ACTIVITY SHEET LF5/ 03

Historical interpretations: the september massacres

The ordinary Parisian tradesmen and artisans who carried out the killings in the September Massacres certainly thought their work both necessary and beneficial, and so did the commune, which voted to pay them for it. But this second great blood-letting within a month horrified most of those who witnessed it and the lurid details were soon known throughout Europe. Nobody at the Assembly or the Jacobin Club, was prepared openly to commend what had been done; but the political factions led by Brissot on one side and Robespierre on the other were quick to accuse each other of responsibility or complicity, and these charges and counter-charges would echo on for years. Septembriseur became a standard term of political abuse; and fear of a repetition stalked political life for months to come.1

1 William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution, p. 191-192.

1. Identify what role, according to Doyle, the Paris Commune played in the event described above.

2. Describe how, according to Doyle, this incident was manipulated by politicians in the Assembly.

© History Teachers’ Association of Victoria 2016. This activity sheet is available only to customers who have purchased the textbook Liberating France 2nd edition (ISBN 9781875585182 — print; or 9780980831573— ebook) and have accessed the additional resources via www. historyed. 1 com.au. To purchase the textbook please visit www.htav.asn.au/shop ACTIVITY SHEET LF5/ 03

3. The extract describes the first days of the September Massacres as ‘lurid’ and ‘horrifying’; describe three other incidents leading up to 1792 where the sans-culottes acted in a manner that could be described as horrifying.

4. Identify Doyle’s opinion of the sans-culottes, citing evidence from the extract. What view do other historians have about the sans-culottes and their use of violence during this period?

© History Teachers’ Association of Victoria 2016. This activity sheet is available only to customers who have purchased the textbook Liberating France 2nd edition (ISBN 9781875585182 — print; or 9780980831573— ebook) and have accessed the additional resources via www. historyed. 2 com.au. To purchase the textbook please visit www.htav.asn.au/shop