‘Still more traitors, still more treason…" It is 1792 and France has been at war since April; it is not going well. In Paris, the Tuileries Palace has been stormed, and the royal family imprisoned. Meanwhile, tensions are rising between the main political factions of the Revolution, the Girondins and the Montagnard, led by the icy Maximilien Robespierre. The streets of Paris teem with armed young men - the Federes and the Sans-Culottes - responsible for the brutal slaughtering of the Swiss Guard earlier that year. They have arrested and imprisoned thousands of people. It is into this progressively febrile atmosphere of paranoia and fear that terrible news arrives: the Prussians, hungry for vengeance, have taken the fortress of Verdin. Rumours swirl of treason and betrayal from deep within Paris itself, and a new, chilling idea is raised to wash the city of counter revolutionaries once and for all: cleanse the prisons. So it is that on the 2nd of September, a group of Prisoners being escorted from one prison to another is stopped, and methodically hacked to death. The survivors face an impromptu tribunal before receiving the same treatment. Over the next few days, all prisoners across Paris are likewise judged, and many similarly damned and mutilated. A tide of bloodshed is rising, which will soon flood the streets of Paris, taking thousands of lives with it. Who will survive the massacre? Join Dominic and Tom for the next series of the French Revolution, as they pick up this epic story - one of the most resounding and complex historical events of all time - with arguably the most horrific episode of the whole revolution: the September massacres… EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/restishistory Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What are the September Massacres and why are they significant?
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The homeland will be saved. Everything is in motion. Everyone burns to fight. While one part of the people goes to the frontiers, a second digs our defenses, and a third, armed with pikes, will defend our cities and towns. We ask that whoever refuses to serve or to give up his weapons shall be punished with death.
The toxin that will ring out will not be a signal of alarm, but a call to charge against the enemies of the homeland. To vanquish them, gentlemen, we need to dare, to dare, and to dare again. And then, France will be saved.
So that Dominic was not Winston Churchill, although many people from the excellence of the impression may think it was. It was actually a Frenchman, Georges Danton. Minister of Justice in 1792, the Dominic Sandbrook to my Robespierre. Oh, that's kind. Thanks, Tom. And he's addressing the Assembly on the 2nd of September, 1792.
And people will be able to realise from this that we are back with the French Revolution. We are indeed, Tom. Our ongoing series, aren't we? And can I just say why I chose to do it in a Churchillian tone? Do. Yeah, please. Because I think there is a Churchillian quality to that, isn't it? That is a very, very famous speech.
It's all about defence of the fatherland, defence of the nation, determination to fight on. And there is a Churchillian quality to it. And I thought it subtly evoked a sense for British listeners of perhaps the resonance it has in France.
Yeah, it does have a huge resonance in France. So those words in French, il nous faut de l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace. We need daring, more daring, always daring, to dare, to dare, to dare again, or however you translate it. They're very famous. Lots of French school children will know those words.
And that, I think, gives you a sense of the position that we're in as we begin season three of the French Revolution. This episode is very, very gory. So listeners should be warned. It is absolutely revolting, particularly if you have children, be warned.
Because in today's episode, we will be turning to, I would say, perhaps the most horrific episode of the whole revolution, the September massacres. So to give people a sense... This is a moment when mobs are going to storm, basically burst into the prisons. Or are they mobs?
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Chapter 2: Who were the key political factions during the French Revolution?
the evil as they see it to fester in your midst. I agree. And that is, I think, what is frightening about it. But I think that historians of all political persuasions would now see that as being what's frightening about it, I think.
Well, because obviously we're going to be talking about this an awful lot when we get the terror itself. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The elections to the National Convention have been happening all this time, and all the big names are standing. Brissot, Robespierre, Danton, Marat.
This new convention is going to meet on the 20th of September, and it is going to decide the future of France, and in particular, something I know you'll be talking about in a couple of episodes' time. the future of the royal family. But the question is, will this convention even get the chance to do that? Because all this time, the Prussians have been coming closer and closer and closer.
So Verdun fell. The Duke of Brunswick is coming on. He's got 80,000 men. Every day, he is coming closer to Paris. He is now being pursued by a smaller French army under General Dumouriez, who is the foreign minister who got France into the war in the first place. And by the third week in September, the Prussians reach a place called Valmy, which is in the Argonne forest.
It's about 120 miles from Paris. And rain is falling, the skies are overcast, and it's against this very kind of turbulent backdrop. that the Duke of Brunswick and the Prussians turn to finish off the French and to clear the battlefield for their final assault on the capital. And Tom, what happens next will change the course of European history.
Thank you, Dominic. Brilliant. What a cliffhanger. So much more to come. Lots more drama. And of course, if you are a member of the Rest Is History Club, you can listen to the next three episodes of this epic journey to the climax of the French Revolution right now. We will be discussing in our next episode, Olympe de Gouges, the first feminist, the author of The Rights of Woman.
We will be discussing the fall of the French monarchy and the climax will be the guillotining of Louis XVI. So it's one of the great stories, not just of French history, but of history, full stop. And if you're not a member of the Restless History Club, then you can listen to the next episode on Olymp de Gouges this coming Thursday. Thank you so much for listening. Goodbye. Bye-bye.
Now, Tom, as you know, I am not just a man of history. I'm also known for my involvement in the performing arts.
Are you now?
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