Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/584

 442 General History of Europe III. FOUNDING OF THE FIRST FRENCH REPUBLIC 768. Insurrection of August 10, 1792. Angered by this dec- laration and aroused by the danger, the populace of Paris again invaded the Tuileries, August 10, 1792, and the king was obliged to take refuge in the building in which the Assembly was in ses- sion. Those who instigated the attack were men who had set their heart upon doing away with the king altogether and estab- lishing a republic. A group of them had taken possession of the city hall, pushed the old members of the municipal council from their seats, and taken the government in their own hands. In this way the members of the Paris city government (or Commune) became the leaders in the new revolution which established the first French republic. 769. France a Republic, September 22, 1792. The Assembly agreed with the Paris Commune in desiring a republic. If, as was proposed, France was henceforth to do without a king, it was obviously necessary that the monarchical constitution so recently completed should be replaced by a republican one. Consequently, the Assembly arranged that the people should elect delegates to a constitutional Convention, which should draw up a new system of government. The Convention met on September 21, and its first act was to abolish the ancient monarchy and proclaim France a republic. It seemed to the enthusiasts of the time that a new era of liberty had dawned, now that the long oppression by " despots" was ended forever. The twenty-second day of September, 1792, was reckoned as the first day of the Year One of French liberty. 1 770. September Massacres (1792). Meanwhile the usurping Paris Commune had taken matters into its own hands and had brought discredit upon the cause of liberty by one of the most atrocious acts in history. On the pretext that Paris was full of traitors, who sympathized with the Austrians and the emigrant l A committee of the Convention was appointed to draw up a new republican calen- dar. The year was divided into twelve months of thirty days each. The five days pre- ceding September 22, at the end of the year, were holidays. Each month was divided into three decades, and each tenth day was a holiday. The days were no longer dedicated to saints, but to agricultural implements, vegetables, and domestic animals.