between religious tradition and the revolutionary foundation of democracy.'Ĭlass differences were not as great in the Vendée as in Paris or in other French provinces. The war aptly epitomizes the depth of the conflict. The historian François Furet concludes that the repression in the Vendée 'not only revealed massacre and destruction on an unprecedented scale but also a zeal so violent that it has bestowed as its legacy much of the region's identity. Ultimately, the uprising was suppressed using draconian measures.

Historians such as Reynald Secher have described these events as ' genocide,' but most scholars reject the use of the word as inaccurate. Tens of thousands of civilians, Republican prisoners, and sympathizers with the revolution were massacred by both armies. After this string of victories, the Vendeans turned to a protracted siege of Nantes, for which they were unprepared and which stalled their momentum, giving the government in Paris sufficient time to send more troops and experienced generals.

Successes continued for some time: Thouars was taken in early May and Saumur in June there were victories at Châtillon and Vihiers. Lacking a unified strategy (or army) and fighting a defensive campaign, from April onwards the army lost cohesion and its special advantages. Having secured their pays, the deficiencies of the Vendean army became more apparent. The departments included in the uprising, called the Vendée Militaire, included the area between the Loire and the Layon rivers: Vendée (Marais, Bocage Vendéen, Collines Vendéennes), part of Maine-et-Loire west of the Layon, and the portion of Deux Sèvres west of the River Thouet.

The french revolutionary wars part 4 the allied threat and the war in the vendee.

The uprising headed by the self-styled Catholic and Royal Army was comparable to the Chouannerie, which took place in the area north of the Loire. Initially, the war was similar to the 14th-century Jacquerie peasant uprising, but quickly acquired themes considered by the government in Paris to be counter-revolutionary, and Royalist. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately south of the Loire River in western France. The War in the Vendée (1793 French: Guerre de Vendée) was an uprising in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution.

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