GIORDINI. – The term “g.” refers to the political figures who, during the French Revolution, in the Legislative Assembly and the Convention from October 1791 to 10 August 1792, fought for the nation against the monarchy, and from 10 August 1792 to 2 June 1793, fought for the liberty and equality of all citizens against the arrogance, violence and tyranny of the Jacobins. The deputies from Bordeaux and the department of the Gironde in the broad sense (from which the name “g.” derives) at the beginning of the Legislative Assembly made contact with Brissot, an ardent republican, and spent their time discussing political issues in an apartment on Place Vendôme and coordinating their stance during parliamentary debates. Gradually a fairly substantial nucleus of deputies and political figures came into being: from the discussions among a few there arose a new political and parliamentary force.
Supporters of the Republic, the g. were nevertheless opposed to any sudden political upheaval, fearing that the decline of the monarchy would bring internal and external complications. Convinced that the new order could only be established gradually with prospects of lasting success, they opposed the extremist policy inaugurated by the most zealous Jacobins with the Parisian insurrection of 10 August 1792. The arrogance of the Paris Commune, which by its use of force imposed its will on all France, provoked strong opposition between the provinces and the capital. The g., champions of the liberty and autonomy of the departments, found themselves in open conflict with the Mountain, the far-left faction of the Convention elected in September 1792. Between them, who sat on the right, and the advocates of revolutionary intransigence, a life-and-death struggle began, ending on 31 May 1793 with the indictment of 31 Girondin deputies. The Mountain had triumphed. The g. were arrested by the hundreds, along with anyone suspected of being one. Among the deputies, Brissot—considered the group’s diplomat and an enthusiastic advocate of equality among men of different races—and Vergniaud, the group’s most brilliant orator, were guillotined; among those who were not deputies, Madame Roland, the “Nina Egeria” of the Gironde, met her end at the hands of the executioner. After the fall of Robespierre, only twenty-four of the nearly two hundred Girondin deputies resumed their seats in the Convention.