Girondins

The Girondins dominated the political landscape of the French Revolution, and have continued to dominate studies of the French Revolution up to the modern-day. They played a significant role in the revolutionary government, but their feud with the Montagnards would eventually spell disaster for them.

So, who were the Girondins, and why did they rise and fall so dramatically amidst the turbulence of the French Revolution?

Girondins French Revolution Timeline

Girondins Definition

The Girondins were one of two factions to emerge from the Jacobin club. The other faction was the Montagnards. The Girondins held a more moderate position in the Revolution: they supported democratic reforms, a strong legislative branch at the expense of much weaker executive and judiciary branches. Such a stance can be contrasted with the more radical Montagnards, who supported a strong executive and weaker legislative and judicial branches.

During the reign of terror, the Girondins were purged from the National Convention, imprisoned and executed. After the fall of Robespierre, however, they made their way back into the Convention and became celebrated as martyrs of liberty.

Girondins and Montagnards

The struggle between the Girondins and Montagnards formed a significant part of the French Revolution, lasting between 1791 and 1793.

The Montagnards were supported by the Parisian working class and the Paris Commune. They were well established in the National Convention and gained their name from the fact that they would sit on the highest benches of the Convention. The Montagnards pushed for a stronger/repressive government that would impose price control upon the consumer goods and persecute enemies of the Republic. The leaders of the Montagnards were Maximilien Robespierre and Georges Danton. This particular faction had the most power during the Reign of Terror.

The clash between the Girondins and the Montagnards was not simply a case of differing political ideologies. The Montagnards were Parisian; the Girondins represented the provinces. Whoever had more power would decide where the centre of power for the country would be - also, it would determine how much power the provinces had to govern themselves.

Girondins Beliefs

Girondins Leaders

There were three main Girondin leaders: Brissot, Roland, and Petion

Roland

Jean-Marie Roland de la Platiere was a prominent economist who initially worked as a factory inspect and served as Minister for the Interior under Louis XVI. He married Marie-Jeanne Phlipon, who became better known as Madame Roland, and they worked together to write and publish articles in various newspapers. They firmly aligned themselves with the Revolution - Roland became the leader of the Girondins for a time, and Madame Roland created a salon in which many prominent Girondins would go to discuss politics.

Roland would later flee Paris when the Girondins fell from power, while his wife was arrested. When he learned that his wife had been executed in November, he committed suicide.

Petion and Brissot

Jerome Petion de Villeneuve trained as a lawyer and wrote numerous essays on subjects like health, marriage and law. When he was elected to the assembly of the Third Estate in 1789, he became good friends with Pierre Brissot and proved himself to be radical. His political career grew rapidly, as he became mayor of Paris in 1791 and then the first President of the National Convention in 1792. When the Girondins fell from power, he also committed suicide.

Pierre Brissot was from Chartres, and had a background in law. He wrote several pamphlets on subjects such as penal reform and the philosophy of law, and was a very vocal supporter of the Revolution from its inception in 1789. He became the leader of the Girondins, and supported war with Austria. Brissot was arrested on 2 June 1793, alongside twenty-one other Girondins, and executed on 31 October 1793.

Rise and Fall of Girondins

The Girondins rose to power during the experiment in Constitutional monarchy, in which the National Assembly formed and passed reforms to limit the power of the king. Several key events in this period led to the fortunes of the Girondins changing rapidly from 1792 to 1793.

War against Austria and Prussia

France declared war on Austria on 20 April 1792, after much deliberation within the Legislative Assembly. The Girondins supported the declaration of war as they thought it would infuse the public with patriotism, increase support for the republic, spread Revolutionary ideals and test the loyalty of Louis XVI.

Initially, the war was a success, with significant victories like the Battle of Valmy brought about by a rejuvenated French army, thanks to the Levee en Masse and support of the National Guard. This elevated the position of the Girondins and gave them more support - it seemed as if the Girondins had made the right decision. But could it last?

Execution of Louis XVI

In 1792, it was decided that King Louis XVI would be put on trial for treason. At first, the Girondins were reluctant to put him on trial and tried to avoid that fate, but were unsuccessful. After the vote for the death penalty passed, the Girondins attempted to organise a reprieve, but that too was voted down, albeit narrowly.

Figure 1. Execution of Louis XVI, 1793.

The Girondins' enemies within the Legislative Assembly used the Girondins' reluctance as a weapon against them, labelling them as royalists and counter-revolutionaries. Yet, this was hardly true - while they might not have wanted to send the king to the guillotine, there was no doubt about the Girondins' loyalty to the Republic and the Revolution. They foresaw the problems that would come with executing a king and wanted to find another way to deal with this issue.

Changing fortunes in war 1793

Whatever success had initially come at the beginning of the war, France's fortunes soon changed. On 17 August 1792, the Marquis de Lafayette, a prominent revolutionary and top general, defected to the Austrians. That same summer, the Prussians crossed the border into France, and by September they had captured Verdun, the last major military fortress before Paris. At the Battle of Valmy on 20 September 1792, the French army only just managed to stop the Prussians from taking Paris.

In April 1793, another blow came when General Dumouriez defected - this was particularly bad for the Girondins as they had close times to Dumouriez. Overall, the changing fortunes of France in the war with Austria and Prussia gave the Girondins' enemies plenty of ammunition and cost them the trust of the French people.

Girondins and The Terror

When the fortunes of the Girondins fell, they fell rapidly. It was the end of the Girondins' power that allowed for the beginning of the most infamous period of the French Revolution: the Reign of Terror.

Journee 2 June 1793

Tensions between the Montagnards and the Girondins had been growing for a while, and they finally culminated in the arrest of 22 Girondin deputies on 2 June 1793. On that day, 80,000 National Guardsmen surrounded the National Convention and demanded the expulsion of all Girondin deputies. Eventually, the National Convention was forced to agree to the expulsion of the deputies.

Figure 2. Arrest of the Girondins.

On 13th June 1793, the National Convention voted to imprison the detained deputies and on 28 July, the Convention convicted them of treason. With the Girondins now severely weakened, Robespierre and the Montagnards had little opposition to stop them from implementing the machinery of the Terror.

Federalist Revolts Summer 1793

The Federalist revolts broke out as a response to the arrest of the Girondins. On 5 June, 17 Girondins deputies protested against the arrest of their fellow deputies, as well as the actions of the sans-culottes and the Paris Commune. Following this, several riots broke out in major cities across the country, as a reaction against the Montagnards' policy of a centralised government.

The revolts ultimately failed, but they did have some significance. Several of the Girondin deputies escaped imprisonment - while they did not survive too long, it demonstrated that the Montagnards were losing a degree of control. Added to this, the revolts came at the same time as the Vendée uprising and during a difficult stage of the war with Austria, which stretched the limits of the Montagnards' control and risked the stability of the government.

Girondins Execution October 1793

On the 24th of October 1793, 22 Girondins were tried in front of the Revolutionary Tribunal and sentenced to death. On the 31 October, they were executed by guillotine.

Girondins French Revolution Significance

The Girondins were at the centre of the French Revolution, and played a central role in the creation and progression of the French Republic. After their fall at the beginning of the Reign of Terror, the Girondins eventually returned to politics, though not with as much power as before.

On 5 March 1795, they were formally re-instated as a political group and many Girondins became a part of the Council of 500, the lower Legislative House of the new French Directory. On 3 October 1795, there was a celebration in the Directory of the Girondins as 'martyrs of liberty'.

When the Coup de Brumaire came in 1799 and put Napoleon in power, it was orchestrated by Abbé Sieyès, a prominent politician who was closely linked with the Girondins and suffered during the Reign of Terror.

'Monument au Girondins' in Bordeaux. Wikimedia Commons.

The legacy of the Girondins continued long after the Revolution ended. At the end of the 19th century, a monument was erected in Bordeaux, in the department of the Gironde, to remember those Girondins who had suffered during the Terror.