Suppression of the Revolutionary Tribunal
- When
- 1794–1795
- Where
- Paris, seat of the Revolutionary Tribunal; City not stated in the passages; convictions and executions occurred under the Convention's authority; Parts of France, particularly the South East
- Episodes
- 4
The Revolutionary Tribunal, the National Convention's court for political offenders in Paris, was discontinued on 31 May 1795 (12 Prairial Year III) after most figures tied to the radical government had been eliminated. Its suppression followed the Thermidorian Reaction, which had already replaced its judges and executed its former leadership.
Episodes
- Thermidorian Retention and Reform of the Tribunal
After Thermidor the Tribunal survived initial expectations of abolition, but the Prairial Laws were revoked and its judges were replaced.
- Execution of the Tribunal's Former Leadership
In December 1794 and May 1795 the Convention executed Carrier, Herman, Fouquier-Tinville, and former judges and jurors of the Tribunal.
- First White Terror Against Tribunal Associates
With no official provincial process, anti-Jacobin mobs in 1795 attacked people associated with local revolutionary tribunals, especially in the South East.
- Discontinuation of the Revolutionary Tribunal
After most figures tied to the radical government had been eliminated, the Revolutionary Tribunal was finally discontinued in Paris on 31 May 1795.
Background and detail
Background. The Revolutionary Tribunal was instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. It was established on 12 March 1793 as the Tribunal criminel extraordinaire; the Convention agreed there should be a tribunal in Paris, and it received the official name Revolutionary Tribunal by a decree of 29 October 1793. In October 1793 it became one of the most powerful engines of the period often called the Reign of Terror.
Thermidorian Unraveling. After the coup of Thermidor in July 1794, some expected the Tribunal to be abolished, but it continued. On 1 August 1794 the Prairial Laws were revoked, restoring the burden of proof to the prosecution. All of the Tribunal's judges were soon replaced, and surveillance committees were curtailed.
Elimination of Tribunal Personnel. The Convention pursued those associated with the Tribunal. On 16 December 1794 Jean-Baptiste Carrier was executed. On 6 May 1795 former president Martial Herman, former prosecutor Fouquier-Tinville, three former judges, and six former jury members were convicted and guillotined the next day.
Aftermath. While the Convention executed most people associated with the Paris Tribunal, no similar official process occurred in the provinces. In 1795 the First White Terror broke out, particularly in the South East, as anti-Jacobin mobs attacked those linked to local revolutionary tribunals. On 14 February 1795, Joseph Fernex, a former judge of the Tribunal in Orange, was killed and thrown into the Rhône by a mob.
People involved
- National Convention · Legislative body that instituted the Tribunal and discontinued it on 31 May 1795
- Claude-Emmanuel Dobsen · Last President of the Revolutionary Tribunal, serving from 28 July 1794 to 31 May 1795
- Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville · Former Chief Prosecutor (accusateur public), convicted on 6 May 1795 and guillotined the following day (7 May 1795); the passage does not state the city
- Martial Herman · Former President of the Tribunal, convicted on 6 May 1795 and guillotined the following day
Sources
- Revolutionary Tribunal Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-22
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.