During the
French Revolution, the
National Convention or
Convention, in
France, comprised the
constitutional and legislative
assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 (the 4th of Brumaire of the year IV under the
French Republican Calendar adopted by the Convention). It held
executive power in France during the first years of the
French First Republic. It was succeeded by the
Directory, commencing 2 November 1795. Prominent members of the original Convention included
Maximilien Robespierre of the
Jacobin Club,
Jean-Paul Marat (affiliated with the Jacobins, though never a formal member), and
Georges Danton of the
Cordeliers. From 1793 to 1794, executive power was
de facto exercised by the Convention's
Committee of Public Safety.
Formation
During
the insurrection of 10 August 1792, when the populace of
Paris stormed the
Tuileries and demanded the abolition of the
monarchy, the
Legislative Assembly decreed the provisional suspension of King
Louis XVI and the convocation of a "national convention" which should draw up a constitution. At the same time it was decided that deputies to that
convention should be elected by all Frenchmen 25 years old or more, domiciled for a year and living by the product of their labour. The National Convention was therefore the first French assembly elected by universal male suffrage, without distinctions of class. The age limit of the electors was further lowered to 21, and that of eligibility was fixed at 25 years.
The first session was held 20 September 1792. The following day,
royalty was abolished: this became the informal end of the French monarchy. A little over a year later, 22 September would become the base date of the new
French Revolutionary Calendar, the beginning of the
Year I of the
French Republic.
Revolutionary government
The Convention lasted for three years and came after the National Assembly and Legislative Assembly.
The country was at war, and it seemed best to postpone the implementation of the new constitution until peace should be concluded. At the same time, as the Convention prolonged its powers, it extended them considerably in order to meet the pressing dangers which menaced the
Republic.
Although it was a legislative assembly, it took over the
executive power, entrusting it to its own members. This "confusion of powers", contrary to the philosophical theories — those of
Montesquieu especially — which had inspired the Revolution at first, was one of the essential characteristics of the Convention. The series of exceptional measures by which that confusion of powers was created constitutes the "Revolutionary government" in the strict sense of the word, a government which was principally in vigour during the period called the "
Reign of Terror". There is thus a distinction to be made, discussing the Convention, between these temporary expedients and those measures intended to be permanent.
The first years of the Convention were the height of the importance of the revolutionary political clubs such as the
Jacobins and
Cordeliers; the informally constituted
Girondists, although past the peak of their power, were also an important factor. By the end of the Convention, most prominent members of all of these groups were dead, the bulk of them victims either of the Terror or of the
Thermidorian Reaction that brought the Terror to an end.
Structure and membership
The Convention held its first session in a hall of the
Tuileries, then it sat in the
Salle du Manège, and finally from 10 May 1793 in that of the
Spectacles (or Machine), an immense hall in which the deputies were but loosely scattered. This last hall had
tribunes for the public, who often influenced the debate by interruptions or by applause.
The members of the Convention came from all classes of society, but the most numerous were lawyers. Seventy-five members had sat in the
National Constituent Assembly, 183 in the
Legislative Assembly. The full number of deputies was 749, not counting 33 from the colonies, of whom only some arrived in Paris. Besides these, however, the newly formed
départements annexed to France from 1792 to 1795 were allowed to send deputations. Many of the original deputies died or were exiled during the Convention, but not all their places were filled by
suppléants. Some members proscribed during the Terror returned after the legislative coup of 9
Thermidor began the Thermidorian Reaction. Finally, many members were sent away, either to the
départments or to the armies, on missions which lasted sometimes for a considerable length of time. For all these reasons it is difficult to find out the number of deputies present at any given date, for votes by roll-call were rare. During the Terror the number of those voting averaged only 250.
According to its own ruling, the Convention elected its president every fortnight. He was eligible for re-election after the lapse of a fortnight. Ordinarily the sessions were held in the morning, but evening sessions also occurred frequently, often extending late into the night. Sometimes in exceptional circumstances the Convention declared itself in permanent session and sat for several days without interruption. For both legislative and administrative the Convention used
committees, with powers more or less widely extended and regulated by successive laws. The most famous of these committees included the
Committee of Public Safety (
Comité de salut public), the
Committee of General Security (
Comité de sûreté générale), and the
Committee of Education (
Comité de l’instruction).
Legacy
The article on the Convention in the
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica concludes, "The work of the Convention was immense in all branches of public affairs. To appreciate it without prejudice, one should recall that this assembly saved France from a
civil war and invasion, that it founded the system of public education (
Museum,
École Polytechnique,
École Normale Supérieure,
École des langues orientales,
Conservatoire), created institutions of capital importance, like that of the
Grand Livre de la Dette publique, and definitely established the social and political gains of the Revolution." By a decree of 4 February 1794 (16 pluviôse) it also ratified and expanded to the whole
French colonial empire the 1793
abolition of slavery on
Saint-Domingue by civil commissioners
Sonthonax and
Polverel, though this did not affect
Martinique or
Guadeloupe and was abolished by the
law of 20 May 1802.
See also
