1August 792 10 gironde, who came to power after the revolution, represented the interests of the industrial and commercial bourgeoisie politically, advocated federalism and liberalism, and tried to expand the market for the French bourgeoisie through war in diplomacy. This policy not only aroused the hostility of Britain, the feudal monarchies in continental Europe and the French royalists, but also aroused the dissatisfaction of the lower classes at home, and it was not suitable for the needs of the specific situation at that time, which determined that it was doomed to failure.
1in the spring of 793, the situation facing France was grim. The first is the military crisis. /kloc-After the declaration of war between Britain and France in February, the first anti-French alliance centered on Britain was gradually formed, including Holland, Russia, Sardinia, Spain, Naples, Prussia, Austria and Portugal. The new France and the whole country were attacked by enemy forces. 10 in March, Wang Dai's rebellion broke out in an all-round way, like a dagger inserted in the back of the Republic of China. On April 5th, General Charles Fran, who was in command in Belgium, crossed the border and defected to the enemy, which made the front situation worse. This is a major blow to Gironde, whose pillar is military victory.
Second, the economic crisis. Currency devaluation, rising prices and lack of food seriously threaten people's lives. 1799 and given the function of paper money, the face value of1early October 1793 is only 50%, and it has been falling. Landlords and farmers are unwilling to exchange grain for devalued paper money, which makes the food supply in the market tight and the food price rises. Foreign wars have also affected the import of foreign cereals. The life of wage earners in big cities is particularly difficult. Their average daily wage income is 20.40 sous, while the price of bread is sometimes as high as 8 sous per pound. Gironde ignored the urgent problems related to the survival of the masses, refused to limit prices and buy grain, and had sharp contradictions with the masses.
The third is the political crisis. At first, gironde, who had controlled the Legislative Assembly and the National Assembly, gradually lost its political advantage in the struggle with jacobins and the Paris Commune. They tried to stop the revolution, attacked the Paris Commune, the main fortress of jacobins, and reduced the status of the capital Paris to the same as that of 83 provinces in China, but failed. Especially in dealing with the king, the plot to save the king's life was shattered by jacobins, and gironde's prestige was seriously damaged. Due to the pressure of the lower classes and jacobins's urging, the National Assembly was forced to take some extraordinary measures: June1793 65438+1October1day,1792 65438+1October 07. On February 24, it was decided to have 300,000 conscripts; 10 March, the revolutionary court was established; On March 2 1 day, all communes in China were ordered to set up supervisory committees (or revolutionary committees) to supervise the suspects; On March 28th, a decree was issued to execute fugitives; On April 6, 65438, the General Defense Committee established in June+10/October 1 was reorganized into the National Salvation Committee headed by Dandong. On April 30th, the functions and powers of the Parliamentary Commissioner to exercise central power were formally confirmed; On May 4th, the Law on the Maximum Price of Grain was promulgated; On May 20th, it was stipulated to distribute 654.38 billion Livermore bonds to the rich. Most of these measures are against gironde's wishes, and their ineffective implementation has aroused strong dissatisfaction among the lower classes. Whether to implement drastic measures to save the country has become the focus of the struggle between the two sides.
At the decisive stage of the struggle, robespierre, the leader of jacobins, attacked first. 1on April 3, 793, he said: "I thought the first measure to save the country was to decide to try all the accomplices who accused Du muriel, especially brissot." On April 5th, the Jacobin Club hosted by Mara demanded that the "petitioners" be punished, that is, Ji Runhall elements who tried to save the king's life by resorting to a referendum when trying the king. Soon, the Paris Commune also made the same accusation against gironde. Gironde took countermeasures: on April 13, Mara was charged (acquitted by the Revolutionary Court on April 24); May 18 proposed to dissolve the Paris Commune and set up a "Twelve-member Committee" to investigate its activities; On May 24, he ordered the arrest of commune leader Ebbell and others (released on the 27th); On May 25th, Isnar, the leader of Guillen's special mission, threatened to speak in the National Assembly, saying that in case of riots in the commune, Paris might be destroyed. This is a decisive battle signal to jacobins, which is called "New Brunswick Declaration".
Facing the challenge of gironde, jacobins and the Paris Commune finally decided to resort to force. On May 26, robespierre called on the people to hold an uprising in the Jacobin Club. He said, "When the people are oppressed, when the people have nothing but themselves, whoever does not call on the people to get up is a coward." On May 29th, representatives from 33 districts in Paris set up a secret uprising committee in the Bishop's Palace. On May 3 1 day, the uprising people surrounded the National Association in the form of June 1792, forcing it to dissolve the "Twelve-member Committee". On 2 June, the uprising once again forced the National Assembly to pass a resolution to house arrest 29 members of Gironde Province. The result of the two uprisings was the collapse of gironde's rule and the beginning of jacobins's rule.
Jacobins is different from gironde. In order to cope with the critical situation of internal troubles and foreign invasion, they "made concessions and compromises at all costs to realize and maintain the third-level revolutionary reunification". Robespierre is clearly aware of this. At that time, he wrote an epigram in his private notes: "The people should unite with the National Association; The Association of Nations should use the people. " Jacobins promulgated the 1793 Constitution and three land decrees in the early days of its administration, which were two democratic measures to form an alliance with the people.
On May 30th, Sescher's Fifth Group under the National Salvation Council was established to draft a new constitution. On June 9, the draft was submitted, which was adopted by the National Salvation Committee on June 9 and submitted by ll to the National Association for adoption on June 24. 1793 constitution is also called "constitution of the first year of * * *" or "constitution of jacobin", including article 35 of the new human rights declaration and article 124 of the constitution. It stipulates that the purpose of society is public welfare, and the government is established to ensure that people enjoy their inherent inalienable rights; Citizens have the right to work, social relief and education; Sovereignty belongs to the people, and the people have the right to resist government oppression; Adult men enjoy universal suffrage; The highest legislative power belongs to the directly elected Legislative Assembly, and the highest executive power belongs to the 24-member Executive Committee elected from the candidates of all provinces, and is responsible to the Legislative Assembly. 1793 Constitution is generally regarded as the most democratic bourgeois constitution and the blueprint for the final establishment of a democratic republic. The Jacobins are eager to formulate and pass this constitution, which is of strategic significance. When reading out the draft constitution on June 10, Sescher pointed out that this is "our answer to all slanders and conspirators who slander us and just want to engage in anarchy." Indeed, this constitution still guarantees the complete ownership of property, the local power of the provinces and various democratic freedoms, so as to avoid the accusation of "Paris's pants-free dictatorship" and make the federalist villages stop talking about the "illegality" of the events of May 3 1 and June 2. In addition to the privileged class, all classes of French society can read gratifying articles from it. A referendum was held in July and August and was passed by an absolute majority.
Jacobins also hopes that farmers can immediately see the actual results of the uprisings on May 3 1 Sunday and June 2, and unite them around them. The National Association has successively promulgated three land laws. On June 3rd, the law stipulated that the fugitive's land should be sold in small plots, and the poor peasants were allowed to pay the land price in installments within 10 years. 10 in June, the law stipulated that the public land of rural communes should be distributed equally according to the population. On July 17, it was announced that all feudal rights and obligations were abolished free of charge and all feudal contracts were destroyed. These decrees are the price paid by jacobins's alliance with the peasant masses. Lenin spoke highly of the far-reaching significance of these decrees, pointing out that "destroying the outdated feudal system by real revolutionary means and making the whole country transition to a more advanced mode of production and free peasant land ownership" is the "material and economic condition" for 1793' s heroic patriotism and military miracle.
In this way, the ruling jacobins formed an alliance with the broad masses of urban and rural civilians through these democratic measures, which expanded the social foundation of the regime and prepared conditions for dictatorship.
1793 In the summer, the situation deteriorated. As some gironde leaders who were under house arrest fled Paris on June 2nd, the Federalist rebellion spread rapidly. The port city in the northwest became the center of the riots, and Brittany and Normandy also responded accordingly. They set up an army with General Wimpfen as the commander-in-chief, ready to March into Paris. Lyon is the center of rebellion in central China. The command of the army fell to the King Party plessy and the Marquis Verio, who made contact with the invading Sardinian army. In the west, Wang Dai's rebellion supported by Britain continued to expand, and Wang Dai's army under the command of Kaiserinao captured Sommer and Wenre in an attempt to capture Nantes. By mid-July, about 60 of the country's 83 provinces were involved in the rebellion.
At the same time, the front has also fallen. Britain entered the war directly, and the Hanover army under the command of Duke York surrounded Dunkirk with the support of the Dutch army. Austrian troops under the command of Prince Coburg surrounded the fortress on the northern border, and Gonder and Valencian fell one after another. Prussian troops led by the Duke of Brunswick occupied Mainz and surrounded Landau. The army of Sardinia advanced on Sava. The Spanish army crossed the Pyrenees and advanced towards Roussillon. The British fleet blocked the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of France, and Corsica announced its secession from France.
The British blockade and domestic rebellion blocked the food supply, and speculators hoarded it, leading to soaring prices. By July, index bonds had fallen below 30% of face value. /kloc-in July of 0/3, jacobins's famous leader Mara was killed by Charlotte gironde? Cordé was assassinated. The atmosphere in Paris is even more tense. The "angry faction" representing the interests of the lower class demands terror, punishes speculators, sends revolutionary troops to the countryside to collect grain, arrests all suspects, cleans up and reorganizes the army, and so on. At 5 o'clock on September 4, the people of Paris took to the streets armed with weapons and put forward "Resist the tyrant! Beat the nobility! Fight hoarders! " Slogan. Chaumette led a delegation to insist on "putting terror on the agenda" to the National Association.
In this way, the critical situation of internal and external troubles and the strong pressure of the lower class pushed the ruling jacobins onto the road of revolutionary dictatorship.
Generally speaking, the decree announcing the revolutionary government on 1793 10/0/0 10 is regarded as the official beginning of the reign of terror. In fact, the reorganization of the National Salvation Committee in July and the suspension of the implementation of Constitution 1793 announced in August showed that revolutionary autocracy had taken shape.
The National Salvation Committee headed by Dandong, established on April 6th, failed to expel the invading enemy, prevent federalist rebellion and solve the economic crisis. 10 re-election was held in July, and Dandong faction was defeated, while San juster, Kudong, San Andrei and other robespierre factions were elected. On July 27th, robespierre joined the National Salvation Committee. After the adjustment in August and September, the personnel have been decided, and the robespierre faction has real power.
After the Constitution was adopted by referendum in July, representatives of about 40,000 communes in China came to Paris on August 10 to attend the Revolution Memorial Day and express their support for the Constitution. On August 1 1, Dandong sent Delacroix to the National Assembly to propose to prepare for the legislative assembly election according to the new constitution. That evening, robespierre resolutely refuted it at the Jacobin Club. On August 12, representatives from all over the country proposed to the National Association to postpone the implementation of the Constitution, and Dandong spoke in favor. On August 23, a general mobilization order was issued, declaring the country into a state of emergency. On August 28th, barrell, on behalf of the National Salvation Council, declared in the National Assembly: "We can't simply enforce the constitutional laws used in peacetime when conspiring to surround us".
The theoretical program of the revolutionary government is clearly stated in Sang just's 1793+00 speech and robespierre's 1793 and 15+0794 speech. Sanjat pointed out that in view of the critical situation, the Constitution should be shelved and the government should be a revolutionary institution until peace is achieved. Robespierre pointed out that constitutionalism can only play a role in peacetime, and it has to be suspended in wartime, otherwise it will lead to the destruction of freedom. The purpose of constitutionalism is to preserve the Republic of China, and the purpose of revolutionary government is to create the Republic of China; This revolution is essentially a civil war, so the revolutionary government must take extraordinary measures to deal with the critical situation. The vitality of the government in peacetime lies in the implementation of benevolent policies, and the vitality of the government in wartime lies in the implementation of benevolent policies and terror; Terror without benevolent governance will bring disaster to the country and people, and benevolent governance without terror is also weak.
The organizational program of the revolutionary government is two decrees adopted by the National Association on the proposal of Sang juster and Beyond Valen, which are 1793, 10, 10 and 12 respectively. They have the nature of temporary constitution and are the legal basis of revolutionary government. These two decrees stipulate that the highest power belongs to the National Assembly, which has both legislative and executive power; The Provisional Executive Council, ministers and generals are all supervised by the National Salvation Council. The Security Committee is responsible for domestic policing; The parliamentary commissioners sent to the military and provinces have extensive powers and are supervised and guided by the National Salvation Committee. A State Councilor appointed by the Central Committee shall be appointed to be responsible for implementing the laws of the Central Committee in various places. These two decrees established a centralized system, with the power of the whole country concentrated in Paris and the power of the administrative organs concentrated in the National Salvation Council.
The revolutionary government consists of National Salvation Committee, Public Security Committee, Revolutionary Court and Local Revolutionary Committee.
The National Salvation Council is the main axis of the revolutionary dictatorship machine. The bills it submits to the National Assembly are usually passed. It is the decision-making organ of Jacob's dictatorship and plays the role of responsible cabinet.
The Security Committee is another important organ of the revolutionary government, which is responsible for domestic police and public safety affairs, and is called the "terrorist department". 1793, 13 In September, the League of Nations decided that the list of members of the Public Security Committee should be jointly nominated by the National Salvation Committee. After reorganization, the number of members remains at 12.
Revolutionary courts are responsible for trying all counter-revolutionary attempts and crimes endangering national security. Its judgment cannot be appealed or overturned. 1793 was reorganized on September 5, and its members were jointly nominated by the National Salvation Committee and the Public Security Committee. After the reorganization, the number of judges increased from 5 to 16, the number of jurors increased from 12 to 60, and prosecutors were subordinate to 5. The court is divided into four groups, which simplifies the trial procedure and speeds up the trial.
The revolutionary government implements the central laws and decrees throughout the country through special commissioners sent to provinces and armies, State Councillors located in counties and local revolutionary committees.
The revolutionary government has implemented a series of severe measures in the military, economic and political fields.
On the military side, a general mobilization order was issued and the army was reorganized. 1793 On August 23rd, the National Assembly passed the National General Mobilization Order drafted by Carnaud and barrell. The decree declared that "from now on until all enemies are expelled from the territory of the Republic of China, all French people will always be in a state of conscription for military service." The French people, regardless of gender, age and age, should contribute to the war; All the materials of the country are used for war; 18 25-year-old unmarried male is the first choice. By the spring of 1794, France had 13 troops, with a total of nearly one million people. 1in the spring of 793, the mixed organization law of volunteers and regular troops was implemented. Two battalions of volunteers and one battalion of regular troops merged into a "half brigade", combining the patriotism of the former with the discipline of the latter. The white uniform of the old army was abolished and replaced by the blue uniform of the volunteers; Remove most noble officers from the army and promote senior generals from junior officers; The new officer took the initiative to overcome the stereotypes of the old army. Create strategies and tactics suitable for the new army; Military commissioners strictly supervise commanders, and any incompetence and negligence are regarded as disloyalty to * * * and the country; Mobilizing a group of scientific and technological personnel has made great efforts for munitions production. These measures prepared the conditions for the victory of the war. Le faivre, the author of the History of the French Revolution, commented: "This is the first time since ancient times that a real national army has stepped onto the battlefield; This is the first time that a nation has successfully equipped and supplied a huge army-this is a new feature of the * * * and two-year army. "
On the economic front, a control policy has been implemented, and laws prohibiting hoarding and monopoly, as well as comprehensive price limits, have been promulgated. 1The Law on the Prohibition of Hoarding and Curiosity passed on July 26th, 793 stipulates that hoarding and hoarding is a major crime. Anyone who stores dozens of listed daily necessities must report to the local government within one week and sell them in small quantities within three days after reporting. Those who fail to declare or declare falsely shall be sentenced to death and have their property confiscated. Judgments made by criminal courts under this law are not subject to appeal. In view of the failure to implement the 1793 Law on the Maximum Price of Grain promulgated on May 4, a comprehensive price limit order was passed on September 29, which stipulated the maximum price of all necessities listed in the July 26 decree. Except the prices of grain, flour, feed, tobacco, salt and soap, the prices of other necessities are set by counties, and the standard is local market price 1790 plus L/3. Otherwise, the buyer and seller will be fined twice the price of the goods sold, and will be included in the suspect list. At the same time, the maximum wage is set at 1790, and the standard is raised by L/2. These decrees can be regarded as an important measure for jacobins to form an alliance with urban civilians. In addition, in order to ensure the supply of military supplies and cities, the government also adopts the system of expropriation, state ownership and rationing to manage the economy. All the resources in the country, farmers' agricultural and sideline products, and finished products of handicrafts are among the expropriation. Foreign trade, postal and military transportation, banking and stock trading are all strictly regulated by the government; The government directly created some workshops, controlled the production of private workshops by providing raw materials and labor, and levied products at the highest price. In Paris and some big cities, some daily necessities have been equipped with maximum prices. In Paris and some big cities, a quota system is implemented for some necessities. In order to ensure the implementation of the above policies, the "Revolutionary Army" with Long Sen as the commander in chief was formally established on1September 9, 793, and was called "14 Army".
Politically implement a policy of terrorism and issue suspicious orders. 1793 The Suspicion Order passed in September stipulates that anyone whose behavior, relationship, speech and works show support for autocratic politics, federalism and hostility to freedom, those who fail to prove their way of life and fulfill their civic obligations according to regulations, officials who have been suspended or dismissed, former nobles and their relatives or agents of fugitives who do not often show their love for revolutionaries, and fugitives who fled during the revolution are regarded as suspects; Local supervisory committees or other committees acting on their behalf shall compile a list of suspects within their jurisdiction and detain them in peacetime. This law is undoubtedly a terrible threat to the real counter-revolutionaries, but because of the ambiguity of the provisions and the deviation in implementation, the suspect is not only a criminal, but also a possible criminal; Not only aristocrats, but also opponents of economic and religious policies. It is estimated that by May, 1794, the total number of criminal suspects arrested nationwide will reach 300,000.
At the same time, the revolutionary court stepped up its work. 1793101successively put Queen Mary? Antoinette, 265,438+0 activists in gironde, including brissot and Vignau, and madame roland were sentenced to death. Then put Philip, Duke of Orleans, on an equal footing, and put some generals of Beye, Barnave and Fifi on the guillotine. The special commissioners sent to various places have great power and go their own way, which makes the central government lose control over them. Kolo Desbois, Fu Xie, ballas, Frelon, Cariel, Luo Weilei, Talian, etc. All of them carried out excessive killings in the areas where they were stationed, mainly in the rebel areas. According to Greer's statistics, only about 1.7 thousand people were directly sentenced to death, and if people who died without trial (excluding those killed in the civil war battlefield) were added, it would reach 35,400 people. Of all the dead who have been identified, 8.5% are aristocrats, 6.5% are priests and 85% are original third-rate. Terror forced the revolutionary government to make sacrifices to save the country.
Jacobin's revolutionary government adopted various war measures, which enabled them to mobilize the manpower and material resources of the whole country to deal with domestic rebellion and foreign armed intervention, and achieved remarkable results. 1In the summer and autumn of 793, the army of the Republic of China successively captured the rebel-occupied port city, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux and other important cities, and then recovered Toulon occupied by the British army, thus pacifying the Federalist rebellion. 10 12 q, control the entire network generation.
At this time, the countries in the anti-French alliance had many contradictions and different commands, so the French army also won at the front. On September 8th, the Northern Route Army of Wushad defeated the British-Dutch coalition forces led by Duke York in Anderscott, and lifted the British siege of Dunkirk. Although the French army did not pursue the 56-point attack, the victory was not complete, but it was the first victory since jacobins came to power. 65438+1October 15 16, Jurdang, who succeeded the commander of the North Road Army, defeated the Austrian army led by Prince Coburg in Wadini and entered Mobige. The victory was not decisive, but it strengthened the confidence of the French army. At the end of ll, Osh's Mo Ze army and Pisgru's Rhine army broke into the defense line of Visanburg; 12 On February 26th, it defeated the Puao Coalition led by the Duke of Brunswick, solved the siege of Landau and recovered Alsace. In the southeast, Kellerman's alpine army drove away Sardinia's army and recovered Sava. In the south, the Spanish army was also expelled from Roussillon and retreated to the southern foothills of the Pyrenees.
By the end of 1793, the French army had begun to grasp the initiative of the war, from defense to attack, from interior-line operations to exterior-line operations, and the battlefield moved beyond national borders. /kloc-in the spring of 0/794, according to Carnaud's strategic deployment, the Northern Route Army, the new commander in chief, was the main force to attack the Austrian army led by Coburg. On June 25th, Ardennes and Moser troops led by Ruerdang occupied Shalerova. On June 26th, the two armies defeated the main force of the Austrian army in the battle of Froels, with 65,438+10,000 people. On July 8, Pisgru and Jurdang jointly attacked Brussels, then divided their forces against the British and Dutch troops and the Austrian army, continued to advance to the Netherlands and Belgium, occupied Antwerp and Liege on July 24, and then took control of the entire left bank of the Rhine. The French army won a decisive victory in the battle of Flores, the first anti-French alliance collapsed, and foreign armed intervention temporarily ended. The revolutionary government's terror policy is successful.