Following the passage on 1 August 1793 and 1 October 1793 by the National Convention of laws aimed Aiming at exterminating anti-Republican terrorists Terrorism in the area south of the Loire River ( the so-called Vendée ) , 12 army columns were formed Coming_to_be and sent Sending through the Vendée to exterminate the local anti-republican population .

The Vendée is a coastal region , located immediately south of the Loire River in western France .

The uprising Change_of_leadership headed by the newly formed Coming_to_be Catholic and Royal Army was comparable to the Chouannerie , which took place Process_start in the area north of the Loire .

The departments included Cause_to_be_included in the uprising Change_of_leadership , called Name_conferral the `` Vendée Militaire '' , included Cause_to_be_included the area between the Loire and the Layon rivers : Vendée ( Marais , Bocage Vendéen , Collines Vendéennes ) , part of Maine-et-Loire west of the Layon , and the portion of Deux-Sèvres west of the River Thouet .

The first massacre took place Process_start on 11 March 1793 , in the provincial city of Machecoul , in the district of the lower Loire .

In the geographic area south of the Loire , resistance to recruitment Employment was particularly intense , and much of this area also resented intrusion by partisans of the republic , called `` blue coats '' , who brought Bringing with them new ideas about district and judicial organization , and who required reorganization of parishes with the so-called juring priests ( those who had taken Conquering the civil oath ) .