War in the Vendée

• 1. Origins And Social Context

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  The rural Vendée region of western France stood apart from the rest of the country in 1789. An Intendants' survey revealed that local nobility lived among peasants there, unlike other areas where aristocrats had moved to cities. This feudal structure created a unique social dynamic. The Catholic Church held immense power alongside the nobility. Counter-Enlightenment author Francois Mignet later accused militant Republicans of wanting to destroy this independence and influence. In February 1793, the National Convention decreed mass conscription upon all of France. This order required Vendeans to fill their district's quota of the national total of 300,000 men. The decree enraged the local nobility, clergy, and populace who took up arms instead. They formed what became known as "The Catholic Army" with "Royal" added later. Their primary goal was reopening parish churches with former priests. Anti-clericalism and coercive secularization triggered the belligerence. Another trigger was further mass conscription into the French Revolutionary Army. Some Vendean peasants had lived as tenant farmers on Church-owned farmland. They overwhelmingly embraced the Revolution after all Church lands were seized and redistributed by the Republican government. Yet historians argue that over one hundred years of struggle to impose republicanism upon France, middle class members were the primary beneficiaries. Nearly all purchasers of former Church land were bourgeoisie and very few peasants benefited from confiscation and sales.

• 2. Military Campaigns And Battles

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  The insurrection began in March 1793 as a rejection of the mass conscription edict. Youths from communes surrounding Cholet invaded the town and killed the commander of the National Guard. Within a week violence spread to the Breton marshlands. Peasants overran the town of Machecoul on the 11th of March and massacred several hundred Republican citizens. A large band under Jacques Cathelineau and Jean-Nicolas Stofflet seized Saint-Florent-le-Vieil on the 12th of March. The first pitched battle occurred on the night of the 19th of March near Chantonnay. A Republican column of 2,000 men moved from La Rochelle to Nantes but was intercepted north of Chantonnay near the Gravereau bridge. After six hours of fighting rebel reinforcements arrived and routed the Republican forces. On the 3rd of May 1793 Bressuire fell to Vendéen forces led by Henri de la Rochejaquelein. The Battle of Thouars took place on the 5th of May 1793 with the main clash occurring on the Pont de Vrine bridge. Louis Marie de Lescure fought alone on the bridge under enemy fire and encouraged his men to follow him. Republicans were taken from behind by cavalry under Charles de Bonchamps which had crossed the river at a ford. On the 25th of May 1793 the Catholic and royalist army took Fontenay-le-Comte. Lescure led his men in a courageous charge shouting "Long live the king!" while braving cannon fire. On the 9th of June 1793 Vendean insurgents commanded by Jacques Cathelineau captured Saumur from Louis-Alexandre Berthier. This victory gave insurgents massive supplies including 50 cannons. It marked the high point of the insurgency. The Vendeans never before attempted to take such a large town and captured it in a single day inflicting heavy losses on defenders.

• 3. Republican Repression Tactics

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  On the 1st of August 1793 the Committee of Public Safety ordered Jean-Baptiste Carrier to carry out pacification by complete physical destruction. These orders persisted as a steady stream of demands for total destruction. The Republican army was reinforced benefiting from levée en masse and reinforcements from Mainz. The Vendean army suffered its first serious defeat at Cholet on the 17th of October 1793. Worse still their army split into two parts. In October 1793 the main force commanded by Henri de la Rochejaquelein crossed the Loire heading for Granville where they expected British ships. Arriving at Granville they found the city surrounded with no British fleet in sight. Their attempts to take the city failed during retreat extended columns fell prey to Republican forces suffering from hunger and disease while dying in thousands. The force was defeated decisively at Savenay on the 23rd of December 1793. Among those executed the following day was lieutenant-general Jacques Alexis de Verteuil. After the Battle of Savenay General Westermann reported to his political masters that he had trampled children beneath horses' feet and massacred women so they would no longer give birth to brigands. From January to May 1794 twenty thousand to fifty thousand Vendean civilians were massacred by infernal columns under general Louis Marie Turreau. Farms were destroyed crops burned forests razed villages leveled. One specific target were women seen as carrying anti-revolutionary babies who became primary targets. Under orders from the Committee of Public Safety in February 1794 twelve infernal columns marched through the Vendée. General Turreau inquired about fate of women and children stating if necessary to pass them all by sword he required a decree. In response the Committee ordered him to eliminate brigands to last man.

• 4. The Genocide Debate

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  Popular historiography of the War in the Vendée is deeply rooted in pervasive political polarization within post-1789 French culture. Scholarship generally lacks objectivity coming down strongly in defense of either First French Republic or Vendéen rebels and local Catholic Church. This conflict originated in nineteenth century between two groups called Bleus and Blancs. The Bleus defended French Revolutionary Army based solely on documents from Republican sources. The Blancs used eyewitness accounts memoirs by survivors and local oral histories alongside archival documents. Charles-Louis Chassin published eleven volumes arguing war resulted from reactionary noble and priestly lies manipulating peasantry against self-appointed liberators. Meanwhile Les Blancs alleged peasant rebels acted out of genuine love loyalty towards individual families and desire to protect Catholic Church from religious persecution. French historian Reynald Secher's 1986 book A French Genocide: The Vendée argued total war unleashed by Republicans were first modern genocide. Claude Langlois derided claims as quasi-mythological while Timothy Tackett stated word genocide wholly inaccurate inappropriate for tragic civil war with horrors committed by both sides. Peter McPhee said pacification does not fit United Nations definition because events happened during civil war. Michel Vovelle remarked whole literature forming on Franco-French genocide starting from risky estimates fatalities. Alexander Solzhenitsyn delivered speech in Les Lucs-sur-Boulogne in 1993 comparing Bolsheviks following October Revolution with Jacobin Club leadership during French Revolution. He compared Vendean rebels with Russian Ukrainian Cossack peasants destroyed mercilessly by revolutionary despotism. Debate renewed in 2007 when nine deputies introduced measure to National Assembly officially recognize Republican actions as genocidal.

• 5. Subsequent Uprisings And Legacy

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  Treaties concluded at La Jaunaye on the 15th of February 1795 and at La Mabillaie fairly well observed by Vendeans. No obstacle remained but feeble scattered remnant still under arms and Chouans. On the 16th of July 1796 Directory proclaimed official end of war. On the 30th of July state of siege raised in western departments. The Hundred Days period saw Napoleon send force of ten thousand under Jean Maximilien Lamarque to pacify eight thousand Vendeans led by Pierre Constant Suzannet ending with Battle of Rocheservière. War lasted intensity from 1793 to 1799 when suppressed but later broke out spasmodically especially in 1813 1814 and 1815. During Napoleon's Hundred Days some population remained loyal to Louis XVIII forcing him to send troops. The Vendée still experienced last brief uprisings with third war in 1799 fourth in 1815 fifth in 1832 though much smaller scale. Estimates killed range between one hundred seventeen thousand and four hundred fifty thousand out population around eight hundred thousand. Department name Vendée renamed Venge during republican imperial rule. Towns cities also renamed. Events subject books films music including docu-drama The Hidden Rebellion produced Daniel Rabourdin winning 2017 Remi Film Award aired EWTN available purchase DVD. Independent feature film The War of the Vendée written directed Jim Morlino won awards Best Film For Young Audiences Mirabile Dictu International Catholic Film Festival Vatican Best Director John Paul II International Film Festival Miami FL. French black folk metal band Paydretz works plays exclusively Wars Vendée Chouannerie.