as "The association of friends of the revolution" ("Société des Amis de la Révolution"), membership of which was restricted to "active citizens", and the "Friends of the constitution" ("Amis de la Constitution"), which was affiliated to the network of Jacobin Clubs springing up around France in the wake of the revolution. A central committee, which quickly became known as the "Central Club" ("Club central"), provided a meeting point for delegates from the city's many sectional revolutionary societies. The "Central Club" was initially controlled by the Rolandin faction, but quickly came under the direction of the more dynamic elements around Joseph Chalier. At this time each department was governed under a local version of the national directoral structure, and the departmental directory of Rhône-et-Loire, which since 1790 had been the department centred on Lyon, was dominated by constitutional royalists. The Rolandin Louis Vitet became mayor of Lyon in 1790. The "Central Club", headed up by Chalier, was strongly opposed to the approach taken by the local regime. In the summer of 1792, the troop of revolutionary volunteers passed through on their way from Marseilles to Paris, which radicalised the mood in Lyon. While the local manufacturer Roland was in Paris, serving as the nation's Interior Minister, eight officers and four priests were killed. In November 1792, the girondin Nivière-Chol was elected mayor of Lyon in place of Vitet who had been elected to sit in the National Convention in Paris. Confronted by economic stagnation, he persuaded the assembly to agree an interest free loan of three million francs to be divided between the citizens in proportion to their wealth. This enraged the bourgeoisie but gained approval from royalists. Matters came to a head in February 1793 when Chalier's "Central Club" called for the creation of a Revolutionary Tribunal. The mayor was not in favour of this idea and set about mobilising troops. which provoked a popular insurrection. As more time went on the hostility between the upper and lower classes only increased. Joseph Chalier started to become known as a fanatic and having too radical of policies towards the upper class in the city of Lyons. Most famously he was known for saying that towards any that opposed that he was "prepared to exterminate all that goes by the name of aristocrat, moderate, royalist." The combination of Joseph Chalier's extreme radicalism and the confused environment of Lyons contributed towards the general