Essays on Reign of Terror

The Reign of Terror (French: la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, anticlerical sentiment, and accusations of treason by the Committee of Public Safety.

Prior to the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror (1793–94), France was governed by the National Convention. A combination of food scarcity and rising prices led to the creation of the Committee of Public Safety to deal with the various crises. On September 5, 1793, the Convention decreed that “terror is the order of the day” and resolved that opposition to the Revolution needed to be crushed and eliminated so that the Revolution could succeed.

About 300,000 people were arrested, and 17,000 of them were tried and executed. As many as 23,000 more were killed without trial or died in prison. However, conscription raised a large army that turned the tide of the war in France’s favor.

Maximilien Robespierre was the president of the National Convention and was the most prominent member of the Committee of Public Safety; many credited him with near dictatorial power. The excesses of the Reign of Terror combined with the decreased threat from other countries led to increased opposition to the Committee of Public Safety and to Robespierre himself. In July 1794 Robespierre was arrested and executed as were many of his fellow Jacobins, thereby ending the Reign of Terror, which was succeeded by the Thermidorian Reaction.

The Reign of Terror instituted the conscripted army, which saved France from invasion by other countries and in that sense preserved the Revolution. However, for the most part, it destabilized the country, rather than solidifying the gains of the Revolution and leading to a virtuous and happy republic, as its authors had hoped.

September 5, 1793 - July 27, 1794

France

The Reign of Terror (French: la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, anticlerical sentiment, and accusations of treason by the Committee of Public Safety.

Prior to the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror (1793–94), France was governed by the National Convention. A combination of food scarcity and rising prices led to the creation of the Committee of Public Safety to deal with the various crises. On September 5, 1793, the Convention decreed that “terror is the order of the day” and resolved that opposition to the Revolution needed to be crushed and eliminated so that the Revolution could succeed.

About 300,000 people were arrested, and 17,000 of them were tried and executed. As many as 23,000 more were killed without trial or died in prison. However, conscription raised a large army that turned the tide of the war in France’s favor.

Maximilien Robespierre was the president of the National Convention and was the most prominent member of the Committee of Public Safety; many credited him with near dictatorial power. The excesses of the Reign of Terror combined with the decreased threat from other countries led to increased opposition to the Committee of Public Safety and to Robespierre himself. In July 1794 Robespierre was arrested and executed as were many of his fellow Jacobins, thereby ending the Reign of Terror, which was succeeded by the Thermidorian Reaction.

The Reign of Terror instituted the conscripted army, which saved France from invasion by other countries and in that sense preserved the Revolution. However, for the most part, it destabilized the country, rather than solidifying the gains of the Revolution and leading to a virtuous and happy republic, as its authors had hoped.