SANS CULOTTE IDEA Essay

IDEA To what extent did the Sans-Culotte influence the national convention throughout the course
of the French Revolution
Intro: major force in shaping revolution 1793-1794

Shopkeepers labourers, poor people
- Rude says they were ‘very difficult to distinguish from the class of the petite-bourgeoisie’
Body paragraph ideas

 End of the king start of republic
 Champ de mars (17 July 1791) which was the ‘first bloody clash within the third estate.' (rude)
 Presented petition that the ‘king committed a ‘monstrous crime’ and that King louis ‘abandoned
his position’
o Pressure led to considerations for republic and ultimately the death of the king.
o 50 killed and twelve injured.
 After formation of NC, the sans were increasingly angry due to the poor living conditions and
revolution not as promised – wanted to attack and remove king due to being counter-rev.
o 20th of June 1792: first invasion of tuileries
o ‘by mid June the tensions and anger of a great many Parisians were palpable… the king
according to ruault, ‘has lost all respect, all believability’
o ‘to your pike, good sans-culotte, sharpen them to exterminate aristocrats.’ – petion
o no aristocrats! No veto! No priests!’ and long live the nation’
 led to second storming. 10th august 1792
o ‘armed to the teeth’ – one observer
o Amidst the war and the sans-culotte Would not go to the battlefront until ‘problems of
the king resolved’
o 20k marched on the palace and slaughtered 900 swiss guards.
o This display of power allowed the assembly to recognise the authority of revolutionary
commune (sans) and Louis monarchy suspended.
 First day of the republic 22nd of September 1792.
o abolition of the monarchy and the creation of the first french republic… the whole
convention roared its approval – pinet.

 Influence power standpoint and direction.

- Creation of the new republic led to division and factions in the NC. (Girondins and montagnards)
and these factions knew had to win public support from sans culotte to be successful.
o Evident by the vote for the king, those who voted for execution seen by sans culotte (‘it
was the resistance by Girondin deputies that so profoundly alienated the people of paris
and undermined the credibility of the government’) – addock
- Economic powers added tension in the NC with the harvest crisis and inflation due to war.
o Herbert’s newspaper called on sans-culotte to ‘attack those in power.’
o Historian George Rude estimates that perhaps 10 per cent of this population was
committed to revolutionary action.
o if there was one issue that separated the two [factions] … it was their attitude towards
the Parisian masses. … The mountains [montagnards] continued to glorify the people…
while Brissot and his colleagues [Girondins]… seemed to exhibit a near physical revulsion
to them’ – tackett. This attitude shaped revolution as led to fall of Girondins, as the
people of paris were the ‘saviours of the revolution’ and were required to stay successful
- Sans motivated by deteriorating economy.
o Petitions sent on 22 + 24th feb 1793 requesting limit on max price.
o On 13 march, Vergniaud (Girondin) began to attack radicals, demanding violence
restrained, and revolution brought to end.
 Should be stopped to give people peace.
 Characterised sans-culotte as ‘idlers, men without work… ignoramuses’ and
condemned the lawlessness of journees.
 To montagnards, was a declaration of war.
 Attacking sans-culotte and direct democracy was attacking base of
power.
 Girondins continued to ignore the demands for price control and when
commune protested, Girondin commissioner isnard replied ‘if these extremists
are allowed to have their way and the principle of national representation
suffers, Paris will be annihilated; and men will soon be searching the banks of the
Seine to see if the city ever existed’
 Was basically declaring war on commune and sans-culotte.
 Sans-culotte called on convention to save republic whilst also
threatening if failure, matters would be taken into own hands.
 On Sunday 2 June, angry crowds of sans - culottes responded to the tocsin (a bell
rung as a warning) invading the convention demanding:
 All Girondin deputies be expelled
 A tax imposed on the rich
 A maximum price on grain
 Thirty Girondin deputies purged
 Girondin ministers Roland, Claviere and Lebrun arrested
 An army of sans - culottes created to deal with all traitors to the
revolution - with a payment of forty sous per day to volunteers
 The Montagnard's were still attempting to negotiate the increasingly high
demands of the sans - culottes, with the tensions increasing the terror would
grow more rigid.
- Allowed complete control of montagnards and Robespierre seizure of control of the national
convention.
 Reign of terror
 The influence of the sans culotte led to the control of the montagnards in the convention,
however for the montagnards to remain in control, they had to continually accept the demands
of the people that ‘never forget that you were sent here by the sans-culottes’ – deputy Chabot
(to other deputies).
o Allowed the sans to effectively control the convention and have what they wanted In
order.
 Enshrined by the jacobin constitution of 1793 september 3.
 ‘when the government violates the rights of the people, insurrection is
the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties for the
people’ – section 35
 Gave power and effectively supported sans culotte power.
o Sans culotte wanted to protect revolution, so called and pushed for radical measures
such as killing anti-revolutionaries.
 William doyle ‘The sans - culottes wanted their enemies silenced at whatever
cost. No compromise seemed possible with men who denounced patriotic
Parisians as anarchists (and) blood drinkers, … and repeatedly invited the
provinces to march on the capital and destroy it.’
 Worrall – “As a response to pressure from the sans-culottes for total solutions to total
problems… and as a reaction to the exigency of war, rebellion and counter revolution… The
machinery of the Terror was fashioned in an atmosphere of patriotic exaltation, suspicion and
violence
Alfred Soboul This historian takes a

(Marxist) different Marxist
approach, saying that
it was “hunger” that
bonded the sans-
culottes to have such a
“common hostility”.
- 2nd September crows of sans-culotte armed with axes and pikes attacked the prisons,
slaughtering the ‘traitors (danton)’ that were held their.
o The September massacres … (arguably exposed) a central truth of the French Revolution:
it 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. -schama
Danton- Executions were necessary to appease the people of Paris
Throughout the French revolution, the notoriously violent political group, the sans-culottes were
vital in influencing the new revolutionary governments. The sans-culottes were a reactionary group
in the revolution and were made up of shopkeeper’s labourers, and a majority of the peasants from
the old ancien regime. These individuals were often characterised by long striped trousers, which is
where the term sans-culotte came from, and donned the bonnet rouge and tricolour cockade.
Individuals apart of such group found a common identity in the economic and socio-political desires
of the revolution, and they sought to aid the food situation as well as maintain sovereignty in the
hands of the masses. Historian Rude says they were ‘very difficult to distinguish from the class of the
petite-bourgeoisie.’ The influence of the sans-culottes extended throughout the formation of the
new revolutionary governments, profoundly impacting the decisions made by leaders in control of
France. Their involvement directly led to the fall of the monarchy and the establishment of the
French Republic, and subsequentially helped determining the power dynamics and direction of the
new regime. Finally, the sans-culottes played a significant role in guiding the reign of terror imposed
by the National Committee of Safety and its prominent figure, Robespierre.
Principally, the Sans-Culottes significantly affected the new revolutionary governments as they
directly influenced the end of the monarchy and start of the republic. The sans-culottes impact in the
end of the monarchy was initially seen with their pressure during the Champ de mars (17/07/1791).
The Champ De Mars occurred after the Kings attempted escape, with crowds of Sans-culottes
presenting petitions that called for the end of the monarchy, due to Louis XVI ‘abandon[ing] his
position’ and consequentially committing a ‘monstrous crime.’ This pressure from the sans-culotte
and protesters led to the massacres on civilians by the national guard on the same day, and as stated
by historian George rude, was the ‘first bloody clash within the third estate.' These massacres helped
enshrine the ideas of the sans-culotte in the legislative assembly, and subsequentially create a
division between two radically different ideals, the liberal bourgeoisie, and the revolutionary
democrats. This division ultimately let to the fall of the King, and the views of the radical republicans
carried out. Sans culotte pressure leading to the fall of the monarchy was further embodied through
the two separate invasions of the Tuileries palace. The first invasion (20/07/1791), helped create
tension amongst the legislative assembly and the monarchy, with the sans-culotte protesting at the
palace for 6 hours, calling for ‘no aristocrats no veto’’ and ‘no priests!’ This protest from the masses
of Paris pressured the current governing body, the legislative assembly to consider removing the
King from the throne, highlighting the power of such San-culotte forces on influencing the
government. This pressure finally capitulated with the second invasion of the palace (10/08/1791),
where 20k ‘armed to the teeth’ sans-culottes attacked and stormed the Tuileries. Historian William
Doyle characterised this day as the ‘long awaited trial of strength between the Legislative assembly’
and the sans-culotte and revolutionary commune forces. Ultimately, the Legislative assembly
crumbled to the power of the masses, realising they had lost power and that a republic, without the
monarchy, was required. Thus, the power of the sans-culotte helped influence the government into
removing the king, and becoming a republic.
Additionally, the sans

 Influence and pressure in political landscape
 Influenced reign of terror
 One of the key ways in which the Sans-Culottes influenced the course of the French Revolution
was through their direct action and mobilization.
The mobilization and political influence of the Sans-Culotte significantly shaped the radicalization of
the French Revolution.
The economic demands and social unrest voiced by the Sans-Culottes played a crucial role in
challenging the existing social hierarchy and promoting revolutionary changes.
The Sans-Culotte movement's direct action and street-level activism influenced the course of the
French Revolution by exerting pressure on the revolutionary government and contributing to the
downfall of the monarchy.

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IDEA To what extent did the Sans-Culotte influence the national convention throughout the course

of the French Revolution

Intro: major force in shaping revolution 1793-1794

Body paragraph ideas

 Influence power standpoint and direction.

Alfred Soboul This historian takes a

Additionally, the sans

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