Ventôse Decrees
방토즈 법령
Decrees proposed to the French National Convention by Saint-Just on 8 and 13 Ventôse, Year II (26 February and 3 March 1794). They provided for confiscating the property of exiles and opponents of the Revolution and transferring it to indigent patriots, on the argument that enemies of the Revolution had forfeited their civil rights, including the right to own property.
In depth
Content
The first decree (8 Ventôse, 26 February 1794) provided for releasing incarcerated patriots and for the sequestration of the property of suspects recognized as enemies of the Republic; the second (13 Ventôse, 3 March 1794) ordered two lists drawn up, one of indigent patriots and one of persons detained for political reasons. The confiscated property was meant to be transferred to indigent patriots, but the sources describe the implementing procedures only in outline, so application in the provinces should not be asserted as established.
Decrees versus enforcement
The confiscation of the property of the Republic's enemies was to permit a massive redistribution of wealth, but it had scarcely more than a beginning of realization. The French-language account records that the decrees ceased to be applied after Robespierre's death (9 Thermidor, 28 July 1794), while the English-language account states that efforts to enforce them ended within a few months. One account adds that Robespierre supported the decrees in theory but realized he lacked the support to implement them. The statutory text and its actual enforcement must be read separately.
Revolutionary government and the suspended constitution
The decrees belong to the revolutionary-government phase of the Terror, when the Constitution of 1793 (Constitution of Year I) was never applied. It provided for male universal suffrage, while the National Convention governed through the Committee of Public Safety and the Committee of General Security. This was a state of exception confronting foreign war, federalist revolt and the Vendée insurrection. In March 1794 the powers of the state, except the financial part, were concentrated in the Committee of Public Safety alone.
Authorship
Saint-Just was 37th President of the National Convention from 19 February to 6 March 1794, and he pushed for the confiscation of the property of the enemies of the Republic for the benefit of poor patriots. The Ventôse Decrees are distinct from the Law of Suspects, the General Maximum and the Law of 22 Prairial.