The great French revolution of 1789 left a significant mark in European history. The participants in the revolutionary uprisings were different strata of the population of France, including sans-culottes. This word, probably, was heard by few people in our country. Not even all history teachers will immediately be able to tell who it is.
Meaning of the word “sansculiota”
In French, the word is written as sans-culottes. What are these mysterious unique personalities? Sankylots - this is the name of the representatives of the so-called "third estate". In the times of the French Revolution, not-so-humble people were especially revolutionary towards the monarchy, therefore it was they who were often the most active in the events taking place. According to their social status, the “third estate” in the 18th century included artisans and the petty bourgeoisie. It was these layers of French society at that time that were called "sansculottes."
The name comes from the style of clothing
The French historical tradition provides for each social stratum a certain style of clothing. Based on this, we will try to understand the origin of this word. Representatives of the elite of French society (men) in almost all paintings are depicted in "culottes". These are short tight pants that only representatives of the upper classes had the right to wear.
Accordingly, persons who did not have a special legal status (belonging to a certain high class were necessarily documented) could not wear such pants. They usually wore long trousers.
The role of the sansculots in the revolution
Sankulots are the most active participants in the uprising. It was they who July 14, 1789 were able to break into the Armory, where they were able to get more than 30,000 muskets. Weapons were vital for the revolutionary forces, so the question that the sans-culottes decided was extremely important. The capture of so many muskets largely determined the success of most of the future actions of the revolutionaries.
It was the sans-culottes, distributing the seized weapons between the units, who organized the capture of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. In addition, the "third estate" was the basis for the formation of the National Guard. The assault on the Tuileries Palace was also organized by the sans-culottes. This event, as you know, led to the fall of the monarchy in France.
In the formation of local self-government bodies, representatives of the monarchist elite, of course, could not get important posts, therefore it was artisans, poor people and the petty bourgeoisie that became the social basis for selecting candidates for these structures.