History

The reign of terror that took place during the French revolution was an effort to repress those who were considered enemies of the republic government, both domestic and foreign. During the period of terror thousands of those suspected to be the enemies of the republic and revolution were guillotined after getting charged by the revolutionary tribunal. The argument is whether or not the use of terror and violence was justified.

The reign of terror took place after the onset of French revolution. The terror was incited by two enemy groups, the Girondins and the Jacobins.  The reign of terror was characterized by executions of those considered to be against the revolution. The reign of terror is described as the period, in which the rulers terminated all possible enemies, regardless of age, gender or condition. Over 200,000 people had been charged. The exact number of those who were executed cannot be known precisely but it was in the range of 16,000 to 40,000. Mostly records were not maintained during that period and those that were kept they did not have accurate information that could be relied upon. The guillotine otherwise referred to as the National Razor came to be a mark of string of executions. The reign started in September, 1993 all through until July, 1794 with the fall of Robespierre. The paper traces the history of the reign of terror during the French revolution until its termination with the fall of Robespierre, while at the same time giving an argument in support for and against the use of violence. The paper finally gives a stand, that is, the use of terror for whatever reason was not justified.    

There were two opposing forces during the reign of terror. The use of terror during this period sharply divided the nation with some in support and others opposing the move. Many forces both internal and external were trying to oppose the revolution. In French some of the greatest opponents of the revolution were the French nobility. The Roman Catholic Church also opposed the revolution. The reason behind this opposition was because it had transformed the clergy into workers of the government. They were also supposed to receive a pledge of allegiance to the nation. The faction of the leaders supported the use of violence as defense to the revolution. They felt that there would be no other way of pushing for the revolution unless they imposed it to the public. Those who supported the use of terror pressurized the Convention into voting on September 5, 1793, to put forward a declaration that terror is the order of the day. A revolutionary army was established on September 7, 1793. The state would employ this army to utilize force on its people to make sure that they complied with the decrees. The supporters of the terror were mostly inside the republic with most people from outside the republic opposed the move.

There were two rival groups that fueled the crisis, the Girondins and the Jacobins. As the civil war extended and foreign militants advanced towards the republic, the hostility between the Girondins and the Jacobins increased. In 1794, the revolution was under pressure from both domestic and foreign forces, the conspirators and the foreign European monarchies. Most of the European governments were monarchies and this was the reason why they opposed the revolution that was being preached by the France. The foreign authorities wanted to repress the democratic and republican ideologies that they thought would threaten their own countries unity. This is why the foreign militants advanced to the border of France. At the same time the supporters of revolution were doing everything in their power to uphold their ideologies.  The Jacobins were then categorized in the parliamentary faction, the Mountain and were supported by the Parisian people. The government created the Committee of Public Safety. The Committee took its complete form of September 6, 1793. It was under enemy control of Maximilien Robespierre. The aim of the Committee was to repress counter-revolutionary acts and increase the French military strength. Finally, the strongest radicals to come up overcame their predecessors and eradicated every other opposition and referred it as counterrevolutionary. The suppression went up during the months of June and July 1794, a period known as la Grande Terreur. This term is translated to The Great Terror. It terminated in the coup of Thermidor Year II. This was on 27th July 1794, the so called Thermidorian Reaction. During the coup many rulers of the Reign of Terror were put to death, including Saint-Just and Robespierre. In addition to the opposition from outside, the use of terror was opposed from inside the republic.

During the reign of terror, the public was in opposition to the use of terror because everyone was afraid that any day would be his last day. In addition to terror, the government was pressurizing the public to surrender their produce by employing the San-Culottes paramilitary army. At the same time the supporters of the reign of terror made every effort to ensure that no matter what kind of opposition they faced, they would go ahead with the violence. In September 1793, Paris factions led by the enraged ones, Jacques Roux and Jacques Herbert took the leadership of the Convention. They were advocating for political cleansing, decreased and constant price for bread and a limit on voting permission to Sans-Culottes only. With the support of the National Guard, they encouraged the Convention to detain 31 Girondins. Among the arrested was Jacques Pierre. After these arrests the Jacobins gained authority of the Committee of Public Safety. This was on July 10 and they installed the revolutionary dictatorship. Jean-Paul Marat, a Jabobite ruler and journalist, was assassinated Charlotte Corday, a Girondist. This assassination caused a further rise in Jacobin political power. The head of the August 1792 uprising against the King was taken out of the Committee. Maximilien Robespierre took over the leadership and became the most powerful component of the Committee. This was at the period when the committee was beginning to take radical measures against the opponents of the revolution, both internal and external. On June 24, the Convention approved the initial republican constitution, that is, the French Constitution of 1793. The constitution was resolved by public referendum but was never effected like other laws. It was suspended for an indefinite period, by the ruling of October that the French government would remain revolutionary until the peace. The resulting policy was that the government would employ violence to suppress any resistance to the revolution. Under the control of the Committee, the Convention ratified some other legislation.

The Law of Suspects was signed on September 17. This law allowed the establishment of revolutionary courts that would prosecute those that were accused of treachery against the state and also to render punishment to the convicts by death. As a result this law changed the penal justice system into a body for reinforcing the decrees of the revolutionary regime. The revolutionary government declared as its main role, the preservation of social order and identification of inside opponents of the state. These enemies, such as the profiteers, who went against the maximum, would be cast out by removal from the citizenry. The revolutionary leaders commandeered the revolution. They achieved this by eradicating opponents mostly by utilizing often by employing gang brutality while appealing to the idea that revolution called for sacrificing independence for the sake of the community. Once the gang had accomplished its purpose all its leadership was also executed. This did not go well with the opponents because the gangs terrorized and condemned people to death without order. Mob justice was employed to handle some of the enemies, by beating them to death. Many people perished for their political ideas or acts but many others died because they were suspected or because other people wanted them dead. Among those who were prosecuted by the tribunal, about 8 were aristocrats, 6 clergy, 14 middle-class and 72 working class or peasants. They were charged for hoarding, avoiding the draft, abandonment, insurgence and other petty crimes. Some of these crimes did not warrant death. The revolutionary tribunal destined thousands to death by the guillotine. Those suspected were charged before the Revolutionary Tribunal that was advanced by the Law of the 22 Prairial. Robespierre insisted that terror be associated with virtue. His attempts to make the nation a united patriotic community came to be synonymous with never-ending carnage. He was brought down by a conspiracy of some associates of the Convention on 9 Thermidor on July 27. This was after the military conquest over Austria at the Battle of Fleurus.

The defeat of Robespierre resulted from a combination of those in thirst for more authority of the Committee of Safety and a more drastic policy that he was ready to agree to, with the modest opponents of the revolutionary government. Those who were against him established the Law of 22 Prairial as one of the cases against him. After he fell, accepting terror would mean accepting the policy of a republican opponent. Before he was arraigned before the tribunal he tries to kill himself but the bullet he shot himself with just shattered his jaw. He was charged and guillotined the following day. The rule of the Committee of Public Safety was terminated. Fresh membership was appointed after he was executed on limited terms. It power was also reduced gradually. This marked the end of the reign of terror. Anxiety and lack of trust was still great, even within the Convention, the CPS and the Jacobin club. The Directory came in place of the Convention in 1795. The Directory was in turn replaced by the Consulate in1799.

Although the revolution enabled the establishment of fresh political ideologies like democracy and nationalism and questioned the power of kings, priests and nobles, the use of terror to reach this end was not justified. The use of terror condemned a lot of people to death some of whom could have been innocent. It is estimated that the number that were executed was between 16,000 and 40,000. it is also clear that the terror was an abuse to the democracy that the supporters of revolution were preaching.