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During the French Revolution, on 17 July 1791, the Champ de Mars in Paris was the site of a massacre, the ''フランス語:fusillade du Champ-de-Mars''. On that day, the National Constituent Assembly issued a decree that the king, Louis XVI, would remain king under a constitutional monarchy. Later that day, leaders of the republicans in France rallied against this decision. In the previous month Louis and his family had unsuccessfully tried to flee France in the Flight to Varennes. Jacques Pierre Brissot, editor and main writer of ''Le Patriote français'' and president of the ''Comité des Recherches'' of Paris, drew up a petition demanding the removal of the king. A large crowd gathered at the ''Champ de Mars'' to sign the petition. The marquis de Lafayette and the National Guard, which was under his command, were able to disperse the crowd. Later in the afternoon, the crowd, led by Danton and Camille Desmoulins, returned in even greater numbers. The larger crowd was also more determined than the first. Lafayette again tried to disperse it. In retaliation, the crowd threw stones at the National Guard. After firing unsuccessful warning shots, the National Guard opened fire directly on the crowd. The exact numbers of dead and wounded are unknown; estimates range from a dozen to fifty dead.〔Andress, ''The French Revolution and the people'', p. 151〕〔Neely, p. 128〕 ==Contemporary news report== The following is an excerpt of a news report about the incident printed in the ''Les Révolutions de Paris'', a republican newspaper in support of the anti-royalists who had assembled on the ''Champ de Mars'': Blood has just flowed on the field of the federation, staining the altar of the fatherland. Men and women have had their throats slashed and the citizens are at a loss. What shall become of liberty? Some say that it has been destroyed, and that the counter revolution has won. Others are certain that liberty has been avenged, and that the Revolution has been unshakably consolidated. Let us impartially examine these two such strangely differing views. ... The majority of the National Assembly, the department, the Paris municipality, and many of the writers say that the capital is overrun by brigands, that these brigands are paid by agents of foreign courts, and that they are in alliance with the factions that secretly conspire against France. They say that at ten o'clock on Sunday morning, two citizens were sacrificed to their fury. They say these citizens insulted, molested and provoked the National Guard, assassinated several of the citizen soldiers; that they went so far as to try to kill the Commandant-General. And finally they say that they gathered at the Champ de Mars for the sole purpose of disturbing public peace and order, getting so carried away that perhaps it was hard to restrain themselves two hours later. From this point of view, it is certain that the Paris municipality could have and should have taken the severe measures that it did. It is better to sacrifice some thirty wretched vagabonds than to risk the safety of twenty-five million citizens. However, if the victims of Champ de Mars were not brigands, if these victims were peaceful citizens with their wives and children, and if that terrible scene is but the result of a formidable coalition against the progress of the Revolution, then liberty is truly in danger, and the declaration of martial law is a horrible crime, and the sure precursor of counterrevolution. ... The field of the federation . . . is a vast plain, at the center of which the altar of the fatherland is located, and where the slopes surrounding the plain are cut at intervals to facilitate entry and exit. One section of the troops entered at the far side of the military school, another came through the entrance somewhat lower down, and a third by the gate that opens on to the Grande Rue de Chaillot, where the red flag〔The red flag was a widely understood signal that martial law had been declared and that normal civil policing would not necessarily be conducted. Under martial law, the National Guard was permitted, when ordered, to discharge their weapons.〕 was placed. The people at the altar, more than fifteen thousand strong, had hardly noticed the flag when shots were heard. "Do not move, they are firing blanks. They must come here to post the law." The troops advanced a second time. The composure of the faces of those who surrounded the altar did not change. But when a third volley mowed many of them down, the crowd fled, leaving only a group of a hundred people at the altar itself. Alas, they paid dearly for their courage and blind trust in the law. Men, women, even a child, were massacred there, massacred on the altar of the fatherland.〔''Les Révolutions de Paris'', no. 106, (16–23 July 1791), 53–55, 63, 65–66.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Champ de Mars Massacre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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