In the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, the
sans-culottes (sɑ̃ kylɔt,
without silk knee-breeches) were the radical militants of the lower classes, typically urban laborers. Though ill-clad and ill-equipped, they made up the bulk of the
Revolutionary armyThe French Revolutionary Army is the term used to refer to the military of France during the period between the fall of the ancien regime under Louis XVI in 1792 and the formation of the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary...
during the early years of the
French Revolutionary WarsThe French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
. The appellation refers to the fashionable
culottesCulottes is a word that originated in French. Historically, "culottes" referred to the knee-breeches commonly worn by gentlemen of the European upper-classes from the late Middle Ages or Renaissance through the early nineteenth century. This style of tight pants ending just below the knee was first...
(silk knee-breeches) of the moderate
bourgeoisIn sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
revolutionaries as distinguished from the
working classWorking class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
sans-culottes, who traditionally wore
pantalons (long trousers).
Among the political ideals held by the
sans-culottes were
popular democracyPopular democracy is a notion of direct democracy based on referendums and other devices of empowerment and concretization of popular will. The concept evolved out of the political philosophy of Populism, as a fully democratic version of this popular empowerment ideology, but since it has become...
,
socialSocial equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
and
economic equalityEconomic egalitarianism is a state of economic affairs in which equality of outcome has been manufactured for all the participants of a society...
, affordable food, rejection of the
free-market economyA free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
, and zealous pursuit of perceived counter-revolutionaries and political enemies. During the peak of their influence, roughly 1792 to 1795, the
sans-culottes provided the principal support behind the two
far-leftIn politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
factions of the
Paris CommuneThe Paris Commune during the French Revolution was the government of Paris from 1789 until 1795. Established in the Hôtel de Ville just after the storming of the Bastille, the Commune became insurrectionary in the summer of 1792, essentially refusing to take orders from the central French...
, the
EnragésLes Enragés were a loose amalgam of radicals active during the French Revolution. Politically they stood to the left of the Jacobins. Represented by Jacques Roux, Théophile Leclerc, Jean Varlet and others, they believed that liberty for all meant more than mere constitutional rights...
and the
HébertistsThe Hébertists were an ultra-revolutionary political faction associated with the populist journalist Jacques Hébert. They came to power during the Reign of Terror and played a significant role in the French Revolution....
. Led by revolutionaries such as
Jacques RouxJacques Roux was a radical Roman Catholic priest that took an active role in the revolutionary politics of Paris 1789, during the French Revolution...
and
Jacques HébertJacques René Hébert was a French journalist, and the founder and editor of the extreme radical newspaper Le Père Duchesne during the French Revolution...
, the sans-culottes were rallied to provide critical support for the most radical
left-wingIn politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
factions in the successive governments of the revolution. Radicalized and militarized, the sans-culottes likely provided the material strength for the more violent and visceral events of the revolution, such as
September massacresThe September Massacres were a wave of mob violence which overtook Paris in late summer 1792, during the French Revolution. By the time it had subsided, half the prison population of Paris had been executed: some 1,200 trapped prisoners, including many women and young boys...
of 1792. During the
Reign of TerrorThe Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
, they provided important support for the violent policies of
Maximilien RobespierreMaximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. He largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended with his...
and the
Committee of Public SafetyThe Committee of Public Safety , created in April 1793 by the National Convention and then restructured in July 1793, formed the de facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror , a stage of the French Revolution...
.
By early 1794, however,
radicalismThe term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways...
was rapidly losing influence and political legitimacy in the
Paris CommuneThe Paris Commune during the French Revolution was the government of Paris from 1789 until 1795. Established in the Hôtel de Ville just after the storming of the Bastille, the Commune became insurrectionary in the summer of 1792, essentially refusing to take orders from the central French...
. The far-left factions that enjoyed the support of the
sans-culottes began feeling the wrath of Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety, and the important leaders of the Enragés and Hébertists were imprisoned and executed by the very
Revolutionary TribunalThe Revolutionary Tribunal was a court which was instituted in Paris by the Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders, and eventually became one of the most powerful engines of the Reign of Terror....
s they had supported. With the absence of effective leadership and having lost their favor with the
JacobinsThe Jacobin Club was the most famous and influential political club in the development of the French Revolution, so-named because of the Dominican convent where they met, located in the Rue St. Jacques , Paris. The club originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles from a group of Breton...
, the
sans-culottes withered. Within a year of the execution of Robespierre and the
Thermidorian ReactionThe Thermidorian Reaction was a revolt in the French Revolution against the excesses of the Reign of Terror. It was triggered by a vote of the Committee of Public Safety to execute Maximilien Robespierre, Antoine Louis Léon de Saint-Just de Richebourg and several other leading members of the Terror...
the militants were forcibly - and permanently - suppressed by the more conservative new government, the
French DirectoryThe Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
.
Appearance
The distinctive costume of typical
sans-culottes featured:
- the pantalon (long trousers) - in place of the culottes (knee-breeches) worn by the upper classes
- the carmagnole (short-skirted coat)
- the red cap of liberty
- sabots (clogs)
Legacy
The popular image of the
sans-culotte has gained currency as an enduring symbol for the passion, idealism and
patriotismPatriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
of the common man of the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. The term
sans-culottism (French:
sans-culottisme) refers to this idealized image and the themes associated with it. Many public figures and revolutionaries who were not strictly working class styled themselves
citoyens sans-culottes in solidarity and recognition. However, in the period immediately following the
Thermidorian ReactionThe Thermidorian Reaction was a revolt in the French Revolution against the excesses of the Reign of Terror. It was triggered by a vote of the Committee of Public Safety to execute Maximilien Robespierre, Antoine Louis Léon de Saint-Just de Richebourg and several other leading members of the Terror...
the
sans-culottes and other
far-leftIn politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
political factionA political faction is a grouping of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. The individuals...
s were heavily persecuted and repressed.
The Republican Calendar at first termed the complementary days at the end of the year
Sans-culottides; however, the
National ConventionDuring the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
suppressed the name when adopting the Constitution of the Year III (1795) and substituted the name
jours complémentaires.
Criticism
Marxist historian
Eric HobsbawmEric John Ernest Hobsbawm , CH, FBA, is a British Marxist historian, public intellectual, and author...
claims that the
sans-culottes were a 'shapeless, mostly urban movement of the labouring poor, small craftsmen, shopkeepers, artisans, tiny entrepreneurs and the like'. He observes they were organised notably in the local political clubs of Paris and "provided the main striking-force of the revolution". These were the actual demonstrators, rioters and the constructors of barricades. However, Hobsbawm argues that
sans-culottism provided no real alternative to the bourgeois radicalism of the
JacobinsA Jacobin , in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary far-left political movement. The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution. So called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue St. Jacques ,...
. From Hobsbawm's perspective, the ideal of the
sans-culottes, which sought to express the interests of the 'little men' who existed between the poles of the
bourgeoisIn sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
and the
proletarianThe proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...
, was contradictory and ultimately unrealisable.
See Also
- French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
- Enragés
Les Enragés were a loose amalgam of radicals active during the French Revolution. Politically they stood to the left of the Jacobins. Represented by Jacques Roux, Théophile Leclerc, Jean Varlet and others, they believed that liberty for all meant more than mere constitutional rights...
- Hébertists
The Hébertists were an ultra-revolutionary political faction associated with the populist journalist Jacques Hébert. They came to power during the Reign of Terror and played a significant role in the French Revolution....
- Descamisado
Descamisado is a Spanish word that literally means "without shirt" or "shirtless." The term was originally used as an insult by the elite of Argentina to describe the followers of Juan Perón, who served as president of Argentina from 1946 until 1955, and then again briefly from 1973 to 1974...