During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, the proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy (French: ''Proclamation de l'abolition de la royauté'') was a proclamation by the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nationa ...

of France announcing that it had abolished the French monarchy on 21 September 1792, giving birth to the French First Republic.

Prelude

The convention's députés were instructed to put an end to the crisis that had broken out since the prevented flight to Varennes of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

in June 1791 and the bloody capture of the

Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, f ...

( 10 August 1792). Their middle-class origin and their political activity meant that most of them bore no sympathy for the monarchy, and the victory at the battle of Valmy on 20 September (the revolution's first military success) occurred on the same day as their meeting, thus confirming their convictions.

Proposition for abolition

When the député for Paris,

Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois (; 19 June 1749 – 8 June 1796) was a French actor, dramatist, essayist, and revolutionary. He was a member of the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror and, while he saved Madame Tussaud from the ...

, proposed abolition he met with little resistance; at most,

Claude Basire Claude Basire (1764 – 5 April 1794) was a French politician of the Revolutionary period. Biography Born in Dijon, he became a deputy for the Côte-d'Or in the Legislative Assembly, he made himself prominent by denouncing the Bourbon and ...

, friend of Georges Danton, tried to temper the enthusiasm, recommending a discussion before any decision. However, abbé

Henri Grégoire Henri Jean-Baptiste Grégoire (; 4 December 1750 – 28 May 1831), often referred to as the Abbé Grégoire, was a French Catholic priest, Constitutional bishop of Blois and a revolutionary leader. He was an ardent slavery abolitionist and sup ...

constitutional bishop During the French Revolution, a constitutional bishop was a Catholic bishop elected from among the clergy who had sworn to uphold the Civil Constitution of the Clergy between 1791 and 1801. History Constitutional bishops were often priests wit ...

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

, replied strongly to any suggestion of discussion: Jean-François Ducos supported him in affirming that any discussion would be useless "after the lights spread by 10 August". The summary argument served as a debate and the decision taken was unanimous, giving birth to the French First Republic.

End of an era

In the wake of the proclamation, efforts grew to eliminate the vestiges of the ''

ancien regime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word fo ...

''. As the date of the Republic's first anniversary approached, the Convention passed a set of laws replacing many familiar ''ancien'' systems of order and measurement, including the old

Christian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

.Doyle, p. 194. This dramatic change was powerful encouragement to the growing wave of

anticlericalism Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

which sought a dechristianisation of France. The new French Republican Calendar discarded all Christian reference points and calculated time from the Republic's first full day after the monarchy, 22 September 1792, the first day of Year One.

References

External links

*
L'abolition de la royauté
Source : "Journal officiel de la Convention Nationale", 1792–1793. {{DEFAULTSORT:Proclamation Of The Abolition Of The Monarchy 1792 events of the French Revolution Proclamations Republicanism in France 1792 documents French National Convention 18th century in Paris Louis XVI