Massacre at the Champ de Mars: Popular Dissent and Political Culture in the French Revolution (Royal Historical Society Studies in History New Series) (Volume 17)

On 17 July 1791 the revolutionary National Guard of Paris opened fire on a crowd of protesters: citizens believing themselves patriots trying to save France from the reinstatement of a traitor king. To the National Guard and their political superiors the protesters were the dregs of the people, brigands paid by counter-revolutionary aristocrats. Politicians and journalists declared the National Guard the patriots, and their action a heroic defence of the fledgling Constitution. Under the Jacobin Republic of 1793, however, this 'massacre' was regarded as a high crime, a moment of truth in which a corrupt elite exposed its treasonable designs. This detailed study of the events of July 1791 and their antecedents seeks to understand how Parisians of different classes understood 'patriotism', and how it was that their different answers drove them to confront each other on the Champ de Mars.DAVID ANDRESS is senior lecturer in Modern European History, University of Portsmouth. Who was a member of the revolutionary people? And who were its enemies? How could one tell them apart? The contradictory answers to such questions would lead 'patriotic' citizen-soldiers to shoot down patriot protesters in Paris on 17 July 1791. This book explores why and how such a conflict arose, in a city aflame with political opinions, and beset by aristocratic 'dangerous' unemployed. Political unanimity was one of the great goals of the French Revolution; this study illustrates why it was so hard to achieve. Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 Abbreviations 11 Introduction 12 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Contents 28 Acknowledgements 30 Abbreviations 31 Introduction 32 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Contents 48 Acknowledgements 50 Abbreviations 51 Introduction 52 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Contents 68 Acknowledgements 70 Abbreviations 71 Introduction 72 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Contents 88 Acknowledgements 90 Abbreviations 91 Introduction 92 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Contents 108 Acknowledgements 110 Abbreviations 111 Introduction 112 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Contents 128 Acknowledgements 130 Abbreviations 131 Introduction 132 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Contents 148 Acknowledgements 150 Abbreviations 151 Introduction 152 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Contents 168 Acknowledgements 170 Abbreviations 171 Introduction 172 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Contents 188 Acknowledgements 190 Abbreviations 191 Introduction 192 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Contents 208 Acknowledgements 210 Abbreviations 211 Introduction 212 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Contents 228 Acknowledgements 230 Abbreviations 231 Introduction 232 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Contents 248 Acknowledgements 250 Abbreviations -1 Introduction -1 1 The People of Paris and their Historians -1 2 Aristocrats, Priests and Brigands: January–February 1791 -1 3 Guards, Spies and Commissaires: Policing the Capital -1 4 Plots, Pamphlets and Crowds: February–April 1791 -1 5 The Saint-Cloud Affair and the Wages Movement -1 6 Before and after Varennes: The Rise in Popular Hostility -1 7 The Constitution in the Balance: Events after the King’s Return -1 8 17 July 1791: Massacre and Consternation -1 9 After the Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives and Dissent -1 Conclusion -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 On 17 July 1791 the revolutionary National Guard of Paris opened fire on a crowd of protesters, citizens who saw themselves as patriots, trying to save France from a traitor king. To the National Guard and their political superiors, however, the protesters were the dregs of the people, brigands paid by counter-revolutionary aristocrats. Politicians and journalists rallied to an account of this event in which the National Guard were the patriots, and their action a heroic defence of the fledgling Constitution.Under the Jacobin Republic of 1793, however, this 'massacre' would be regarded as a high crime, a moment of clarity in which the treasonous designs of a corrupt elite were exposed. But political clarity is the last attribute that emerges from a detailed study of the events of July 1791 and their antecedents.Paris in early 1791 was feverish with political involvement. Ordinary people expressed violent opinions on the street corners, journalists published wild rumours one day and denounced scaremongering the next, political clubs grew like mushrooms and advocated the most radical solutions to political deadlock and crisis. In such an atmosphere, what did it mean to be 'one of the people'? Where were boundaries to be drawn around the national community? How could one identify threatening outsiders? What should be done about them?This book explores how Parisians of all classes sought to answer such questions, and why it was that the answers they found drove 'patriots' to confront each other on the Champ de Mars. Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 11 Introduction......Page 12 Index......Page 0 Contents......Page 28 Acknowledgements......Page 30 Abbreviations......Page 31 Introduction......Page 32 Contents......Page 48 Acknowledgements......Page 50 Abbreviations......Page 51 Introduction......Page 52 Contents......Page 68 Acknowledgements......Page 70 Abbreviations......Page 71 Introduction......Page 72 Contents......Page 88 Acknowledgements......Page 90 Abbreviations......Page 91 Introduction......Page 92 Contents......Page 108 Acknowledgements......Page 110 Abbreviations......Page 111 Introduction......Page 112 Contents......Page 128 Acknowledgements......Page 130 Abbreviations......Page 131 Introduction......Page 132 Contents......Page 148 Acknowledgements......Page 150 Abbreviations......Page 151 Introduction......Page 152 Contents......Page 168 Acknowledgements......Page 170 Abbreviations......Page 171 Introduction......Page 172 Contents......Page 188 Acknowledgements......Page 190 Abbreviations......Page 191 Introduction......Page 192 Contents......Page 208 Acknowledgements......Page 210 Abbreviations......Page 211 Introduction......Page 212 Contents......Page 228 Acknowledgements......Page 230 Abbreviations......Page 231 Introduction......Page 232 Contents......Page 248 Acknowledgements......Page 250 Paris In Early 1791 Was Feverish With Political Involvement. Ordinary People Expressed Violent Opinions On The Street Corners, Journalists Published Wild Rumours One Day And Denounced Scaremongering The Next, Political Clubs Grew Like Mushrooms And Advocated The Most Radical Solutions To Political Deadlock And Crisis. In Such An Atmosphere, What Did It Mean To Be 'one Of The People'? Where Were Boundaries To Be Drawn Around The National Community? How Could One Identify Threatening Outsiders? What Should Be Done About Them? This Book Explores How Parisians Of All Classes Sought To Answer Such Questions, And Why It Was That The Answers They Found Drove 'patriots' To Confront Each Other On The Champ De Mars.--jacket. The People Of Paris And Their Historians -- Aristocrats, Priests And Brigands: January-february 1791 -- Guards, Spies, And Commissaires: Policing The Capital -- Plots, Pamphlets And Crowds: February-april 1791 -- The Saint-cloud Affair And The Wages Movement -- Before And After Varennes: The Rise In Popular Hostility -- The Constitution In The Balance: Events After The King's Return -- 17 July 1791: Massacre And Consternation -- After The Bloody Field: Commentaries, Narratives And Dissent. David Andress. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 225-234) And Index. The massacre exposed the widely differing ways in which post-Revolutionary Parisians construed the word'patriotism', and why the great Revolutionary goal of political unanimity was so elusive.On 17 July 1791 the revolutionary National Guard of Paris opened fire on a crowd of protesters: citizens believing themselves patriots trying to save France from the reinstatement of a traitor king. To the National Guard and theirpolitical superiors the protesters were the dregs of the people, brigands paid by counter-revolutionary aristocrats. Politicians and journalists declared the National Guard the patriots, and their action a heroic defence of the fledgling Constitution. Under the Jacobin Republic of 1793, however, this'massacre'was regarded as a high crime, a moment of truth in which a corrupt elite exposed its treasonable designs. This detailed study of the events of July 1791 and their antecedents seeks to understand how Parisians of different classes understood'patriotism', and how it was that their different answers drove them to confront each other on the Champ de Mars. David Andress is Professor of Modern History at the School of Social, Historical and Literary Studies, University of Portsmouth. On 17 July 1791 the revolutionary National Guard of Paris opened fire on a crowd of protesters: citizens believing themselves patriots trying to save France from the reinstatement of a traitor king. To the National Guard and their political superiors the protesters were the dregs of the people, brigands paid by counter-revolutionary aristocrats. Politicians and journalists declared the National Guard the patriots, and their action a heroic defence of the fledgling Constitution. Under the Jacobin Republic of 1793, however, this "massacre" was regarded as a high crime, a moment of truth in which a corrupt elite exposed its treasonable designs. This detailed study of the events of July 1791 and their antecedents seeks to understand how Parisians of different classes understood "patriotism", and how it was that their different answers drove them to confront each other on the Champ de Mars. David Andress is Professor of Modern History at the School of Social, Historical and Literary Studies, University of Portsmouth.