What was the Prairial Uprising?

The Prairial Uprising of Year III (20 May 1795) was a last-ditch effort by the radical sans-culottes and Jacobins to regain control of the French Revolution. It was also the last major popular insurrection of the Revolution.

Why did the Prairial Uprising fail?

The Prairial Uprising failed because the Parisian sans-culottes had been disempowered during the Reign of Terror, and because the uprising was not as efficiently organized as previous popular insurrections.

What were the goals of the Prairial Uprising?

The Prairial Uprising of Year III demanded bread and the Constitution of 1793; bread because the poor of Paris was quite literally dying of starvation, and the constitution because France was currently without one.

Prairial Uprising Timeline

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Definition

The Uprising of 1 Prairial Year III (20 May 1795) was the last major popular insurrection during the French Revolution (1789-1799). It was the final time that the sans-culottes played an important role in French politics until the revolutions of the 19th century, and it dashed any hopes that the Jacobins would regain power after the fall of Maximilien Robespierre.

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