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In Continuation from last post:
The situation in France continued to be tense during the
following years. Although Louis XVI had signed the Constitution, he entered
into secret negotiations with the King of Prussia. Rulers of other neighbouring countries too were worried by the developments in France and
made plans to send troops to put down the events that had been taking place there
since the summer of 1789. Before this could happen, the National Assembly voted
in April 1792 to declare war against Prussia and Austria. Thousands of
volunteers thronged from the provinces to join the army. They saw this as a war
of the people against kings and aristocracies all over Europe. 
composed by the poet Roget
de L’Isle. It was sung for the first time by volunteers from Marseilles as
they marched into Paris and so got its name. The Marseillaise is now the national anthem of France.
The revolutionary wars brought losses and economic difficulties
to the people. While the men were away fighting at the front, women were left
to cope with the tasks of earning a living and looking after their families.
Large sections of the population were convinced that the revolution had to be
carried further, as the Constitution of 1791 gave political rights only to the
richer sections of society. Political clubs became an important rallying point
for people who wished to discuss government policies and plan their own forms
of action.
The most successful of these clubs was that of the Jacobins, which got its name from the
former convent (Building
belonging to a community devoted to a religious life)of St Jacob in Paris. Women too, who had
been active throughout this period, formed their own clubs. The members of the
Jacobin club belonged mainly to the less prosperous sections of society. They
included small shopkeepers, artisans such as shoemakers, pastry cooks, watch-makers,
printers, as well as servants and daily-wage workers.
Their leader was Maximilian Robespierre (Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre). A large group
among the Jacobins decided to start wearing long striped trousers similar to
those worn by dock workers. This was to set themselves apart from the
fashionable sections of society, especially nobles, who wore knee breeches.
It was a way of proclaiming the end of
the power wielded by the wearers of knee breeches. These Jacobins came to be
known as the sans-culottes, literally meaning .those without knee breeches.
Sansculottes men wore in addition the red cap that symbolised liberty. Women
however were not allowed to do so.
In the summer of 1792 the Jacobins planned
an insurrection of a large number of Parisians who were angered by the short
supplies and high prices of food. On the morning of August 10 they stormed the Palace
of the Tuileries, massacred the king’s guards and held the king himself as
hostage for several hours. Later the Assembly voted to imprison the royal
family. Elections were held. From now on all men of 21 years and above,
regardless of wealth, got the right to vote.
The newly elected assembly was called
the Convention. On 21 September 1792 it abolished the monarchy and
declared France a republic. As you know, a republic is a form of government
where the people elect the government including the head of the government.
There is no hereditary monarchy.
