1. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
UNIT 3 AREA OF STUDY 2: CREATING A NEW SOCIETY WEEK 12: The September Massacres and the extension of War

2. Where were we…
With loss to Austria in early stages of war, Legislative Assembly declare ‘La Petrie en Danger’ (July ), homeland in danger. All able bodied men encourage to join war effort
July : Duke of Brunswick Manifesto: ‘Most severe punishment’ of Parisians if Louis and Marie are harmed
Invasion of the Tuileries (10 August 1792) led to imprisonment of King and made 1791 constitution unworkable
17 August 1792: The Legislative Assembly established Committee of Vigilance, which could arrest counter-revolutions
Monarchists and Constitutional Monarchists went into hiding. 300 left in Assembly. Brissotins, now referred to as Girondins, take control

3. Learning Intention: Explain the causes and characteristics of the September Massacres
Understand the role of war and the press in influencing the September Massacres
Identify who was massacred and under whose authority
Explain why the September Massacres occurred
Explain how France managed to repel the Austrians and Prussians

4. The capture of Verdun
2 September 1792:Prussian armies captured the last fortress before Paris, Verdun. This was a great psychological pressure point of Revolution. Parisians, under the inspiration of Danton made military preparations
Danton: Member of Insurrectionary Commune and minister of Assembly. Powerful speaking incites crowd to attack back rather than be fearful

5. The September Massacres (2 – 6 September 1792)
‘Let the blood of the traitors be the first holocaust to liberty, so that as we advance to meet the common enemy, we have got nothing behind us to threaten us’
(Fabre d’Eglantine. Actor, dramatist poet July 28, 1750 – April 5, 1794)
As the French men made ready to depart Paris and attack the Austrian forces, fear of what would then happen in Paris took hold
Popular press spread rumours that prisons were full of conspirators
Marat urged people to murder conspirators in prisons: refractory priests, imprisoned Swiss Guards etc

6. The September Massacres (2 – 6 September 1792)
Would prisoners escape and take over Paris until Austrians arrived?
Vigilante juries condemned 1200 to death (including 240 parish priests)
Execution by beating people to death with metal poles, and other barbaric means

7. The September Massacres (2 – 6 September 1792)
No revolutionary authority tried to stop the massacres
Historians argue that the stress of the impending war drove these actions, and it is more an expression of their fear than ‘brutishness’

8. Historian’s opinions: The September Massacres – Simon Scharma
‘A good case might be made for seeing the September massacres as the event which... exposed a central truth of the French Revolution: its dependence on organised killing to accomplish political ends. For however virtuous the principles of Kingless France were supposed to be, their power to compel allegiance depended, from the very beginning, on the spectacle of death’ (in Fenwick and Anderson p.157)

9. Turning tide of the War 1792 - 1793
20 September 1792: Battle of Valmy. The Prussian Army was devastated by disease and retreated
By 6 November 1792, the Austrian Army were defeated and the French captured most of Belgium
France later declared war on England, Holland and Spain in early 1793!!

10. France at War
Austrian/Prussian
Britain
Spain

11. Learning Outcome: Explain the causes and characteristics of the September Massacres
What role did war and the press play in influencing the September Massacres?
Who was massacred and under whose authority?
Why did the September Massacres occur?
How did France manage to repel the Austrians and Prussians?