ABSTRACT
All of France, it would turn out, was not particularly interested in being ruled by Paris. Not by this Paris, in any case. Citizens outside Paris, reading the news, were being told of a Paris where a disorderly crowd worshipped at the altars of Robespierre, Marat, and Danton. In June and July of 1793, the chances of Paris ruling the rest of France appeared quite slim. Since March, the long-disgruntled Vendée had been fighting back against
the government in Paris. The external war was still going on, with no reason to think that smooth sailing awaited. For the Montagnards and their supporters, it was the Girondins’ unwillingness to face up to the challenges bearing down on the young republic that had made it necessary to expel them from the Convention. A pyrrhic victory, then – expelling the Girondins did not make the problems go away, as the Girondins’ supporters (or perhaps more accurately, the Montagnards’ opponents) in much of France began to turn against Paris and the Revolution. Thus Madame Roland, whom the Paris Commune had seen fit to imprison even before June 2: “Do you think that proud Marseilles and wise Gironde will forgive the affronts committed against their representatives? Do you think they will ever again cooperate with your criminal city?”1
