French Revolutionary Calendar© Copyright 2009. All rights reserved and enforced French Revolutionary Calendar The French Revolutionary Calendar, created at the same time as the metric system, was an attempt to create a metric calendar and time system. Despite its revolutionary nature, however, it anchored itself in French rural life and attempted to relate to what was happening in agriculture in France at that time of the year. The calendar was the official calendar in France for 12 years, from 24 October 1793 until it was abolished 1 January 1806 by Napoléon. It was revived briefly in 1871 during the Paris Commune. The calendar even did away with the birth of Jesus Christ as year 0. Instead, year 1 was assumed to date from 22 September 1792, when the first French Republic was proclaimed. The New Year in the calendar started on the autumn equinox (22nd or 23rd of September, depending on the year.) The calendar year still had 12 months, but each month was divided into 3 weeks (called "décades".) Each week had 10 days. The accompanying attempt at metric time gave each day 10 hours, each hour 100 "decimal" minutes and each minute 100 "decimal" seconds. The time part of it though was officially abandoned in 1795. The calendar was designed by Charles Gilbert Romme, a politician. Fabre d'Églantine came up with the names of the months used. They were completely made-up words, inspired by Latin and Greek words for the most part, perhaps meant to inspire by reminding people of Roman and Greek republics in the past. The names of the months were meant to reflect what would be happening agriculturally at that time of year in France. Days of the Week New names were invented for the ten days of the week, making a complete break with the past by getting rid of the older names based on religion or superstition. The names were also logical, strictly reflecting their place in the week.
Months of the Year
‡ Baccharis halimifolia, aka "seneçon en arbre" in French, aka "Groundseltree" in English. Planted as a windbreak.
The French Revolutionary Calendar was never popular for several reasons. The variation in the autumn equinox, which determined its start, made it complicated to plot. That was a minor detail though compared to what it did to people's work weeks. Previously, people had 1 day in 7 off as a day of rest. The new calendar only gave them 1 day in 10, and the bonus 5 holidays at the end weren't enough to compensate for it.
Also called: Calendrier Républicain (French)
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