Prompt Cast
The Rise and Fall of the French Republican Calendar
TLDR The French Republican calendar was an attempt to simplify and decimalize time during the French Revolution, but ultimately failed due to various reasons including lack of adoption, resistance to change, and the preference for the traditional calendar system.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The French Republican calendar was part of the radical overhaul of French culture and society during the French Revolution, but is no longer in use today.
01:54
The French Republican calendar was part of the radical overhaul of French culture and society during the French Revolution, and was an attempt to decimalize time.
03:38
The French revolutionaries wanted to simplify the complex and religiously-oriented time system, so they created a new calendar for the Republic, which had a different starting date and sparked debate.
05:14
The French Republican Calendar began in Year 1 on September 22, 1792, and had 12 months of 30 days each, with a 10-day week called a decade and 5 additional days at the end of the year called Les Jours Complementaires, including a 6th day in leap years.
07:03
The French Republican Calendar replaced Roman month names with new names reflecting the seasons, and also changed how time was kept within a single day.
08:48
The French Republican Calendar and decimal timekeeping were ultimately abandoned due to various reasons, including the calendar not aligning with the leap year pattern, confusion and lack of adoption by other countries, resistance to change, and the preference for the traditional calendar system.
10:36
The French Republican calendar failed because it was trying to solve a problem that didn't really exist and it didn't offer a better alternative to the traditional calendar system.
