The Fall of the Girondins

In the Convention, the Girondins and the 'Mountain', Jacobin deputies who sat on the high benches, fought bitterly through late 1792 and early 1793. The Girondins drew support from the provinces and distrusted the power of Paris crowds; the Montagnards, led by figures such as Robespierre, Danton and Marat, relied on alliance with the Paris sections and sans-culottes. The Girondins' attempt to prosecute Marat failed when he was acquitted in April 1793.

Defeats in war, Dumouriez's defection and rising prices added to the crisis. On 31 May and 2 June 1793 armed sans-culottes and National Guards surrounded the Convention and forced the arrest of 29 Girondin deputies. Several provincial cities, including Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and Caen, then rose in so-called 'federalist' revolts against Paris. The purge showed that pressure from armed Parisians could now override elected deputies.