377j THE PLEBISCITE IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 79 



by decree of the French Assembly and the National 

 Convention.^"* 



The dogma of " no conquests " as applied by France was 

 thus robbed by the French Revolution itself of its bona fide 

 character, and the institution of the plebiscite as a method 

 of expression of the popular will in its determination of 

 sovereignty was killed between its conception and birth. 

 The adoption of both, the dogma of " no conquest " and 

 the principle of the determination of sovereignty by popular 

 vote, by the nations at large, was, at least for the time being, 

 made impossible by the fact that the revolution reestab- 

 lished the principle of the inviolability of the French terri- 

 tory, imposing the death sentence against anyone consider- 

 ing the cession of French soil,^°^ including, as it did, in 

 French territory all annexations by way of plebiscite. 

 France could annex whatever might be brought to vote for 

 such annexation, but no French territory, once part of 

 France, could ever be disannexed. 



France's neighbors and sister states could not recognize 

 the principle of self-determination as conceived and carried 

 into practice by the French Republic without at the same 

 time sanctioning and, in fact, inviting their own dissolution. 



^°*0n January 31, 1793, the decree of Dec. 15, 1792 (see note 75), 

 was ordered to be enforced in all countries where French troops 

 had entered or would enter in the future (Arch, pari., ser. I, vol. 

 Iviii, p. 104). 



105 Decreed by unanimous vote Dec. 16, 1792 (Arch, pari., ser. I, 

 vol. Iv, p. 79). "La Convention nationale decrete que quiconque 

 proposera ou tentera de romprc I'unite de la Republiiiue frangaise, 

 ou d'en detacher des parties integrantes, pour les unir a un territoire 

 Stranger, sera puni de mort." A similar decree was passed on April 

 13. 1793 (Arch, pari., ser. I, vol. l.xii, p. 3). 



