reign of terror significance

Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership. "The First Coalition 1793-1797." The Reign of Terror was characterized by a dramatic rejection of long-held religious authority, its hierarchical structure, and the corrupt and intolerant influence of the aristocracy and clergy. During the Terror, deputies on mission began attacking the symbols of Catholicism: smashing images, vandalizing buildings, and burning vestments. [40], On 23 August 1793 the National Convention decreed the levée en masse:[41], Les jeunes gens iront au combat ; les hommes mariés forgeront les armes et transporteront les subsistances ; les femmes feront des tentes et serviront dans les hôpitaux ; les enfants mettront le vieux linge en charpie ; les vieillards se feront porter sur les places publiques pour exciter le courage des guerriers, prêcher la haine des rois et l’unité de la République. "[30] The threat of defeat and foreign invasion may have helped spur the origins of the Terror, but the timely coincidence of the Terror with French victories added justification to its growth. People suspected of anti- revolutionary activities were sent to the guillotine in where thousands were killed. Baker, Keith M. François Furet, and Colin Lucas, eds. "Robespierre and the French Revolution,", This page was last edited on 15 January 2021, at 09:28. For other uses, see, "The Terror" redirects here. "[18] In Robespierre's speech to the National Convention on 5 February 1794, titled "Virtue & Terror", he regards virtue as being the "fundamental principle of popular or democratic government. Jean-Clément Martin, La Terreur, part maudite de la Révolution, Découvertes/Gallimard, 2010, p. 14-15. "During the Reign of Terror, at least 300,000 suspects were arrested; 17,000 were officially executed, and perhaps 10,000 died in prison or without trial."[6]. The Reign of Terror, commonly The Terror (French: la Terreur), was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First French 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. Jeremy D. Popkin, A Short History of the French Revolution, (London: Routledge, 2016), 64. Reign of Terror, also called the Terror, French La Terreur, period of the French Revolution from September 5, 1793, to July 27, 1794 (9 Thermidor, year II). #6 Guillotine became known as “The National Razor” Invented by Antoine Louis, guillotine is a device to carry out executions by beheading.It consists of tall upright frame with a heavy blade which is dropped to sever the head of the victim. For other uses, see, Significant civil and political events by year. Configuración On 20 Prairial (8 June 1794) the Festival of the Supreme Being was celebrated across the country; this was part of the Cult of the Supreme Being, a deist national religion. [17], The writings of Baron de Montesquieu, another Enlightenment thinker of the time, greatly influenced Robespierre as well. However, conscription raised a large army that turned the tide of the war in France’s favor. Well phrased by Albert Soboul, "terror, at first an improvised response to defeat, once organized became an instrument of victory. Omeka RSS. The Reign of Terror (June 1793 – July 1794) was a period in the French Revolution characterized by brutal repression. [16][17] Those who resisted the government were deemed "tyrants" fighting against the virtue and honor of the general will. It was not until after the execution of Louis XVI and the annexation of the Rhineland that the other monarchies began to feel threatened enough to form the First Coalition. 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. Still uncertain of its position, the committee obtained the Law of 22 Prairial, year II (June 10, 1794), which suspended a suspect’s right to public trial and to legal assistance and left the jury a choice only of acquittal or death. The last prisoners awaiting execution during the Reign of Terror in 1794, undated engraving. History of France § Counter-revolution subdued (July 1793–April 1794), History of France § Revolutionary France (1789–1799), France § Revolutionary France (1789–1799), Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Robespierre and the terror: Marisa Linton reviews the life and career of one of the most vilified men in history", "Maximilien Robespierre: On the Principles of Political Morality, February 1794", Maximilien Robespierre: Justification of the Use of Terror, Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws, 1748, 9 Thermidor: The Conspiracy against Robespierre, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, Voltaire, Selections from the 'Philosophical Dictionary', https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2014/entries/montesquieu/, http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199959853.001.0001/acprof-9780199959853-chapter-8, "Maximilien Robespierre | Biography, Facts, & Execution", L’armée de l’an II : la levée en masse et la création d’un mythe républicain, http://www.historyhome.co.uk/c-eight/france/coalit1.htm, https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/declaration-of-pillnitz-1791/, http://people.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1983-4/mcletchie.htm#22, https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/montesquieu-spirit.asp, "The Absolutism of Louis XIV as Social Collaboration: Review Article", "Robespierre and the terror: Marisa Linton reviews the life and career of one of the most vilified men in history, (Maximilien Robespierre)(Biography)", https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057%2F9780230294981, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, Alexandre-Théodore-Victor, comte de Lameth, Louis Michel le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau, List of people associated with the French Revolution, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reign_of_Terror&oldid=1000495051, Short description is different from Wikidata, History articles needing translation from French Wikipedia, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2020, Articles needing additional references from September 2017, All articles needing additional references, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from January 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. In, Leopold II, and Frederick William. (Yale University Press, 1989), 343. New members were appointed the day after Robespierre's execution, and limits on terms of office were fixed (a quarter of the committee retired every three months). Pp. Following the execution of Louis XVI, the more radical revolutionaries, the Jacobins, were concerned that foreign and domestic groups would threaten the continuing of the revolution. "Robespierre, "On Political Morality"," Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, accessed 19 October 2018, Rothenberg, Gunther E. "The Origins, Causes, and Extension of the Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon.". Questions and answers about the Reign of Terror. While the sans-culottes did not have direct power, the gathering appeared amid the fear of the significance of the relationship between political figures, and the subjects of the state. Later laws suspended the rights of suspects to both legal assistance and public trials and mandated execution of all those who were found guilty. These criticisms were often used by revolutionary leaders as justification for their dechristianisation reforms. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The screams and spirits weeped inside the walls of Versaille while the queen herself, Marie Antoinette lays on her freshly washed out white covers in sorrow. In 1789, church lands were expropriated and priests killed or forced to leave France. In any case, Robespierre was guillotined the next day, together with Saint-Just, Couthon and his brother Augustin Robespierre. On 24 October the French Republican Calendar was enacted. [29] As the war continued and the Reign of Terror began, leaders saw a correlation between using terror and achieving victory. On 17 September, the Law of Suspects was passed, which authorized the imprisonment of vaguely defined "suspects". [27] While the French military had stabilized and was producing victories by the time the Reign of Terror officially began, the pressure to succeed in this international struggle acted as justification for the government to pursue its actions. McLetchie, Scott. New members were appointed the day after Robespierre's execution, and limits on terms of office were fixed (a quarter of the committee retired every three months). The “Great Terror” that followed, in which about 1,400 persons were executed, contributed to the fall of Robespierre on July 27 (9 Thermidor). Georges Danton, the leader of the August 1792 uprising against the king, was removed from the Committee of Public Safety on 10 July 1793. "Maximilien Robespierre, Master of the Terror." Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). In Paris a wave of executions followed. Document A: Decree Against Profiteers 1. "War and Terror in French Revolutionary Discourse (1792-1794).". The ones who don’t offer will be sent to death and that would stop people from following them in their footsteps. Accessed 23 October 2018. [23] Though mostly ignored, Louis XVI was later able to find support in Leopold II of Austria (brother of Marie Antoinette) and Frederick William II of Prussia. It marked the first time that the lowest class in a country had overthrown the highest class. The Reign of Terror is a well-known component of the French Revolution, mostly due to the excessive use of the guillotine to preserve the Revolution. Configuración The Committee of Public Safety During the Reign of Terror, France was ruled by a group of men called the Committee of Public Safety. [39] In reaction to the imprisonment of the Girondin deputies, some thirteen departments started the Federalist revolts against the National Convention in Paris, which were ultimately crushed. Reign of Terror. The major Hébertists were tried before the Revolutionary Tribunal and executed on 24 March. The device takes its name from Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a French physician on whose suggestion it was introduced. Omissions? In response to what they viewed to be the meddling of foreign powers, France declared war on 20 April 1792. The fear of the guillotine and the mob justice led to self exile of several nobles and clergy. Madison – Plato – Robespierre all understood that the Despotism is the greatest threat from any government. By the end of 1793, two major factions had emerged, both threatening the Revolutionary Government: the Hébertists, who called for an intensification of the Terror and threatened insurrection, and the Dantonists, led by Georges Danton, who demanded moderation and clemency. The Reign Of Terror: Was It Justified? On 10 November (20 Brumaire Year II of the French Republican Calendar), the Hébertists organized a Festival of Reason. The tide would not turn from them until September 1792 when the French won a critical victory at Valmy preventing the Austro-Prussian invasion. Enlightenment thought emphasized the importance of rational thinking and began challenging legal and moral foundations of society, providing the leaders of the Reign of Terror with new ideas about the role and structure of government. Favourite answer. [13], Enlightenment thought emphasized the importance of rational thinking and began challenging legal and moral foundations of society, providing the leaders of the Reign of Terror with new ideas about the role and structure of government. Émigrés (EHM•ih•GRAYZ), nobles and others who had fled France, hoped to undo the Revolution and restore the Old Regime. The 'sans-culottes' saw popular violence as a political right they held. The Reign of Terror. ". Laws were passed that defined those who should be arrested as counterrevolutionaries, and committees of surveillance were set up to identify suspects and issue arrest warrants. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Reign-of-Terror, UNRV History - Roman Empire - Reign of Terror. Voltaire. Accessed 23 October 2018. The Committee's powers were gradually eroded. [4] By then, 16,594 official death sentences had been dispensed throughout France since June 1793, of which 2,639 were in Paris alone;[2][5] and an additional 10,000 died in prison, without trial, or under both of these circumstances. Threatened from within by the movement for federalism and by the civil war in the Vendée in the northwest and threatened at the frontiers by…. "[19][20] This was, in fact, the same virtue defined by Montesquieu almost 50 years prior. On 24 June 1793 the Convention adopted the first republican constitution of France, the French Constitution of 1793. They advocated for arrests of those deemed to oppose reforms against those with privilege, and the more militant members would advocate pillage in order to achieve the desired equality. After their victory in expelling the Girondins, Parisian militants “regenerated” their own sectional assemblies by purging local moderates, while radicals such as Jacques-René Hébert and Pierre-Gaspard Chaumette tightened their grip on the Paris Commune. On 13 July 1793 the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat—a Jacobin leader and journalist—resulted in a further increase in Jacobin political influence. These were the infamous September Massacres when Parisian mobs killed thousands of suspected royalists and set the scene for the events to come, when Madame La … [28] With so many similarities to the first days of the Revolutionary Wars for the French government, with threats on all sides, unification of the country became a top priority. [6], There was a sense of emergency among leading politicians in France in the summer of 1793 between the widespread civil war and counter-revolution. The Committee's powers were gradually eroded. Marjorie Bloy. Soboul cited in Mona Ozouf. [3] Today there is consensus amongst historians that the exceptional revolutionary measures continued after the death of Robespierre. [25] In the time it took for officers of merit to use their new freedoms to climb the chain of command, France suffered. 224 Chapter 7 In addition, factions outside the Legislative Assembly wanted to influence the direction of the government too. Voltaire's warnings were often overlooked, though some of his ideas were used for justification of the Revolution and the start of the Terror. With civil war spreading from the Vendée and hostile armies surrounding France on all sides, the Revolutionary government decided to make “Terror” the order of the day (September 5 decree) and to take harsh measures against those suspected of being enemies of the Revolution (nobles, priests, and hoarders). "Introduction." Robespierre believed that the virtue needed for any democratic government was extremely lacking in the French people. On 2 June 1793 the Parisian sans-culottes surrounded the National Convention, calling for administrative and political purges, a low fixed-price for bread, and a limitation of the electoral franchise to sans-culottes alone. as "The Great Terror" (French: la Grande Terreur). The government's violence during the Terror may have been an effort to prevent the 'sans-culottes' from taking violence into their hands. The French Revolution was an important movement in world history. On 9 September the convention established paramilitary forces, the "revolutionary armies", to force farmers to surrender grain demanded by the government. Maximilien Robespierre, president of the Jacobin Club, was also president of the National Convention and was the most prominent member of the Committee of Public Safety; many credited him with near dictatorial power. On 10 March 1793 the National Convention set up the Revolutionary Tribunal. Leopold, II, and Frederick William. After the beginning of the French Revolution, the surrounding monarchies did not show great hostility towards the rebellion. 2014. By 1789 the French monarchy was nearly powerless and, for all intensive purposes, the National Assembly was the current government of France. Under the social contract, the government was required to act for the general will, which represented the interests of everyone rather than a few factions. [citation needed] In his Philosophical Dictionary, Voltaire states, "we are all steeped in weakness and error; let us forgive each other our follies; that is the first law of nature" and "every individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of his opinion, is a monster."[22].

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