GIRONDISTS (Fr. Girondins, from Gironde, a department of France). The party of mod erate Republicans during the French Revolution. When the Legislative Assembly met in October, 1791, the most remarkable group of men in it were the Deputies, most of them new men, from the Department of the Gironde. Barennes, Ducos; Serviere, Vergniaud, Guadet, Gensonne, Sers, and Grangeneuve were the chiefs of their group. They soon showed themselves to be orators of ability, and their moderate republicanism drew to their side such men as Brissot, Roland, Con dorcet, Potion (later Mayor of Paris), Du mouriez, and Lacoste. They assumed the name Girondins, controlled the Patriote Francais, and their influence dominated the Jacobin Club. For more than a year they directed the affairs of government. They had a majority in the Assem bly, and the King was forced to select Roland, Dumouriez, Claviere, and Servan as ministers in March, 1792. The forced resignation of the Girondist Ministry, some three months later, led to the popular insurrection of June 20th. Though there were elements of dissension between the Girondists and the Jacobins as early as the spring of 1792, both parties united in bringing about the overthrow of the monarchy through the insurrection of August 10, 1792. The respon sibility for the September massacres is harder to determine, but probably the leaders of the Girondists were not implicated in the atrocities of the mob. After that date they lost more and more of their popularity, for though their elo quence still dominated in the Assembly, they were unable to control the Parisian rabble. The result was that the Jacobins obtained the upper hand, and ousted the Girondists; from office under the National Convention. Danton and his fol lowers triumphed over Roland and his; Du mouriez deserted the side of the Revolution, and not a single Girondist figured on the newly formed Committee of Public Safety. The failure of the Girondists to arrest and impeach Marat was followed by the invasion of the hall of the Convention by a Jacobin mob on May 31, 1793, and the arrest on June 2d, of about twenty of the leaders of the party. Many others fled to the provinces or escaped from France. Unsuccessful risings took place throughout France in their be half, the only result being that further arrests were made. On October 3, 1793, the prisoners
were accused before the Convention of conspiracy against the Republic, and were sent to be tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal. On October 24th, therefore, they were arraigned before this body. They were at first allowed to defend them selves; but their speeches were so eloquent and their innocence so apparent that the court could not condemn them, and the Convention was forced to order that the investigation be closed, and that the prisoners be executed, October 31, 1793. This bloodthirsty decree was carried out the same evening. Brissot, the leader of the party (from whom they were sometimes known as Brig sotini), Vergniaud, Gensonne, Ducos, and sixteen others were sent to the Place de Greve. On the way thither they chanted the Marseillaise, and met their death with splendid courage. Others of the Girondists were subsequently brought to the guillotine, including Madame Roland, whose charms, intellect, and ardor had made her an in spiring influence in the party. In the provinces also there were executions. Roland, Vilaze, Re becqui, Potion, Buzot, and Condoreet preferred suicide to the guillotine, and by the close of 1794 the Girondist Party had all but disap peared. Those of the party who survived, includ ing Lanjuinais, Defermon, Pontecoulant, Louvet, Isnard, and La Riviere, reappeared in the Convention after the fall of Robespierre and the Terrorists, but they no longer formed a party of importance. Lamartine has written a panegyric on the Girondist Party, Histoire des Girondins (Paris, 1847), translated by Ryde, and published in London in the same year. For more impartial and accurate accounts, consult: Guadet, Les Girondins (new ed., Paris, 18S9) ; Bire, La legende des Girondins (Paris, 1881) ; Vatel, Charlotte de Corday et les Girondins (Paris, 1864-72). In English, the following are worth consulting: Mignet, The French Revolu tion (London, 1826) ; Morse-Stephens, History of the French Revolution (New York, See FRENCH REVOLUTION, also the special articles on the various Girondist leaders, with the au thorities referred to there.