GIRONDINI. — The name g. is given to those politicians 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 for the liberty and equality of all citizens against the ascendancy, violence, and tyranny of the Jacobins. The deputies from Bordeaux and, in the broader sense, from the department of Gironde (hence the name g.), at the beginning of the Legislative Assembly made contact with Brissot, an ardent republican, and spent their time discussing political questions in an apartment on Place Vendôme and coordinating the stance to be adopted during parliamentary debates. Gradually, a fairly substantial nucleus of deputies and politicians was formed: from discussions begun by a few, a new political and parliamentary force had arisen.
Supporters of the Republic, the g. were nevertheless opposed to a sudden political upheaval, because they feared that the fall of the monarchy would lead to internal and foreign complications. Convinced that the new order could be established only progressively, with prospects of lasting success, they opposed the extremist policy inaugurated by the most ardent Jacobins with the Parisian insurrection of 10 August 1792. The abuse of power by the Commune of Paris, which through its forceful action imposed its will on all France, provoked strong opposition between the provinces and the capital. The g., advocates of the liberty and autonomy of the departments, found themselves in open conflict with the Mountain, the most left-wing section of the Convention elected in September 1792. Between them, who sat on the right, and the advocates of revolutionary intransigence, a duel to the death began, ending on 31 May 1793 with the indictment of 31 Girondin deputies. The Mountain had triumphed. Hundreds of g. were arrested, as was anyone suspected of being one. Among the deputies, Brissot, regarded as the group’s diplomat and an enthusiastic advocate of equality among people of different races, and Vergniaud, the group’s most brilliant orator, were guillotined; among those who were not deputies, Madame Roland, the “Egerian Nymph” of the Gironde, lost her life at the hands of the executioner. After the fall of Robespierre, only twenty-four of the nearly two hundred deputies of the Gironde resumed their seats in the Convention.