Vendéens and Chouans

The War in the Vendée is the historiographical name for the rebellion that led to a civil war between supporters of the French Revolution and counterrevolutionaries. It took place in the French region of Vendée between 1793 and 1796. As had been the case throughout France, the Vendée saw peasant rebellions (jacqueries) between 1789 and 1792. However, it was at the time of the mass levée (levée en masse) of 1793 that the Vendéen rebellion was unleashed and eventually took the form of a counterrevolutionary popular movement.

The Chouans were the royalist insurgents who fought north of the Loire, in Brittany, Maine, Normandy, and southern Anjou during the Chouanerie (ohlalá).

The Chouans and the Vendeans should not be confused, although both claimed to be part of the Catholic and Royal Army.

Wreaking out over three years, the conflict had several phases, with a brief period of peace that began in the spring of 1795 and ended in early 1796.