Legislative Assembly

After the Constitution was passed a new Legislative Assembly was elected in order to implement the new legal measures. There were two major groups:

Girondists.

• They believed in revolution but they were moderate since they represented the bourgeoisie.
• They favoured liberal economic policies and the middle class.
• They were keen to maintain the censitary suffrage.

Jacobins.

• They also believed in revolution but their ideas were more radical.
• The Jacobins wanted to abolish monarchy and to judge the king.
• They believed in universal suffrage.
• Their economic policies were more protectionist since they meant to control prices rises in order to help the lower classes.Their main supporters were the workers of Paris, known as sans-culottes, who caused many riots to favour the Jacobins.
• The main Jacobin leader was Maximilien de Robespierre.

Some nations did not accept the new French situation and Austria and Prussia declared the war on France in April 1792. France was completely crushed in this first war although they manage to win the battle of Valmy (20 September 1792) against the Austrian-Prussian coalition.
The international defeats caused a major riot that attacked the Tuileries Palace and a new assembly was established: the Convention