ABSTRACT
The deputies to the National Convention that assembled in September 1792 faced a reality unforeseen in 1789, and made decisions uncalled for by the cahiers de doleances. The National Convention proclaimed the abolition of the monarchy on 21 September 1792. The group of deputies who were to become the core of the Montagnards were the Parisian deputies and they included Robespierre, Danton and Marat. At the time of the Thermidorian reaction the right-wing press re-emerged. Even fashion reflected these changes, with the abandonment of dressing to look like sans-culottes. The flashy display of wealth returned, with elegant clothes that emphasised status. The usage of the courtesy style term ‘Monsieur’ instead of the revolutionary ‘Citizen’ also returned as the preferred form of address. Outside Paris, similar counter-terror movements emerged, often referred to as ‘White Terror’, implying that these movements had been inspired by the royalists.
