1 Prairial and the End of Parisian Power
As 1795 continued the hunger in Paris got worse and the remnants of the sanculottes again agitated for a new uprising which was planned for May 21th: 1 Prairial. A crowd gathered, marched on the convention and murdered a deputy was called Feraud who was trying to get inside. The mob then got into the convention, where they made many demands including, as before, bread and the constitution of 1793, but also the release of prisoners and a new Paris Commune. The surviving Montagnard deputies, 'the Crest', decided to come out in support of the crowd.
The National Guard arrived and threw the mob out of the Convention. Two large armed groups now stood across from each other, but neither opened fire and, when the National Convention agreed to accept a petition from the marchers, the mob accepted and dispersed. The Convention promptly ignored all the votes passed while the mob was active and arrested the Crest, who were condemned to death. The Convention then ordered the National Guard to surround the three sections which had supported the mob and work their way through the populace, removing all arms. They also demanded Feraud's killers, who where handed over and executed. The sansculottes were finished as a popular force.
By now it had agreed that the Constitution of 1793, linked to Robespierre and mobs, would have to be totally reworked. Some, who had hoped for a return to monarchy, had their hopes dashed as the child Louis XVII died and the adult next in line proclaimed himself Louis XVIII, but stated he wanted a return to the three orders and the Estates General. This was not acceptable; a new constitution would have to be drawn up.
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