During the

French Revolution 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 conside ...

, modérantisme () or the faction des modérés (faction of the moderates) was the name the Montagnards gave to their relatively more moderate opponents, first the

Girondins The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnar ...

and then the Dantonists. Modérantisme was denounced before the

Jacobin , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = P ...

and the

Cordeliers The Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Société des Amis des droits de l'homme et du citoyen), mainly known as Cordeliers Club (french: Club des Cordeliers), was a populist political club during the French ...

clubs, who then led the first attacks on it in 1794. Jacobin and Cordelier orators soon demanded that the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

be used against those they saw as trying to stop the Revolution. One day,

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shouted "The monsters! They want to break down the scaffolds – but, citizens, never forget, those who want no guillotines are those who should feel that they are worthy of the guillotine!".

Camille Desmoulins Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoît Desmoulins (; 2 March 17605 April 1794) was a French journalist and politician who played an important role in the French Revolution. Desmoulins was tried and executed alongside Georges Danton when the Committee o ...

, who came to found the newspaper ''

le Vieux Cordelier ''Le Vieux Cordelier'' () was a journal published in France between 5 December 1793 and 3 February 1794. Its radical criticism of ultra-revolutionary fervor and repression in France during the Reign of Terror contributed significantly to the downfa ...

'' in which he begged for clemency with

Georges Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French lawyer and a leading figure in the French Revolution. He became a deputy to the Paris Commune, presided in the Cordeliers district, and visited the Jacobin club. In Augu ...

's consent, from then on laid himself open to their hatred and vengeance. On 5 April 1794, the leaders of the moderate party were guillotined and modérantisme was returned to power after

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

's fall and its turn was to once again hold sway against the Montagnards who still supported Robespierre, with the

Thermidorian Reaction The Thermidorian Reaction (french: Réaction thermidorienne or ''Convention thermidorienne'', "Thermidorian Convention") is the common term, in the historiography of the French Revolution, for the period between the ousting of Maximilien Robespie ...

done in the name of modérantisme. The crimes committed in

Le Midi Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', A ...

were also committed by men who claimed the title of modérés, although this did not stop them carrying out excessive acts of violence.

Sources

* Elphège Boursin and Augustin Challamel (1893). ''Dictionnaire de la révolution française''. Paris: Jouvet et cie. p. 351. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moderantisme Groups of the French Revolution