French First Republic

In the history of France, the First Republic (French: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (French: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First Empire on 18 May 1804 under Napoléon Bonaparte, although the form of government changed several times.

French Republic République française (French)
1792–1804
National flag from February 1794, in use at sea only Coat of arms of the Republic
Motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité ("Liberty, Equality, Fraternity")
Anthem: "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" ("War Song for the Army of the Rhine")
The French First Republic in 1799   Directly administered   Sister republics and occupied territories
The French Republic in 1801, delineating departments
Capital and largest city	Paris
Common languages	French (official) Occitan, German, Dutch, Breton, Basque
Religion	Constitutional Church (until 15 July 1801) Cult of Reason (October 1793 – March 1794) Cult of the Supreme Being (7 May 1794 – 28 July 1794) Decadary Cult (4 August 1798 – 9 November 1799) Catholicism, Calvinism, Lutheranism, and Judaism (15 July 1801 – 18 May 1804)
Demonym(s)	French
Government	1792–1795: Unitary radical authoritarian revolutionary republic 1795–1799: Unitary directorial oligarchical republic 1799–1804: Unitary Bonapartist autocratic republic under a military dictatorship
Governments
• 1792-1795	National Convention
• 1795-1799	Directory
• 1799-1804	Consulate Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul
Historical era	French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars
• Abolition of the French monarchy	21 September 1792
• Reign of Terror	10 March 1793 – 27 July 1794
• Thermidorean Reaction	27 July 1794
• Constitution of the Year III	6 September 1795
• Coup of 18 Fructidor	4 September 1797
• Coup of 30 Prairial VII	18 June 1799
• Coup of 18 Brumaire	9 November 1799
• Constitution of the Year VIII	24 December 1799
• French Revolutionary Wars end	27 March 1802
• Napoleonic Wars begin	18 May 1803
• Napoleon proclaimed emperor	18 May 1804
Currency	livre (to 1794), franc, assignat
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of France Comtat Venaissin Monaco First French Empire

This period was characterised by the downfall and abolition of the French monarchy, the establishment of the National Convention and the Reign of Terror, the Thermidorian Reaction and the founding of the Directory, and, finally, the creation of the Consulate and Napoleon's rise to power.

End of the monarchy in France

Main article: Proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy

Under the Legislative Assembly, which was in power before the proclamation of the First Republic, France was engaged in war with Prussia and Austria. In July 1792, Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, commanding general of the Austro–Prussian Army, issued his Brunswick Manifesto, threatening the destruction of Paris should any harm come to King Louis XVI of France.

This foreign threat exacerbated France's political turmoil amid the French Revolution and deepened the passion and sense of urgency among the various factions. In the insurrection of 10 August 1792, citizens stormed the Tuileries Palace, killing six hundred of the King's Swiss guards and insisting on the removal of the king.

A renewed fear of counterrevolutionary action prompted further violence, and in the first week of September 1792, mobs of Parisians broke into the city's prisons. They killed over half of the prisoners, including nobles, clergymen, and political prisoners, but also common criminals, such as prostitutes and petty thieves. Many victims were murdered in their cells: raped, stabbed, and/or slashed to death. This became known as the September Massacres.

National Convention (1792–1795)

Main article: National Convention

Initial armorial used by the Republic until 1794

As a result of the spike in public violence and the political instability of the constitutional monarchy, a party of six members of France's Legislative Assembly was assigned the task of overseeing elections. The resulting Convention was founded with the dual purpose of abolishing the monarchy and drafting a new constitution.

The convention's first act was to establish the French First Republic and officially strip the king of all political powers. Louis XVI, by then a private citizen bearing his family name of Capet, was subsequently put on trial for crimes of high treason starting in December 1792. On 16 January 1793 he was convicted, and on 21 January, he was executed.

Throughout the winter of 1792 and spring of 1793, Paris was plagued by food riots and mass hunger. The new Convention did little to remedy the problem until late spring of 1793, occupied instead with matters of war. Finally, on 6 April 1793, the Convention created the Committee of Public Safety, and was given a monumental task: "To deal with the radical movements of the Enragés, food shortages and riots, the revolt in the Vendée and in Brittany, recent defeats of its armies, and the desertion of its commanding general."

Most notably, the Committee of Public Safety instated a policy of terror, and perceived enemies of the republic began to be executed by guillotine at an ever-increasing rate. This began a period which is known today as the Reign of Terror.

Despite growing discontent with the National Convention as a ruling body, in June the Convention drafted the Constitution of 1793, which was ratified by popular vote in early August. However, the Committee of Public Safety was seen as an "emergency" government, and the rights guaranteed by the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the new constitution were suspended under its control.

The constitution of the republic did not provide for a formal head of state or a head of government. It could be discussed whether the head of state would have been the president of the National Assembly under international law. However, this changed every two weeks and was therefore not formative.

Directory (1795–1799)

Main article: French Directory

After the arrest and execution of Robespierre on 28 July 1794, the Jacobin club was closed, and the surviving Girondins were reinstated. A year later, the National Convention adopted the Constitution of the Year III. They reestablished freedom of worship, began releasing large numbers of prisoners, and most importantly, initiated elections for a new legislative body.

On 3 November 1795, the Directory was established. Under this system, France was led by a bicameral Parliament, consisting of an upper chamber called the Council of Elders (with 250 members) and a lower chamber called the Council of Five Hundred (with, accordingly, 500 members), and a collective Executive of five members called the Directory (from which the historical period gets its name). Due to internal instability, caused by hyperinflation of the paper monies ("Assignats"), and French military disasters in 1798 and 1799, the Directory lasted only four years, until overthrown in 1799.

Consulate (1799–1804)

Main article: French Consulate

The French Consulate era began with the coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799. Members of the Directory itself planned the coup, indicating clearly the failing power of the Directory. Napoleon Bonaparte was a co-conspirator in the coup and became head of the government as the First Consul.

On 18 May 1804, Napoleon was proclaimed Emperor of the French by the Sénat conservateur. He would later proclaim himself Emperor of the French, ending the First French Republic and ushering in the French First Empire.

Leading members of the First Republic (and factions)

Georges Danton (Cordeliers/The Mountain)

Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière (Girondins)

Étienne Clavière (Girondins)

Maximilien Robespierre (Jacobins/The Mountain)

Lazare Carnot (The Plain)

Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès (The Plain)

Paul Barras (Thermidorians)

Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès (Independent)

Napoleon Bonaparte (Bonapartist)

See also

• French Republican Calendar

Bibliography

• Doyle, William (1989). The Oxford History of the French Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 191–192. ISBN 978-0199252985.