Le souper de Beaucaire was a political pamphlet written by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1793. With the French Revolution into its fourth year, civil war had spread across France between various rival political factions. Napoleon was involved in military action, on the government's side, against some rebellious cities of southern France. It was during these events, in 1793, that he spoke with four merchants from the Midi and heard their views. As a loyal soldier of the Republic he responded in turn, set on dispelling the fears of the merchants and discouraging their beliefs. He later wrote about his conversation in the form of a pamphlet, calling for an end to the civil war. Background During the French Revolution the National Convention became the executive power of France, following the execution of King Louis XVI. With powerful members, such as Maximilien Robespierre and Georges Danton, the Jacobin Club, a French political party established in 1790, at the birth of the revolution, managed to secure control of the government and pursue the revolution to their own ends, culminating in a "Reign of Terror". Its repressive policies resulted in insurrection across much of France, including the three largest cities after Paris, namely Lyon, Marseille and Toulon, in the south of France. Citizens in the south were opposed to a centralised government, and to the decrees of its rule, which resulted in rebellion. Prior to the revolution France had been divided into provinces with local governments. In 1790 the government, the National Constituent Assembly, reorganised France into administrative departments in order to rebalance the uneven distribution of French wealth, which had been subject to feudalism under the monarchical Ancien Régime. Rebellion in Southern France In July 1793, Captain Napoleon Bonaparte, an artillery officer, was placed under the command of General Jean-Baptiste Carteaux to deal with rebels from Marseille situated in Avignon, where army munitions required by the French Army of Italy were being stored. On 24 July, Carteaux's National Guardsmen assaulted Avignon which was held by rebellious Guardsmen. They killed thirty citizens in cold blood during the attack before capturing the town and army supplies. Afterwards, Napoleon travelled to nearby Tarascon to find wagons with which to transport the munition. He visited Beaucaire, across the river from Tarascon, which had been holding an annual fair. Napoleon arrived on 28 July, the last day of the fair, and went to a tavern where he shared