Monday, December 10, 2012

MONDAY, 10th DECEMBER, 2012

POLITICAL GROUPS DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND REVIEW FOR THE EXAM

Hello everybody!

Today, Paqui has put some delays to some classmates, including me, because we have been late. At first, Paqui has been so angry with us because we have talked a lot and we haven't prepared the notes and the book when we have arrived to the class.

Then, Paqui has explained a scheme that she has prepared on the blackboard during the break time. It has been about the political groups that existed in the French Revolution.

She has told us that in this event people interested in politics met at the Jacobin Club, and were mostly monarchists, but reformists. This was like this until the king Louis XVI's attempt to flee to Austria. Due to that, there was a schism in the club, it was divided into Republicans (people who wanted the deposition of the King) and the Feuillants. The Feuillants wanted a Constitutional Monarchy as reflected in 1791 Constitution. Then, the Republicans divided into two groups: the Jacobins and the Girondists. The Jacobins were led by Robespierre  and other important Jacobins were Couthon and Saint-Just. Some important Girondists were Brissot, Vergniaud and Ducos, and they controlled the National Convention between September 1792 and June 1793. Finally, the Jacobins and the Cordeliers joined together in a new political group known as the Montagnards who controlled the National Convention between June 1793 and July 1794.


Robespierre and the National Convention

Paqui has explained that the groups placed on the left of the scheme were groups more revolutionary, progressive, secular and reformist who wanted to eliminate the Ancien Régime (left), like the Jacobins and the Cordeliers. The groups placed on the right were conservative and they wanted to preserve some things of the Ancien Régime such as the Monarchy (right), like the Feuillants. The Girondists were moderate and represented the bourgeoisie.


Political spectrum

She has also explained that the groups from center to right (Girondists and Feuillants) ended governing and the revolutionary groups were accused of being bloody and the bad ones, so most of them were guillotined. She has said that history is always written by the winners.

Now, I'm going to write about the Montagnards, the people who were accused of being bad people. I have found in Internet that after the defeat of the Girondists in the National Convention, the Jacobins joined the Committee of Public Safety. Consequently, it became the executive power in 1793. Then Robespierre eliminated their enemies and he imposed a dictatorship, he recruited a very big army and to repress domestic opposition, he instituted the Reign of Terror, in which the enemies of the revolution were executed by guillotine. Then, the National Convention ordered to kill the members of the Terror, including Robespierre in 1794; this is called the Thermidorian Reaction and it ended with the most radical phase of the revolution.

Here I have put the source of the last paragraph: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_Public_Safety

This is the official version, the one that has been repeated since the Thermidorian reaction, the winners' version. But this is not completely true:

-The Committee of Public Safety was appointed by the National Convention. They assumed the executive power in extraordinary circumstances, but their decisions were approved by the National Convention.

-Robespierre was only one among other members of the Committee and he couldn't decide anything on his own. He was the most popular member of the Committee and the Jacobin Convention, but he didn't impose a dictatorship: there was no press censorship and the suspected counter-revolutionaries were sent to the Revolutionary Tribunal, who decided on sentences, not Robespierre. In fact, Robespierre saved a group of Girondists who had been arrested and were sentenced to death.

-The Reign of Terror (executions of counter-revolutionary people) started before the Jacobins controlled the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety.

Most of the history books that talk about the French Revolution have depicted the Montagnards and the Jacobins as monsters and responsible for all the excesses one could imagine. but this wasn't really true. This was the most convenient story to stop popular reforms and demand the return of order.


Execution of Roberspierre

Carmen has asked Paqui that if we can go to the class at eight o'clock on Wednesday, and Paqui has answered yes. 
After that, we have reviewed for the exam which is on Wednesday. Paqui has showed us some  exercises in the computer made by herself. They have consisted in writing a, b, c or d, filling the gaps.etc. The exercises were about kings, characteristics of some estates .etc. We have answered the questions together and we have made a lot of noise, so Paqui has tried to avoid it saying that we had to answer the questions one by one. Then, the bell has rung.

We have also included some words in our glossary:
  • Treason: traición.
  • Traitor: traidor.
  • Schism: cisma.
  • To go further: ir más lejos.
  • Bloody: sangriento.


The exam is next class! Study! 

See you guys!

P.D. If you want to know more about the most important politicians of this period, I have included some links to wikipedia over their names. I have also included the links in the different political ideologies, political groups, institutions. etc.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello, Salva:
I like your journal because its very complete and long.
Can you put the photo of the political spectrum bigger?
I think there isn't wrong words.
See you in the exam.

Paqui Pérez Fons said...

Hello,

Just two comments for now:

- Salva, if you read your e-mail, you will find the instructions to include the interactive activities on your post. It´s very easy. It will only take you 1 minute.

- You should include the information of the chart in English. Here you have some links that can be useful for you:

http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~garfinkm/Spectrum.html

http://kgilchrist.blogspot.com.es/2012/10/october-24.html


I´ll write a little more about the Montagnards and Robespierre later.
Now I´m finishing a True or False exercise for you to practice.

See you!

Unknown said...

Hello Salva!
The journal is very good, I think is very complete, and also you can add a new word in your glossary, bloody-sangriento.
I leave hear a link for twitter about a page of history, some times the page put things related with the units and I remember and revise the contents! https://twitter.com/TwitstoriadeEsp

Unknown said...

Hi salva! Your journal is very good and very complete!! I don´t found mistakes! But I agree with pilar, you have to add more words in the glossary and so on.
Last see tomorrow!
bye bye :)

maria said...

Hi Salva !

Your journal is very good, and also is very complete. It's very interesting that you have added more things that we didn't see in class in order to learn more.

I have found two mistakes:

-We haven't prepared the the notes, only with one the.

- I put I think is better I have put

I agree with Pilar and Gema, you have to add bloody.

Good Job, see you tomorrow.

Unknown said...

Hello Salva! Uff...It's very difficult to find mistakes in your journal! It's a very good and complete work! Almost perfect! You can correct this and it will be fantastic: "we haven't prepared THE THE notes" only one THE. I'm not sure of this: "We have also included some words in our glossary" I think it's ON our glossary...but I'm not sure! Well Salva, perfect perfect perfect! :) Byeeeeee!!!

Unknown said...

Hi Salva!
Your journal it's very good and complete. I think my classmates have founded all the mistakes, I haven't founded more, so very good work and good luck to you for your study!
See you tomorrow! :)

Paqui Pérez Fons said...

Hello again,

My comments will refer to what you´ve written about Robespierre, the Reign of Terror and the Montagnards. This is the official version, the one that has been repeated since the Thermidorian reaction, the winners´version. But this is not completely true:

- The Committee of Public Safety was appointed by the National Convention. They assumed the executive power in extraordinary circumstances, but their decisions were approved by the National Convention.

- Robespierre was only one among other members of the Committee and he couldn´t decide anything on his own. He was the most popular member of the Committee and the Jacobin Convention, but he didn´t impose a dictatorship: there was no press censorship and the suspected counter-revolutionaries were sent to the Revolutionary Tribunal, who decided on sentences, not Robespierre. In fact, Robespierre saved a group of Girondists who had been arrested and were sentenced to death.

- The Reign of Terror (executions of counter-revolutionary people) started before the Jacobins controlled the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety.

Most of the history books that talk about the French Revolution have depicted the Montagnards and the Jacobins as monsters and responsible for all the excesses one could imagine. But this wasn´t really true. This was the most convenient story to stop popular reforms and demand the return of order.

I´m preparing a post about Robespierre and the Reign of Terror, where I´ll try to explain another version of the same story, based on documents and recent studies. And I´ll ask you about why you think we continue to hear the same bloody stories about the Jacobins.

Have a good night.

Paqui Pérez Fons said...

Hi again, Salva,

Remember to change the chart about political spectrum for another one in English. I included some links you can use on a previous comment. Choose the one you prefer, but in English, not in Spanish.



I´ll have another look to your post when I finish with the exams (or when the exams finish with me).

Bye!

Salva Fuentes said...

Now, I think I have checked all my mistakes!

Paqui Pérez Fons said...

Hello again,

These are my last corrections:
- Instead of "because of that", you should write due to that/ as a consequence of that
- The Jacobins were led by...
-... the groups placed on the left of the scheme were more revolutionary, progressive, secular and reformist: all the adjecives have to be written in singular. They would be in plural if they were nouns. The same happenss with conservative and moderate
- ... the Jacobins joined the Committeee
- Consequently/ as a consequence
-... executed byguillotine
-... the exercises consisted
- ... we have madea lot of noise
-... we had to answerthe questions one by one
- ... some links to Wikipedia over their names

That´s all. See you tomorrow!