The Ventôse Decrees were decrees proposed on February 26 and March 3, 1794 (8 and 13
Ventôse, An II in the
French Republican Calendar) by the
French revolutionary leader
Louis de Saint-Just
Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just (; 25 August 17679 Thermidor, Year II 8 July 1794, was a French revolutionary, political philosopher, member and president of the French National Convention, a Jacobin club leader, and a major figure of the Fren ...
. 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
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 ...
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