I was reading a book review in the London Review of Books, I don't remember what book it was but the review went through the history of the revolutionary Terror, as it did they mentioned a group called the Federalists who fought against the National Assembly and thus inspired some of the laws used to enact the Terror.
Who were the Federalists and why did they fight against the National Assembly?
I'm very interested in well written books on the French Revolution both in general and specifically about the café/philosophy club culture that gave birth to a lot of, as I understand it, the ideas that inspired the revolutionaries. Any recommendations welcome! Where can I learn more about the French Revolution?
I'll try to give you an answer but it's complicated so if anyone has a better understanding than myself please read them.
In Ancient Regime France, the country was divided in provinces, which were full of specificities (tariffs, laws, etc.), so the National Convention created departments, which were equals. The deputies fought each others on different conceptions of the state, the treatment of the king, economy, society, etc. We will restrain the discussion on the issue of federalism. The two prevalent forces in 1793 where the radical Montagnards and the more moderate Girondins, the firsts wanted a centralized state, and the seconds defended a model inspired by the United States of America.
Montagnards were mostly formed of deputies from the department if the Seine and from the great cities, with plenty of support from the people of Paris and radical positions: they voted to kill the king, launched the Terror. Girondins were named after the department around Bordeaux.
The conflict was very bitter with deputies forming comities to fight (and arrest) each others. The sans-culottes from Paris added oil to the fire and went two times to the Convention demanding Girondin deputies to be arrested, the first time (May 31, 1793) only a Girondin comity was broken (the Comity of the Twelve), the second time (June 2, 1793) 22 deputies were arrested.
Some of those deputies, under house arrest, ran away to the departments were they had support and launched a counter-revolution centered around federations of departments. Thus Caen, Evreux, Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nîmes rebelled against the tyranny of Paris and the National Convention. But they were swiftly defeated by delegates from the Convention with dictatorial powers, the last rebel city Marseille fell December 19, 1793.