During the French Revolution, the proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy was a proclamation by the National Convention of France announcing that it had abolished the French monarchy on 21 September 1792.

[edit] Prelude

The Convention's députés were instructed to put an end to the crisis that had broken out since the prevented flight to Varennes of Louis XVI (June 1791), the bloody capture of the Tuileries (10 August 1792). Their middle class origin and their political activity meant that most of them bore no sympathy for the monarchy and the victory at the battle of Valmy on 20 September (the revolution's first military success) occurred on the same day as their meeting, thus confirming their convictions.

[edit] Proposition for abolition

When the député for Paris, Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois, proposed abolition he met with little resistance - at most Claude Basire, friend of Georges Jacques Danton, tried to temper the enthusiasm, recommending a discussion before any decision. However, abbé Henri Grégoire, constitutional bishop of Blois, replied strongly to any suggestion of discussion:

“

What need do we have of discussion when everyone is in agreement? Kings are as much monsters in the moral order as in the physical order. The Courts are a workshop for crime, the foyer for corruption and the den of tyrants. The history of kings is the martyrology of nations!

”

Jean-François Ducos supported him in affirming that any discussion would be useless "after the lights spread by 10 August". This summary argument served as a debate and the decision taken was unanimous, giving birth to the First French Republic. Surprised by its own daring and needing to convince itself this was the right decision, the Convention decided to date all official acts not from 1789 (ie making 1792 "year 4 of liberty") but from the pronouncment (making the year after it "year 1 of the Republic").

[edit] Sources

• (French) L'abolition de la royauté Source : "Journal officiel de la Convention Nationale", 1792-1793.