Question

who are the sans-culottes?

Answer 1

The Sans-Culottes were the working men of Paris, who longed for a political voice in the tumultous political scene of the early 1790s. The man who provided them with a place to air their political views was George Jacques Danton. He founded the Cordeliers Club to give the Sans-Culottes a voice in government because they were too poor to qualify as voters. Members paid a few cents a month for the privilege of gathering as a group and hearing the Club's prominent members speak (Camille Desmoulins and Jean Paul Marat were among them). The sans-culottes circulated petitions that demanded the removal of the King and the declaration of a republic. Although their petitions were initially rejected, their demands were eventually met as the Revolution played out. The sans culottes were a powerful force in Paris throughout the Revolution, but disappeared from the political scene when Robespierre fell from power in 1794.