Représentant en mission

At the time France was in crisis; not only was war going badly, as French forces were being pushed out of Belgium, but there was also revolt in the Vendée over conscription into the army and resentment of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

Representatives on mission were also used in the more dramatic cases of urban revolts (seen as parts of a single movement, and labelled by the Parisians as "federalism") in cities such as Nantes, Toulouse, Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseille.

Such authority was often abused, and the representatives frequently emerged as the most zealous proponents and executors (literally) of the Terror.

In reality, the representatives' main responsibility was to check that the generals and officers were doing their utmost to achieve victory.

Examples of représentants en mission include Joseph Fouché, Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron, Jean-Lambert Tallien, Jean-Baptiste Carrier, Étienne Christophe Maignet, Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois and Georges Couthon in Lyon.