Girondins:

They Participated in the Revolution.

They were Moderates who hoped that the king would agree to rule under Constitutional
Monarchy.

Horrified by the blind violence of the mobs, particularly the Parisian,

They believe in:

Democracy, public education, human rights

Separation of powers (it’s not one person who makes the laws, controls the courts or
controls the government, but a different body of people for each power.)

Some famous girondins: Marquis de Lafayette

Madam Roland

Charlote Corday

Jacobins

They participated in the French Revolution.

They are the radicals of the French Revolution and were against the king. They had the
support of the poorest of the Paris. Jacobins were associated with the reign of terror.

They believed in equality, particularly economic equality. They put great efforts on
making food affordable for the poor. Under the pressure of the sans culottes (the
poorest Parisians) they introduced the Law of Maximum, whereby the price of bread
and basic food items had to remain at an affordable price.

The Mountain - The Montagnards

They were part of the Jacobins, but the most radical. They were called the mountain
because they sat at the highest benches of the National Assembly.
The ‘mob’ or sans culottes.

They were the driving force of the revolution. Mostly, ordinary Parisians and numbered
many women in their ranks. Many of them were the poorest of the poor; Some could not
afford the basics. They hardly ate any meat, their diet would rely, mainly, on bread,
thus they would be very sensitive at any increase of their main food supply. Some of
them were, also, homeless. They were staunch supporters of democracy and were
against the king, especially the queen and were afraid that the king will send an army
against them. The more panicked they felt about an imminent royalist coup, the more
violent would become.