Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The killing by the national guard in 1791 of around fifty unarmed demonstrators (though some authorities put the number as high as 200) during the french revolution of 1789. Following the unsuccessful attempt of louis xvi to flee France in June 1791, calls for his removal multiplied, even though conservative opinion within the National Assembly rallied to his defense and he was reinstated as monarch. On July 17, some six thousand people flocked to the Champ de Mars, a large field on the outskirts of Paris, to sign a petition drafted by the radical cordeliers club which declared the Assembly's actions contrary to the popular will. A confrontation between the demonstrators and the National Guard was provoked when two men, who had hidden under the table on which the petition was placed in order to get a view of the ladies' ankles, were discovered and summarily hanged. In response, the Guard, led by lafayette and the mayor of Paris, Bailly, marched to disperse the crowd. Displaying the red flag, which indicated the imposition of martial law, the Guard nevertheless opened fire without warning. The massacre marked a further breach in the relations between the popular movement and the Revolution's middle-class leadership. ... log in or subscribe to read full text