Thermidor

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Allegory of Thermidor

The Thermidor (German also hot month) is the eleventh month of the republican calendar of the French Revolution . He follows the Messidor , he follows the Fructidor .

The name was derived from Fabre d'Églantine from the Greek θερμός ( thermós ) 'warm, hot, heated, passionate' and δῶρον ( dõron ) 'gift'. The Thermidor is the second month of the summer quarter ( mois d'été ) and thus the eleventh month of the French revolution year. It starts around July 19th and ends around August 17th .

History

The deposition of Maximilien de Robespierre at the end of July 1794 is also known as Thermidor after this month . On 8th Thermidor (July 26th) he had threatened various members of the National Assembly, especially Joseph Cambon , in a speech with death. Many MPs in the National Assembly felt threatened by Robespierre's hints, so that their large majority decided on the 9th Thermidor to arrest Robespierre. The day after, the 10th Thermidor, he and twenty-one of his followers were executed, including Louis Antoine de Saint-Just and François Hanriot .

The subsequent, less radical ruling politicians were called Thermidorians .

The Thermidor of the Russian Revolution

Leon Trotsky described the upheaval on the political level as the Thermidor of the Russian Revolution, which was marked by the rise of Stalin to sole power and the Moscow show trials . "The Soviet thermidor," he wrote in Revolution Betrayed , "we define as the victory of the bureaucracy over the masses."

“It is well known,” he said of the parallels Thermidor made in the French and Russian revolutions, “that up to now every revolution has triggered a reaction or even counterrevolution, which admittedly never threw the nation back to the point of origin, the people but always wrested the lion's share of his conquests. As a rule, the victims of the first reactionary wave are the pioneers, initiators and initiators who were at the forefront of the masses during the period of attack of the revolution; on the other hand, people of the second caliber come first, in league with yesterday's enemies of the revolution. Behind the dramatic duels of the ' luminaries ' on the open political stage, there are shifts in class relations and, what is no less important, radical changes in the psyche of the yesterday revolutionary masses ”(Chapter 5).

Day names

Like all months of the French Revolutionary Calendar, the Thermidor had 30 days, which were divided into 3 decades. The days were named after agricultural crops, with the exception of the 5th and 10th day of each decade. The 5th day (Quintidi) was named after a pet, the 10th day (Decadi) after an agricultural implement.

Day names for the Thermidor
1 re Decade 2 e decade 3 e decade
Primidi 1. Epeautre (spelled) 11. Panis (man litter) 21st Carline (silver thistle)
Duodi 2. Bouillon blanc (Mullein) 12. Salicor Salicorne ( samphire ) 22nd Câprier (caper bush)
Tridi 3. Melon (melon) 13. Abricot (apricot) 23. Lentille (lens)
Quartidi 4th Ivraie (ryegrass) 14th Basilic (basil) 24. Aunée (alant)
Quintidi 5. Bélier (Aries) 15th Brebis (sheep) 25th Loutre (Otter)
Agneau (Lamb)
Sextidi 6th Prêle (horsetail) 16. Guimauve (marshmallow) 26th Myrtle (myrtle)
Septidi 7th Armoise (mugwort) 17th Lin (flax) 27. Colza (rapeseed)
Octidi 8th. Carthame (safflower) 18th Amande (almond) 28. Lupine (lupine)
Nonidi 9. Mûre (blackberry) 19th Genthiane (gentian) 29 Coton (cotton)
Décadi 10. Arrosoir (watering can) 20th Écluse (lock) 30th Moulin (mill)
Modern French names appear in italics . Fabre d'Églantine proposals that were not accepted appear in lower case.

Conversion table

Conversion table between the Republican and Gregorian calendar
for the month "Thermidor"
I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII.
1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 11 12 13 14th 15th 16 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23 24 25th 26th 27 28 29 30th
19th 20th 21st 22nd 23 24 25th 26th 27 28 29 30th 31 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 11 12 13 14th 15th 16 17th
July 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 August
VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII.
1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 11 12 13 14th 15th 16 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23 24 25th 26th 27 28 29 30th
20th 21st 22nd 23 24 25th 26th 27 28 29 30th 31 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 11 12 13 14th 15th 16 17th 18th
July 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 August

Conversion example

The 8th Thermidor II is to be determined .

The year II is in the upper table, below the Gregorian year 1794 . Under the 8th (top line of the day) is the 26th. Since this is before the month transition (31st → 1st), July is meant.

So the Gregorian date is July 26, 1794 .

See also: Conversion table between Gregorian and Republican calendars

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Entry "Thermidor" , in Trésor de la langue française informatisé .