The Constitutional Monarchy and the Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)
On September 3, 1791, the National Assembly adopted the First Constitution of France. In the elections to choose the new representatives of the Legislative Assembly, held in September, a majority of deputies from the constitutionalist "centre " (moderate) were elected. The new regime was based on the fact that France was a kingdom with a constitutional monarchy, and where national sovereignty resided in Parliament.
The Constitution of 1791. The constitutional monarchy
The new Constitution of France entailed a total reorganization of the kingdom. Nevertheless, he did not question the figure of the monarchy. Characteristics of the new Constitution:
- The Constitution of 1791 is based on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen of 1789, which includes it in its preamble.
- An effective separation of powers is established .
- Executive power will be in the hands of Louis XVI, king of the French. Louis XVI will be head of the army and the administration, he will appoint the magistrates, he will have a suspensive veto, the king is inviolable and sacred and will have to swear loyalty to the nation (all citizens).
- The legislative power will be formed by the unicameral National Assembly, which makes the laws, with a two-year legislature. No member of the Assembly could be a minister. The problem with the functioning of the Assembly was that there was no relationship between the executive and the legislature. They were two opposing powers. In the end the one who had the power was Louis XVI.
The Constituent Assembly introduced, based on the idea of Abbé Sieyès, a distribution among citizens, thinking only of men (September 1789): active citizens and passive citizens.
Of the 29 million French citizens at that time, two categories were made. First, men over the age of twenty-one (7 million):
- Of these, they were divided among active citizens (with the right to vote, it was necessary to demonstrate that they could pay a tax equivalent to three working days, or 4.3 million citizens with full political rights).
- And the passive citizens (who were the rest, about 2.7 million).
In the electoral process, active citizens elected a citizen (delegate), who had to prove he could pay an annual tax equivalent to 10 working days. These delegates were the ones who elected the deputies. To be a deputy you had to pay 50 pounds. It was a system of census suffrage of the second degree.
This was unconstitutional and for this reason the Revolution was radicalized. Since not everyone was equal before the law, the Society of Friends of Human Rights was founded.
The Legislative Assembly (October 1, 1791-September 21, 1792)
After the holding of elections to choose the representatives of the Legislative Assembly, in September 1791, the new Parliament with a "constitutional" centrist majority began its activity in October. Despite the "undemocratic" nature of electoral suffrage (only property-owning citizens could vote), the establishment of the new constitutional regime was seen by many as the end of the Revolution.
Nevertheless, the Assembly fully complied, not without some shock, from October 1, 1791 to August 10, 1792, with what it had been elected for: that it had to practice coexistence with the King on the basis of a Constitution.
This period can be divided into three stages:
- From October 1 to March 1792, where almost the entire Legislative Body trusts the king and his adherence to the new regime, having sworn loyalty to the Constitution. The Assembly seeks cohabitation with the king based on a sincere defence of the Revolution.
- From March 1792 to August, when the king blocks with successive vetoes, decrees of the Assembly and begins to seek complicity with foreign courts; with the arrest of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Delessart, the Jacobins, who hope to have the support of the Assembly, force the king to appoint a patriotic ministry. France's war with foreign countries opposed to the Revolution and the first defeats made many deputies begin to lose confidence in the king. These events lead to the day of August 10, 1792, a decisive day for the Revolution, which ended with the suspension of the king by the Assembly.
- From August 11 to September 21, when the Assembly is the only centre of legal authority questioned by the insurrection of the Paris Commune on August 10.
Composition of the Legislative Assembly
With 745 deputies, the National Legislative Assembly is made up of:
- A moderate right, represented by around 260 registered members of the Feuillants club. They are sincere supporters of the constitutional monarchy, opposed to any questioning of the order established in 1791.
- A Center or Independents also called "Constitutional", with 345 deputies not registered in clubs, but very united to the Revolution, represents the most important group in this assembly.
- A left, represented by 136 members generally enrolled in the Jacobins Club, mainly future Girondins led by Jacques-Pierre Brissot and Condorcet.
- An extreme left deputies who are distinguished by a more pronounced democratic option, such as Robert Lindet, Carnot or Couthon ; some frequent the Cordeliers club, such as Chabot, Basire and Merlin.
The Revolution of August 10, 1792: the assault on the Tuileries
On the day of August 10, 1792, a popular insurrection took place in Paris, which would end the monarchy of Louis XVI, and which is also known as the "second revolution". The main event was the storming of the Tuileries palace by the insurgents, members of the Parisian sections and the sans-culottes of Paris, together with the "federated" troops.
The king sought the protection of the Legislative Assembly, but was suspended from his constitutional functions and detained together with his family. At the same time it was decided to call elections by universal suffrage to form a National Convention that would assume all the powers of the State and draft a new Constitution.
When the Convention met on September 21, the French Republic was proclaimed. Then Louis XVI, in a trial, was sentenced to death and guillotined in January 1793.
The victory of the insurgents on August 10 created a completely new situation; the Assembly was in an ambiguous position because two days before, the monarchist majority had supported Lafayette and the next day it retracted, voting as a whole on the king's recall request. Despite the events the Assembly continues in its place and was the only institution that maintains legal power.
His mission was to try to regroup in his favour, the authorities and the citizens. Therefore, the Assembly alone in power, decreed the following:
- The king is temporarily suspended and will be detained at the palace in Luxembourg.
- The French are invited to elect a National Convention, which alone could decide the fate of the king and a new constitution.
- The new ministers will be appointed by the National Assembly.
- All French people aged twenty-five or over are already voters (universal male suffrage).
- Voted decrees will have the force of law without royal assent.
On August 11, the Assembly appoints a provisional executive council that will have all the powers of executive power without the royal veto.
Legislative work of the Assembly (1791-1792)
- November 8, 1791: The emigrants are convicted of conspiracy, prosecuted as such, and punished by death if they do not leave before January 1, 1792.
- April 20, 1792: declaration of war on Emperor Francis II. Also wanted by the court: Louis XVI counted on the military failures to take control of the country. The declaration of war in Austria, voted unanimously minus seven votes, inaugurated under the Legislative Assembly a conflict that lasted twenty-three years, until the battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815).
- May 26, 1792: deportation of ecclesiastics who refuse to submit to the civil constitution of the clergy;
- July 11, 1792: the country is declared in danger. Therefore, assembly meetings must be permanent, all city councils and all district and department councils must remain uninterrupted, all national guards must be mobilized.
- August 10, 1792: the king suspended from office, and a new assembly, elected by universal suffrage, is convened under the name of the National Convention. This resolution was voted after the revolutionary days of June 20, 1792 and especially August 10, 1792.
