Government
The Law of Suspects
This law, passed on 17 September 1793, authorized the creation of revolutionary tribunals to try those suspected of treason against the Republic and to punish those convicted with death.
Decree against Profiteers
In July 1793, faced with a restive populace angered by continuing shortages of food in Paris, the Convention followed the lead of the sections in blaming the high price of bread on "profiteers" in the countryside, who were taking advantage of their fellow citizens by charging abnormally high pric
The Clergy as a Target: A Political Problem
Camille Desmoulins, an influential populist writer, here attacks the distinction between "active" and "passive" citizenry based on personal wealth, by pointing out that Christ himself would have been relegated to "passive" citizenry.
A Royal History
This 1790 article from the Journal Universel, a leading radical newspaper, recounts the long desperate history of the monarchy that ironically led the revolution.
Marat Attacks the Nobility
In this article, Marat characteristically expresses his concern that, although new governmental institutions had been created, they remained under the control of aristocratic influences, hostile to the Revolution.
Aristocratic Values
This 1789 article from the Révolutions de Paris, a leading radical newspaper, argues that the Revolution has not been achieved, because all of the changes to date could still be reversed.
Fear of Aristocratic Politics
In this article from April 1791, Fréron, a journalist allied to the radical Jean–Paul Marat, focuses on foreign enemies.
Critics of Robespierre
The passage below, excerpted from the newspaper the French Patriot of 6 December 1792, is hostile to Robespierre.
Marat’s Impeachment
A leading voice on behalf of greater popular participation and for social policies that would benefit the poor, the journalist Jean–Paul Marat used his radical newspaper The Friend of the People to criticize moderation.
National Assembly Debate on Clubs (20 September 1791)
The "Champ de Mars Massacre" inaugurated a brief period of political repression directed at the popular movement and dramatized the growing tension between the claims of political activism and the desire of moderates to bring the Revolution to an orderly close.