A new assembly, the National Convention, was elected by universal suffrage on 20 September 1792. The next day, the deputies abolished the royalty, which had been overthrown on August 10, and proclaimed the Republic.
The decrees of the Convention are therefore dated to Year I of the Republic (the Republican calendar). The regime claims to be democratic, with the Constitution of Year I (1793), not applied. Two political factions clashed at the Convention: the Girondins, who were moderate republicans, and the Montagnards, more radical and centralizing. This struggle led to the days of 31 May to 2 June 1793, which marked the triumph of the Montagnards. Most of the Girondins perished under the guillotine.
The Montagnards set up a revolutionary government, the Committee of Public Safety, dominated by Danton, then, after the fall of the latter, on July 10, 1793, by Robespierre. In September 1793, they introduced the “Terror“.
In July 1794, the moderate Republicans returned to power. A new Constitution was adopted (Constitution of Year III) and a new regime, the Directory, was put in place.
After the coup d’état of Brumaire year VIII (November 1799), the Constitution actually established the dictatorship of Bonaparte, which turned into a monarchy by the Sénatus-Consultes of May 18, 1804, also known as the “Constitution of the year XII”.