The Fall of the Girondins

THE FALL OF THE GIRONDINS

There was tension between the Girondins and the sans culottes. The girondins feared that the sans culottes were too radical. The sans culottes suspected the Girondins were enemies of the Revolution.

The enrages campaigned against anyone profiting from high food prices. Most promiment was the radical former Catholic clergyman, Jacques Roux. Roux was active in the Paris Commune and the sections; where he tried to ensure that the poor recieved adequate food supply. Bakers and grocers who refused to lower their prices were threatened with violence.

Robespierre supported the clamour against grain hoarders and profiteers to discredit his Girondin rivals. Marat penned articles in his L'ami du Peuple, blaming the Girondins (who were portrayed as bourgeois businessmen) for France's problems.  

On the 12th April 1793 the Girondins produced an indictment for Marat's arrest on the grounds of inciting murder, pillage, and attacking the authority of the Convention, thus breaking the principle that members of the Convention were immune to prosecution because of their political views. Marat was tried before the Revolutionary Tribunal but was acquitted 12 days later. This delighted the Parisian sans-culottes…