The Mountain

The Mountain (French: La Montagne, pronounced [la mɔ̃taɲ] ) was a political group during the French Revolution. Its members, called the Montagnards (French: [mɔ̃taɲaʁ]), sat on the highest benches in the National Convention. The term, first used during a session of the Legislative Assembly, came into general use in 1793. By the summer of 1793, the pair of opposed minority groups, the Montagnards and the Girondins, divided the National Convention. That year, the Montagnards were influential in what is commonly known as the Reign of Terror. The Mountain was the left-leaning radical group and opposed the more right-leaning Girondins. Despite the fact that both groups of the Jacobin Club had virtually no difference with regard to the establishment of the French Republic, the aggressive military intentions of the rich merchant class-backed Girondins, such as conquering the Rhineland, Poland and the Netherlands with a goal of creating a protective ring of satellite republics in Great Britain, Spain, and Italy, and a potential war with Austria, enabled the Montagnards to take over the administrative power of the National Convention under the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre who openly advocated for a more peaceful external policy and rather focusing on the issues within the newly-founded First French Republic. This sharp transition of power from Girondins to Montagnards was effected after Robespierre accused the former group of traitorous and counter-revolutionary activities as well as betraying the Republic, which resulted in the execution of fellow Revolutionists including considerably influential figures like Jacques Pierre Brissot, and later the former Montagnard Georges Jacques Danton. The Mountain was composed mainly of members of the middle class but represented the constituencies of Paris. As such, the Mountain was sensitive to the motivations of the city and responded strongly to demands from the working-class sans-culottes. The Mountain operated on the belief...