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How did Marseille contribute to the French Revolution?

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View of the old port of Marseille, France, with numerous boats docked in the harbor and the city's terracotta-roofed buildings rising up a hill, topped by the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica. — Marseille Seaside view of the Old Port of Marseille, France.

Marseille played a significant and complex role during the French Revolution. Initially, the city participated with great enthusiasm, most notably when 500 volunteers marched to Paris in 1792 singing the "War Song of the Army of the Rhine." This song became so popular with the Marseille volunteers that it was renamed "La Marseillaise" and eventually adopted as the national anthem of France.12

However, as the Revolution progressed into the Reign of Terror, Marseille’s relationship with the central government soured. The city became a center for "federalist" resistance, where local moderates rebelled against the National Convention and the dominance of the Montagnards in Paris. This uprising was eventually crushed by force of arms, leading the government to punish the city by officially designating it "the city without a name".13