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The September Massacres were a series of bloody incidents which took place in Paris, France in late summer 1792, during the French Revolution.
In late summer 1792, news reached Paris that the Prussian army had invaded France, and was advancing quickly toward the capital. Moreover, rumours circulated that there were many in Paris, such as non-juring priests who secretly opposed the Revolution and supported the foreign powers allied against it.
During this period, the Legislative Assembly was in near-collapse and its successor, the Convention, had not yet come into being. This left the municipal government of Paris, at this time under the control of some of the most radical revolutionary elements, almost a de facto government of France.
On September 3 and September 4, crowds broke into the prisons where they murdered the prisoners, including clergy, who were feared to be counter-revolutionaries who would aid the invading Prussians. These crowds were inflamed by radical propaganda, ongoing food shortages, and fear of the invasion.
Some historians cite this outbreak of violence in the name of defending an imperiled Revolution as evidence of an inherent tendency toward bloodshed on the part of the Jacobins.
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