The War Feeds Itself
Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. Since the Thermidorians came to power, we’ve seen them beat down an insurrection from the Left, then an insurrection from the Right, and then just last week, another insurrection from the Left. We’ve seen them disband the National Guard in Paris, set up a new police legion, only to disband […]
The Conspiracy of Equals
Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. The National Convention had convened on September 21, 1792, in the midst of a great national crisis. The insurrection of August 10 had violently overthrown a 1,000 year old monarchy. A combined Austrian and Prussian army was practically at the gates of Paris. Fear of that army had just led […]
The Whiff of Grapeshot
Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. Last time the Thermidorian Convention beat the pulp out of the left wing of the French Revolution. The attempted insurrections of 12 Germinal and 1 Prairial effectively ended the sans-culottes as an independent political force. Out in the departments, the White Terror was suppressing all the old Jacobin municipal leaders. […]
Bread and the Constitution of 1793
Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. As the Spring of 1795 approached, the French Revolution headed towards yet another major crisis. The winter had been unimaginably brutal. Food and fuel were both in fatally short supply, the domestic economy was about to collapse, and in Paris, the people were frozen and starving and getting mighty restless. […]