SIEGE OF TOULON

TOULON, FRENCH REPUBLIC SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 1793

- Michael G Stroud

For a short period, the revolutionary fervour that swept France from 1789 remained a largely internal political affair, punctured occasionally with civil unrest as politicians set about dismantling the old regime to make room for a new nation. This all changed in 1792 with a cascade of geopolitical and domestic events, mass dissention, counter-revolutions and declarations of war.

The perceived threat of revolution spreading from France to its neighbours galvanised a coalition, led chiefly by Prussia, Austria, England and Spain. This left France assailed by both internal and external enemies, and the onslaught soon had the nation on its heels.

In August 1793 coalition and royalist armies pushed into Republican France on multiple fronts, and French forces reeled from numerous defeats. These, along with strong anti-Jacobin (the ruling Republican party) uprisings throughout the country, meant that the fragile republic was on a knife edge. Matters became catastrophic with the raising of the royalist flag in Toulon on 27 August.

The revolt in Toulon was the result of heavyhanded leadership by Jacobin officials in their attempt to coerce the more moderate members of the city and the French Navy (as well as the over 6,000 dockyard workers at the naval arsenal) to their side. This alienation only served to infuriate and galvanise the moderates, who by 18 July had formed a General Committee and removed the Jacobins, before trying and publicly executing over 40 of them.