Editing Jean-Paul Marat (section)

==National Convention==
{{Main|National Convention}}
[[File:Triomphe de Marat4.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|"Marat's Triumph": a popular engraving of Marat borne away by a joyous crowd following his acquittal.]]

Marat was elected to the National Convention in September 1792 as one of 26 Paris deputies, although he belonged to no party. When France was [[French First Republic|declared a republic]] on 22 September, Marat renamed his ''L'Ami du peuple'' as ''Le Journal de la République française'' ("Journal of the French Republic").
His stance during the trial of the deposed king Louis XVI was unique. He declared it unfair to accuse Louis of anything before his acceptance of the [[French Constitution of 1791]], and although implacably, he said, believing that the monarch's death would be good for the people, defended [[Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes]], the King's counsel, as a "''sage et respectable vieillard''" ("wise and respected old man").

On 21 January 1793, Louis XVI was [[guillotine]]d, which caused political turmoil. From January to May, Marat fought bitterly against the [[Girondins]], whom he believed to be covert enemies of [[republicanism]]. Marat's hatred and suspicion of the Girondins became increasingly heated which led him to call for the use of violent tactics against them. He cried that France needed a chief, "a military Tribune".<ref>[[Mary Duclaux]] (1918) [https://books.google.com/books?id=HPN4DwAAQBAJ&dq=Revolutionary+Tribunal+Robespierre+offence+High+Treason&pg=PT141 A short history of France, p. 244]</ref> The Girondins fought back and demanded that Marat be tried before the [[Revolutionary Tribunal]]. After trying to avoid arrest for several days, Marat was finally imprisoned. On 24 April, he was brought before the Tribunal on the charges that he had printed in his paper statements calling for widespread murder as well as the suspension of the Convention. Marat decisively defended his actions, stating that he had no evil intentions directed against the Convention. Marat was acquitted of all charges to the celebration of his supporters.