Ventôse Decrees

Ventôse Decrees, during the French Revolution, laws providing for the confiscation of the property of enemies of the revolution and its distribution to needy patriots. The Ventôse Decrees are sometimes considered to be the most radical expression of social democracy of the revolution. They were passed by the National Convention (revolutionary assembly) on 8 and 13 Ventôse in the year II (February 26 and March 3, 1794) at the request of the idealistic young revolutionary Louis de Saint-Just, a member of the Committee of Public Safety (the executive ruling body). Although undertaken by the government as a political move to secure the support of the popular classes, the Ventôse Decrees failed in this goal because the most pressing need of the lower classes, the problem of obtaining food, was not met. The Ventôse Decrees were not put into effect and were completely abandoned after the fall of Maximilien Robespierre on 9 Thermidor (July 27, 1794).