
J- .,., joo ,� joo .,., :1-,,,,
4 110. br..d 14l .. 4 Ib. bt.o.d I. 4 1b. bRad '41 .. 4 Ib. bRad "

..
R_, ,. �. ,. R_. ,. Roo.

'i lb. meat i Ih. meat

,.
I Ii.... wiDe I Ii,", wioc ,. I ll.... ...... I•
.,. I Ih. meat .. ,.

••
BJolance ror oil, vq._
tabl.., dOlhl"". 8oc. Balance , .. Bala"""
TOT"� •1 .
,. BaI"".. ., .

., . ,. . ,. .
-5- APPENDIX vn

TABLE 3. Hypollutical budgets of Parisian workns in JUtll 1790 and

June 1793 G L O S S A R y.
B.,q., 0/ • 1-",,-,. -JIndn B..dt<' of. i-
I.J_'1!JIJ I_J_ '1n I. J- ."., I.J_ ';"
..,..,. ....A,
. ....'"

(_ ... ..; './"..... of food).

At:aJ/NUIIJT. A hoarder (most frequently wed oC a real, or believed, hoarder
(_S" I. " "..n.' (_ so L; ',1,,';'" (_"01.; '"",;0.'
j_:IO"') '-Pl.) __ ,0 1.) ...._ " .. )
4 II>. br.... ltJIU-adouu, raised in various centre in the autumn of 1793, primarily
Armh r/ooluJioflllairt. A citizen army, reputedly composed of trustworthy

for the purpose of compelling agrarian produccn to release their Itocb

4 lb. bnad " .. 4 II>. brud " . . ... ...... " . ".

.t Ii..... wi...,
Ren" ,. R�. .. R�. R�. ••

. .. j ib. ",ea, l ib. mu.

,.

I lb. mea.
r Ii,,,, win. .. . ,I I;,res win. ,. . , �". wiDe .. . ,..

the 'Hebe:rtists' in the .pring of 1794.

, II>. meo' for Paris and other cities. Discredited and disbanded afler the faU of

. ..
,. ,. •••
8oJanc< !'or ""Iet.bl..,
oil, dOlhinr. "'- c. Bal."". • •• B.t.nc<o • &,- .8 •.

Auul de la
•
A1Signal. Revolulionarypaper.money,in general we after the summer of I 791 .
TOTA� . ••
,0. " �. 18 Palm. A civic altar, dedicated 10 the Nation and erected in the

.... . ,-day worw.. wHk. Many ....'hc old Btmihu. The customs posta lurrounding the City of Paris, erected by the
eentre of the Champ de Man (Jet below).

F_, 0.0,.. had, by dlil ,i..... hem .bandoned, bu. "'" lI.�tioDartCale<>dot, ...hid. -..id....bly
, ·Elfcc';�.' casni_ ... her. bued "" ,he ....mpl;.,.,.

inauoood,he n.....b..- oI ....ki

... ... da,.. per y
..... had _ ,... been inttodo><od. Fannen GcnenJ shonly before the Revolution.

Q '79"0 ..hieh is -'>Ir m � 10 the rUe olOlher price..

• Yo< lack .... eucl inform,rioa _ ren'. I b... " ......,.d .... mona.. 01'00 per cent. on <h.,.a BourgcoisW. Here used as a generic term more or less synonymous with
mode ;
urban middle c1a.sset-banken, stockbroken, merchants, large manu·
facturen, and profesaional men ofevery kind.

pierrists in particular after Thennidor DC the Year II. Variatioru on

Buvtur tU sang. A term of abuse applied toJatobins in general and to Robes·

Bcon. Hist. JUD., vol. vi, '954. no. 3. pp. 257--64_ In view of their
For budgets and tables of wages and prices for ' 793-5, see

Cllhm
i rk dollanus. The lists oC grievances drawn up by specially convened
this theme are: 'septembriseur' and 'terroriste'.

meetings of citizens and villagen, and of representatives of the three

greater lack of detail and the need for more textual explanation

Estates, in preparation for the meeting of the Stales General in 1789·

they are not included here.

CAamp rk MaTI. Originally the chief military parade-ground of the city,

lying on the Left Bank (where the Eiffel Tower Itanm today). Used

try (e.g. Festivals of the Federation on 14 July and Festival of the

during the Revolution as the main centre of civic festivals and pagean·

(e.g. those of 16-17 July 1791 and 6 August 17911).

Supreme Being), abo as a popular centre for the draCling of petilioru

Comill civil. The political or administrative committee of the Section (lee

amnII rk stD"Willanu and,

below).
nai (originally
Comill ,Iuolillion" after Thennidor,
m l). The local committee attached to the Section and
comilld'ammdimm
charged with duties relating to police and internal Stturity.
CommiSSlu'reJOUX ouopartmenls. Officers appointed by the Sections to ensure thc
local operation of the iaWl of the Maximum (see below) and to investi.

C�mmil/u oJ Gtnrral &c..riI.1. One DC the two main Committees of Rovern.

gate charges of hoarding food and drink.

ment in which the power of theJacobin dictatorship was vested in the

Year II. Spec;ifically charged with responsibi.lity for police and internal
Stturity.

, This Glossary clai..., no more than to gin very rough-and·nady definitions

or explanations of certain temu USl':d n i the text that might caUSl': confwion or

Marion's Dictionnai.. du institwwlIJ d� 10 FrIJIIU aU>' XVII< et XVIII- sikks and to

misullCientanding, For fuller and mOre exact definitions the reader is referred 10

Boun;n and Challamel'. Dic,wlI1I/Jin tU /a Rlwlutionfra"faise.

-5- APPENDIX vn

TABLE 3. Hypollutical budgets of Parisian workns in JUtll 1790 and

June 1793 G L O S S A R y.
B.,q., 0/ • 1-",,-,. -JIndn B..dt<' of. i-
I.J_'1!JIJ I_J_ '1n I. J- ."., I.J_ ';"
..,..,. ....A,
. ....'"

(_ ... ..; './"..... of food).

At:aJ/NUIIJT. A hoarder (most frequently wed oC a real, or believed, hoarder
(_S" I. " "..n.' (_ so L; ',1,,';'" (_"01.; '"",;0.'
j_:IO"') '-Pl.) __ ,0 1.) ...._ " .. )
4 II>. br.... ltJIU-adouu, raised in various centre in the autumn of 1793, primarily
Armh r/ooluJioflllairt. A citizen army, reputedly composed of trustworthy

for the purpose of compelling agrarian produccn to release their Itocb

4 lb. bnad " .. 4 II>. brud " . . ... ...... " . ".

.t Ii..... wi...,
Ren" ,. R�. .. R�. R�. ••

. .. j ib. ",ea, l ib. mu.

,.

I lb. mea.
r Ii,,,, win. .. . ,I I;,res win. ,. . , �". wiDe .. . ,..

the 'Hebe:rtists' in the .pring of 1794.

, II>. meo' for Paris and other cities. Discredited and disbanded afler the faU of

. ..
,. ,. •••
8oJanc< !'or ""Iet.bl..,
oil, dOlhinr. "'- c. Bal."". • •• B.t.nc<o • &,- .8 •.

Auul de la
•
A1Signal. Revolulionarypaper.money,in general we after the summer of I 791 .
TOTA� . ••
,0. " �. 18 Palm. A civic altar, dedicated 10 the Nation and erected in the

.... . ,-day worw.. wHk. Many ....'hc old Btmihu. The customs posta lurrounding the City of Paris, erected by the
eentre of the Champ de Man (Jet below).

F_, 0.0,.. had, by dlil ,i..... hem .bandoned, bu. "'" lI.�tioDartCale<>dot, ...hid. -..id....bly
, ·Elfcc';�.' casni_ ... her. bued "" ,he ....mpl;.,.,.

inauoood,he n.....b..- oI ....ki

... ... da,.. per y
..... had _ ,... been inttodo><od. Fannen GcnenJ shonly before the Revolution.

Q '79"0 ..hieh is -'>Ir m � 10 the rUe olOlher price..

• Yo< lack .... eucl inform,rioa _ ren'. I b... " ......,.d .... mona.. 01'00 per cent. on <h.,.a BourgcoisW. Here used as a generic term more or less synonymous with
mode ;
urban middle c1a.sset-banken, stockbroken, merchants, large manu·
facturen, and profesaional men ofevery kind.

pierrists in particular after Thennidor DC the Year II. Variatioru on

Buvtur tU sang. A term of abuse applied toJatobins in general and to Robes·

Bcon. Hist. JUD., vol. vi, '954. no. 3. pp. 257--64_ In view of their
For budgets and tables of wages and prices for ' 793-5, see

Cllhm
i rk dollanus. The lists oC grievances drawn up by specially convened
this theme are: 'septembriseur' and 'terroriste'.

meetings of citizens and villagen, and of representatives of the three

greater lack of detail and the need for more textual explanation

Estates, in preparation for the meeting of the Stales General in 1789·

they are not included here.

CAamp rk MaTI. Originally the chief military parade-ground of the city,

lying on the Left Bank (where the Eiffel Tower Itanm today). Used

try (e.g. Festivals of the Federation on 14 July and Festival of the

during the Revolution as the main centre of civic festivals and pagean·

(e.g. those of 16-17 July 1791 and 6 August 17911).

Supreme Being), abo as a popular centre for the draCling of petilioru

Comill civil. The political or administrative committee of the Section (lee

amnII rk stD"Willanu and,

below).
nai (originally
Comill ,Iuolillion" after Thennidor,
m l). The local committee attached to the Section and
comilld'ammdimm
charged with duties relating to police and internal Stturity.
CommiSSlu'reJOUX ouopartmenls. Officers appointed by the Sections to ensure thc
local operation of the iaWl of the Maximum (see below) and to investi.

C�mmil/u oJ Gtnrral &c..riI.1. One DC the two main Committees of Rovern.

gate charges of hoarding food and drink.

ment in which the power of theJacobin dictatorship was vested in the

Year II. Spec;ifically charged with responsibi.lity for police and internal
Stturity.

, This Glossary clai..., no more than to gin very rough-and·nady definitions

or explanations of certain temu USl':d n i the text that might caUSl': confwion or

Marion's Dictionnai.. du institwwlIJ d� 10 FrIJIIU aU>' XVII< et XVIII- sikks and to

misullCientanding, For fuller and mOre exact definitions the reader is referred 10

Boun;n and Challamel'. Dic,wlI1I/Jin tU /a Rlwlutionfra"faise.

's< GLOSSARY GLOSSARY '55
CAmmillu if Public Sqftty. Fldnls. The armed unilS from the provinces that came to Paris to attend the
ment Committees of the Year n. Generally responsible for the conduct
The more important of the two leading Govem_

of both internal and external affairs, its powers OVffiapped with those to the men of Maneilles, Brest, &c., that took part in the assault on the
Festival of the Federation on 14July 1792. Here appied, l in particular,

ice and judicial matten.

Commu.w. This title, fraught with tradition and revolutionary implications, FtuiJlams. Name given to the group of royali11 deputies and journalislS who
of the Committee of General Security in pol Tuileries.

wu given to the Paris local government that emerged after the fall of broke with the Jacobins to fonn their own Club n i protest agailUt the
the Ba,tille. It disappearul. shortly after ThermidOl' and reappeared campaign to depose the king or suspend him from office after the Flight

Onnplot tlrU/QcTtlliqw. The name popularly a3Cribed to attempts made by the (or milia bouTg�). Citizens' army. or militia, originally
(briefty) in 1f48 and 1871. to Varennes in June 1791.

Court Party (see below) to overawe Paris by a show of anru and to

Garrk Nlllrmllk
i

dispene the newly fonned. National Assembly in the summer of 1789. Gardu Frlmfllius. The main body of royal lrOOPS stationed in the capital on
niscd. by the Paris Di1lriclS n i July 178g.

Used lui»equendy in relation to other genuine, or believed, plots of the eve ofthe Revolution. Whi l e loyal 10 the Government in the Reveil·
counter-revolut
ionariet. Ion riots ofApril l 78g, they began to be won over by the revolutionaries

majority that emerged in the National (and Constiluent) Assembly after

CAn.sti/ulifJ1tal Monarchj,lls. A term here somewhat loosely applied to the new in June and generally sided with the people in the July insurrection.
GmJ sans lll¥Il. Vagrants or persolU without a fixed abode.
the 'parti angJais' (who favoured the Absolute Veto anda Second Cham­ GiroruJins. Name originally given to a group of Left-wing deputies in the

leaders in the Assembly were Barnave, Duport, and the Lameths and, in war' in the autumn and winter of 1791 and many ofwhom (like Brissot)
ber) had been defeated and broken up in the October 'days'. Their Legislative Assembly, who supported Brisaot's policy of a 'revolutionary

the Paris administration, Bailly and Lafayette. (See abo Ftuillanu.) came from the Gironde region. Later applied to a wider group sharing

Revolution. It lay in the ThUlre Fran� Section on the Left Bank,

COT/kliers Club. The more 'plebeian' of the two great Parisian Clubs or the a more or less common political and social programme in opposition to

]tulUJSt dllTi
that of the main body ofJacobins.
charged a lower lubseription than the Jacobin Club, and generally e. Bands of anti-Jacobin youths organi:(ed by the journali1t
adopted more advanced policies (e.g. in July 1791 and the !pring of Fr\!;ron after the overthrow of Robespierre. In Vendemiaire of the
1794). lIS best-known leaden were Danton, Marat, Hebert, and Year IV they supported the royali1t uprising against the Convention.

]oumh (orjOUTnit r/llOlulionnlJilt). A day of revolutionary struggle in which

Ronsin. (See abo I1IUSttJdins.)

crowds (generally compo!ed of S4V\S...aJ(jIIls) participate.

COUllkr'rlllO/uliotuuy. Here wed ni a relative, rather than in an absolute,

Courl Pos(y. A tenn here applied, in particular, to the group led by the Marllis (or PfllW). Name given 10 the Centre group in the Convention orthe
..ense to denote an opponent of the Revolution at any one of ilS stages.

Thennidor, made it possible for his enemies to isolate and arrest him.
Comte d'Artois in the lunutter of 17B9; more generally, applied to those Year I I which, by withdrawing iu support from Robespierre on 9th

the press and the Assembly, at all stages up to August 1792. Mllrimwn. There were two laWi of thc Muimwn: that of May 1793 im­
enjoying the confidence of the king and queen, and their supporters in

DictuM. The I(I-day periods into which the Republican 3o-day month was posing a limit on the price of grain only; and that of September
1793 extcnding price-control 10 ncarly all articles of prime necessily,
Dislricts. In April 178g, Parill was divided into 60 Districu for electoral
divided.

Mmeur. A leader (often wed in a derogatory sense).

including labour (marimum des Ill/airu).

Mnw pmpIt. The common people: wage-earnen and small property­

purposa. With theJuly revolution, however, they virtually asswned the

June 1790. when they were replaced by the Sections (see below). owners. (See also Jt/IU-ru/Ollts.)
powers of local government organs. They survived as such until May­

MOW/tam. Name given to the Jacobin deputies Jed by Robe$pierre and

Leclerc, and Jean Varlet, who, while condemned by Cordelien and Danton, who sat in the upper seals of the National Convention when it
&rllgls. The extreme revolutionary group, led byJacques Rowe, Theophile

Jacobins alike, yet had considerable n i fluence on the JII1IS-aM11ls in the assembled in September t792. It was from their ranb that the Revolu­
tionary Governmc:nt of the Year II WQ fonned after the expuillion of
the Girondins.
spring, sununer, and autumn of 1793.

MuntufillS. Tenn applied by the slI1IS-Molus to bour,tois citi:(ens and middle·

FaubOZlTgs. Originally lying oUlSide the walls of the old City, thefaubaurgJ

dus youth in the period after Thennidor. It suggests foppi1hness and

(literally, 'suburbs') had, by 1785, all become enclosed within the City
boundaries. Here the tenn is applied both to these former 'suburbs' in
general and to the m�t famous among them-the Faubourg Saint_ fine dothes.
Antoine and the Faubourg Saint-Marcel-in particular. The term is Nobksu de robe. Wealthy magistrates of the old r�gime who, by purchase or

Non-domicilils. Pcrsons living in hoteill, lodgings, or furni1hed rooms {fhambres

sometimes used (incorrectly) by hi1torians to denote 'working-class inHeritance of office, had acquired the status of nobility.
distriCIS'.
's< GLOSSARY GLOSSARY '55
CAmmillu if Public Sqftty. Fldnls. The armed unilS from the provinces that came to Paris to attend the
ment Committees of the Year n. Generally responsible for the conduct
The more important of the two leading Govem_

of both internal and external affairs, its powers OVffiapped with those to the men of Maneilles, Brest, &c., that took part in the assault on the
Festival of the Federation on 14July 1792. Here appied, l in particular,

ice and judicial matten.

Commu.w. This title, fraught with tradition and revolutionary implications, FtuiJlams. Name given to the group of royali11 deputies and journalislS who
of the Committee of General Security in pol Tuileries.

wu given to the Paris local government that emerged after the fall of broke with the Jacobins to fonn their own Club n i protest agailUt the
the Ba,tille. It disappearul. shortly after ThermidOl' and reappeared campaign to depose the king or suspend him from office after the Flight

Onnplot tlrU/QcTtlliqw. The name popularly a3Cribed to attempts made by the (or milia bouTg�). Citizens' army. or militia, originally
(briefty) in 1f48 and 1871. to Varennes in June 1791.

Court Party (see below) to overawe Paris by a show of anru and to

Garrk Nlllrmllk
i

dispene the newly fonned. National Assembly in the summer of 1789. Gardu Frlmfllius. The main body of royal lrOOPS stationed in the capital on
niscd. by the Paris Di1lriclS n i July 178g.

Used lui»equendy in relation to other genuine, or believed, plots of the eve ofthe Revolution. Whi l e loyal 10 the Government in the Reveil·
counter-revolut
ionariet. Ion riots ofApril l 78g, they began to be won over by the revolutionaries

majority that emerged in the National (and Constiluent) Assembly after

CAn.sti/ulifJ1tal Monarchj,lls. A term here somewhat loosely applied to the new in June and generally sided with the people in the July insurrection.
GmJ sans lll¥Il. Vagrants or persolU without a fixed abode.
the 'parti angJais' (who favoured the Absolute Veto anda Second Cham­ GiroruJins. Name originally given to a group of Left-wing deputies in the

leaders in the Assembly were Barnave, Duport, and the Lameths and, in war' in the autumn and winter of 1791 and many ofwhom (like Brissot)
ber) had been defeated and broken up in the October 'days'. Their Legislative Assembly, who supported Brisaot's policy of a 'revolutionary

the Paris administration, Bailly and Lafayette. (See abo Ftuillanu.) came from the Gironde region. Later applied to a wider group sharing

Revolution. It lay in the ThUlre Fran� Section on the Left Bank,

COT/kliers Club. The more 'plebeian' of the two great Parisian Clubs or the a more or less common political and social programme in opposition to

]tulUJSt dllTi
that of the main body ofJacobins.
charged a lower lubseription than the Jacobin Club, and generally e. Bands of anti-Jacobin youths organi:(ed by the journali1t
adopted more advanced policies (e.g. in July 1791 and the !pring of Fr\!;ron after the overthrow of Robespierre. In Vendemiaire of the
1794). lIS best-known leaden were Danton, Marat, Hebert, and Year IV they supported the royali1t uprising against the Convention.

]oumh (orjOUTnit r/llOlulionnlJilt). A day of revolutionary struggle in which

Ronsin. (See abo I1IUSttJdins.)

crowds (generally compo!ed of S4V\S...aJ(jIIls) participate.

COUllkr'rlllO/uliotuuy. Here wed ni a relative, rather than in an absolute,

Courl Pos(y. A tenn here applied, in particular, to the group led by the Marllis (or PfllW). Name given 10 the Centre group in the Convention orthe
..ense to denote an opponent of the Revolution at any one of ilS stages.

Thennidor, made it possible for his enemies to isolate and arrest him.
Comte d'Artois in the lunutter of 17B9; more generally, applied to those Year I I which, by withdrawing iu support from Robespierre on 9th

the press and the Assembly, at all stages up to August 1792. Mllrimwn. There were two laWi of thc Muimwn: that of May 1793 im­
enjoying the confidence of the king and queen, and their supporters in

DictuM. The I(I-day periods into which the Republican 3o-day month was posing a limit on the price of grain only; and that of September
1793 extcnding price-control 10 ncarly all articles of prime necessily,
Dislricts. In April 178g, Parill was divided into 60 Districu for electoral
divided.

Mmeur. A leader (often wed in a derogatory sense).

including labour (marimum des Ill/airu).

Mnw pmpIt. The common people: wage-earnen and small property­

purposa. With theJuly revolution, however, they virtually asswned the

June 1790. when they were replaced by the Sections (see below). owners. (See also Jt/IU-ru/Ollts.)
powers of local government organs. They survived as such until May­

MOW/tam. Name given to the Jacobin deputies Jed by Robe$pierre and

Leclerc, and Jean Varlet, who, while condemned by Cordelien and Danton, who sat in the upper seals of the National Convention when it
&rllgls. The extreme revolutionary group, led byJacques Rowe, Theophile

Jacobins alike, yet had considerable n i fluence on the JII1IS-aM11ls in the assembled in September t792. It was from their ranb that the Revolu­
tionary Governmc:nt of the Year II WQ fonned after the expuillion of
the Girondins.
spring, sununer, and autumn of 1793.

MuntufillS. Tenn applied by the slI1IS-Molus to bour,tois citi:(ens and middle·

FaubOZlTgs. Originally lying oUlSide the walls of the old City, thefaubaurgJ

dus youth in the period after Thennidor. It suggests foppi1hness and

(literally, 'suburbs') had, by 1785, all become enclosed within the City
boundaries. Here the tenn is applied both to these former 'suburbs' in
general and to the m�t famous among them-the Faubourg Saint_ fine dothes.
Antoine and the Faubourg Saint-Marcel-in particular. The term is Nobksu de robe. Wealthy magistrates of the old r�gime who, by purchase or

Non-domicilils. Pcrsons living in hoteill, lodgings, or furni1hed rooms {fhambres

sometimes used (incorrectly) by hi1torians to denote 'working-class inHeritance of office, had acquired the status of nobility.
distriCIS'.
,,6 CLOSSARY GLOSSARY '57

lanliu) and, as such, genera1Jy omilted (rom the population censuses

and August (sec Appendix VI). Here used more frequently to refer
Tlrmnid(JT. The month in the RevolutiOnary Calendar COVering parts ofjuly
of the period and excluded from the franchUe until June '793.
OuvrinJ. Term applied n i the eighteenth cenlUry to all town-dwcllcn who the two days in ThermidOf (9th and loth) of the Year l[ which law
worked with their hands, whether as small manufacturen, independent
to

Tlzird Es/a14 ( Tiers EIal). Literally, the representatives ofthe non_'privileged'

the overthrow of Robcspierre and his closest aM()Ciates.
craftsmen, or wage-camen.
of the three Estates (or Orders) summoned to attend the meeting of
under Louis XV and Louis XVI, of deliberately withholding IIOcl" of
PM/4 tk famw. The policy, popularly imputed to various governments
the States General. More generally it is here wed to denote all JOeial
grain from the markel in order to force up prices and create famine. c1lWes other than the aristocracy, upper clergy, or privileged magis­
PQiSJartk. Literally, fish·wife. By extension applied to market-women in trates-i.e. menu peupu u well :u bourglOisie.
Vai
nqururs tU la Baslilk. The title given to those 8oo-goo pecsoru who were
i'T11J41 W mlUc1umds. The senior magistrate: of the royal government of the:
general.
able to establish their claim to have participated actively in the capture
of the Bastille.
Jacques de Fle.elles, was lynched by an angry crowd after the sur­
City of Paris prior to the Revolution. The last holder of the office,

render of me Bastille: on '4 July 178g.

Prods..vnhoJ. The: fonnal lttOrd of the cross-examinti a on of a prisoner by
the 'IImmisS4irt ell poliu. Not to be confused with a rtl/JP6rt tU poIiu,
which might be a 'utuation' report or a record of the Itate of public

Rluoil4 rw/Jiliai". The revolt of the nObility and Parhmmtl of 1787-8, which
opinion.

lerved as a 'curtain-rai$c:r' to the Revolution of 178g.

SllIlS-&U!oll4l. Here used in its purely JOeiafsense as an omnibus term to indude

in its Parisian context, the .mall .hopkeepen, petty traden, cralU­

the small property-owners and wage-eamen of town and countryside:

tended to limit its application to the more politically active among

men, journeymen, labouren, vagrants, and city poor. Contemporarics

social class they might be drawn. Historians have frequently used the
the.e classes or 10 extend it to the 'popular' leaden, from whatever

term in this political sense.

S6c/itms. The -tB units into which Paris became divided fOl' elcctoral (and
general political) purposes, in succession to the 60 Districts, by the
municipal law or May-june 1790.

formed in 1790 and 1791 as associates or affiliates of the Cordelien Club.

Sotiilbjraternt!us. Namegivento thcearJy radical clubs and $OCietics thatwere

S«iJtJs popuLDiru. General term applied to the local du� and societies after
the lumrn,er of 1791. Many were affiliated to the jacobin Club but,
owing to their tendency (in Paris, at least) to promote advanced view.

Government of the Year II. Many (particularly the purdy Stclitmal

and independent policies, were frowned on by the Revolutionary

of Hl!bert; more were closed after Thermidor; a few survived until the
societies set up after 9 September 1793) were dosed down after the fall

early months of 1795.

TIUiUUm jXJpuJairr. The compulsion of bakers and grocen, &c., to sell thcir
wares at lower prices by the intervention of riotous crowds (examples

Terror. The term is used here not so much to describe a method as to define
here given: May 1775, january-February 1792, February 1793).

government imposed its authority by varying means of compuuion­

a period-the period September 1793 to july 1794. when the jacobin

military, judicial, and economic.

,,6 CLOSSARY GLOSSARY '57

lanliu) and, as such, genera1Jy omilted (rom the population censuses

and August (sec Appendix VI). Here used more frequently to refer
Tlrmnid(JT. The month in the RevolutiOnary Calendar COVering parts ofjuly
of the period and excluded from the franchUe until June '793.
OuvrinJ. Term applied n i the eighteenth cenlUry to all town-dwcllcn who the two days in ThermidOf (9th and loth) of the Year l[ which law
worked with their hands, whether as small manufacturen, independent
to

Tlzird Es/a14 ( Tiers EIal). Literally, the representatives ofthe non_'privileged'

the overthrow of Robcspierre and his closest aM()Ciates.
craftsmen, or wage-camen.
of the three Estates (or Orders) summoned to attend the meeting of
under Louis XV and Louis XVI, of deliberately withholding IIOcl" of
PM/4 tk famw. The policy, popularly imputed to various governments
the States General. More generally it is here wed to denote all JOeial
grain from the markel in order to force up prices and create famine. c1lWes other than the aristocracy, upper clergy, or privileged magis­
PQiSJartk. Literally, fish·wife. By extension applied to market-women in trates-i.e. menu peupu u well :u bourglOisie.
Vai
nqururs tU la Baslilk. The title given to those 8oo-goo pecsoru who were
i'T11J41 W mlUc1umds. The senior magistrate: of the royal government of the:
general.
able to establish their claim to have participated actively in the capture
of the Bastille.
Jacques de Fle.elles, was lynched by an angry crowd after the sur­
City of Paris prior to the Revolution. The last holder of the office,

render of me Bastille: on '4 July 178g.

Prods..vnhoJ. The: fonnal lttOrd of the cross-examinti a on of a prisoner by
the 'IImmisS4irt ell poliu. Not to be confused with a rtl/JP6rt tU poIiu,
which might be a 'utuation' report or a record of the Itate of public

Rluoil4 rw/Jiliai". The revolt of the nObility and Parhmmtl of 1787-8, which
opinion.

lerved as a 'curtain-rai$c:r' to the Revolution of 178g.

SllIlS-&U!oll4l. Here used in its purely JOeiafsense as an omnibus term to indude

in its Parisian context, the .mall .hopkeepen, petty traden, cralU­

the small property-owners and wage-eamen of town and countryside:

tended to limit its application to the more politically active among

men, journeymen, labouren, vagrants, and city poor. Contemporarics

social class they might be drawn. Historians have frequently used the
the.e classes or 10 extend it to the 'popular' leaden, from whatever

term in this political sense.

S6c/itms. The -tB units into which Paris became divided fOl' elcctoral (and
general political) purposes, in succession to the 60 Districts, by the
municipal law or May-june 1790.

formed in 1790 and 1791 as associates or affiliates of the Cordelien Club.

Sotiilbjraternt!us. Namegivento thcearJy radical clubs and $OCietics thatwere

S«iJtJs popuLDiru. General term applied to the local du� and societies after
the lumrn,er of 1791. Many were affiliated to the jacobin Club but,
owing to their tendency (in Paris, at least) to promote advanced view.

Government of the Year II. Many (particularly the purdy Stclitmal

and independent policies, were frowned on by the Revolutionary

of Hl!bert; more were closed after Thermidor; a few survived until the
societies set up after 9 September 1793) were dosed down after the fall

early months of 1795.

TIUiUUm jXJpuJairr. The compulsion of bakers and grocen, &c., to sell thcir
wares at lower prices by the intervention of riotous crowds (examples

Terror. The term is used here not so much to describe a method as to define
here given: May 1775, january-February 1792, February 1793).

government imposed its authority by varying means of compuuion­

a period-the period September 1793 to july 1794. when the jacobin

military, judicial, and economic.

 -

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE '59

police. '7go-An IX), nos. 9-266 ($Orne 80 bundles used for
17go-Year IV).
BIBLIOGRAPHI CAL NOTE Series Ab (Rcgistres d'ecrou des prisons). nc.. 132 (Condergerie). 319
(Sainte-Pelagic). 324-7 (Force), 356 (misc.).

A PULL record of toUrcc-materials ux:d in the preparation of this volume

appean in the footnotes, either directly or by reference to other published Series V.D.- (Sections '7go-An IV). nOl. 645. 650, 826, 1012, 16:15. 1656.
AaCtI'VD DE LA. S£lNE

work. Here it u not proposed to recapitulate the titles of the numerous

secondary worQ that have been consulted, and whose repetition would be
,66'-2. ,681.

needlealy wearisome for author and reader alike.

What follows is • summary of primary $OUfCC$ only-both manuscript
AaCHIVU DE SEWE-IIT·MAIlNE
Series B Uustice). nos. 2247, 2387. 2695. 3698·

not easily accessible: in the: form of memors

and printed; but, of the laUer, only those documenu are cited which are
AaCHIVU DE SUNE'ET-OISE

collections-suc:h as those edited by Aulard, C. Bloch. Caron, Chan.vay. Series B. VlTJDilles: Prevote de I'HOtd du Roi. Procb, 1775; Greffe, '78g;
i , correspondence, or published

Chass.io, Lacroix, Monin, Toumeux, and Tuc:tey. Proc&l.ures, 178g; Tribunal crimind de mai I793. SI. G.mwi!l.m­
U;w: Prtvale Royale. Pi«es du Greffe. '775.

Mfmusmpt Somas BUJLlOTtltQ.UE NAnoNAu

Fonds fran�. nos. 6680-7 : Hardy, M,s /oisirs, oujoumaJ d'illintmmts Ills
qu'ils paroitnntnt d rna '01lllOUSOllU (8 vols., I 764-8g) ; 1 1697 (Bailly­
ARCHIVEI NATIONALES

(Section administrative. Secretairerie d'tlal), nos. II. 47-¥\.

Series AA (Section legislative: ct judiciaire). nos. 46-47.
Lafayette correspondenee, 178g-g1).
50, .57 . II-, 294. 2gB; IV. 1470.
" AF

(jwlice) : BBJ 73, 76, So, 222; BB'� 702; BBlO '7. 79, 87:
Nouvelles acquisitioru frant;:aise3, nos. 2654, 2666, 266g, 2670, 2673,
.. BB 2678, 2716,28". 3241.
" C (Proc�.vc:rbaux des Asscmbl6es nationale), nos. '.1,7. 3[, 35.

0 (Comit� des Assemblees). nos. III, IV. VI, XXIXb. XLIII.

7 1 , 7.5. 134, 167. 1 84, 203, 221, 238, 246-7. 251.
..
u,nltmporary Prinlld S()IJ1'UJ
Pamphleu, pctilions, lisu of cititens, Sectional rcporlll, &c., have been
.. F" olhiqw Nalionau and in series F.
" F" III (Esprit public. tlections), Seine '3, 27.

F.R., and R (Croker Collection) in the Brilith MlUlIUII.

consulted in series Lb 39-41 in the Bibli
328,. 4387. +1-1 1-4776 (65 bundles used), 6504.
(Police generale). nos. 2476, 2491. 2513, 2523. 3299. 3688.

Some use has been made of the Revolutionary Press, particularly of:
" F"- (Registres). nos. 2497. 2505. 2507. 2517, 2520, 2585-6.
L'Ami du fJtIJPle. u Babilltutf, u ]fJIlf7Ial ,u 14 RilPOlulioll. MlTewf national d
ilrCIIIl.lT Us Rivol/lli(ms ,u FuUlu d dI BrManl, and Us RJwllltions,u Paris.
.. F" (Commerce et Industrie). nos. '430. '544, 1546-7.
" F" (B!limenu Civils). nos. 1 1 37-8.

have also been freely consulted (but have yidded comparatively little) ·
.. FIJ (Hospices el Secours). nos. 3267-74-. 3564. The following contemporary (or ncu-contcmporary) accounu of events

KK (Monumenu hQtoriquc:s. Registres). nos. 641. 147. Buch� et Roux, Huloi" parumml<lir' dI 14 Rholulion frt11lf4iu (40 vols.,
.. H (Gtntralil�. Bureau de la Ville). nos. '453, 2 ' 2 1 .

0' (Mai50n du Roi), nos. SOOt '°36. 2°53, 2°57.

178g-gg. 80 vols., Paris, 1868-'914); RJimpres.sion tk i'tWin! Mrmj tewr (3'
Paru, 1833-8) ; Mavidal et Laurent (ed.), Arekives parkmm.taires (1St series,
..
.. T (Section domaniale. Stquestre), nos. 214. 5'4.
vols., Paru, ,858-63) ; and the Prods'l!lTbawr ofthe Constituent and Legisla­
24. 76, 78, 8,. '70, '74, 294, 3 ' 9, 343. 357. 444, 54&-8,
.. W (Section judidaire. Tribunal Revolutionnaire). nos. 12-13,
tivr AMc:mbies, l and of the National Convention.

(Archives du Chltdet de Paru). Chaml", crimine/u : nos. gB28-

556-8·

105gB (some 25 bundles usal); !Ugislres: 10626. ,0634.

" Y

10648-50; Archives d,s ctmlmwaires au GMltlll : nos. '07go-

16022 (some '50 bundles used for '775, '787-90) ; Prlv6U dI

z
/'!It-d,_FrClllu : nos. ,8748-70. 18794-6.
" (Juridic:tions speciales et ordinaires), nos. 1-/640, 886; 2/469 I .

AIlCtllVES DE LA PlltPEcrullE DE POLICE

Series Aa (Sections de Paris. Proces-verbaux des commissaires de
 -

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE '59

police. '7go-An IX), nos. 9-266 ($Orne 80 bundles used for
17go-Year IV).
BIBLIOGRAPHI CAL NOTE Series Ab (Rcgistres d'ecrou des prisons). nc.. 132 (Condergerie). 319
(Sainte-Pelagic). 324-7 (Force), 356 (misc.).

A PULL record of toUrcc-materials ux:d in the preparation of this volume

appean in the footnotes, either directly or by reference to other published Series V.D.- (Sections '7go-An IV). nOl. 645. 650, 826, 1012, 16:15. 1656.
AaCtI'VD DE LA. S£lNE

work. Here it u not proposed to recapitulate the titles of the numerous

secondary worQ that have been consulted, and whose repetition would be
,66'-2. ,681.

needlealy wearisome for author and reader alike.

What follows is • summary of primary $OUfCC$ only-both manuscript
AaCHIVU DE SEWE-IIT·MAIlNE
Series B Uustice). nos. 2247, 2387. 2695. 3698·

not easily accessible: in the: form of memors

and printed; but, of the laUer, only those documenu are cited which are
AaCHIVU DE SUNE'ET-OISE

collections-suc:h as those edited by Aulard, C. Bloch. Caron, Chan.vay. Series B. VlTJDilles: Prevote de I'HOtd du Roi. Procb, 1775; Greffe, '78g;
i , correspondence, or published

Chass.io, Lacroix, Monin, Toumeux, and Tuc:tey. Proc&l.ures, 178g; Tribunal crimind de mai I793. SI. G.mwi!l.m­
U;w: Prtvale Royale. Pi«es du Greffe. '775.

Mfmusmpt Somas BUJLlOTtltQ.UE NAnoNAu

Fonds fran�. nos. 6680-7 : Hardy, M,s /oisirs, oujoumaJ d'illintmmts Ills
qu'ils paroitnntnt d rna '01lllOUSOllU (8 vols., I 764-8g) ; 1 1697 (Bailly­
ARCHIVEI NATIONALES

(Section administrative. Secretairerie d'tlal), nos. II. 47-¥\.

Series AA (Section legislative: ct judiciaire). nos. 46-47.
Lafayette correspondenee, 178g-g1).
50, .57 . II-, 294. 2gB; IV. 1470.
" AF

(jwlice) : BBJ 73, 76, So, 222; BB'� 702; BBlO '7. 79, 87:
Nouvelles acquisitioru frant;:aise3, nos. 2654, 2666, 266g, 2670, 2673,
.. BB 2678, 2716,28". 3241.
" C (Proc�.vc:rbaux des Asscmbl6es nationale), nos. '.1,7. 3[, 35.

0 (Comit� des Assemblees). nos. III, IV. VI, XXIXb. XLIII.

7 1 , 7.5. 134, 167. 1 84, 203, 221, 238, 246-7. 251.
..
u,nltmporary Prinlld S()IJ1'UJ
Pamphleu, pctilions, lisu of cititens, Sectional rcporlll, &c., have been
.. F" olhiqw Nalionau and in series F.
" F" III (Esprit public. tlections), Seine '3, 27.

F.R., and R (Croker Collection) in the Brilith MlUlIUII.

consulted in series Lb 39-41 in the Bibli
328,. 4387. +1-1 1-4776 (65 bundles used), 6504.
(Police generale). nos. 2476, 2491. 2513, 2523. 3299. 3688.

Some use has been made of the Revolutionary Press, particularly of:
" F"- (Registres). nos. 2497. 2505. 2507. 2517, 2520, 2585-6.
L'Ami du fJtIJPle. u Babilltutf, u ]fJIlf7Ial ,u 14 RilPOlulioll. MlTewf national d
ilrCIIIl.lT Us Rivol/lli(ms ,u FuUlu d dI BrManl, and Us RJwllltions,u Paris.
.. F" (Commerce et Industrie). nos. '430. '544, 1546-7.
" F" (B!limenu Civils). nos. 1 1 37-8.

have also been freely consulted (but have yidded comparatively little) ·
.. FIJ (Hospices el Secours). nos. 3267-74-. 3564. The following contemporary (or ncu-contcmporary) accounu of events

KK (Monumenu hQtoriquc:s. Registres). nos. 641. 147. Buch� et Roux, Huloi" parumml<lir' dI 14 Rholulion frt11lf4iu (40 vols.,
.. H (Gtntralil�. Bureau de la Ville). nos. '453, 2 ' 2 1 .

0' (Mai50n du Roi), nos. SOOt '°36. 2°53, 2°57.

178g-gg. 80 vols., Paris, 1868-'914); RJimpres.sion tk i'tWin! Mrmj tewr (3'
Paru, 1833-8) ; Mavidal et Laurent (ed.), Arekives parkmm.taires (1St series,
..
.. T (Section domaniale. Stquestre), nos. 214. 5'4.
vols., Paru, ,858-63) ; and the Prods'l!lTbawr ofthe Constituent and Legisla­
24. 76, 78, 8,. '70, '74, 294, 3 ' 9, 343. 357. 444, 54&-8,
.. W (Section judidaire. Tribunal Revolutionnaire). nos. 12-13,
tivr AMc:mbies, l and of the National Convention.

(Archives du Chltdet de Paru). Chaml", crimine/u : nos. gB28-

556-8·

105gB (some 25 bundles usal); !Ugislres: 10626. ,0634.

" Y

10648-50; Archives d,s ctmlmwaires au GMltlll : nos. '07go-

16022 (some '50 bundles used for '775, '787-90) ; Prlv6U dI

z
/'!It-d,_FrClllu : nos. ,8748-70. 18794-6.
" (Juridic:tions speciales et ordinaires), nos. 1-/640, 886; 2/469 I .

AIlCtllVES DE LA PlltPEcrullE DE POLICE

Series Aa (Sections de Paris. Proces-verbaux des commissaires de
 INDEX
Alexandre, Chula-Alc:xis, 99 and n. 3,
Amar, Andn!, 150.
101, 103·
ArgelUOn, Marquis d'. lIlI�3.
Aristocracy, Il1-14> 117, 34, 45. 61. 73,
17S and n. 1, 180.
Aritloeratic revolt, 1tt ,1wlU Mbililli,t.
Arm ,/Nlll1ilnwsirt, IlI7, 13l1, 154, 156,
lIOO. lI30.
Artoia, Comte d', 13, 47,59.
Assi,MU. 17 n. 4, gfi and n. I, IllS. 130.
Alllitn M ,1uuUJ. 19. 64. 811-3, 181, 188,
1311. 1-«. 1611. 193. 1104, lI07.
1911, :HI4. 11113·
Audouin, Pierre-Jean (journalist), 87,
IIll1.
Augeart, Farmer General, 611.
Aulard. Alphonse. 3, 4, �" 8.
Auger and Monnery (dyers), 97, 101.
Babeuf, Gracchus, 147.
78. 8l1, ag, 94, 19'2.
Bailly, jean.Sylvain, 59, 61. 69, 711, 74,
Balire de Vieuuc, Bertrand, 118, 128
n. I, 1311, 136, 140. 1 50.
Barnave, Pierre.Joseph. 511 and n. 2,
Barru, Paul.jean, 1 7Z-3. 173 n. 2,
611, 63, ']0, 72, 1110, 1113, 1132.
175·
B/JITihu (customs polo"'). 10-11, 14,
I« aUt. Revolut
16, liS, 48. 49 n. 1. 64> 82, 1103, 2170
ribu.
ionary 'days': B/I"
19 n. 8, 26 and n. II, 117. 35, 53 If., 64,
Bastille, I, II, 3. 10. I I, I II n. 7. 14. IS,
IJlu
73, 81, 811, 83, 104. 108, lilli, 176;
I« Revolutkm�· 'days' ;
&ulilh.
Bernard, ab�, 70. 71.
Bc:aurepaire, Chevalier de, (4, 11113 n. II.
Bc:rlhier de Sauvigny, 56, 1103, !t27·
Bo:senval, Marquis de, 191�, 194·
.",.
Billaud.Yarenne, jean.Nicolas, 1118.
Biron, Man!chal de, 311.
Blanc, Louis, 3. 4.
BoiSiSYJd'Anglas, Fran�ois-Antoine, 149.
177, Igfi n. II.
Bonaparle. Napol�n, 173 and n. II,
Bord. GUitave, 57 n. 5, 1117-18.
BoUJobolle, Pierre, 155 n. I.
Bourdnn, Uonard, 150.
&.u,His, Mr,toisW, 9, III, 14, 24, 27,
118, SO, 33. 34, ,57, 61, 62, 63, 50, 83.
86. 90, 117, 138. 143, 1s8-9. 160.
163. 166,1']0, 17,5--6, 177. 178, 180-1,
1st. 186, 1100, 1105, 11l1li, 11119, 1132,
1135·
BfllC:K:h. F., 17.
Brienne. Lomtnie de, 2S--::Z9. 30, 31.
BriMOt de Warville,Jacqua-Pierre, 95,
1'9, 178 n. I, 19B.
Buchez and Roux, go.
Brunswick, !hike of, 103, log, 112.
Buirelle-Yerri�rCl, 81, 91.
Burke, Edmund, I. II, 4, 11115.
BU1.ot, Fran�oia-NicolaJ, 1110.
C4hitrs th doli/lTlUS, 112 n. 1 , 46, 54, 70.
Cahen, L., III.
Calonne, C.-A. de, I I , 28, 30.
Calvet, Henri, 1114.
CarnOI, ware, IIiB n. I .
Carlyle, Thorn.., II, 4.
CMmhns ,omia, IIC'C: non.Jtmtuiliis.
Caron, Pierre, 8, III, 190, 2117.
Denil), 67, lag,
Child (mayor', lieutenant, Saint-
1122.
Chilekt, !hIc duo 36.
Chaumelle, Anuagorat, 1116, 1106.
CoIbert, j.-B.,16.
Cobb, Richard C., 1114 n. 7.
CoIlo! d'Herboia,jean·Marie, 1118, 136,
',0.
CoI�,j., 3B.
Cornmard (merchant-grocer). gfi, 97·
1411 n. I, 143, '45, 147. 161 n. I,
Committee otCeneral Stt1,u-ily. 7, 137.
194. 1130.
Committee of Public Safety, 5, 1118, 134.
'36, '37, '43, 145. 161 n. 2.
78, 84, ag, 94 n. 4.
Commune, Pari! Commune, 8, 17. 70,
gB, 99, 103, 105,
"4: and the grocery riolS of 1793,
117-18; and the Enragb, II�O,
13! n. II; and H�berl, 132-3 ; and the
1114, 1�6; and Ihe sall1-t1tiD1lu, 130-1,
17141'i1ll�1II titS sa/aifts, 134--6; 2nd 9-
 INDEX
Alexandre, Chula-Alc:xis, 99 and n. 3,
Amar, Andn!, 150.
101, 103·
ArgelUOn, Marquis d'. lIlI�3.
Aristocracy, Il1-14> 117, 34, 45. 61. 73,
17S and n. 1, 180.
Aritloeratic revolt, 1tt ,1wlU Mbililli,t.
Arm ,/Nlll1ilnwsirt, IlI7, 13l1, 154, 156,
lIOO. lI30.
Artoia, Comte d', 13, 47,59.
Assi,MU. 17 n. 4, gfi and n. I, IllS. 130.
Alllitn M ,1uuUJ. 19. 64. 811-3, 181, 188,
1311. 1-«. 1611. 193. 1104, lI07.
1911, :HI4. 11113·
Audouin, Pierre-Jean (journalist), 87,
IIll1.
Augeart, Farmer General, 611.
Aulard. Alphonse. 3, 4, �" 8.
Auger and Monnery (dyers), 97, 101.
Babeuf, Gracchus, 147.
78. 8l1, ag, 94, 19'2.
Bailly, jean.Sylvain, 59, 61. 69, 711, 74,
Balire de Vieuuc, Bertrand, 118, 128
n. I, 1311, 136, 140. 1 50.
Barnave, Pierre.Joseph. 511 and n. 2,
Barru, Paul.jean, 1 7Z-3. 173 n. 2,
611, 63, ']0, 72, 1110, 1113, 1132.
175·
B/JITihu (customs polo"'). 10-11, 14,
I« aUt. Revolut
16, liS, 48. 49 n. 1. 64> 82, 1103, 2170
ribu.
ionary 'days': B/I"
19 n. 8, 26 and n. II, 117. 35, 53 If., 64,
Bastille, I, II, 3. 10. I I, I II n. 7. 14. IS,
IJlu
73, 81, 811, 83, 104. 108, lilli, 176;
I« Revolutkm�· 'days' ;
&ulilh.
Bernard, ab�, 70. 71.
Bc:aurepaire, Chevalier de, (4, 11113 n. II.
Bc:rlhier de Sauvigny, 56, 1103, !t27·
Bo:senval, Marquis de, 191�, 194·
.",.
Billaud.Yarenne, jean.Nicolas, 1118.
Biron, Man!chal de, 311.
Blanc, Louis, 3. 4.
BoiSiSYJd'Anglas, Fran�ois-Antoine, 149.
177, Igfi n. II.
Bonaparle. Napol�n, 173 and n. II,
Bord. GUitave, 57 n. 5, 1117-18.
BoUJobolle, Pierre, 155 n. I.
Bourdnn, Uonard, 150.
&.u,His, Mr,toisW, 9, III, 14, 24, 27,
118, SO, 33. 34, ,57, 61, 62, 63, 50, 83.
86. 90, 117, 138. 143, 1s8-9. 160.
163. 166,1']0, 17,5--6, 177. 178, 180-1,
1st. 186, 1100, 1105, 11l1li, 11119, 1132,
1135·
BfllC:K:h. F., 17.
Brienne. Lomtnie de, 2S--::Z9. 30, 31.
BriMOt de Warville,Jacqua-Pierre, 95,
1'9, 178 n. I, 19B.
Buchez and Roux, go.
Brunswick, !hike of, 103, log, 112.
Buirelle-Yerri�rCl, 81, 91.
Burke, Edmund, I. II, 4, 11115.
BU1.ot, Fran�oia-NicolaJ, 1110.
C4hitrs th doli/lTlUS, 112 n. 1 , 46, 54, 70.
Cahen, L., III.
Calonne, C.-A. de, I I , 28, 30.
Calvet, Henri, 1114.
CarnOI, ware, IIiB n. I .
Carlyle, Thorn.., II, 4.
CMmhns ,omia, IIC'C: non.Jtmtuiliis.
Caron, Pierre, 8, III, 190, 2117.
Denil), 67, lag,
Child (mayor', lieutenant, Saint-
1122.
Chilekt, !hIc duo 36.
Chaumelle, Anuagorat, 1116, 1106.
CoIbert, j.-B.,16.
Cobb, Richard C., 1114 n. 7.
CoIlo! d'Herboia,jean·Marie, 1118, 136,
',0.
CoI�,j., 3B.
Cornmard (merchant-grocer). gfi, 97·
1411 n. I, 143, '45, 147. 161 n. I,
Committee otCeneral Stt1,u-ily. 7, 137.
194. 1130.
Committee of Public Safety, 5, 1118, 134.
'36, '37, '43, 145. 161 n. 2.
78, 84, ag, 94 n. 4.
Commune, Pari! Commune, 8, 17. 70,
gB, 99, 103, 105,
"4: and the grocery riolS of 1793,
117-18; and the Enragb, II�O,
13! n. II; and H�berl, 132-3 ; and the
1114, 1�6; and Ihe sall1-t1tiD1lu, 130-1,
17141'i1ll�1II titS sa/aifts, 134--6; 2nd 9-
,50
Commune, Paris Commune, Comt.
10 Tbermidor, l�n-4 ' ; abolished,
Csmp/¢ Mit1otr4llifw. ,,6,
'43; 1�6 and D. II, 19o, 'lI04. 1106, 'lI14.
!jg. 11113
Col1ltitutional monarchitta, 6 1 fr.,
n.II, u6.
Conti, Prince de, 47.
80, 197.201.
Corddien Club, Cordc:lien, 711, 80; and
the agitation of'pring-summa '791,
petition, 88-8g, 9', 93. 120, 1116, 11I8,
83-88; and the Champ de Man
1811, 197. '99. 'lI04. IIIII, 21,.
Couthon, Geof(CS. 128.
Danton, Georga.jacquCII, 6g, 72, 113,
Daniean, General, 172,
119, 178 n. l•
Decrees of the 'Two-Thirdi', 161-l1,
De Launay, Matquis, 54 fr., 221, 224,
163, 165�, 167, 168-g, 170, 171-
226.
Democrats, 80-88, 91, 93, 100, 212,
2�2, 228.
Delmouliru, Camille, oj.8, 69, 70, 72,
83,87, 106, 176 n. I, 212, 216.
DuboiJ, Geo_I, 154.
Dubois, Chevalitt, 32.
Dumouriea:, CharICi-Fran�oU, 98, 1 ' 9 .
Duqueanoy, EmCIII.Dominique, 155
Duport, Adrien, 6g, 70.
n. I.
Duroy, Jean.Miehd, 155 n. I.
Dussaulx, Aeademieian, 55 n. 1 , 62, 70.
En.-ap, "9-111 , 205.
Fabre d'tglantine. I I I .
Fanners General, I I .
Faubourp, 12, '4-17, 24-li15, 30-31,
47, 67, 91, 101, 151, 157, 166, 170,
200, 20'l, 215, 217. 220, 224 n. I.
-Saint-Antoine, 10, 15-18, 2�, 31, 33-
39,54, 56, 58-59, 67, 73, 76, 77 n. I,
Man affair, 9�'il3i and the grocery
76, 81, 83, 88; aod the Champ de
riotJ of 1792, 96-97; and 20 june
'792, 99, [ 0 1 ; and the overthrow
of the monarchy, 103�; log, "4,
123, 138; and Germinal.Prairial,
146-55, '58, 164, 167, 168; and
iruurrection, or 1787'i15, 185�, 192,
203, 206, 218, 222, 226,234,
INDEX
- SainI-Denis, 10, 16, 96.
- Saint_Germain, 10, 32 n. 2, 33.
- Saint.Ho�. 13. 58.
and - Saint.JacqUC$, 10, 16, '7. ItS, 149.
- Saint-Laurent, 16.
5B, 8 1 n. 3; and the Champ de Man
78. - Saint-Mum, 10, 16-18, 35..,6, 38.
affair, 93-94; and the grocery nou
101, 10:1; and the overthrow
of 17911, g6-g8; and 20 June '792,
of the monarchy, 106, log, 115, 1!l3.
99.
and G<:nninal.Prairial, '47-9, 1511,
'33; and 9"""1 0 Thermidor, 138-9;
'55. 158, and inruntttions of I787-
95. 185-6, 19B, .:too, 11M.
- Saint-Martin, 10, 16,81 n. 3.
- Saint-Victor, 10, 16.
Ftraud, Jean, 153. '54,
Fla.sdla, Jacques de, 53, 56, U I .
227·
Fh::uriol.Lescot,j.·B., '37, '40.
Fkury, Cardinal, 23.
Foullon de Dou�, 56, 203, 2�7.
n. 3, .)8 n. 8, 73, 76, 77, 9�, 93, 1000,
Fournier (L'Am�ricain), Claude, 57
104 n. I, 118 n. I, 2�9.
Fran�ou (baker), 78.
Friron, Lo�·Marie, 147.
Gard.es Fran�, 25, 29, 32, 36, 49,
GtfIS SIIItI' 1WtU, Ue Vagrants.
51, 55.
Gironde, Girondins, 95, ga, 99, 1 0'l,
I I I , 113, 11g, 120-2, 199,206.
Grande Peur, 223.
Goujon,jean.Marie, 155 n. I.
Guadet, Ma.guerite.tlie, 120.
Gubin, Daniel, 126, 134.
Gunsmiths, 50-51•
Hanriot, Fran�ois, 122, '33, 136, 137,
139, 140, 178 n. 1, 213'
29 ff., 43 If., 52 ff., 50, 65 fr., 75,
Hardy, �ba.!lien (diarist), 8, 2', 24 ff.,
(Lc Ph�
181, 192, 194-5, 20'l-3, 2,6, 223.
H�bert, jacquCl-Rm�
Ducheane), 120, 126, 132, 133, 135,
Henriot (powder-manufaelurer), 35 ft,
178 n. 1, 205,206, 210, 2" , 222.
192,201, 220.
Henri IV, 1 3 , 3 1 , 32, 196, 225.
Hblel df:l Invalidel, 53, 55, 56 n. I,
133, 221.
Hbtd de Ville, '5, 47-0j.8, 5 1 , 53, 54, 55,
56, 60,65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 74,78, 93,
105, 1 18, 133, 135, 138, 204 n. 2,
221-
Hulin, Picrre-Augusin,
l 55.
tionary Crowds, Riou, &.C.
InsurgentJ, iruurreetloru, u, Revolu.
jacobin Club, jacobiru, 5, 80, 81, 83,
85, 88, 98, 1 000, I I I , 113, "4; and
and the Enrages, 1 ' 9""20; &nd the
the grocery riots of 1793, 1 ' 7-18;
revolution ofMay-June 1793, 121-l1;
and the insurrection of Seplember
1793, 126-7, 128, 137; and the
Thermidoriam, 137, 142-3, 146-7;
and Germinal·Prairial, '49, 153, 156,
158, 160; and Vendrniaire, ,64�,
16g, 176, 192, 194, 1 99""20[, 207,
222, 228,231.
JroNsse dorie,jtunts gtllS, 147, '49, '54,
jaura, Jean, 5, [4, 38, 57, 58, 80 n. I.
158, 161, [6g, 175; 5Ce also Mwca4jns.
0,.
]fIIlrnltS, Jee R....
oluliooary
. 'days', Riolt,
Labrouue, C.-E., 5, 20 n. 3, 21, 201.
L1ocombe, Claire (Rose), 122 n. 3, 229.
11·3, 64, 68, 71, 72,
Lafayetlc, Marquis de, SO, 61, 62 and
ag, 91, 92, 10'l, 181.
74, 76, 77, 81,
Lambae. Prince de, 48.
197. 204 n. 3.
La Tour du Pin, 72.
Lamoignon, G.-F. de, 30, 3', 196, 20'l.
Lefebvre, Grorgcs, 4 n. 2, oj-li, 200, 219
Lebon, Guslave. 219, 220, 221.
and n. 2.
Lefevre, ablX, 53.
Legendre, Louis, '78 n. I.
Rober•• 128 n. I.
Lt"rts dt tfIClul, 30, 81.
Lindet,
Lodgers, lodging houses, I CC
domitiliis.
Loi Le Chapclier, 85, 135.
Louis XIV, 13, 16.
Louis XVI, 35, ']0, 77, 87, 86, 95, 98,
Louis XV, 12, 23, 45.
100; his overthrow, 101-5, 108, 1'3,
181, 182, 19B, 225.
Lou�alot, t.(journalist ,58,69,87,223.
Madelin, Louis, 3 n. 2.
INDEX
.., S7 and n, 3 , 6.t n. 2,
Maillard, Stanisl
73. 74, 75, 178 n. 1, 204, 221, 2�9,
Mallei du Pan, 34, 45.
230•
Malouet, PiCI'T'e.Vi<;lor, 71.
Mara., jean.Paul, 6g, 71, 78, 85. 87,
1 10, 113, 1 18, 119, 133, 10j.6, 147,
167, 178 n. 1 . 201,212, 223-4.
Mari�.Anloinelle, 47, 77.
Mathia. Albert, 5. 7, 62, 6g, 118.
131-2, 145�, 205, w6, 207; (waga)
Maximum laws (priCCII), "9, 127. 129,
127, 129, 134, 135 and n. 3, 136 and
n. 3, '39. 140-1, 14' n. ', 14S. 207.
Mnw. pn;pU, I I . 1 5 , 2 2 . 3 1 , 33. 44, SO.
Menou, JaequCII, General, '54, 172.
9', 93'i1S, 1'4, 119, 121, 129, '+I,
61, 63,66,67. 71, 78,80 n. ', 8S, 88,
'SO, 19o, 196, '97 and fi. 3, 232-';
see also SIIfU-tUwl/4ls.
Mercier, Stbulien, 13, 16, 26.
M�ricourl, Th�roigne de, 229.
Merlin (de ThionviUe), Antoine- Chris.
Mi<;helel,Jula, I, 3,4. 59, 232, 233 n. , .
tophe, 149.
Milite blnlrgttliu, ttt Nalional Guard.
Mitabeau, ComiC de, 47, 62, 76
192.
Monin, H., 13.
Morlimer·Ternaux, M., 5, 191.
Monljoie (journalist), 41, 1 9 1 , 194.
MlIJtlllins, 146, 147, 155, 216; ICC abo
Mural,joaehim, 173.
]�su do,'" jfiuKs lefU.
Nationa.l Guard, 48, 52, 57, 59, 61. 65,
71, 7'; and the march to Venaillo,
Champ de Mars alfair, 82, 84, 86,
,6-77 and n. I, 81. 82; and the
ag...,.p
97; and 20 June 1792, g&-
and the overthrow of the
101;
monarchy, 102-7, 1 1 1 , 1 1 3 ; and the
MIl- grocery riots of 1793, IIS-16; and
9""10 Thennidor, '37-8, 143, '49 ;
and Prairial, '52-5, 166, 173-4.
182""3, 197, 204 n. 3, 205�, 2[3,
230-1.
Necker, Jacques, I [ and n. 5, 12, 28,
3[, 34, 37, 46, 47-¥', 196, 216,
220-1.
I I , 12 and n. I, 18
Nob/m" nobility, Stt Aristocracy.
No�·df)1flitiliis, n. 7,
36, 149, 168 and n5. s and 6.
,50
Commune, Paris Commune, Comt.
10 Tbermidor, l�n-4 ' ; abolished,
Csmp/¢ Mit1otr4llifw. ,,6,
'43; 1�6 and D. II, 19o, 'lI04. 1106, 'lI14.
!jg. 11113
Col1ltitutional monarchitta, 6 1 fr.,
n.II, u6.
Conti, Prince de, 47.
80, 197.201.
Corddien Club, Cordc:lien, 711, 80; and
the agitation of'pring-summa '791,
petition, 88-8g, 9', 93. 120, 1116, 11I8,
83-88; and the Champ de Man
1811, 197. '99. 'lI04. IIIII, 21,.
Couthon, Geof(CS. 128.
Danton, Georga.jacquCII, 6g, 72, 113,
Daniean, General, 172,
119, 178 n. l•
Decrees of the 'Two-Thirdi', 161-l1,
De Launay, Matquis, 54 fr., 221, 224,
163, 165�, 167, 168-g, 170, 171-
226.
Democrats, 80-88, 91, 93, 100, 212,
2�2, 228.
Delmouliru, Camille, oj.8, 69, 70, 72,
83,87, 106, 176 n. I, 212, 216.
DuboiJ, Geo_I, 154.
Dubois, Chevalitt, 32.
Dumouriea:, CharICi-Fran�oU, 98, 1 ' 9 .
Duqueanoy, EmCIII.Dominique, 155
Duport, Adrien, 6g, 70.
n. I.
Duroy, Jean.Miehd, 155 n. I.
Dussaulx, Aeademieian, 55 n. 1 , 62, 70.
En.-ap, "9-111 , 205.
Fabre d'tglantine. I I I .
Fanners General, I I .
Faubourp, 12, '4-17, 24-li15, 30-31,
47, 67, 91, 101, 151, 157, 166, 170,
200, 20'l, 215, 217. 220, 224 n. I.
-Saint-Antoine, 10, 15-18, 2�, 31, 33-
39,54, 56, 58-59, 67, 73, 76, 77 n. I,
Man affair, 9�'il3i and the grocery
76, 81, 83, 88; aod the Champ de
riotJ of 1792, 96-97; and 20 june
'792, 99, [ 0 1 ; and the overthrow
of the monarchy, 103�; log, "4,
123, 138; and Germinal.Prairial,
146-55, '58, 164, 167, 168; and
iruurrection, or 1787'i15, 185�, 192,
203, 206, 218, 222, 226,234,
INDEX
- SainI-Denis, 10, 16, 96.
- Saint_Germain, 10, 32 n. 2, 33.
- Saint.Ho�. 13. 58.
and - Saint.JacqUC$, 10, 16, '7. ItS, 149.
- Saint-Laurent, 16.
5B, 8 1 n. 3; and the Champ de Man
78. - Saint-Mum, 10, 16-18, 35..,6, 38.
affair, 93-94; and the grocery nou
101, 10:1; and the overthrow
of 17911, g6-g8; and 20 June '792,
of the monarchy, 106, log, 115, 1!l3.
99.
and G<:nninal.Prairial, '47-9, 1511,
'33; and 9"""1 0 Thermidor, 138-9;
'55. 158, and inruntttions of I787-
95. 185-6, 19B, .:too, 11M.
- Saint-Martin, 10, 16,81 n. 3.
- Saint-Victor, 10, 16.
Ftraud, Jean, 153. '54,
Fla.sdla, Jacques de, 53, 56, U I .
227·
Fh::uriol.Lescot,j.·B., '37, '40.
Fkury, Cardinal, 23.
Foullon de Dou�, 56, 203, 2�7.
n. 3, .)8 n. 8, 73, 76, 77, 9�, 93, 1000,
Fournier (L'Am�ricain), Claude, 57
104 n. I, 118 n. I, 2�9.
Fran�ou (baker), 78.
Friron, Lo�·Marie, 147.
Gard.es Fran�, 25, 29, 32, 36, 49,
GtfIS SIIItI' 1WtU, Ue Vagrants.
51, 55.
Gironde, Girondins, 95, ga, 99, 1 0'l,
I I I , 113, 11g, 120-2, 199,206.
Grande Peur, 223.
Goujon,jean.Marie, 155 n. I.
Guadet, Ma.guerite.tlie, 120.
Gubin, Daniel, 126, 134.
Gunsmiths, 50-51•
Hanriot, Fran�ois, 122, '33, 136, 137,
139, 140, 178 n. 1, 213'
29 ff., 43 If., 52 ff., 50, 65 fr., 75,
Hardy, �ba.!lien (diarist), 8, 2', 24 ff.,
(Lc Ph�
181, 192, 194-5, 20'l-3, 2,6, 223.
H�bert, jacquCl-Rm�
Ducheane), 120, 126, 132, 133, 135,
Henriot (powder-manufaelurer), 35 ft,
178 n. 1, 205,206, 210, 2" , 222.
192,201, 220.
Henri IV, 1 3 , 3 1 , 32, 196, 225.
Hblel df:l Invalidel, 53, 55, 56 n. I,
133, 221.
Hbtd de Ville, '5, 47-0j.8, 5 1 , 53, 54, 55,
56, 60,65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 74,78, 93,
105, 1 18, 133, 135, 138, 204 n. 2,
221-
Hulin, Picrre-Augusin,
l 55.
tionary Crowds, Riou, &.C.
InsurgentJ, iruurreetloru, u, Revolu.
jacobin Club, jacobiru, 5, 80, 81, 83,
85, 88, 98, 1 000, I I I , 113, "4; and
and the Enrages, 1 ' 9""20; &nd the
the grocery riots of 1793, 1 ' 7-18;
revolution ofMay-June 1793, 121-l1;
and the insurrection of Seplember
1793, 126-7, 128, 137; and the
Thermidoriam, 137, 142-3, 146-7;
and Germinal·Prairial, '49, 153, 156,
158, 160; and Vendrniaire, ,64�,
16g, 176, 192, 194, 1 99""20[, 207,
222, 228,231.
JroNsse dorie,jtunts gtllS, 147, '49, '54,
jaura, Jean, 5, [4, 38, 57, 58, 80 n. I.
158, 161, [6g, 175; 5Ce also Mwca4jns.
0,.
]fIIlrnltS, Jee R....
oluliooary
. 'days', Riolt,
Labrouue, C.-E., 5, 20 n. 3, 21, 201.
L1ocombe, Claire (Rose), 122 n. 3, 229.
11·3, 64, 68, 71, 72,
Lafayetlc, Marquis de, SO, 61, 62 and
ag, 91, 92, 10'l, 181.
74, 76, 77, 81,
Lambae. Prince de, 48.
197. 204 n. 3.
La Tour du Pin, 72.
Lamoignon, G.-F. de, 30, 3', 196, 20'l.
Lefebvre, Grorgcs, 4 n. 2, oj-li, 200, 219
Lebon, Guslave. 219, 220, 221.
and n. 2.
Lefevre, ablX, 53.
Legendre, Louis, '78 n. I.
Rober•• 128 n. I.
Lt"rts dt tfIClul, 30, 81.
Lindet,
Lodgers, lodging houses, I CC
domitiliis.
Loi Le Chapclier, 85, 135.
Louis XIV, 13, 16.
Louis XVI, 35, ']0, 77, 87, 86, 95, 98,
Louis XV, 12, 23, 45.
100; his overthrow, 101-5, 108, 1'3,
181, 182, 19B, 225.
Lou�alot, t.(journalist ,58,69,87,223.
Madelin, Louis, 3 n. 2.
INDEX
.., S7 and n, 3 , 6.t n. 2,
Maillard, Stanisl
73. 74, 75, 178 n. 1, 204, 221, 2�9,
Mallei du Pan, 34, 45.
230•
Malouet, PiCI'T'e.Vi<;lor, 71.
Mara., jean.Paul, 6g, 71, 78, 85. 87,
1 10, 113, 1 18, 119, 133, 10j.6, 147,
167, 178 n. 1 . 201,212, 223-4.
Mari�.Anloinelle, 47, 77.
Mathia. Albert, 5. 7, 62, 6g, 118.
131-2, 145�, 205, w6, 207; (waga)
Maximum laws (priCCII), "9, 127. 129,
127, 129, 134, 135 and n. 3, 136 and
n. 3, '39. 140-1, 14' n. ', 14S. 207.
Mnw. pn;pU, I I . 1 5 , 2 2 . 3 1 , 33. 44, SO.
Menou, JaequCII, General, '54, 172.
9', 93'i1S, 1'4, 119, 121, 129, '+I,
61, 63,66,67. 71, 78,80 n. ', 8S, 88,
'SO, 19o, 196, '97 and fi. 3, 232-';
see also SIIfU-tUwl/4ls.
Mercier, Stbulien, 13, 16, 26.
M�ricourl, Th�roigne de, 229.
Merlin (de ThionviUe), Antoine- Chris.
Mi<;helel,Jula, I, 3,4. 59, 232, 233 n. , .
tophe, 149.
Milite blnlrgttliu, ttt Nalional Guard.
Mitabeau, ComiC de, 47, 62, 76
192.
Monin, H., 13.
Morlimer·Ternaux, M., 5, 191.
Monljoie (journalist), 41, 1 9 1 , 194.
MlIJtlllins, 146, 147, 155, 216; ICC abo
Mural,joaehim, 173.
]�su do,'" jfiuKs lefU.
Nationa.l Guard, 48, 52, 57, 59, 61. 65,
71, 7'; and the march to Venaillo,
Champ de Mars alfair, 82, 84, 86,
,6-77 and n. I, 81. 82; and the
ag...,.p
97; and 20 June 1792, g&-
and the overthrow of the
101;
monarchy, 102-7, 1 1 1 , 1 1 3 ; and the
MIl- grocery riots of 1793, IIS-16; and
9""10 Thennidor, '37-8, 143, '49 ;
and Prairial, '52-5, 166, 173-4.
182""3, 197, 204 n. 3, 205�, 2[3,
230-1.
Necker, Jacques, I [ and n. 5, 12, 28,
3[, 34, 37, 46, 47-¥', 196, 216,
220-1.
I I , 12 and n. I, 18
Nob/m" nobility, Stt Aristocracy.
No�·df)1flitiliis, n. 7,
36, 149, 168 and n5. s and 6.
 INDEX INDEX ",
Olivia (pored&in.manufacturer), 40, 34 fr.• 68, I!p, 201, 202, 1120. lI06; cum riots of 1775, 23-25, 28, 41,
41 n. 3. 43, 'l17· RivlHfI ....
il
i ai
n, 9, 117 fr., 196, 111:\. g6. 1 1 7
Advcnel, jean (melal·worker), 78;

179; of 1788, 31-33, "79, 196, �; (T�tcigne), 42; Batail1e (wine-mer.

n. 3, 159; of 1787. lI9-:}o, Audu, Louis-Reine, 105; A. Auga

48, 49, &.I, 44, 69, 101 and n. I, 'l1.5, miJecllancous, ofS. 66, 67, 68. 69, 81, chant'. journeyman), 1130; Denoil, E.
Orleans, Philip Duke of, '4, 30, 47, Revolutionary Commiltces, 124, 130-

Revolutionary Crowm. behaviour of. 125-6, 236-,; srI tdfD Revolutionary (port.worker), 108; Bernard, Agnb
1, 143, 156, lgo.

OWN'/, definition of, 18 and n. .5; 31, 29-30, 31-311, 35-37. 40, 49. 50, 67, 'Days'. (fish_wife), 183, 1130 n. 5; Billon,
35, 39,56, 81, 86.91, 124, 130, 148, 73-77. ag, 100, '04-5, Iog-IO, 115- Robert, Fran<;ois, 85, 88. Nicolas (mill-worker), 78, 193; Blin,
150, 15[, 165, 166, 1,1, 21[, 2[3, 17, 122, 1116, 149, 1511-5, 173, 1119- Robert, Louise, 85, 212, Fran�oil (market-porter), 7a; But�,
234· 117, 1129-31; composition of, 119-30, Robespierre. Augustin (the Younger), Henri(jeweller), 107; Chagnot,joseph

Pocfl dtflUllitu, il3, 46, 68, 222.

32-33, 39,49, 50, 56-59, 67, 6g n. " 1110. (marble--dealer), 218; Charpentia,

88, 95. 1011, I I I , 113, 128, '30, 134, vet, Louis (wata-<:arrier), 107;
73, 90-92. 98, 100-1, 105--6, I I ' , Robespierrc. Maximilien, I, ,6, 83,85, Marie-Anne (Iaund.ea). 58; Chau_

Chauvin, Louis (master loclumith),

Palail Royal, 2, 13, [4, 15, 47, ,.s, 50, 117, 122-5, 126. 157--6, 175-6, 1,8-
51, 63, 65, 69-72, go, lofS, 164, 169 go; motivcs of, ofG-44, 49, 54, 78, 136; and 9-10 Thermidar, 137-41,

229 and n. I.
and n. 3, 173. 194. 197. 200, 215, 108-g, 1 14, 156-7, 191-209. 141 n. I ; 142, 145, ISO, 160, 161, 108; Che&on. ttienne (cobbler),

wright), 153; Dtnot (cook), 56 n. I,

Revolutionary 'Oays'-&rriJrtl, II, 114, 167. '78 n. I, 183, 201, 1106, 154; DcIonne, Guillaume (wheel­
Pllrltmml. 20. 23, 27. 29 fr 32. 33. 196.
.• 48-49: 51. 44. 69, 180, 192, 1103, 22 I ; 2(17. �1I5 n. 2, 2118.
202,2'l5· &istilk. I, II, 3, 26, 117, 53-59. 180, RocdCl'a', Pierre-Louis, 104, 196 n. 2. 57 n. 3; Dumont, Pierre (gauze­

80--61. a,., 86, 87, 88--94, '47, 182.

Pl.I"OChel, ablX. 90-91. '91. 2(11, 2011-3, II [6; CluJmp d, Milts, Roland de la Platiere, 119. worker), 107; Dumont (docka),

I!p, 197, 204. 2oS. 224; Grrminfll, maker), sS; tvrard, Constance
Paroy, Marquis dc, ;ti. Roland. Madame. 88, 1130; Dusson, Charles (edge-tool­
Payan, Claude-Fran<;oi.. 135. Rornme, Gilbert, 155 n, I,

(17,92) , g6-g8, 183. 1105--6; Grow;!

P�lion de Villeneuve, JerOme, 98, 99, 147, 149-50. '57. 199; G'rKn] rillls Konsin, General, 1154. (cook), 86-87, 19o, '97. 11 1 11, 230;

,ioll ('793), "4-,8, 171, 183, 191-2,

100, lOll, 103. 104, 109. Rouignol, jean, General. 178 n. I. Farcy, Edm� (journeyman gold­
Piehegru, General, 150. Roufr, Marcel, 6, 111, smith), 77 n. I ; Gervai., Eugo!ne

122-5, 137, 200, 1108; lUlU 17,92, g.!I--

Police, 6-7, 8, 21, 25-26, 35-38, 41, 61- 1106, 230; MfI:rJUIU 1793. 113 n. I , Rouueau. jean.jacques, 1111, 11115 n. 11. (cook), 65 and n. 5; Gilbert, J.

101. 1119-'20; Oclo/H, 17/Jg, I, 2, 3.

62,86-87, go, g2. 94, g6-g7, 103. 1 18, Roux, jacques, 1 18, 1 19, 126, 178n. I. (blanket-maker), 371 Gorny, jean­
'42 n. I. 155. Roy, ablX, 41- Marie (brewa'i j'man), sS. Guen-e

Saint·Andrt, jeanbon, '118 n. I . Pierre (journeyman cabinet.maker),

Polignac, Comlcuc de. 30. 61-63, 65--66, 73-77. 151, 161-2, (ranner), 1114-5. 217; Hometle,

87. 9', I'll. 147. 213. 1114 and n. 7.

Popular (Fraternal) Societies, 83. 85. 191-2, 195. 201, 221, 11116, 227;
Prfli,isJ,7. 152"'9, ,6., 165. 170, 174 Saint-F�lix, Mwquinet de, 178 n . I, 107, 217; joly. Charles (wallpaper.

Population of Paris. I I and n. 5, 12, Rmilhm ri/lls. 35-44, 17g-80, 191-2,

1115-16. and n. 6, 183-4, '93, 194, 199; 180, 2119· worker), 139; Lanbrint(joumeyman).

230-1 ; I.e Blanc. J. (journeyman

Saint·Ctnie, 70. 139. Lavuennc, fmurw (sick-nune)

Prices, of bread, Rour, wheat, 21-22. harness-maker), 40; I.e Roy, Louis
,'. 193, 199; $/Iinl-U!.(IIr•• 49-50, 51, Saint-Huruge, Marquis de, 70. 178 n. I,
181, 192, 193. 203; Stpkm"' MIIJ­ 1116, �1I9.

1I�7; StpwnlM, 1793. 8, 1�6-7, 206;

23 and ns. I and 6, 24, 25 n, 2, 31. IOCUI, log-l2, 166, 173, 196. 225. Saint-just, Louis.Antoine, 12a, 137, (j'man goldsmith), 107; Lhtritier.

TMrmidor, I, III, Ilia, 137-41, 160 76 and n. I. 77 n. I ; LobjoiJ,

33, 37, 411, 43, 45, 46, 63, 67-68, 74, 1125 n. 11. j&-6me (journeyman cabinetmaker),

n. I. 161, 204 n. 2, 1107, 1115, 11118;

78,60-8" 94, 118 and n. 4, 125 n. 3, Sainte-Claire Deville. Paul, 8, 121 n. [,

TllilrNS (A�gusf 1],92), " 3. 7, 44,

143-4, 157, 1611, ,63, 176, ,80, 2011, 131, 138. Antoine (mMter glazier), 107; Mary,

n. 5, 1111, 33, 80 and n. I , '00, ,06.

203; of meat, 125, 13', 143-4, 162, SIIIU"uJolfls, 8, 9; definition of, '11 and jean-Baptiste (scrivener), 37; Pepin,

198. 1106. lIoS, 1117, 1119 and n. 4,

176; ofgroeerics, g6, 118. 114, 125; 101, 104--6. 176, .82-3, 191, 195, Jean-NicolM (tallow-porler), 51, 193.
in general, 110 n. 3. 125, 129 and 113, 114. 1110; and the revolution of 218; Pergaud,jOlCph (mililary pen­

94; Pourat. A. (porter), 37; Primery,

n, 2, 131, 146. 157, 168. 170. 176, 224; V."JImiIJin, 7, 9, 158, 160-1, May-June '793. 1112--5, 127--6; and lioner), 71; Pinch� (button·maker),

'30-1 ; and protcsts against the food A.-E. (fancy-ware worka), 88 n. 6,

Prieur (de la COte d'Or), 128 n. I. 208, 2114 and n. 5, 226; Itt tW. Ihe Paris admini.tration of 1793-4,

Revolutionary Press, L'Ami dll pnpk,

Prieur (de la Marne), 1116 n. I. Rio....

6g. 78, 85, 146, lIa ; Lr B4hilhml,

Prisons, Abbaye, log-10, I I I , 215; policy of the Revolutionary Govern­ 92; Rose, Pierre (gunpowda­
Bico!tu, 23, 51 n. 3, 110; Chlleiet, ment, 131-3; and 9-10 Thcrmidor, worka), 139, n.lI; Salabert, Bernard

t4 /tJ Rim/will", 94; us RlwiuliMu t4 3, 146, 156 n. I, 157--6, 159 and n. I ; worka), 41, 42; Trumeau. Marie­
14, 110; Concicrgerie, 61, 98, 110; 83--64. go. 91, I!p, 1123. U J�II'rllJl 137-41; an� GcrminaJ-Prairial, t42- (mill.worker), 75; Sirier, C. (paper.

Pllris. 69. 8" 8g n. 5. Mlrlll.rr nflliDMl

H61c1 de la Force. 30, 4il, 51 n. 3, go,
91, 93, 94, 110, 173, ISg, 195, 197; and Vr:ndbniaire, 160-1, 163-5, 168 Jeanne (market-woman), 37, 39,

212. u Pb. DUCM11II, 1110, 210, 2 1 1 ; role in revolutionary crowds, 178 fr.,
Sal�tritre, 110; Sainte-Pelagic, 110; dIlrflrllrr. 85; L'O'IIIn.r dll peupI., 87, n. I, 170, 176-7, 178 n. I ; and their 230.

'M, 205"'9; degree of litaacy,

Temple, 14. Santerre, Antoine-Joseph, 57. 58, 81,
u PIIbliciJu, il12. 93, 99, 103, 104 n. I, log,. 1 15.
Rio.... over bn:ad, 1111, 113, 24, 43, 73-74.
,a, 118-19, 1�6n.4. 148-g, 152, '!P.
Restif de la Butonne, 211. 21 1-12; &e. 178n. I, 21 7.
Rtvcillon (wallpaper·manufacturer), - Adricn, Michel (labourer), 78, 193; Schmidt, A., 8.
 INDEX INDEX ",
Olivia (pored&in.manufacturer), 40, 34 fr.• 68, I!p, 201, 202, 1120. lI06; cum riots of 1775, 23-25, 28, 41,
41 n. 3. 43, 'l17· RivlHfI ....
il
i ai
n, 9, 117 fr., 196, 111:\. g6. 1 1 7
Advcnel, jean (melal·worker), 78;

179; of 1788, 31-33, "79, 196, �; (T�tcigne), 42; Batail1e (wine-mer.

n. 3, 159; of 1787. lI9-:}o, Audu, Louis-Reine, 105; A. Auga

48, 49, &.I, 44, 69, 101 and n. I, 'l1.5, miJecllancous, ofS. 66, 67, 68. 69, 81, chant'. journeyman), 1130; Denoil, E.
Orleans, Philip Duke of, '4, 30, 47, Revolutionary Commiltces, 124, 130-

Revolutionary Crowm. behaviour of. 125-6, 236-,; srI tdfD Revolutionary (port.worker), 108; Bernard, Agnb
1, 143, 156, lgo.

OWN'/, definition of, 18 and n. .5; 31, 29-30, 31-311, 35-37. 40, 49. 50, 67, 'Days'. (fish_wife), 183, 1130 n. 5; Billon,
35, 39,56, 81, 86.91, 124, 130, 148, 73-77. ag, 100, '04-5, Iog-IO, 115- Robert, Fran<;ois, 85, 88. Nicolas (mill-worker), 78, 193; Blin,
150, 15[, 165, 166, 1,1, 21[, 2[3, 17, 122, 1116, 149, 1511-5, 173, 1119- Robert, Louise, 85, 212, Fran�oil (market-porter), 7a; But�,
234· 117, 1129-31; composition of, 119-30, Robespierre. Augustin (the Younger), Henri(jeweller), 107; Chagnot,joseph

Pocfl dtflUllitu, il3, 46, 68, 222.

32-33, 39,49, 50, 56-59, 67, 6g n. " 1110. (marble--dealer), 218; Charpentia,

88, 95. 1011, I I I , 113, 128, '30, 134, vet, Louis (wata-<:arrier), 107;
73, 90-92. 98, 100-1, 105--6, I I ' , Robespierrc. Maximilien, I, ,6, 83,85, Marie-Anne (Iaund.ea). 58; Chau_

Chauvin, Louis (master loclumith),

Palail Royal, 2, 13, [4, 15, 47, ,.s, 50, 117, 122-5, 126. 157--6, 175-6, 1,8-
51, 63, 65, 69-72, go, lofS, 164, 169 go; motivcs of, ofG-44, 49, 54, 78, 136; and 9-10 Thermidar, 137-41,

229 and n. I.
and n. 3, 173. 194. 197. 200, 215, 108-g, 1 14, 156-7, 191-209. 141 n. I ; 142, 145, ISO, 160, 161, 108; Che&on. ttienne (cobbler),

wright), 153; Dtnot (cook), 56 n. I,

Revolutionary 'Oays'-&rriJrtl, II, 114, 167. '78 n. I, 183, 201, 1106, 154; DcIonne, Guillaume (wheel­
Pllrltmml. 20. 23, 27. 29 fr 32. 33. 196.
.• 48-49: 51. 44. 69, 180, 192, 1103, 22 I ; 2(17. �1I5 n. 2, 2118.
202,2'l5· &istilk. I, II, 3, 26, 117, 53-59. 180, RocdCl'a', Pierre-Louis, 104, 196 n. 2. 57 n. 3; Dumont, Pierre (gauze­

80--61. a,., 86, 87, 88--94, '47, 182.

Pl.I"OChel, ablX. 90-91. '91. 2(11, 2011-3, II [6; CluJmp d, Milts, Roland de la Platiere, 119. worker), 107; Dumont (docka),

I!p, 197, 204. 2oS. 224; Grrminfll, maker), sS; tvrard, Constance
Paroy, Marquis dc, ;ti. Roland. Madame. 88, 1130; Dusson, Charles (edge-tool­
Payan, Claude-Fran<;oi.. 135. Rornme, Gilbert, 155 n, I,

(17,92) , g6-g8, 183. 1105--6; Grow;!

P�lion de Villeneuve, JerOme, 98, 99, 147, 149-50. '57. 199; G'rKn] rillls Konsin, General, 1154. (cook), 86-87, 19o, '97. 11 1 11, 230;

,ioll ('793), "4-,8, 171, 183, 191-2,

100, lOll, 103. 104, 109. Rouignol, jean, General. 178 n. I. Farcy, Edm� (journeyman gold­
Piehegru, General, 150. Roufr, Marcel, 6, 111, smith), 77 n. I ; Gervai., Eugo!ne

122-5, 137, 200, 1108; lUlU 17,92, g.!I--

Police, 6-7, 8, 21, 25-26, 35-38, 41, 61- 1106, 230; MfI:rJUIU 1793. 113 n. I , Rouueau. jean.jacques, 1111, 11115 n. 11. (cook), 65 and n. 5; Gilbert, J.

101. 1119-'20; Oclo/H, 17/Jg, I, 2, 3.

62,86-87, go, g2. 94, g6-g7, 103. 1 18, Roux, jacques, 1 18, 1 19, 126, 178n. I. (blanket-maker), 371 Gorny, jean­
'42 n. I. 155. Roy, ablX, 41- Marie (brewa'i j'man), sS. Guen-e

Saint·Andrt, jeanbon, '118 n. I . Pierre (journeyman cabinet.maker),

Polignac, Comlcuc de. 30. 61-63, 65--66, 73-77. 151, 161-2, (ranner), 1114-5. 217; Hometle,

87. 9', I'll. 147. 213. 1114 and n. 7.

Popular (Fraternal) Societies, 83. 85. 191-2, 195. 201, 221, 11116, 227;
Prfli,isJ,7. 152"'9, ,6., 165. 170, 174 Saint-F�lix, Mwquinet de, 178 n . I, 107, 217; joly. Charles (wallpaper.

Population of Paris. I I and n. 5, 12, Rmilhm ri/lls. 35-44, 17g-80, 191-2,

1115-16. and n. 6, 183-4, '93, 194, 199; 180, 2119· worker), 139; Lanbrint(joumeyman).

230-1 ; I.e Blanc. J. (journeyman

Saint·Ctnie, 70. 139. Lavuennc, fmurw (sick-nune)

Prices, of bread, Rour, wheat, 21-22. harness-maker), 40; I.e Roy, Louis
,'. 193, 199; $/Iinl-U!.(IIr•• 49-50, 51, Saint-Huruge, Marquis de, 70. 178 n. I,
181, 192, 193. 203; Stpkm"' MIIJ­ 1116, �1I9.

1I�7; StpwnlM, 1793. 8, 1�6-7, 206;

23 and ns. I and 6, 24, 25 n, 2, 31. IOCUI, log-l2, 166, 173, 196. 225. Saint-just, Louis.Antoine, 12a, 137, (j'man goldsmith), 107; Lhtritier.

TMrmidor, I, III, Ilia, 137-41, 160 76 and n. I. 77 n. I ; LobjoiJ,

33, 37, 411, 43, 45, 46, 63, 67-68, 74, 1125 n. 11. j&-6me (journeyman cabinetmaker),

n. I. 161, 204 n. 2, 1107, 1115, 11118;

78,60-8" 94, 118 and n. 4, 125 n. 3, Sainte-Claire Deville. Paul, 8, 121 n. [,

TllilrNS (A�gusf 1],92), " 3. 7, 44,

143-4, 157, 1611, ,63, 176, ,80, 2011, 131, 138. Antoine (mMter glazier), 107; Mary,

n. 5, 1111, 33, 80 and n. I , '00, ,06.

203; of meat, 125, 13', 143-4, 162, SIIIU"uJolfls, 8, 9; definition of, '11 and jean-Baptiste (scrivener), 37; Pepin,

198. 1106. lIoS, 1117, 1119 and n. 4,

176; ofgroeerics, g6, 118. 114, 125; 101, 104--6. 176, .82-3, 191, 195, Jean-NicolM (tallow-porler), 51, 193.
in general, 110 n. 3. 125, 129 and 113, 114. 1110; and the revolution of 218; Pergaud,jOlCph (mililary pen­

94; Pourat. A. (porter), 37; Primery,

n, 2, 131, 146. 157, 168. 170. 176, 224; V."JImiIJin, 7, 9, 158, 160-1, May-June '793. 1112--5, 127--6; and lioner), 71; Pinch� (button·maker),

'30-1 ; and protcsts against the food A.-E. (fancy-ware worka), 88 n. 6,

Prieur (de la COte d'Or), 128 n. I. 208, 2114 and n. 5, 226; Itt tW. Ihe Paris admini.tration of 1793-4,

Revolutionary Press, L'Ami dll pnpk,

Prieur (de la Marne), 1116 n. I. Rio....

6g. 78, 85, 146, lIa ; Lr B4hilhml,

Prisons, Abbaye, log-10, I I I , 215; policy of the Revolutionary Govern­ 92; Rose, Pierre (gunpowda­
Bico!tu, 23, 51 n. 3, 110; Chlleiet, ment, 131-3; and 9-10 Thcrmidor, worka), 139, n.lI; Salabert, Bernard

t4 /tJ Rim/will", 94; us RlwiuliMu t4 3, 146, 156 n. I, 157--6, 159 and n. I ; worka), 41, 42; Trumeau. Marie­
14, 110; Concicrgerie, 61, 98, 110; 83--64. go. 91, I!p, 1123. U J�II'rllJl 137-41; an� GcrminaJ-Prairial, t42- (mill.worker), 75; Sirier, C. (paper.

Pllris. 69. 8" 8g n. 5. Mlrlll.rr nflliDMl

H61c1 de la Force. 30, 4il, 51 n. 3, go,
91, 93, 94, 110, 173, ISg, 195, 197; and Vr:ndbniaire, 160-1, 163-5, 168 Jeanne (market-woman), 37, 39,

212. u Pb. DUCM11II, 1110, 210, 2 1 1 ; role in revolutionary crowds, 178 fr.,
Sal�tritre, 110; Sainte-Pelagic, 110; dIlrflrllrr. 85; L'O'IIIn.r dll peupI., 87, n. I, 170, 176-7, 178 n. I ; and their 230.

'M, 205"'9; degree of litaacy,

Temple, 14. Santerre, Antoine-Joseph, 57. 58, 81,
u PIIbliciJu, il12. 93, 99, 103, 104 n. I, log,. 1 15.
Rio.... over bn:ad, 1111, 113, 24, 43, 73-74.
,a, 118-19, 1�6n.4. 148-g, 152, '!P.
Restif de la Butonne, 211. 21 1-12; &e. 178n. I, 21 7.
Rtvcillon (wallpaper·manufacturer), - Adricn, Michel (labourer), 78, 193; Schmidt, A., 8.
,66 INDEX
Appendix 1)-A,tiI, 93,
SecliollJ, Paris Section. <ror allernative
namcs, -=
1 � 1 1 � 13� 1� '» 1 � 1 � 1�
172 and n. t. 175. 186 and n. • ;
.6g n. 3. 186 n. I, 230; BttndHllI',.
AfUMl, 115, 15', '52, 1511. 168 n. 4.
18 n. II, g6, '39. 168 n. 4• •6g n. 3 .
157 n. 3; and Vendtrniaire, ,67. 168
Bill/io/Jt4w. 105, 163. 166 n . 2,
and n. 4. IGg and n. 2, 170. '711, '73.
•86 n. 1 ; &mu N_lk, .8 n. 11, 123
'74andn'4. 175; /kmdy, lIS. l68n. 4.
n. 3. '41, 168 n. 4; Ouunps ilJSlts.
138, .68 n. 4. '7', IU4; Crou. RlIIIlt,
1113. '38, '50-I, 166 n. 2, .68 n. 4.
'tS. 168 n. 4; Fltuboll', }'fllll/marl,.,
'72 n. • ; E"j41l4&lIlfl, I'5, '39n· 3.
1113. '.50, '58, .86 n. J ; FIlIibtJIUI
Fon/llffu de emu/It, 86, 107, " 5.
S"jlli-Dntis, 18 n. 2, .,.s. 152, 158;
,68 n. 4• • Gg n. 3. 212; FOII/fli'U
MMlmoWlC,Y• •66 n. II, ,68 n. 4,
•69 n. II, '10 n. 4. 17�); Gobi/ins, 97,
ga, 99. ,06, 1 10, [23. '38, 139, 15l1,
.Gg n. 5; Crllvillitrs. 18 n. II. 93. 96.
'55; Granl' BIIUli;,t, 1'5, ,68 n. 4,
log. I loS. 117. 118. 1113. 147, l,.a,
149, I-SO. loSl, loSli. loS3 and n. I,
H6uI tU ViiI.. I loS. 138. loSli. loS3. IsS.
loSoS. loS8. 1711 n. I. 173 n. I. 186 n. I ;
n.6. IsS. 168 n. <t, l86n. I ; Htllrj/V.
16g and n. I . Halk au BU, 1110. 1114-
n.4. 16g n. I ; II. &JilI/.wis, 93, 106,
1Ig, 106, 1114, IlIoS n. I, 138, 151, 168
16g; /rw.lUlu, 107, 1113. 1114. 1115.
151. 158. 186 n. 1, 1117: ]rm/m !Us
lMnb/Urls. 18 n. 3. I loS, 117. 141, Its.
Plmtw, 151. loSli. loSoS. 166. 168 n. 4;
loSl. 158. 166, 171 n. 4. 186 n. I ;
I-�. 1 8 n . 3, 93. " 5. 1113 n . 4.
LwctmHlUl. 1,8, loSli. loS3 n. I . l.sa.
IlioSn, I. 1]8. loSl. 153, 158. l86n. I ;
aU /MDWitJ, 18 n. 3, 115. 148. loSl.
168 n. 4. 16g n. II. 1711. 17oS; Mllrtllh
uil. 18 n. II, 110. 1113 and n. 3. 166
158. 168 n, 4. 171. 186 n. I ; MtJW:tm­
n. II, 168 n. 4. 176. 186 n. I ; MOll/­
rlllil, 97, 103. 106. 107, 1113 and
NII/r, DtuIv, 149--SO, loSoS, IsS, 168
n. " 1114- n. 6, 148, loS', 173 n. • ;
n. 4. 16g n. I ; ObuflJ/Jloir,. 106,
O,4IlIj" . 18 n.,. 93, 115, 116, 173 n. I,
1113. 133. 139, 1.7, 1.sS, 168 n. 4;
186 n. I ; PohU R�.JGl, IloS. lofS. 'oS].
INDEX ,6,
Thuriol de la Rorihe, jacques-Alexis, Varlet. jean, "9. 1113 n. I.
173, 174, l7oS; Phsu L.MJ X/V, 93.
163. 166 n. II, 167. 168, 16g. 1711,
Tinto, Baron,
54· Vergniaud. Piern:-V
- ietumien, 1110.
16g and n. I. 171, 1711; PIDu RIIJoU.
70. Vi
nc:enl. Fran(Ois-NioolQ, 126.
106, 115, 1 16, lotS. 168 n. 4; PI.u
Tocquc:ville, Alai. de. 1134 and n. 6, V"",�,,,irts U to /JaJlilu, 64. 73, 74, 11111.
1135·
194-; PaUsmrniirt, 18 n. II, log. 1,5.4,
VmdOmt, 1]8, 11iJ, 166 n. II, 168 n, 4,
n. 1, 311. 39 and n. II, 40. 44. SII, 57-
Tucley. Alexandre. 6. Wage_Eamcn. 'oS, 17, 18, 19-110, 1111
IsS, 168 n. 4, 170 n. 4; PiIM_. 18
Tui\erics, 3, 75. 100, 10]-4, 108, 11111
117. 1114. 1116, 131. 133, 134-7; and
and n. 3. '4-5-7. 149, 1511-4. 165. oS8, 811, &of. 80S. 91, 104 n.II, 106. 10'],
n. II, 93, log, " 5, lofS, l.sa. 168 1711-].11115.
n. 4, 16g n. I, 1711; P�I, 107, Turgol, Anne_Robert, 113, 114, 118. ]0, 9-10 Thennidor, 139-41. 146. loSl,
"4, 1113, 149. loSlI, loS3, 1,5.4. l.sa, 111111. ,.sa, 163, 171; upart ofrevolutinnary
Q}linu Vmlls, 93. 106, 107. 108, IloS,
lfig, 173 n. I ; POSUI, 150, 170 n. 4. crowd., 17g-80. l&of-S, 180S n. I •
Wage!. 110--21, 34, 35, 40, ofII. 64, 68,
Unemployed, unemployment, 17, 19. 1I0I-ll, 1I16-17, 1I3oS·
"7, 1113; 138. 149, loSl , 'oS3. ,.sa; 33, 34-· SO, 51, 511. l4, 711, 811-8.t.
and Vmtibniaire. 167. 16g, 173; 194;
14-1 n. I, 14oS. 163, 1101-11 ; su alSII
811 n. II; and their part in revolu­ 8.t, IlIoS, 1119 and n. II, 134. 136 n. 3.
and n. 4-. 1711; /lDi tU Siliu, 115. Muimum laWi (waga).
QiUUfI Nil/ioN, 93, 1114-, 138. 139, 168 tionary crowds, 187-8, 11113, 11114- and
n. I.
1114 n. 6. I¥I, 14-9. 151. loSlI, loS�h
'34--6, 145-6; Stt alSII Slrika.
Waga Movements. 39. 6of-65, &of-8oS,
158, 168 n. 4-, 16g n. I , 173; RDt<k, Vachot, GeneraJ, 173.
n. 4-, 170 n. 4. 1711 n. I, 186 n. I ; 511, 59; and their part in revolu­
106, "5, 138, Tmljlu, l,.s. IsS, 168 Vagrancy, vagrants, 19 and n. 8, 50, 5', Walpok. Sir Robert, 115, 1137.
&JilI:,·ee""UUliC,93, 1113 n. 4, IlloS n. I.
Wall.jama, 15.
138, 150, ISS, 158, '73 n. 1 ; "ThI61" Vainqwurl d. III BllStille, 7, 56 If., 64-.
tionary crowdJ, 186-7. Wea.rtnouth. R. W., 1136.
Frl1Jlfais, 168 n. 4. 16g n, I, 170, 1711,
Wilk(;l,john, lIoS, 1137 and n. II.
173, 174-, 175, 1114- n. 7: 'Thmnts tU
,81, 188, lgo.
]ulil1l, 93, 139, 155, 166; Tuiuriu,
Var<:nn"", 87-88, 95, 197, 1123. Young, Arthur, 45, 4-6, IgS n. 6, 1110.
100 n. 3. "5, 138, loSlI, 168 n. 4,
Sieya, Emmanud·jO$eph, abbt, 34,
1711, 173 n. ,.
SiUcry. Ma.TquU: de, 37.
4-3, 178 n. l.
Soboul, Alber!, 8. '30-1.
Sombreuil, Ma.Tquis de, 53.
Slata General,
Soubrany. Picm: Amable de, 155 n. I.
117. 118, 119, 30, 31, 33,
110--21, 114, 14. 104 n. II, 143,
#-47. 59·
135-6, ,63; u, alw Wa.get Moye­
Strika,
_u.
I, II. 4, 4-11, 711, 105.
Taine, Hippolyle,
106, 186, IBg. 191-11, 199. 1119, 11110,
11111, 11311, 1139·
Tuatitm �'" 114, 96, 115-17, 1 1 7
Talmon, j. L., IIl1oSn. II.
n . 3 , 118, IlIoS-6. 133. 1"/6, 11116, 1136.
Third Eslate (Tiers tta!). II, 118, 34-.
TCITllY, abbe, 113 and n. I.
35, 39, 43. 45. 4-6, 4-7, 70, So, 196,
IlDO-I,1I10.
Thiroux de Croane, 35, 36, 37, 38. 39,
11011.
Thompson,j. M., 106.
,66 INDEX
Appendix 1)-A,tiI, 93,
SecliollJ, Paris Section. <ror allernative
namcs, -=
1 � 1 1 � 13� 1� '» 1 � 1 � 1�
172 and n. t. 175. 186 and n. • ;
.6g n. 3. 186 n. I, 230; BttndHllI',.
AfUMl, 115, 15', '52, 1511. 168 n. 4.
18 n. II, g6, '39. 168 n. 4• •6g n. 3 .
157 n. 3; and Vendtrniaire, ,67. 168
Bill/io/Jt4w. 105, 163. 166 n . 2,
and n. 4. IGg and n. 2, 170. '711, '73.
•86 n. 1 ; &mu N_lk, .8 n. 11, 123
'74andn'4. 175; /kmdy, lIS. l68n. 4.
n. 3. '41, 168 n. 4; Ouunps ilJSlts.
138, .68 n. 4. '7', IU4; Crou. RlIIIlt,
1113. '38, '50-I, 166 n. 2, .68 n. 4.
'tS. 168 n. 4; Fltuboll', }'fllll/marl,.,
'72 n. • ; E"j41l4&lIlfl, I'5, '39n· 3.
1113. '.50, '58, .86 n. J ; FIlIibtJIUI
Fon/llffu de emu/It, 86, 107, " 5.
S"jlli-Dntis, 18 n. 2, .,.s. 152, 158;
,68 n. 4• • Gg n. 3. 212; FOII/fli'U
MMlmoWlC,Y• •66 n. II, ,68 n. 4,
•69 n. II, '10 n. 4. 17�); Gobi/ins, 97,
ga, 99. ,06, 1 10, [23. '38, 139, 15l1,
.Gg n. 5; Crllvillitrs. 18 n. II. 93. 96.
'55; Granl' BIIUli;,t, 1'5, ,68 n. 4,
log. I loS. 117. 118. 1113. 147, l,.a,
149, I-SO. loSl, loSli. loS3 and n. I,
H6uI tU ViiI.. I loS. 138. loSli. loS3. IsS.
loSoS. loS8. 1711 n. I. 173 n. I. 186 n. I ;
n.6. IsS. 168 n. <t, l86n. I ; Htllrj/V.
16g and n. I . Halk au BU, 1110. 1114-
n.4. 16g n. I ; II. &JilI/.wis, 93, 106,
1Ig, 106, 1114, IlIoS n. I, 138, 151, 168
16g; /rw.lUlu, 107, 1113. 1114. 1115.
151. 158. 186 n. 1, 1117: ]rm/m !Us
lMnb/Urls. 18 n. 3. I loS, 117. 141, Its.
Plmtw, 151. loSli. loSoS. 166. 168 n. 4;
loSl. 158. 166, 171 n. 4. 186 n. I ;
I-�. 1 8 n . 3, 93. " 5. 1113 n . 4.
LwctmHlUl. 1,8, loSli. loS3 n. I . l.sa.
IlioSn, I. 1]8. loSl. 153, 158. l86n. I ;
aU /MDWitJ, 18 n. 3, 115. 148. loSl.
168 n. 4. 16g n. II. 1711. 17oS; Mllrtllh
uil. 18 n. II, 110. 1113 and n. 3. 166
158. 168 n, 4. 171. 186 n. I ; MtJW:tm­
n. II, 168 n. 4. 176. 186 n. I ; MOll/­
rlllil, 97, 103. 106. 107, 1113 and
NII/r, DtuIv, 149--SO, loSoS, IsS, 168
n. " 1114- n. 6, 148, loS', 173 n. • ;
n. 4. 16g n. I ; ObuflJ/Jloir,. 106,
O,4IlIj" . 18 n.,. 93, 115, 116, 173 n. I,
1113. 133. 139, 1.7, 1.sS, 168 n. 4;
186 n. I ; PohU R�.JGl, IloS. lofS. 'oS].
INDEX ,6,
Thuriol de la Rorihe, jacques-Alexis, Varlet. jean, "9. 1113 n. I.
173, 174, l7oS; Phsu L.MJ X/V, 93.
163. 166 n. II, 167. 168, 16g. 1711,
Tinto, Baron,
54· Vergniaud. Piern:-V
- ietumien, 1110.
16g and n. I. 171, 1711; PIDu RIIJoU.
70. Vi
nc:enl. Fran(Ois-NioolQ, 126.
106, 115, 1 16, lotS. 168 n. 4; PI.u
Tocquc:ville, Alai. de. 1134 and n. 6, V"",�,,,irts U to /JaJlilu, 64. 73, 74, 11111.
1135·
194-; PaUsmrniirt, 18 n. II, log. 1,5.4,
VmdOmt, 1]8, 11iJ, 166 n. II, 168 n, 4,
n. 1, 311. 39 and n. II, 40. 44. SII, 57-
Tucley. Alexandre. 6. Wage_Eamcn. 'oS, 17, 18, 19-110, 1111
IsS, 168 n. 4, 170 n. 4; PiIM_. 18
Tui\erics, 3, 75. 100, 10]-4, 108, 11111
117. 1114. 1116, 131. 133, 134-7; and
and n. 3. '4-5-7. 149, 1511-4. 165. oS8, 811, &of. 80S. 91, 104 n.II, 106. 10'],
n. II, 93, log, " 5, lofS, l.sa. 168 1711-].11115.
n. 4, 16g n. I, 1711; P�I, 107, Turgol, Anne_Robert, 113, 114, 118. ]0, 9-10 Thennidor, 139-41. 146. loSl,
"4, 1113, 149. loSlI, loS3, 1,5.4. l.sa, 111111. ,.sa, 163, 171; upart ofrevolutinnary
Q}linu Vmlls, 93. 106, 107. 108, IloS,
lfig, 173 n. I ; POSUI, 150, 170 n. 4. crowd., 17g-80. l&of-S, 180S n. I •
Wage!. 110--21, 34, 35, 40, ofII. 64, 68,
Unemployed, unemployment, 17, 19. 1I0I-ll, 1I16-17, 1I3oS·
"7, 1113; 138. 149, loSl , 'oS3. ,.sa; 33, 34-· SO, 51, 511. l4, 711, 811-8.t.
and Vmtibniaire. 167. 16g, 173; 194;
14-1 n. I, 14oS. 163, 1101-11 ; su alSII
811 n. II; and their part in revolu­ 8.t, IlIoS, 1119 and n. II, 134. 136 n. 3.
and n. 4-. 1711; /lDi tU Siliu, 115. Muimum laWi (waga).
QiUUfI Nil/ioN, 93, 1114-, 138. 139, 168 tionary crowds, 187-8, 11113, 11114- and
n. I.
1114 n. 6. I¥I, 14-9. 151. loSlI, loS�h
'34--6, 145-6; Stt alSII Slrika.
Waga Movements. 39. 6of-65, &of-8oS,
158, 168 n. 4-, 16g n. I , 173; RDt<k, Vachot, GeneraJ, 173.
n. 4-, 170 n. 4. 1711 n. I, 186 n. I ; 511, 59; and their part in revolu­
106, "5, 138, Tmljlu, l,.s. IsS, 168 Vagrancy, vagrants, 19 and n. 8, 50, 5', Walpok. Sir Robert, 115, 1137.
&JilI:,·ee""UUliC,93, 1113 n. 4, IlloS n. I.
Wall.jama, 15.
138, 150, ISS, 158, '73 n. 1 ; "ThI61" Vainqwurl d. III BllStille, 7, 56 If., 64-.
tionary crowdJ, 186-7. Wea.rtnouth. R. W., 1136.
Frl1Jlfais, 168 n. 4. 16g n, I, 170, 1711,
Wilk(;l,john, lIoS, 1137 and n. II.
173, 174-, 175, 1114- n. 7: 'Thmnts tU
,81, 188, lgo.
]ulil1l, 93, 139, 155, 166; Tuiuriu,
Var<:nn"", 87-88, 95, 197, 1123. Young, Arthur, 45, 4-6, IgS n. 6, 1110.
100 n. 3. "5, 138, loSlI, 168 n. 4,
Sieya, Emmanud·jO$eph, abbt, 34,
1711, 173 n. ,.
SiUcry. Ma.TquU: de, 37.
4-3, 178 n. l.
Soboul, Alber!, 8. '30-1.
Sombreuil, Ma.Tquis de, 53.
Slata General,
Soubrany. Picm: Amable de, 155 n. I.
117. 118, 119, 30, 31, 33,
110--21, 114, 14. 104 n. II, 143,
#-47. 59·
135-6, ,63; u, alw Wa.get Moye­
Strika,
_u.
I, II. 4, 4-11, 711, 105.
Taine, Hippolyle,
106, 186, IBg. 191-11, 199. 1119, 11110,
11111, 11311, 1139·
Tuatitm �'" 114, 96, 115-17, 1 1 7
Talmon, j. L., IIl1oSn. II.
n . 3 , 118, IlIoS-6. 133. 1"/6, 11116, 1136.
Third Eslate (Tiers tta!). II, 118, 34-.
TCITllY, abbe, 113 and n. I.
35, 39, 43. 45. 4-6, 4-7, 70, So, 196,
IlDO-I,1I10.
Thiroux de Croane, 35, 36, 37, 38. 39,
11011.
Thompson,j. M., 106.
 PARIS SECTIONS

I TUllZRlES '7 MARcHI; DES INNOCI'.NTS 33 P�CE ROYALE

2 CHAWPS tLmM ,8 LOMDARDS 34 ,usI!.NAL

3 ROIJLE 19 ARClS 35 lu SAIN'T-LOUiS

4- PALAJS ROYAL 20 rAUB. MONTMARTRE 36 NOTRE DAME
5 PLACE VENOllME 21 POISSONNliltE 37 HENRI rv

6 BIBUOTHtQUE 22 BONDY 38 INVALIOES

7 CRANCE BATELltRE 23 TEMPLE 39 FONTAINE DE GRENELLE
8 LOUVRE 24 POPlNCOURT 40 QUATRE NATIONS
9 ORATOIRl!. 25 MONTREUIL 4' Tut.i.TRE PRANQAIS
10 HALLE AU BU� 26 QUINZE VINGTS 42 CROIX ROUGE
I I POSTES 27 CRAVILLIERS 43 LUXEMBOURG
I2 PLACE LOUlS XIV 28 FAUB, SAINT-DENIS 44 TIIERM£! DE JULIEN
1 3 FONTAINE MONnlORENCY 29 BEAUBOURO 45 !AINTI!:·OENI!.VI2vE
1 4 BONNE NOUVELLE go ENI"ANn ROUOES 46 ODS.£R.VATOIRE
I 5 PONCl!.AU 31 ROI DE SICILE 47 JARDIN OES PLANTE!
,6 MAUOONSEIL 32 H6TEL DE VILLE 4B OOBELlN5

�.
, --� 1

IIIIUtl'G'.

..v� __ _ /
�-

aItVOI.UTION".v . ... .1 5 IN neTIONS

 PARIS SECTIONS

I TUllZRlES '7 MARcHI; DES INNOCI'.NTS 33 P�CE ROYALE

2 CHAWPS tLmM ,8 LOMDARDS 34 ,usI!.NAL

3 ROIJLE 19 ARClS 35 lu SAIN'T-LOUiS

4- PALAJS ROYAL 20 rAUB. MONTMARTRE 36 NOTRE DAME
5 PLACE VENOllME 21 POISSONNliltE 37 HENRI rv

6 BIBUOTHtQUE 22 BONDY 38 INVALIOES

7 CRANCE BATELltRE 23 TEMPLE 39 FONTAINE DE GRENELLE
8 LOUVRE 24 POPlNCOURT 40 QUATRE NATIONS
9 ORATOIRl!. 25 MONTREUIL 4' Tut.i.TRE PRANQAIS
10 HALLE AU BU� 26 QUINZE VINGTS 42 CROIX ROUGE
I I POSTES 27 CRAVILLIERS 43 LUXEMBOURG
I2 PLACE LOUlS XIV 28 FAUB, SAINT-DENIS 44 TIIERM£! DE JULIEN
1 3 FONTAINE MONnlORENCY 29 BEAUBOURO 45 !AINTI!:·OENI!.VI2vE
1 4 BONNE NOUVELLE go ENI"ANn ROUOES 46 ODS.£R.VATOIRE
I 5 PONCl!.AU 31 ROI DE SICILE 47 JARDIN OES PLANTE!
,6 MAUOONSEIL 32 H6TEL DE VILLE 4B OOBELlN5

�.
, --� 1

IIIIUtl'G'.

..v� __ _ /
�-

aItVOI.UTION".v . ... .1 5 IN neTIONS