Was the beheading of 40,000 country men plus the King of France really needed to fuel this “Democratic” revolution? In 1789 new ideas such as life liberty and equality shook the government of France. With these new ideas came a new government with new taxes and rules. These rules enforced people to follow revolutionary ideas and if you did not want to follow these ideas you were beheaded. The King of France, King Louis XVI was beheaded in order to fuel this revolution. After his beheading in January 1793, the radical Maximilien Robespierre took over beginning the period of French Revolution called the Reign of Terror. The Reign of Terror was a 18 month period where the Catholic church, and monarchy were targeted. Over 40,000 countrymen were …show more content…
A quote from a letter written by a government official from the local government of the town Niort in Western France to the National Convention (Doc D) states, “It is with greatest of sorrow that we inform you that six patriots have already fallen victim to this rabble…” This quote from the letter in Doc D shows how the rabble or crowd of counterrevolutionaries were aggressive and becoming unruly. A quote from the book Triumph and Terror: The French Revolution written by Stecen Otfinoski in 1993 (Doc E) states, “ The purpose was to protect the public safety from enemies both in and outside of France…In the countryside, the slow tribunals were replaced with ruthless commissions that killed an estimated 35,000-40,000 people. Many of these people were guillotined.” The quote from Steven Otfinoski shows how the National Convention were implementing forces and ideas to protect the public and bring back the peace that the counterrevolutionaries destroyed. This new force or committee started to behead people for becoming aggressive and fighting the revolution and the ideas that came with it in order to bring back the peace that once emanated from the countryside of France. These two quotes show how the counterrevolutionaries started to fight back so the only way to bring back the peace was to eliminate or strike down on these
Was the Reign of Terror justified? I think no. Almost 35,000 people were unnecessarily killed by officials. The Reign of Terror was from the beheading of Louis XVI in January 1793 to July 1794. During that time, about 20,000 people were killed by the guillotine.
In document C it says “ The counter revolutions include some members of the aristocracy, priests, farmers, and townspeople”. Many people were against the revolution because they wanted to keep the power. I'm October 1793 revolutionaries decided to make an example of counter revolutionaries in Lyons. One day Revolutionaries destroyed about 1600 homes and chopped off 12 heads in five minutes. Vendee was the hub of the counter revolution.
Government response was one of the reasons why the Reign of Terror was unjust because they treated their own citizens very poorly. On the map, it shows that the Reign of Terror was unjust because the government was forcing people to join the military against their will. “The Vendee region was the hub of the counterrevolution. People here fiercely fought against military draft called the levee en masse and against laws that tried to abolish Christianity in France” (Doc C). The government proved to be very strict and forced people into the military draft called the levee en masse.
Robespierre led the French Revolution known as “The Reign of Terror”. The new government would execute large numbers of individuals whom they believed to be enemies of the revolution. So, the Reign of Terror was unjustified, for it not only violated the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen in multiple cases, specifically articles two and ten, but also caused the death of thousands. Although the Committee of Public Safety had good intentions, it ended up doing more harm than good as they invaded people’s lives and disregarded their rights as human beings.
Later in time, Maximilian Robspere came to power and started the reign of terror. Under his leadership and his Committee of Public Safety, tens of thousands deemed enemies of the revolution lost their lives on the guillotine. Shortly after, Robespierre himself was arrested and guillotined, accused of leading France into tyranny and dictatorship. The French Revolution was inspired by the right to change a non beneficial leader and resist
There was a lot of executions to following this action. On the sixth month, there was around fourteen hundred people executed after the fall of Robespierre. There was three hundred thousand people that were suspected or arrested
“[In March 1793] the revolutionary Tribunal (a court of justice) was established to try all crimes against the state. Tribunal members would not be elected by the people, but appointed by the National Convention (the revolutionary government) and their power would be absolute” (Doc E). The people of France could not choose who would be monitoring their opinions and behavior toward the government which deeply upset them. “A careless word of criticism spoken against the government could put one in prison or worse” (Doc E). Citizens of France had no freedom of speech and could never openly express their opinions on the government which led to revolting and angry mobs.
They think that Robespierre didn’t want anyone to support the monarchy, and if they did, he killed them. It is estimated that Robespierre killed more than 17,000 people during the revolution. In his Political Philosophy of Terror, he says, “the first rule of your political conduct ought to be to relate all your efforts to maintain equality and developing virtue” (Doc #7). To him, everyone must be equal and have high standards/morals. If someone didn’t live up to his standards, he would kill them.
Because the patriots posed as a threat, “forty of their number were killed” (Document D). This issue should have been dealt with differently; there is a way to stop uprisings like this other than killing people. Also, the government abolished “Sunday worship, Christmas, and Easter” (Document C). This is not fair for the French citizens who normally participate in these events. The people should be free to follow their own beliefs.
The Reign of Terror was a climatic event of violence that insured the death of many people. The Reign of Terror was one of the most historical events during the French Revolution because it helped save France from invasion by other countries, and in that sense preserved the Revolution. During this time, there were many public executions and mass killings of suspects in September 1793 through July 1794. In total 300,00 people were arrested, 17,000 were executed, and 10,000 presumably died in prison. The Reign of Terror was also organized by the twelve-man committee of safety.
Starting in 1789, The French Revolution was a time of complete pandemonium and violence. The French Revolution appropriately acquired the name of the “Reign of Terror” for its huge amount of undeserving deaths. During this time, peasants and other members of the third estate revolted against the monarchy and the social structure of France. The people who were alleged to be against this revolution would be directed to the guillotine. The guillotine was a device used to decapitate one's head.
The Reign of Terror did not support the ideals of the revolution. Unfortunately for French citizens, they were not able to elect tribunal members. The tribunal members, who have absolute power were “appointed by the National Convention” (Document E). French people were rejected in their own country, which is proven by the statement that “conspirators are, in its eyes, only strangers”(Document G). The original ideals were made to protect the people of France but instead they were killing
The king was scheduled to die the next day, January 21, 1793. He was pushed into place on the guillotine. Reports of the king 's execution quickly spread across Europe/ Outside of France, Europeans reacted with horror to the news of the French Revolution. Maximilian Robespierre was known for his intense dedication to the revolution. He became increasingly radical and led the national convention during its most bloodthirsty time.
Was The Reign Of Terror Justified? The French Revolution was a very problematic time period. After the execution of Louis XVI, the Reign of Terror began during the years of 1793 - 1794 which was led by French politician, Maximilien Robespierre and lasted for 18 months. This topic is controversial when the question, “Was the Reign of Terror justified?” is asked.
On the other hand, in France, members of the Third Estate led a revolt against the monarchy in hopes that by overthrowing the monarchy, they would be granted a constitution and a new assembly would be created with delegates of the Third Estate. Although the radicals were successful and a National Assembly was created, there were still problems. The worsening economic issues had not been solved and many citizens did not gain any rights. When the Revolution took a radical turn in 1792, the French Republic was formed. Finally, in 1799, after the end of the Reign of Terror in which the monarchy and its allies were executed, the French Revolution came to an end, with Napoleon gaining power over France.