The Ventôse Decrees were decrees proposed on February 26 and March 3, 1794 (8 and 13
Ventôse
Ventôse (; also ''Ventose'') was the sixth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word ''ventosus'', which means ''windy''.
Ventôse was the third month of the winter quarter (''mois d'hiver''). It start ...
, An II in the
French Republican Calendar) by the
French revolutionary
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...
leader
Louis de Saint-Just. Saint-Just proposed to confiscate the property of exiles and opponents of the Revolution, and redistribute it to the needy. Saint-Just and other radicals argued that the enemies of the revolution had forfeited their civil rights, including the right to own property.
Robespierre supported the Decrees in theory, but realized that he lacked the support to implement them, and efforts to enforce the Decrees ended within a few months.
External links
David Andress, ''The Terror:The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France (2005), p. 302 Google Books excerpt
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070513074251/http://www.sociumas.lt/Eng/Nr5/justas.asp Asta Maskaliunaite, "Social ideas of Louis Antoine Saint Just", ''Sociumas'' magazine (1998)br>
Encyclopædia Britannica entry (subscription required for full entry)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ventose Decrees
1794 events of the French Revolution
Decrees