War and Counter-Revolution

1789

8 August: The Duchess Rides Through the Great Fear

The duchess felt trapped in Paris following the Revolutionary events of July 1789. She decided to leave Paris for her provincial estates at Moreuil in...

1791

3 October: Life as an Émigré. Part 1

The duchess recounts her departure from France for Tournai in the Austrian Netherlands, which had become a rallying post for the expanding French...

1792

25 May: Revolutionary France Faces Military Disaster

After much triumphalist rhetoric in Parisian political circles ahead of France's declaration of war against Austria on 20 April 1792, the harsh...

4 September: Revolutionary Massacre: Paris in September 1792

At the start of September 1792 Revolutionary tensions boiled over in the capital in the wake of the fall of the monarchy and news of...

1793

11 March: Terror on the Horizon. Part 1

This entry is dated the same day that the creation of a new Paris Revolutionary Tribunal was announced by the Convention. This was one of the building...

28 March - 29 March: Terror on the Horizon. Part 2

The duchess notes the new security measures being implemented by the authorities and their impact on Parisians. This entry comes from the section of...

11 May: Counter-Revolution in the Vendée

The civil war in the Vendée region of Western France had become a serious strategic and political concern for the Republic by May 1793. The duchess...

29 May - 31 May: Purge of the Girondins. Part 1

Another entry which speaks to the possible political implications of the military pressure the Republic was under. The duchess believes this to be the...

1 June - 3 June: Purge of the Girondins. Part 2

Popular pressure finally secured the ‘Purge of the Girondins’ from the National Convention on 2 June 1793. A total of twenty-nine deputies were...

5 June: Purge of the Girondins. Part 3

The political implications of the Purge of the Girondins began to be felt immediately, and the duchess emphasises the political importance of the...

5 June: Reflections on Political Repression

The duchess explains how the balance of political power in the capital has recently shifted in a more radical direction, and considers the...

31 July: Revolutionary Justice in the summer of 1793

The duchess offers news and personal reflections on recent developments in the French Revolution (as seen from her home in the heart of the capital)...

22 October: The Execution of Marie-Antoinette

The execution of the former queen Marie-Antoinette on 16 October 1793, after a highly politicised show trial at the Paris Revolutionary Tribunal, was...

1794

8 January: The Last Words of the Duchess

The final entry in the duchess's notebook series. She observes that France's improving military situation has not resulted in a reduction in domestic...