Society of the Panthéon
A 1796 engraving, denigrating the conspiracy (1796)
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| Native name | Conjuration des Égaux |
|---|---|
| Date | May 1796 |
| Location | France |
| Type | Political plot |
| Cause | Disatisfaction with the Directory |
| Organised by |
François-Noël Babeuf Philippe Buonarroti Sylvain Maréchal |
| Outcome | Conspiracy discovered and repressed |
| Arrest(s) | 245 presumed conspirators |
| Sentence | Capital punishment |
The Conspiracy of the Equals (French: Conjuration des Égaux) of May 1796 was a failed coup de main during the French Revolution. It was led by François-Noël Babeuf, who wanted to overthrow the Directory and replace it with an egalitarian and proto-socialist republic, inspired by Jacobin ideals.
It was the attempts of the Directory to deal with the economic crisis that gave Babeuf his historical importance. The new government was pledged to abolish the system by which Paris was fed at the expense of all France, and the cessation of the distribution of bread and meat at nominal prices was fixed for 20 February 1796. The announcement caused the most widespread consternation. Not only were the workmen and the large class of proletarians attracted to Paris by the system, but rentiers and government officials, whose incomes were paid in assignats on a scale arbitrarily fixed by the government, saw themselves threatened with starvation. The government yielded to the outcry; but the expedients by which it sought to mitigate the evil, notably the division of those entitled to relief into classes, only increased the alarm and discontent.
The universal misery gave point to virulent attacks by Babeuf on the existing order, and gained him a hearing. He gathered around him a small circle of followers known as the Societé des égaux, soon merged with the rump of the Jacobin Club, who met at the Panthéon; and in November 1795 he was reported by the police to be openly preaching "insurrection, revolt and the constitution of 1793". They were influenced by Sylvain Maréchal, the author of Le Manifeste des Egaux and a sympathiser of Babeuf.
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