Revolutionary sections of Paris

The revolutionary sections of Paris were administrative districts of Paris created by the National Assembly during the French Revolution. On 21 May 1790, the National Constituent Assembly created 48 subdivisions to replace Paris' 60 districts, with each section being run by a civil committee, a revolutionary committee, and an armed force. 16-member civil committees were elected by "active" (middle-class) citizens, and they served as intermediaries with the Paris Commune. After the Parisians abolished the distinction between "active" and "passive" (working-class) citizens on 25 July 1792, the sectional assemblies sat permanently and became the political organ of the sans-culottes; 47 of Paris' 48 sections would vote to depose King Louis XVI after the Brunswick Manifesto. The revolutionary committees were meant to surveil foreigners without interfering in the lives of French citizens, but they were allowed to spy on French citizens under the 17 September 1793 Law of Suspects. The sectional National Guard units were companies of 120-130 men, plus 60-man, 2-piece artillery batteries. 18 companies were sent to the front by Lazare Carnot, while 3 of the remaining 30 companies were used to keep order at the National Convention, the Arsenal, and the Temple. After the Thermidorian Reaction, the sections played an important role in suppressing popular uprisings, but they were abolished by the French Directory on 11 October 1795 following the 13 Vendemiaire uprising.

The 48 Parisian sections were:

1. Section des Tuileries
2. Section des Champs-Elysees
3. Section du Roule
4. Section du Palais-Royal
5. Section de la Place Vendome
6. Section de la Bibliotheque
7. Section de la Grange-Bateliere
8. Section du Louvre
9. Section de l'Oratoire
10. Section de la Halle-aux-Bles
11. Section des Postes
12. Section de la Place Louis XIV
13. Section de la Fontaine-Montmorency
14. Section Nobbe-Nouvelle
15. Section du Ponceau
16. Section de Mauconseil
17. Section du Marche-des-Innocents
18. Section des Lombards
19. Section des Arcis
20. Section du Faubourg-Montmartre
21. Section de la rue Poissonniere
22. Section de Bondy
23. Section du Temple
24. Section de Popincourt
25. Section de la rue de Montreuil
26. Section des Quinze-Vingts
27. Section des Graviliers
28. Section du Faubourg-Saint-Denis
29. Section de Beaubourg
30. Sections des Enfants-Rouges
31. Section du Roi-de-Sicilie
32. Section de l'Hotel-de-Ville
33. Section de la Place-Royale
34. Section de l'Arsenal
35. Section de l'Ile-Saint-Louis
36. Section de Notre-Dame
37. Section Henri IV
38. Section des Invalides
39. Section de la Fontaine-de-Grenelle
40. Section des Quatre-Nations
41. Section du Theatre-Francais
42. Section de la Croix-Rouge
43. Section du Luxembourg
44. Section des Thermes-de-Julien
45. Section de Sainte-Genevieve
46. Section de l'Observatoire
47. Section du Jardin-des-Plantes
48. Section des Gobelins