Dijon in 1815 was a small regional capital with a population of approximately 21,000. It was the administrative centre of the Côte-d'Or and boasted a leading French academy. Its economy was exceedingly diverse and the boutiquiers and artisans who comprised fifty-seven per cent of Dijon's active work-force were involved in a variety of trades wholly characteristic of a pre-industrial society.

Local historians have often pointed to the moderation of Dijon revolutionaries. It was due only to the insistence of Bernard, the représentant en mission from Paris, that Dijonnais tribunals sent ten men to the guillotine during the Terror. Indeed, during this period one finds Jacobin lawyers and the future fédérés Larché and Dézé defending aristocrats. However, moderate behaviour should not be mistaken for indifference to the Revolution. The Jacobin Société des Amis de la Constitution remained in control of Dijon well into Thermidor and, although dissolved in 1796 after condemnation by the représentant en mission, Calès, was refounded after the coup d'état of Fructidor (4 September 1797). As late as 1798 the leading terrorist, Sauvageot, was elected mayor of Dijon.

Many Jacobins retained their positions of local power under Napoleon. As P. Viard has noted, these men were more dangerous to Bonaparte than local monarchists. Although they accepted Brumaire because of Napoleon's popularity with the masses, they did not give up their old convictions. Belonging for the most part to the administrative and judicial corps, they formed ‘une sorte de club’ to monopolise local government.