University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

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THE REDWOOD had received the news of the States- General. True, there was just as much gaiety, but there was a different air in the salons, where gathered the popular heroes of the times. No longer were the Royalist salons the most popular; they were gone. There remained only the salons of the different factions; they were political in character, and waned or increased in popularity ac- cording as their parties waned or in- creased. The emigrations had deprived Paris of the wittiest and gayest of its frequenters; the new men of the pro- vinces were quite determined to make up for any lack of gaiety. All parties in Paris knew that things had gone too far now for any chance of amelioration. The Feuillants hoped that the Constitution — that collection of everybody ' s impractical ideas — would be maintained, and that the un- practical notions of the Constituent As- sembly would be allowed a fair trial. The Girondins, however, did not wish to overthrow the Constitution, but they wanted to establish a republic of an ideal type upon the basis it afforded. On the other hand, the extreme Jacob- ins, of whom the most typical were Danton and Eobespierre, were too clear-sighted not to see that both of these were unpractical. With a people wild for revolution, a Constitution ut- terly impractical, and with foreign ene- mies threatening from abroad, neither an ideal, but powerless monarchy, nor an ideal republic could by any possibil- ity be maintained. These extreme Ja- cobins knew that no government save that maintained by force and terror, could exist in these troublous times, and they were prepared to shed blood to attain their ends. The elections of 1791, which elected the Legislative Assembly, also changed the Directory of the Seine, the body by which the Commune was supposed to be governed. It remained, however, strongly constitutional, and on Decem- ber 5, 1791, protested against the de- cree of November 29th, forcing priests to take the oath or be deprived of their benefices. The head council, or Coun- cil General, took no notice of this pro- test, and the Directory then humbly announced that they had only protest- ed as individuals, not as a body. But their humility did not save them; they were later denounced to the Assembly by the Sections of Paris, and this pro- test of the Sections cost many of the directors their lives. This serves to illustrate how the power of the King had declined at the close of the year 1791, and how the power of the Sec- tions of Paris, or the Commune, had correspondingly increased, until they were able to dominate the policy of the Assembly. The Girondins, playing upon the peo- ple ' s love of war and adventure, de- cided that war was necessary for the glory of France; and soon, by their eloquence, had roused, not only the people of Paris, but also a large pr©- portion of Prance, to the desire for war. The Jacobins opposed this. Ma-

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THE REDWOOD King, alarmed, retired to Versailles, accompanied by his Swiss Guard and what troops were yet loyal, thus leav- ing the field free for the leaders of the mob. Then followed in quick succession various outbreaks on the dismissal of Neckar, the storming of the Hotel des Invalides to procure arms, and the fall of the Bastile, which marked the open- ing of the Revolution. The defection of nearly all the troops of the King, his Swiss Guard alone excepted, put him in the power of the Assembly. Neckar was recalled, but there was nothing he could do to stem the tide of destruction. The people had had their first taste of power, and no amount of talk could now arrest the torrent. Many suspicions of the fidelity of the King were entertained by the peo- ple. These seemed to crystallize, when the Regiment de Flandre composed mostly of young nobles, drank a toast to the King at Versailles, trampled upon the red cockade of the revolution- ists, and restored the white of the King. This, together with the bread riots of 1789, caused a mob to tramp to Versailles and force the King to re- turn to Paris, and take up his residence in the Tuilleries, practically a prisoner. When the King had removed to Pa- ris, the National Assembly, having fulfilled nearly all that was necessary for it to do, and having made prepara- tions for a new convention, took a sol- emn oath that none of its members would return to the new convention, and dissolved itself. The new convention, the Legislative Assembly of 1791, resulted in a great victory for the Republicans of Paris, the Royalists exercising no influence whatever. The Assembly was thor- oughly democratic. It convened at Paris, October 1, 1791, and was divided into three parties. The Peuillants, or Constitutionalists, then an insignifi- cant party, upheld the constitution and the monarchy. The moderate Republi- cans, called Girondists, because their leading orators were from the Depart- ment of Gironde, comprised the best men in the Assembly, such as Brissot, Roland, Condorcet, Vergniaud, Du- mouriez, and others. This party was opposed to unnecessary bloodshed and in favor of a federal republic like the United States. The violent Republi- cans, or Jacobins, called the Moun- tain because they occupied the high- est seats in the Assembly, were con- trolled by the Jacobin and Corderliers clubs, whose chiefs were Robespierre, Marat, Danton, Camille Desmoulins, St. Just, Couthon, Duke Philip of Orleans, and others. These red Republicans, or blood-thirsty revolutionists, were an- archists, and were the ones upheld by the Paris Commune. The attempted flight of the King which was frustrated at Varennes, oc- curred just before the dissolution of the National Assembly, and resulted in completely stripping him of his power. Henceforth, he was a prisoner. The Paris of 1791 which so enthralled the deputies from the provinces, was quite different from the Paris which

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THE REDWOOD rat said that it was the people who would suffer, and Robespierre claimed that it was unnecessary. It is here that the great enmity between the Jacob- ins and the Girondins began. Prior to this time they had been occupying the same club, but now the Girondins es- tablished their own. The King was in a difficult position. If he refused to sign the war-bill, he would be accused of treachery. If he did sign it, he would be declaring war against the very nations from which he had secretly asked aid. A long report by Dumouriez to the Assembly, in which he showed the ne- cessity for war, Avon them over to the Girondins, and the bill was passed in spite of the Jacobins. The failure of the King to sign the two measures against the Emigres, and against the Priests, led to the expul- sion of the Girondist ministers from the cabinet, on the suggestion of Du- mouriez, who now assumed the power of prime minister, which he had covet- ed ever since he had entered the minis- try. The Girondists were furious at Dumouriez ' supposed treachery, but when he tried to get the King to sign the two decrees and thereby make his position secure, the King refused. This upset all his plans and the only thing for him to do was to resign, which he did. One will naturally inquire what all this has to do with the Commune of Pa- ris. A few words will suffice to make clear the whole situation. The Com- mune of Paris, of which Bailly had been Mayor until he resigned, and his place taken by Petion, was answerable to the Department of the Seine, of which Due de la Rochefoucauld was the head. The dismissal of the mem- bers of the Girondin party from the ministry inflamed the populace, but not in the same degree as the dismissal of Neckar had, at the beginning of the Revolution. Neckar ' s dismissal was the signal for armed insurrections and riots, while Roland ' s and that of the other Girondists, was discussed heated- ly in the sectional clubs, where the leaders declared that nothing but the capture of the Tuilleries would satisfy them. But they were not qui te right. The movement of June 20th did not have such an ending. June 20th, the date of the first insurrection of what is known as the Paris Commune, stands apart from other days of the Revolu- tion, inasmuch as it was one of the very few on which, in a great popular dis- turbance, there was no blood shed. In this disturbance of June 20th none of the important leaders of the different parties had a direct hand. It was simply an attempt by the peo- ple of Paris, the mob, to influence the King to recall his late ministers, their favorites. Petion, the Mayor of the Commune, was in a critical position. The leaders of the movement, Santerre, the brewer, St. Huruge, and Legendre the butcher, wished some color of au- thority for it. Petion had power to