Sansculotte

sansculotte

(French sans-culotte, “without breeches”) In the French Revolution, one of the ill-clad and ill-equipped volunteers of the Revolutionary army; also a Parisian ultrademocrat of the Revolution. The working-class sansculottes wore long trousers to distinguish themselves from the upper classes, who wore knee-breeches (culotte). Allied with the Jacobins (see Jacobin Club) in the Reign of Terror, sansculottes included ultrademocrats of all classes. Their influence waned after the fall of Maximilien Robespierre in 1794. See also Jacques Hébert.

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Sansculotte 

(French, literally “without breeches”), a term used during the French Revolution. Originally the aristocrats used the term to refer contemptuously to their political opponents—representatives of the urban poor—who wore long trousers of coarse material in contrast to the nobility and bourgeoisie, who wore breeches with silk stockings. Later, particularly during the Jacobin dictatorship, people used the term to designate themselves as patriots and revolutionaries.

REFERENCE

Soboul, A. Parizhskie sankiuloty vo vremia iakobinskoi diktatury. Moscow, 1966. (Translated from French.)