French Calendar Reform: The De-Christianization of France

French_Calendar_Reform ^ | Laura Vornholt-Jones

[CondoleezzaProtege]

During the French Revolution, France set aside Christianity and in public forum denounced the God of Heaven. “The world for the first time heard an assembly of men, born and educated in civilization, and assuming the right to govern one of the finest of the European nations, uplift their united voice to deny the most solemn truth which man’s soul receives, and renounced unanimously the belief and worship of a Deity.”

On October 23, 1793, just nine days after Queen Marie Atoinette was executed, the Republican Calendar was decreed. Pierre Sylvain Maréchal, who originally proposed the change, declared: “the calendar of the French Republic . . . must not resemble in any respect the official annuals of the apostolic and Roman Church.”

The new calendar bore a striking resemblance to the old Egyptian solar calendar. There were 12 months, each containing 30 days each. The months were broken up into 10 -day décades with the final day being a day of rest. This was not a day to worship the God of Heaven. This was merely a day of rest from labor. At the end of the year, following the 12th month of Fructidor, a final five days were added to the calendar (six in a leap year.) These were each named in celebration of various revolutionary principles: Fete de la vertu (Celebration of virtue); Fete du genie (Celebration of genius); Fete du travail (Celebration of labor); Fete de l’opinion (Celebration of opinion); Fete des recompenses (Celebration of rewards); and, the leap day Jour de la revolution (Day of the revolution).

[CondoleezzaProtege]

The Directory’s main goal was obvious –to pull the entire social and economic life of France outside the sphere of the traditional Christian weekly rhythm, so as to make the latter absolutely irrelevant to daily life...The French [found] it almost impossible to even keep track of the days of the seven-day week when almost their entire affairs would be regulated by a ten-day rhythm of activity. Furthermore, how would anyone be able to preserve the traditional Christian way of life and attend church regularly every Sunday, when stores could be closed only on Décadis and Quintidi afternoons? Similarly, given that fish markets were held only on Duodi, Quintidi, and Septidi, how would citizens be able to keep eating fish every Friday?" - Eviatar Zerubavel

"French reform of time did not end with the days, weeks, months and years. They even established a new clock. In a decree dated October 5, 1793, it was declared: “The day, from midnight to midnight, is divided into ten parts, each part into ten others, so on until the smallest measurable portion of duration.” - (Article XI)

"The Concordant of 1801, which was an agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII, restored some civil status to the Roman Catholic Church in France, and acknowledged the Church as the majority church of France. September 9, 1805, decreed that Sunday was once again the official rest day of France. The Republican Calendar was finally abolished by Napoleon a little over 12 years after it was legislated. France returned to the Gregorian calendar January 1, 1806. The papal calendar had triumphed.

[hanamizu]

The months were broken up into 10 -day décades with the final day being a day of rest.

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Like with so many revolutionary changes, the workers got screwed. Instead of one day of rest in 7, it became one in 10. but if you complain about it, you’re a counter-revolutionary and a guest of Madame Guillotine.

[kearnyirish2]

They replaced the bishops on chessboards with jesters...

[KC_Lion]

Honestly, it is along the same lines as creating a new geological epoch that centers around the creation of the Atomic Bomb.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocene

Basically make WWII a starting point with all history that precedes it being viewed "Times in a totally remote and different past".

[Calvin Locke]

IIRC, the change was not only to eliminate the references to Christianity, but to the monarchy as well.

What'd they replace the king and queen with?

[KarlInOhio]

Today is the 7th of Germinal, year 227.

[a fool in paradise]

I’m surprised that they don’t mark time by the birth of Karl Marx or the Russian Revolution.

WWII neither started nor ended anything as an epoch.

The “Cold War” followed on the heels of WWII as Soviet imperialist expansion began consuming countries in Europe and undermining governments on other continents.

Communism killed more people AFTER WWII so man had not gotten over genocide or despotism.

[a fool in paradise]

Which month is the one they use to celebrate black people?women? gay people? pacific islanders? hispanics?

A new calendar has already been established in America.

[kearnyirish2]

I don’t believe they replaced those two.

[kearnyirish2]

According to the Khmer Rouge, this is the year 44. They re-set their calendar back to “Year Zero”, when Cambodians would return to their ancestral agricultural roots. They killed 1/4 of their population to demonstrate how its done...

[YogicCowboy]

And that was the difference between the American and French revolutions and their outcomes: the presence or absence of Christianity.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks CondoleezzaProtege. Resting on one day out of ten and eschewing all the traditional holidays? They may as well have named it the "blue, white, and red new deal".

[Wuli]

How quickly the “direct democracy” of the “revolutionary” mobs of France, true to form and history, descended to the imposed tyranny of a tyrant - Napoleon. That is not to say that Napoleon was worse than the “revolutionaries”, when in many ways he was better. It is just a reminder of where direct democracy on the scale of a whole nation goes - some form of tyranny and most often ending with a dictator.