National Convention
The National Convention, elected by universal male suffrage and meeting from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795, was the first genuinely democratic legislature in French history and the government of France through its most turbulent years. On its first day it abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the First French Republic. It tried and executed the king, organised the defence of France against the First Coalition, crushed the Vendée uprising, directed the Terror, survived the Thermidorian reaction, and finally handed power to the Directory. The Convention was internally divided between two principal factions: the Montagnards ('the Mountain'), radicals associated with Paris who sat in the upper tiers of the chamber and included Robespierre, Danton, and Marat; and the Girondins, more moderate provincial republicans suspicious of Parisian dominance. The struggle between them — ending in the Girondins' arrest in June 1793 — drove much of the Convention's political violence. A third group, the 'Plain' or 'Swamp,' the uncommitted majority who swayed between the factions, ultimately determined the outcome of both the Terror and Thermidor.
- Year: 1792 CE
- Category: Political
