French Republican calendar

A calendar adopted by revolutionary France in 1793, with years reckoned from the founding of the Republic, twelve 30-day months, and a decimal division of the day.

French Republican months: The twelve 30-day months of the French Republican calendar, named for seasonal conditions and agricultural activities. Their seasonal names and fixed lengths made the calendar’s reform visible throughout the year.
French Revolution: A period of political and social upheaval in France beginning in 1789 that ended the monarchy and transformed the state. The calendar was one part of the Revolution’s broader remaking of public life.
French Revolutionary decimal clock: A clock designed to display decimal time, dividing the day into ten hours and each hour into 100 minutes. It was the practical instrument for the calendar’s decimal division of the day.
Abolition of the French Republican calendar: The 1805 decision to end the French Republican calendar and restore Gregorian dating from 1 January 1806. Its abolition ended the calendar’s official use after just over twelve years.
Sans-culottides: The five or six intercalary days added after the twelve months to complete the French Republican year. These extra days reconciled twelve 30-day months with the solar year.
National Convention: The assembly that governed France from 1792 to 1795 and proclaimed the First French Republic. The Convention ordered the new calendar and made its starting point the Republic’s foundation.
French Republican calendar in public records: The use of Republican dates in French government documents, legal records, and administrative life. Official adoption required dates on state documents to follow the new system.
French Republican calendar in the French Army: The use of Republican dates in French military administration during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. Military records reveal how official dating persisted in state institutions.
Decimal time: A system that divides the day into ten hours, each into 100 minutes, and each minute into 100 seconds. The calendar’s companion clock divided each day into ten hours and decimal subdivisions.
Gilbert Romme: A French revolutionary politician who chaired the committee that developed the Republican calendar. Romme led the calendar’s design and defended its proposed structure.

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