The Sans-Culottes

The French Revolution (1789-1799) was the defining moment of the history of the modern Western world and its impact has been felt across the globe since that time. To some, it is associated not only with the start of the modern era in which we reside, but also with the rights of man, modern democracy, secularism & rationalism, for others it is the very abomination that has led to the masses questioning & rising against their "social superiors" and against the "natural" organic structure of society. The French Revolution itself was high drama of epic proportions, as the Revolution went through various stages with increasing tensions and ferocity as the monarchies of Europe, initially pleased at the weakening of the Bourbons, became alarmed at the implications for their own survival and eventually ranged against the Revolution determined to defeat it and its incarnations, a conflict that would not end until the defeat of Napoleonic France in 1815. While the names of revolutionary leaders, Mirabeau, Sieyes (the famous author of "What is the Third Estate?"), Brissot, Marat, Danton, Robespierre & Saint-Just are well-known, for a long time it was difficult to discern the thoughts and objectives of the "masses." Were the leaders truly in accord with them or did the concerns of the revolutionary masses diverge from their middle-class leadership, if it was indeed the "leadership" they accepted? In his ground-breaking work the brilliant historian Albert Soboul answers this question about a fascinating force in history, making their mark, at the most critical juncture of the French Revolution during Year II when Revolutionary France was on the brink of being overwhelmed by the counter-revolution. The San-Culottes were already on the verge of making their presence known when they were dealt a blow by the royalist Lafayette at the Champ de Mars Massacre. They were to return with a vengeance, as the war situation deteriorated, on the journee of 10 August when the monarchy was finally overthrown. From that moment until 9 Thermidor of the Year II, no government in Paris could function without the support of the San-Culottes and considering the fact that it was that government that defended the Revolution at its most vulnerable the significance of the San-Culottes as a force in history gains immense currency. So who were the San-Culottes? They were certainly not an "embryonic" working-class, pre-figuring the industrial working classes, as some Marxist scholars tried to claim. Far from it, indeed the San-Culottes were not against property, they were property holders themselves. Their professions ranged from that of the journeyman, to cabinet-makers and carpenters, to name but a few. And their professional designations could be misleading, the "carpenter" Duplay, who hosted the extremely popular Jacobin revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre (the "Incorruptible") in Paris, actually employed a number of journeymen himself and was well-off. The San-Culo