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The Reign of Terror in the French Revolution

Sharon Andrades History 214 December 13, 2012

The Reign of Terror in the French Revolution During the late 18thcentury, the French Revolution was in a state of political and social conflict under a ruler by the name of Louis XVI. France became bankrupt due to poor working conditions and low wages which did not follow the rising prices. This ruler in France had gathered an Estates General in the attempt to get additional taxes to create a constitution that was then called The National Assembly. The people in Paris, who were already suffering from food shortages and horrible economic conditions, also became feared of troops that would end the National Assembly in France. Due to these political and economic conditions where France encountered turmoil with revolutionaries; changes and reforms needed to be made. Following these changes and creating a constitution, a policy needed to be created to save the people of France. This policy was created and issued as the order of the day, knows as The Reign of Terror.1 In 1791, an institution and a limited monarchy was created by the National Assembly; a one-house assembly whose members were chosen by voters. Representatives in the newly elected for the Legislative Assembly were seated according to their political beliefs. The conservatives were on the right, the moderate in the center, and the radicals on the left. As political groups became divided, France would enter its most violent phase in its history. There was a lack of effective national leadership and Louis XVI remained as a weak monarch. He was forced to support measures that he didnt agree on, in particular the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. However, due to this unpleasant measure, he agreed to attempt an escape from France in 1791, hoping to gather outside support for counterrevolution. The members of the royal family

Dino Ritsatos, The French Revolution (presentation at The College of Mount Saint Vincent, Bronx, N.Y October 19, 2012).

managed to slide past the guards palace in Paris; and at the border village of Varennes, he was recognized and apprehended.
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The king and his family were very disturbed and in June of 1791, they to fled to Austria. The news spread and destroyed the last of the kings popularity with the people of Paris, where the crowd exposed the royal family as pigs and the public opinion was fallen. As time progressed, there were demands for an end to the monarchy and the creation of the new kind of government, to be considered a Republic.3 Actions in France brought a great fear to the European rulers. The King of Prussia and the emperor of Austria felt they needed to protect the French; despite of their newly formed assembly, problems still aroused in France. Many people began to suspect and radical groups in the Legislative Assembly known as the Jacobins, favored the creation of a Republic. By April of 1792, France was in the attempt to fight for freedom and to spread the revolutionary ideas led by the Legislative Assembly declaring war on Austria, Prussia, and Britain. The people of Austria are seized by a fear if victory encounters, would lead to a blood bath.4 During the execution of Louis XVI, the constitution monarchy put in place the Jacobins as the radical republic group. However, when the constitutional monarchy fell and the king was put on trial for treason in December, The Jacobins thought he needed to die to ensure the safety of the revolution. The Jacobins became successful and won; twenty-two leaders of the Girodins were arrested and executed. 5 After the death of Louis XVI in 1793 and the rise of the Jacobins came to power, the Reign of Terror began. Marie Antoinette led a parade of prominent citizens to their death. The

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Dino Ritsatos, Power Point Presentation for November 7, 2012, History 214. Paris Mob Ritsatos, Power Point Presentation, Paris Mob 4 Robespierre and the Reign of Terror, directed by Alan Woods (1996-2012; A&E Television Network), DVD 5 Ritsatos, Power Point Presentation, The Execution of Louis XVI

guillotine, the new instrument of democratic justice was put to work. The Guillotine was an early version used for centuries. In the 1790s, though it became a symbol of the Reign of Terror, some people considered the guillotine humane because it worked swiftly and surely. Others were horrified because it made executions routine and simple. Public executions were considered educational, and women were encouraged to sit and knit during trials and executions. The Revolutionary tribunal ordered the execution of 2,400 people in Paris by July 1794 and across France 30,000 people lost their lives. 6 The Terror was designed to fight the enemies of the revolution, to prevent counterrevolution from gaining ground. It also played an important role in establishing the importance of democratic institutions that would accept and allow disagreement to make sure it freed members of the society no matter what their belief were. However, laws were passed by the Convention and Committee of Public Safety which revealed a Jacobin vision to start a society with views of the Enlightenment. This was created by a secular and republican education system and a national program of social well-being. 7 Few victims of the Terror were not all aristocrats, but ordinary people. Some were peasants or laborers accused of promoting public postings, treason, or counterrevolutionary activity. Those who was a suspect or appeared to threatened the Republic, no matter what his or her social or economic status was; was at risk. Watch Committees around the nation were encouraged to arrest. Civil liberties were also suspended. The Convention ordered that if material or moral proof exists independently of the evidence of witnesses, the latter will not be heard, unless this formality should appear necessary, unite to discover accomplices or for other important reason concerning the public internal. The promises of the Declaration of Rights of

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Ritsatos, Power Point Presentation for November 7, 2012, History 214. The Execution of Louis XVI The French Revolution 1789-1799, by Peter Mc Phee, the Terror: Revolutionary Defense or Paranoia? p. 131

Man were forgotten. Terror was the order of the Day. In the words of Maximilien Robespierre, Softness to traitors will destroy us all. 8 Robespierre was the master mind of the Reign of Terror and the most powerful man in France. He was the leader of the Committee of Public Safety and the executive member of the National Convention. As a member of the Committee of Public Safety, his goal was to achieve a Republic of Virtue based on the ideas of the Enlightenment, where every French citizen would have moral standards and be dedicated loyalists to the Revolutionary Republic. That who did not agree with Robespierre idea, or was a suspect of being an enemy, was sent to the guillotine to be beheaded. Robespierre promoted religious acceptance and wanted to end slavery. However, being cold and serious, he was popular with the san-culottes, who hated the regime as much as he did; he believed that France could achieve a republic of virtue only through the use of terror. Liberty cannot be secured, he said, unless criminals lose their heads. Robespierre quote meant that whoever was the last person to go under the guillotine would end the Terror. Even one of Robespierres supporters, felt that the Reign of Terror should be ended. Danton rose was the next victim of the Convention to end the Reign of Terror. 9 Besides his goals of achieving a Republic of Virtue, in his long term journey, Robespierre and his strategies were very influential in the French Revolution. The origin of the country was civil rivalry, mob violence, the use of the guillotine, and foreign war that led to a weak government until the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Robespierre inspired most of those thoughts, and being always in the opposite of foreign wars. Despite the fact that Bonaparte kept some aspects and goals of the Revolution, he took away others. Bonaparte eventually fell in 1815, and was replaced by the Bourbon monarchy, who ruled France until 1848; and by raising an
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Western Civilization p.562 Elisabeth Gaynor Ellis and Anthony Esler, World History Connections to Today (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1999), 491-492.

overthrow against the Girondists and destroying his own allies, Robespierre probably had lost the Revolution and Jacobin principles he was requesting to protect.10 When Robespierre called for a new intervention to be reinstated in 1794 as full members of the Committee of Public Safety, they were not in a forgiving mood. The Jacobins had enough; Cambon explained in the Convention and said It is time to tell the whole truth, while others relied to his support. Robespierre was arrested, in the attempt to commit suicide; he shot himself in the jaw. He went to the guillotine in agony; and as his head fell into the basket after being beheaded, the next day one-third of wages had increased. Eventually, more than eighty Robespierrists were sent to be guillotined. The overthrowing of Robespierre and his associates in July of 1794 outlived its purpose. This was the end of Terror and Maximilien Robespierre was the last victim of The Reign of Terror. 11

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Elisabeth Gaynor Ellis and Anthony Esler, World History Connections to Today (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1999), 491-492. 11 The French Revolution 1789-1799 by Peter Mc Phee, the Terror: Revolutionary Defense or Paranoia? The Terror p. 151

Bibliography Dino Ritsatos. The French Revolution: (presentation, lecture at The College of Mount Saint Vincent, Riverdale, Bronx, November 7, 2012 Power Point, November 7, 2012). Alan Woods, Robespierre and the Reign of Terror, A&E Television Networks, Last modified 1996 2012, http:/ history.com/topics/reign-of-terror.html. Bell, David, Robespierre and the Reign of Terror, Mc Phee, Peter. The French Revolution 1789-1799: The Terror. Oxford University Inc., New York, 2002. Coffin, Judith, Stacey, Robert, Cole, Joshua, Symes, Carol. Western Civilizations: Their History And Their Culture, 17thed. New York: Norton & Company, Inc. 2011. World History: French Revolution: Robespierre. Last modified November 2, 2012 http://www.historywiz.com/historymakers/robespierre.htm. Robespierre and the Terror, History Today, last modified December 12, 2012, http://www.historytoday.com/marisa-linton.htm.