Sometimes, citoyen, I forget just how “progressive” the French Revolution got. Not only did the revolutionaries introduce the metric system, they introduced a rational calendar, with months like Thermidor:
Thermidor was the eleventh month in the French Republican Calendar, which was used only in France and only for thirteen years. It was the middle month of summer (being named for heat), and started on the equivalent to July 19 or 20th in the Gregorian Calendar.The Thermidorian Reaction, Revolution of Thermidor, or simply Thermidor refers to the coup of 9 Thermidor (27 July 1794) in which Maximilien Robespierre was guillotined and the Reign of Terror ended.
Consequently, for historians of revolutionary movements, the term Thermidor has come to mean the phase in some revolutions when the political pendulum swings back towards something resembling a pre-revolutionary state, and power slips from the hands of the original revolutionary leadership. Leon Trotsky, in his book The Revolution Betrayed, refers to the rise of Stalin and the accompanying post-revolutionary bureaucracy as the Soviet Thermidor.
The details of the French republican calendar are fascinating:
The first day of each year included the autumnal equinox. There were twelve months, each divided into three ten-day weeks called décades. The five or six extra days needed to approximate the tropical year were placed after the months at the end of each year. Each day was divided into ten hours, each hour into 100 decimal minutes and each decimal minute had 100 decimal seconds. Clocks were manufactured to display decimal time, but it did not catch on and was officially abandoned in 1795, although some cities continued to use decimal time as late as 1801.A period of four years ending on a leap day was to be called a “Franciade”.
The months:
- Vendémiaire (from Latin vindemia, “vintage”) Starting Sept 22, 23 or 24
- Brumaire (from French brume, “mist”) Starting Oct 22, 23 or 24
- Frimaire (From French frimas, “frost”) Starting Nov 21, 22 or 23
- Nivôse (from Latin Nivosus, “snowy”) Starting Dec 21, 22 or 23
- Pluviôse (from Latin pluviosus, “rainy”) Starting Jan 20, 21 or 22
- Ventôse (from Latin ventosus, “windy”) Starting Feb 19, 20 or 21
- Germinal (from Latin germen, “seed”) Starting Mar 20 or 21
- Floréal (from Latin flos, “flower”) Starting Apr 20 or 21
- Prairial (from French prairie, “meadow”) Starting May 20 or 21
- Messidor (from Latin messis, “harvest”) Starting Jun 19 or 20
- Thermidor (from Greek thermos, “hot”) Starting Jul 19 or 20
- Fructidor (from Latin fructus, “fruits”) Starting Aug 18 or 19
The ten days of the week:
- primidi (English: first day)
- duodi (English: second day)
- tridi (English: third day)
- quartidi (English: fourth day)
- quintidi (English: fifth day)
- sextidi (English: sixth day)
- septidi (English: seventh day)
- octidi (English: eighth day)
- nonidi (English: ninth day)
- décadi (English: tenth day)
Napoléon finally abolished the calendar.