In the history of France, the First Republic (French: Première République), officially the French

Republic (République française), was founded on 22 September 1792 during the French
Revolution. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First Empire in 1804 under
Napoleon, although the form of the government changed several times. This period was
characterized by the fall of the monarchy, the establishment of the National Convention and the
Reign of Terror, the Thermidorian Reaction and the founding of the Directory, and, finally, the
creation of the Consulate and Napoleon's rise to power.

Contents
• 1 End of the monarchy in France
• 2 National Convention
• 3 Directory
• 4 Consulate
• 5 Leading heads of the Republic
• 6 See also
• 7 References

End of the monarchy in France

Main article: Proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy
Under the Legislative Assembly, which was in power before the proclamation of the First Republic,
France was engaged in war with Prussia and Austria. In July 1792, the Duke of Brunswick,
commanding general of the Austro–Prussian Army, issued his Brunswick Manifesto, in which he
threatened the destruction of Paris should any harm come to the King Louis XVI of France. The
foreign threat exacerbated France's political turmoil amid the French Revolution and deepened the
passion and sense of urgency among the various factions. In the violence of 10 August 1792,
citizens stormed the Tuileries Palace, killing six hundred of the King's Swiss guards and insisting on
the removal of the king.[2] A renewed fear of anti-revolutionary action prompted further violence,
and in the first week of September 1792, mobs of Parisians broke into the city's prisons, killing over
half of the prisoners. This included nobles, clergymen, and political prisoners, but also numerous
common criminals, such as prostitutes and petty thieves, many murdered in their cells—raped,
stabbed, and slashed to death. This became known as the September Massacres.[3]