Coordinates: 48°52′00″N 2°19′59″E

French First Republic

In the history of France, the First Republic (French:
Première République), officially the French Republic French Republic
(République française), was founded on 22 September République française
1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic
1792–1804
lasted until the declaration of the First Empire in 1804
under Napoleon, although the form of the government
changed several times. This period was characterized
by the fall of the 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 Flag
and Napoleon's rise to power. (1794–1804) Coat of arms

Motto: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité ou la Mort

("Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death")
Contents Anthem: Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du
Rhin[1]
End of the monarchy in France ("War Song for the Army of the Rhine")
National Convention
0:00 / 0:00
Directory
Consulate
Leading heads of the Republic
See also
References

End of the monarchy in France

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, the Duke of Brunswick, commanding general of
the Austro–Prussian Army, issued his Brunswick
Manifesto, in which he threatened the destruction of The French Republic in 1801
Paris should any harm come to the King Louis XVI of
Capital Paris
France. The foreign threat exacerbated France's
political turmoil amid the French Revolution and Common languages French (official)
deepened the passion and sense of urgency among the Occitan, German, Dutch,
various factions. In the violence of 10 August 1792, Breton, Basque
citizens stormed the Tuileries Palace, killing six
Religion Constitutional Church
hundred of the King's Swiss guards and insisting on
(until 15 July 1801)
the removal of the king.[2] A renewed fear of anti-
Cult of Reason
revolutionary action prompted further violence, and in (October 1793 – March 1794)
the first week of September 1792, mobs of Parisians
broke into the city's prisons, killing over half of the Cult of the Supreme
prisoners. This included nobles, clergymen, and Being
(7 May 1794 – 28 July 1794)
political prisoners, but also numerous common
criminals, such as prostitutes and petty thieves, many Decadary Cult
(4 August 1798 – 9
murdered in their cells—raped, stabbed, and slashed to
November 1799)
death. This became known as the September
Roman Catholicism,
Massacres.[3]
Calvinism, Lutheranism,
and Judaism
National Convention (15 July 1801 – 18 May
1804)

As a result of the spike in public violence and the Government 1792–1795 Authoritarian
political instability of the constitutional monarchy, a directorial revolutionary
republic
party of six members of France's Legislative Assembly
was assigned the task of overseeing elections. The 1795–1799
resulting Convention was founded with the dual Oligarchical directorial
purpose of abolishing the monarchy and drafting a new republic
constitution. The convention's first act was to establish
the French First Republic and officially strip the king 1799–1804 Autocratic
of all political powers. Louis XVI, by then a private republic
citizen bearing his family name of Capet, was President of the
subsequently put on trial for crimes of high treason National
starting in December 1792. On 16 January 1793 he Convention
was convicted, and on 21 January, he was executed by • 1792 Jérôme Pétion de
guillotine.[4] Villeneuve (first)
• 1795 Jean Joseph Victor
Throughout the winter of 1792 and spring of 1793, Génissieu (last)
Paris was plagued by food riots and mass hunger. The President of the
Directory
new Convention did little to remedy the problem until
• 1795–1799 By rotation: 3 months
late spring of 1793, occupied instead with matters of duration
war. Finally, on 6 April 1793, the Convention created First Consul
the Committee of Public Safety, and was given a • 1799–1804 Napoléon Bonaparte
monumental task: "To deal with the radical movements
of the Enragés, food shortages and riots, the revolt in Legislature Parliament
the Vendée and in Brittany, recent defeats of its armies, • Upper house Council of Ancients
(1795–1799)
and the desertion of its commanding general."[5] Most
• Lower house National Convention
notably, the Committee of Public Safety instated a
(1792–1795)
policy of terror, and the guillotine began to fall on
perceived enemies of the republic at an ever-increasing Council of Five Hundred
(1795–1799)
rate, beginning the period known today as the Reign of
Terror.[6] Historical era French Revolutionary
Wars
Despite growing discontent with the National Napoleonic Wars
Convention as a ruling body, in June the Convention • Proclamation of the 21 September 1792
drafted the Constitution of 1793, which was ratified by abolition of the
popular vote in early August. However, the Committee monarchy
of Public Safety was seen as an "emergency" • Reign of Terror 10 March 1793 – 27 July
1794
government, and the rights guaranteed by the 1789
• Thermidorean 27 July 1794
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen Reaction
and the new constitution were suspended under its • Constitution of the 6 September 1795
control. Year III approved
• Coup of 18 4 September 1797
Fructidor
 • Coup of 30 Prairial 18 June 1799
Directory VII
• Coup of 18 9 November 1799
After the arrest and execution of Robespierre on 28 Brumaire
July 1794, the Jacobin club was closed, and the • Constitution of the 24 December 1799
surviving Girondins were reinstated. A year later, the Year VIII
National Convention adopted the Constitution of the • French 27 March 1802
Revolutionary
Year III. They reestablished freedom of worship, began Wars ends
releasing large numbers of prisoners, and most • Napoleonic Wars 18 May 1803
importantly, initiated elections for a new legislative begins
body. On 3 November 1795, the Directory was • Napoleon 18 May 1804
established. Under this system, France was led by a Bonaparte is
bicameral Parliament, consisting of an upper chamber proclaimed
emperor by the
called the Council of Elders (with 250 members) and a Senate
lower chamber called the Council of Five Hundred
(with, accordingly, 500 members), and a collective Currency livre (to 1794), franc,
assignat
Executive of five members called the Directory (from
which the historical period gets its name). Due to Preceded by Succeeded by
internal instability, caused by hyperinflation of the
Kingdom of France First
paper monies called Assignats,[7] and French military French
Kingdom of
disasters in 1798 and 1799, the Directory lasted only Empire
Piedmont-Sardinia
four years, until overthrown in 1799. Swiss Confederacy
Austrian
Consulate Netherlands
Comtat Venaissin
Principality of
The period known as the French Consulate began with Monaco
the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799. Members of the Duchy of Savoy
Directory itself planned the coup, indicating clearly the
failing power of the Directory. Napoleon Bonaparte Today part of Canada
was a co-conspirator in the coup, and became head of France
the government as the First Consul. He would later Germany
proclaim himself Emperor of the French, ending the Netherlands
First French Republic and ushering in the French First Belgium
Empire.[8] Luxembourg
Switzerland
Italy
Leading heads of the Republic Monaco
Malta
The constitution of the republic did not provide for a United States of
formal head of state or a head of government. It could America
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. The following list is based on the actual positions of power within the
executive:

Political factions

Bonapartist
Independent
Girondins
The Mountain
The Plain
Thermidorians
 Name
No. Portrait Term of office Political party Ref.
(birth and death)

21
9 October
Georges Danton September Cordeliers (The Mountain)
1792
(1759–1794) 1792

Jean-Marie Roland de 9 October 23 January

Girondins
la Platière 1792 1793
(1734–1793)

23 January
Étienne Clavière 2 June 1793 Girondins
1793
(1735–1793)

2 June 1793 10 July 1793 Cordeliers (The Mountain)

Georges Danton
(1759–1794)

10 July 1793 27 July 1793

Maximilien 27 July 1793 27 July 1794 Jacobins (The Mountain)

Robespierre
(1758–1794)

6 October
Lazare Carnot 27 July 1794 The Plain
1794
(1753–1823)

Jean-Jacques-Régis 6 October 8 November

The Plain
de Cambacérès 1794 1794
(1753–1824)

8 November 3 March
Lazare Carnot The Plain
1794 1795
(1753–1823)

Jean-Jacques-Régis 3 March 2 November The Plain

 de Cambacérès 1795 1795
(1753–1824)

2 November 4 September
Lazare Carnot Independent
1795 1797
(1753–1823)

4 September 18 June
Paul Barras Thermidorians
1797 1799
(1755–1829)

Emmanuel Joseph 9 November

18 June 1799 Independent
Sieyès 1799
(1748–1836)

9 November
Napoleon Bonaparte 18 May 1804 Bonapartist
1799
(1769–1821)

On 18 May 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the Conservative Senate.

See also
French Republican Calendar
French Revolutionary Wars
French Second Republic
French Third Republic
French Fourth Republic
French Fifth Republic

References
1. Mould, Michael (2011). The Routledge Dictionary of Cultural References in Modern French (htt
ps://books.google.com/books?id=x-FNTmUwfpEC&pg=PA147). New York: Taylor & Francis.
p. 147. ISBN 978-1-136-82573-6. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
2. Censer, Jack R. and Hunt, Lynn. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution.
University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004.
3. Doyle, William. The Oxford History of The French Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1989. pp 191–92.
 4. Doyle, William. The Oxford History of the French Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1989. pp 196.
5. The French Revolution [videorecording] : liberté, egalité, fraternité, a hitler Jr. is born in blood /
produced & directed by Doug Shultz; written by Doug Shultz, Hilary Sio, Thomas Emil. [New
York, N.Y.] : History Channel : Distributed in the U.S. by New Video, 2005.
6. "Robespierre and the Terror | History Today" (http://www.historytoday.com/marisa-linton/robespi
erre-and-terror). www.historytoday.com. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
7. "J.E. Sandrock: "Bank notes of the French Revolution" and First Republic" (http://www.thecurre
ncycollector.com/pdfs/BankNotesoftheFrenchRevolutionPartII.pdf) (PDF).
8. "Paris: Capital of the 19th Century" (http://library.brown.edu/cds/paris/chronology2.html).
library.brown.edu. Retrieved 1 February 2017.

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