The Reign of Terror in Revolutionary France

Context and Background

• September 1793: France is four years into the revolution.
• Challenges: Violent insurrection in provinces, war losses against Europe, British capture of Toulon.
• France: Largest and most populous Western European country, traditional military power.
• France isolated: Blockaded by Britain, attacked by Austria and Prussia.

Rise of the Reign of Terror

• Fear in Paris: Concern over counter-revolution leading to bloodshed.
• Danton and Robespierre: Key figures advocating for martial law to save the revolution.
• New Measures: Martial law, equality imposed; beginning of the Terror.
• Suspension of Rights: Constitution suspended; police spies target counter-revolutionaries.

Mechanisms of the Terror

• Revolutionary Tribunal: Rapid trials and executions.
• Committee of Public Safety: 12-man council wielding collective dictatorship.
• Robespierre: Emerges as the guiding voice, advocating more executions.

Social and Religious Reforms

• De-Christianization: Led by Jacques-René Hébert; aimed to destroy Catholic Church power.
• Cultural Changes: Renaming streets, replacing icons, altering the calendar.
  • New calendar: Year one starts from 1792; months renamed.

Intensification of the Terror

• Violent Repression: Insurrections violently put down.
  • Lyon and Vendée: Brutal examples of repression, massive executions.
• Military Success: French victories under Napoleon.

Robespierre's Ideology

• Republic of Virtue: Robespierre's vision linking terror with civic virtue.
• Terror and Virtue Philosophy: Terror deemed necessary for virtue; February 1794 speech.

Internal Conflict

• Dantonists: Oppose continued terror, view it as excessive.
• Robespierre's Response: Sees dissent as treason, leads to execution of Dantonists.

The Great Terror

• Increased Paranoia: Executions rise, paranoia intensifies.
• Festival of the Supreme Being: Robespierre's religious holiday; seen as delusional.

Fall of Robespierre

• Loss of Support: Colleagues view him as extreme, potentially insane.
• Arrest and Downfall: Tactical error in speech leads to arrest.
• Death: Robespierre executed on July 27, 1794; marks end of the Terror.

Legacy

• Impact: Robespierre's fall ended the Terror.
• Revolutionary Changes: Rights of man established, though through bloody means.
• Conclusion: Robespierre both a revolutionary leader and a victim of the system he created.