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A-Level AQA History French Revolution Chapter 11 summary
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Chapter 11: The Progress of WarThe progress of war and the levée en masse
- At the same time as the Republic was trying to grapple with the revolt in the Vendée (from March in
1793) and the Federalist Revolt (from early June), France’s military situation continued to deteriorate
- The defeats increased the sense of fear and urgency among the Parisian sans-culottes
- They demanded that the ‘people’ be given the opportunity to ‘rise-up’ against their enemies and
demanded retribution on the military generals who had betrayed people’s trust
- Such pressures led to a decree for a levée en masse, proposed by Bertrand Barère in the name of the CPS,
on 23rd August 1793
- This ordered that ‘all French people are on permanent requisition for the services of the armies’
- All men without immediate dependants were to give immediate military service
- Married men were to ‘forge weapons and transport supplies’
- Women were to ‘make tents and serve in hospitals’
- Children were to ‘shred old linen for lint’
- The old were to be ‘brought to public squares to excite the courage of the warriors, preach hatred of
kings and the unity of the Republic
- The decision to call-up the young men was only tactical
- France was in need of weapons and supplies that of fighters, and Carnot assumed the responsibility for
carrying out this legislation
- They created a commission of technicians and scientists, supported the development of the telegraph to
carry dispatches from the war and even established a company of balloonists to observe the enemy
from the air. Military training stepped up, a new manufacturing process was developed in order to
increase the supply of gunpowder and France’s naval defences were reorganised
- France had over a million men in arms by 1794 and its 14 armies were well-trained and supplied.
Discipline was also tightened, and the représentants-en-mission saw to it that morale was kept up and
troops and generals remained loyal
- Military defeat or failure to follow through became political crimes
- A total of 17 generals were executed in 1793, including General Custine (guillotined in November 1793)
who was accused of passing secrets to the enemy
- Carnot and Saint-Just mad it their job to replace aristocratic generals, or those associated with the
Ancien Régime, with new, younger, roturier (not of noble birth)
- The distinction between regulars and volunteers also disappeared
- Under the overall organisation of Carnot, the armies were again sent on the offensive and the situation
gradually began to improve
- A victory in October 1793 at the Battle of Wattignies was although not decisive, a tremendous boost to
the country psychologically
- The CPS could proclaim in October 1793 that ‘cowardly satellite of tyranny have fled before you’. By the
end of the first year, thanks in part to the lack of coordination among the members of the First Coalition,
but most particularly because of a huge war effort within France, the foreign invaders were forced back
leaving for French military in the ascendant.
The coming of the Terror
- After the expulsion of the leading Girondins, the ‘moderate’ faction in the National Convention
collapsed.
- The way was this open for the Montagnard’s and particularly their spokesman Robespierre to dominate
government.
- However, this was done less through open debate in the Convention than through the private and
therefore secretive activities of the CPS which Robespierre joined in July.
- The CPS was responsible for ‘supervising and facilitating the execution of measures taken by the
provisional Executive Council whose orders in may suspend if they believe them contrary to the
national interest’
- Moreover provided 2/3 of the CPS membership has voted in favour of an order, this had to be carried
out by the provisional Executive Council. This left the executive in a severely weakened position.
- The committee also assumed authority over the CGS; both had responsibility for internal security and
there were some lashed. Furthermore, it supervised the other special committee groups and
représentants-en-mission which has been set up to ensure total commitment to the war effort.
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