3.29- The Purge of the Girondins

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode explains how Paris’s economic crisis, inflation, and radical street politics in spring 1793 enabled the Enragés and sans-culottes to force the purge of the Girondins from the National Convention. It traces the escalating confrontation from food shortages and protests to the June 2 insurrection, then shows how this victory intensified the Federalist Revolt in the provinces and pushed the revolution toward emergency rule.

Main Topics: Economic crisis and currency collapse in Paris (Priority: 5/5): Food shortages, soaring prices, and the declining value of the assignat destabilized Paris and fueled popular unrest. The episode links inflation to revolutionary fiscal policy and overprinting of paper money. Rise of the Enragés and radical street politics (Priority: 5/5): A new cohort of agitators—Roux, Varlet, Leclerc, Lacombe, and others—emerged from the Paris sections and pushed a hardline egalitarian agenda centered on price controls, social justice, and purging traitors. Conflict between sans-culottes, Girondins, and the Mountain (Priority: 5/5): The sans-culottes increasingly operated independently, putting them at odds with both moderate Girondins and the more cautious Mountain, especially over economic regulation and political legitimacy. Failed efforts to punish the Girondins in March-April 1793 (Priority: 4/5): The Girondins tried to portray Paris radicals as conspirators and targeted Robespierre, Danton, and Marat. Robespierre and Danton survived; Marat was acquitted and emerged as a symbol of popular legitimacy. May 31–June 2 insurrection and purge of the Girondins (Priority: 5/5): A coordinated armed rising by Paris sections and the National Guard, led by Henrio and supported by the insurrectionary commune, forced the Convention to arrest 29 Girondin deputies and place them under house arrest. Federalist Revolt in the provinces (Priority: 4/5): The purge triggered backlash in provincial cities like Bordeaux, Caen, Rennes, and Toulon, which denounced Paris and called for a decentralized alternative to radical central rule. Toward the Constitution of 1793 and emergency government (Priority: 3/5): The Convention remained preoccupied with crisis management and revolutionary coercion, even as it finally moved toward drafting the Constitution of 1793, which would be ratified but not implemented because of wartime emergency.

Key Arguments: The Revolution’s economic crisis was not just scarcity but monetary collapse, with the assignat’s declining value amplifying food unrest. The Girondins helped create the conditions for their own downfall by opposing Paris, invoking provincial resistance, and treating radical street politics as illegitimate while appearing politically weak. The Enragés represented a distinct and more radical popular politics than either the Girondins or the Mountain, demanding economic equality, state intervention, and purges of suspected enemies. Robespierre and Danton were not initially driving the mob action against the Girondins; both were uneasy about armed crowds dictating to the Convention, though they ultimately benefited from the purge. Marat’s acquittal demonstrated that legitimacy in 1793 increasingly came from street mobilization and public radicalism rather than parliamentary moderation. The purge of the Girondins was a turning point that deepened the split between Paris and the provinces and accelerated the move toward revolutionary emergency rule. The Constitution of 1793 was highly democratic in theory, but the ongoing war and internal revolt made normal constitutional governance impossible.

Data Points: Assignat value by October 1791: 80% of face value - By the time the Legislative Assembly took over, the paper currency had already declined significantly. Assignat value over winter 1791-1792: 60% of face value - The currency continued to lose value as confidence eroded. Assignat value by February 1793: 50% of face value - Paris bakers and grocers were accepting the currency at half its nominal value. Date of Paris deputation demanding maximum prices: February 12, 1793 - Paris sections formally asked the National Convention to impose price ceilings. Date of mob action against grocery stores: February 25, 1793 - Fed-up women stormed grocery stores and sold inventory at what they considered fair prices. Date of creation of Revolutionary Tribunal and Representatives on Mission: March 9, 1793 - These emergency institutions were established on the eve of the first major anti-Girondin street action. Date of demand to expel named Girondins: March 10, 1793 - Several thousand Parisians demanded expulsion of 22 Girondin deputies. Date of Danton’s defense and successful vote: April 1, 1793 - The Convention rejected efforts to impeach Danton and instead appointed him to the Committee of Public Safety. Date of Marat acquittal: April 24, 1793 - Marat was publicly acquitted after a highly visible trial and carried off in triumph by the sans-culottes. Date of First Maximum on grains: May 4, 1793 - The Convention enacted grain price controls under pressure from the Mountain and sans-culotte mobilization. Date of creation of Commission of Twelve: May 10, 1793 - A Girondin-packed committee was formed to investigate threats from the radical Paris sections. Date of arrests ordered by Commission of Twelve: May 24, 1793 - Jean-Francois Varlet and Jacques-René Hébert were arrested, sparking protests. Date of Robespierre’s Jacobin speech endorsing uprising: May 26, 1793 - Robespierre backed the call for Paris to rise against the Girondins. Date of first insurrectionary attack on the Convention: May 31, 1793 - The uprising briefly pressured the Convention but failed to secure full purge that day. Date of decisive second insurrection: June 2, 1793 - An estimated 80,000 armed demonstrators surrounded the Convention and forced the arrest of Girondin deputies. Number of Girondin deputies indicted: 29 - The Convention voted to indict and place under house arrest 29 Girondin deputies, plus some ministers. Number of signatories to protest against the purge: 75 delegates - These delegates signed a formal protest, which later became incriminating evidence during the Terror. Estimated size of June 2 crowd: about 80,000 - The second uprising was far larger and more heavily armed than the May 31 attempt. Number of Paris sections represented by the new insurrectionary commune: 33 of 48 - The new commune claimed broad sectional support inside Paris.

Pivotal Quotes: "The government should be empowered to take from those who had and give to those who had not to guarantee that right of existence." — Narrator: Summarizing the Enragés’ economic and moral doctrine of radical equalitarianism. "The result of the May 31st uprising was unsatisfactory to the Enrage leaders." — Narrator: Introducing the renewed and more successful June 2 insurrection that completed the Girondin purge. "the convention voted to indict 29 Girondin deputies" — Narrator: The decisive parliamentary outcome after the armed demonstration on June 2.

Implications: The purge of the Girondins marked a decisive shift from revolutionary pluralism to coercive radical rule. It empowered Parisian street politics, widened the Paris-province divide, and set the stage for the Committee of Public Safety and the Terror.