Editing Georg Forster (section)

=== Foundation of the Mainz Republic ===
[[File:Freiheitsbaum.jpg|thumb|right|A [[liberty pole]], a symbol of revolutionary France as used in the [[Republic of Mainz]]. Watercolor by [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]]]
The French revolutionary army under [[General Custine]] gained control over [[Mainz]] on 21 October 1792. Two days later, Forster joined others in establishing a [[Jacobin Club]] called "Freunde der Freiheit und Gleichheit" ("Friends of Freedom and Equality") in the [[Electoral Palace Mainz|Electoral Palace]]. From early 1793 he was actively involved in organizing the [[Mainz Republic]]. This first republic located on German soil was constituted on the principles of democracy, and encompassed areas on the left bank of the [[Rhine]] between [[Landau]] and [[Bingen am Rhein|Bingen]]. Forster became vice-president of the republic's temporary administration and a candidate in the elections to the local parliament, the {{lang|de|Rheinisch-Deutscher Nationalkonvent}} (''Rhenish-German National Convention''). From January to March 1793, he was an editor of {{lang|de|Die neue Mainzer Zeitung oder Der Volksfreund}} (''The new Mainz newspaper or The People's Friend''), a name chosen in reference to [[Jean-Paul Marat|Marat]]'s {{lang|fr|L'Ami du peuple}}.<ref>Harpprecht, ''Das Abenteuer der Freiheit'', p. 33</ref> In his first article he wrote:

{{blockquote|''Die Pressefreiheit herrscht endlich innerhalb dieser Mauern, wo die Buchdruckerpresse erfunden ward.''<ref name="SZ">{{cite journal|last=Lepenies|first=Wolf|title=Freiheit, das Riesenkind|trans-title=Freedom, the giant child|journal=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]|date=May 17, 2010|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/aufmacher-xv-freiheit-das-riesenkind-1.423586|language=de|access-date=February 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708135125/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/aufmacher-xv-freiheit-das-riesenkind-1.423586|archive-date=July 8, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
{{blockquote|The [[freedom of the press]] finally reigns within these walls where the [[printing press]] was invented.}}

This freedom did not last long, though. The Mainz Republic existed only until the retreat of the French troops in July 1793 after the [[Siege of Mainz (1793)|siege of Mainz]].

Forster was not present in Mainz during the siege. As representatives of the Mainz National Convention, he and [[Adam Lux]] had been sent to Paris to apply for Mainz – which was unable to exist as an independent state – to become a part of the [[French First Republic|French Republic]]. The application was accepted, but had no effect, since Mainz was conquered by Prussian and Austrian troops, and the old order was restored.<ref name="WHKMLA">{{cite web|url=http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/germany/mainzrep.html|title=The Mainz Republic|publisher=World History at KMLA (WHKLMA)|access-date=22 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202218/http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/germany/mainzrep.html|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Forster lost his library and collections and decided to remain in Paris.<ref name="nie">{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Forster, Georg|year=1906}}</ref>