Insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793
The insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793 (French: Journées du 31 mai et du 2 juin 1793), during the French Revolution, started after the Paris commune demanded that 22 Girondin deputies and members of the Commission of Twelve should be brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal. Jean-Paul Marat led the attack on the representatives in the National Convention, who in January had voted against the execution of the King and since then had paralyzed the convention. It ended after thousands of armed citizens surrounded the convention to force it to deliver the deputies denounced by the Commune. The insurrection resulted in the fall of 29 Girondins and two ministers under pressure of the sans-culottes, Jacobins, and Montagnards.
Due to its impact and importance, the insurrection stands as one of the three great popular insurrections of the French Revolution, following those of 14 July 1789 (the storming of the Bastille) and 10 August 1792.[1] The principal conspirators were the Enragés: Claude-Emmanuel Dobsen and Jean-François Varlet. Jean-Nicolas Pache and Pierre Gaspard Chaumette led the march on the convention.
Background[edit]
During the government of the Legislative Assembly (October 1791–September 1792), the Girondins had dominated French politics.[2]
After the insurrection of 10 August and the start of the newly elected National Convention in September 1792, the Girondin faction (c. 150) was larger than the Montagnards (c. 120), the other main faction of the convention. Most ministries were in the hands of friends or allies of the Girondins,[3] and the state bureaucracy and the provinces remained under their control.
The convention was expected to deliver a new constitution, as the 10 August insurrection had rejected the Constitution of 1791. However, by the spring of 1793, the convention was instead dealing with civil war, imminent invasion, difficulties, and dangers.[4][note 1] The nation's economic situation was also deteriorating rapidly—by the end of the winter, grain circulation had stopped completely, and grain prices had doubled. Against Saint-Just's advice, vast quantities of assignats were still being put in circulation, and by February 1793, they had fallen to 50 percent of their face value. The depreciation provoked inflation and speculation.[6]
Military setbacks against the First Coalition, Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine and General Dumouriez's defeats and the War in the Vendée in March 1793 drove many republicans towards the Montagnards and away from the Girondins. The Girondins were forced to accept the creation of the Revolutionary Tribunal and Committee of Public Safety.[7]
While the inability of the Gironde to fend off all those dangers became evident, the Montagnards, in their determination to "save the Revolution", were gradually adopting the political program proposed by the popular militants.[8] Authority was passing into the hands of the 150 Montagnards delegated to the départements and armed forces. The Gironde saw its influence decline in the interior, and the number of anti-Brissot petitions increased by late March 1793.[9]