The Convention nationale (National Convention) was elected as an assembly to provide a new constitution for the country after the overthrow of the monarchy (10 Aug 1792). 371 deputies convened at the Tuileries Palace, Paris, on 20 Sep 1792, and after verification of powers proclaimed itself the National Convention. Next day it decreed "that kingship is abolished in France" (21 Sep 1792) and then the establishment of the republic - "hereafter all public acts will bear date of the first year of the French Republic" (22 Sep 1792).

The struggles between two opposing Revolutionary factions, the Montagnards and the Girondins, dominated the first phase of the Convention (September 1792 to May 1793). The Montagnards favored granting the lower classes more political power, while the Girondins favored a bourgeois republic and wanted to reduce the power of Paris over the course of the Revolution. Discredited by a series of defeats in the war they promoted against the anti-Revolutionary European coalition, the Girondins were purged from the Convention by the popular insurrection (31 May 1793 - 2 Jun 1793).

The Montagnards controlled the Convention during its second phase (June 1793 - July 1794). Because of the war and an internal rebellion, a revolutionary government with dictatorial powers (exercised by the Committee of Public Safety) was set up. As a result, the democratic constitution, approved by the Convention on 24 Jun 1793, was not put into effect, and the Convention lost its legislative initiative; its role was reduced to approving the Committee's suggestions.

Reacting against the Committee's radical policies, many members of the Convention participated in the overthrow of the most prominent member of the Committee, Robespierre (27 Jul 1794). This Thermidorian Reaction corresponded to the final phase of the Convention (July 1794 to October 1795). The balance of power in the assembly was then held by the moderate deputies of La Plaine (The Plain). The Girondins were recalled to the Convention, and the leading Montagnards were purged. In August 1795 the Convention approved the constitution for the regime that replaced it, the bourgeois-dominated Directory (1795-99). The Convention held its last meeting on 26 Oct 1795.

During the first meeting of the Convention on 20 Sep 1792, the eldest deputy (doyen d'âge), Philippe-Jacques Rühl, occupied the chair, but after the Convention was constituted, Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve was elected first president by absolute majority of deputies. According to the regulations drafted by a committee, which was appointed on 22 Sep 1792, the president of the Convention was elected for a term of 15 days. He could not serve two consecutive terms, but was eligible for re-election after a 15-day interval. Usually, the election took place at the end of an evening session and the president-elect occupied the chair at the next meeting, but sometimes he was immediately called upon to take up his duties (for instance, Hérault de Séchelles was elected president on 1 Nov 1792, and took over at the same session). The authority of the president was far from that of a head of state, but the importance of this post is emphasized by many documents and reports from state officials, which were sent to the attention of Convention and addressed to Citoyen Président. In fact, the president was a presiding officer at the Convention's meetings with a very short term rather than a person in charge of government. In case the president failed to attend the meeting, the oldest of the former presidents exercised his duties for the time being.