Revolutionary sections of Paris

By a decree of 21 May 1790, sanctioned by King Louis XVI on 27 June, the National Constituent Assembly created 48 'sections' ('section' then meaning a territorial and administrative division) to replace the 60 districts.

[1] On 9 August 1792 each section delegated commissioners elected by the active and passive citizens, as a replacement for the 'municipalité' of Paris.

There were 52 of these commissioners in total (including Jacques-René Hébert, Pierre-Gaspard Chaumette and François-Xavier Audouin) and they triggered the events of 10 August 1792, putting an end to the monarchy and giving rise to the 'Revolutionary Commune' of Paris.

Set up by a law of 21 March 1793, the initial task of the sections' revolutionary committees was surveillance on foreigners without interfering in the lives of French citizens.

In the Thermidorian Reaction of 27 July 1794, during the fall of Maximilien Robespierre, 18 companies had been sent to the front by order of Lazare Carnot.