Fédéré The term " " fédérés " " ( sometimes translated to English as " federates " ) most commonly refers to the troops who volunteered for the French National Guard in the summer of 1792 during the French Revolution . The " fédérés " of 1792 effected a transformation of the Guard from a force into a republican revolutionary force . " " Fédérés " " has several other closely related meanings , also discussed in this article . The " fédérés " of 1790 . The term " fédérés " derives from the " Fête de la Fédération " , the annual celebration during the revolutionary era , celebrated at the Champ de Mars in Paris on the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille . The Bastille fell on 14 July 1789 . At the first " fête de la Fédération " in 1790 , Talleyrand said Mass , Lafayette addressed the crowd , and King Louis XVI gave a secular sermon . The attendees , known as " fédérés " , came from all over France and brought the spirit of the revolution back to the provinces . The " fédérés " of 1792 . However , the term " " fédérés " " as used by historians today almost always refers to the volunteer troops of 1792 . The third " fête " of 1792 was of a far more radical nature than that of 1790 , and prefigured the militant insurrections later in the year . In early May , 1792 , the Girondin Minister of War Joseph Servan made the proposal to bring armed volunteers from the provinces to Paris . The citizen - soldiers were to be invited to the city for the third " fête " , but they were also intended to become an effective supplement to the regular army . They were to receive military training in Paris and eventually take their place at the frontlines in the French Revolutionary War . The prospect of thousands of new militiamen descending upon the capital for an indeterminate length of time was a highly contentious one . Some , like the king , saw it as a plot to stack Paris full with anti - monarchists , while others , like Maximilien Robespierre , feared the outsiders might be used as a provincial counterweight to the radical Parisian sans - culottes . King Louis employed his constitutional prerogative to quash the proposal , and this use of the greatly unpopular royal veto was met with a storm of protest from all quarters . In the ensuing political struggle , the king dismissed the entire Girondin ministry . With the government in disarray , radical agitators seized the issue and it rapidly became the source of massive citywide unrest . Eventually thousands of the provincial volunteers arrived regardless of the king ' s disapproval , and they were given a warm welcome by members of the Legislative Assembly . Robespierre himself , now fully supportive , greeted the provincial " defenders of liberty " as the " last hope of the country . " The " fédérés " issue helped lead to a series of Parisian insurrections throughout the spring and summer , culminating in the assault on the Tuileries Palace on 10 August . The " fédérés " themselves played a large part in the Tuileries assault , and afterwards they contributed further to the climate of republican solidarity by adopting an uncommonly grateful public posture towards the female participants of the Revolution . In a post - victory ceremony , leaders of the " fédérés " honored their female colleagues and awarded civic crowns to three who displayed outstanding conduct in the assault – Louise Reine Audu , Claire Lacombe , and Theroigne de Mericourt . The " fédérés " of 1871 . The term " " fédérés " " was revived during the Paris Commune . The Communards ' Wall is known in French as the " Mur de Fédérés " .