...September 5, 1793 was the end of Louis XVI rule and the start of the Reign of Terror where 40,000 people were executed. In France, Louis XVI has just been guillotined and everyone is deranged and confused. This marked the 18-month period of the Reign of Terror. The Reign of Terror was lead by Maximilien Robespierre and the government proceeded to execute a large number of people. The government was targeting individuals that were considered to be enemies of the revolution. One of those targets was the Catholic Church which they saw as outdated. While outside the country there was tension that escalated into war. They were facing problems inside and outside the country. Was this method of execution during the Reign of terror justified. The reign of terror was not justified because the outside threat did not require it, the inside threat did not deserve it, and the the methods were to extreme. External threats did not require it. An example of this is that they closed the churches by revolutionary government and that is wrong because people should always be able to choose what they believe in (Document A). Another example is the government denies legal counsel to accused enemies of the revolution (Document A). It not right to treat people disrespectfully for thinking differently than the...
Words: 529 - Pages: 3
...The Reign of Terror was a chapter in time that lasted from, September 1793 – July 1794; it had many ramifications in political and social changes in France. It was a massive turning point of the horror of the French Revolution. As viewers watched with entertained eyes, the people of France were put to death while the streets were lined in blood. Early in the Revolution countless people still supported the monarchy, which brought on accusations of treason in opposition to the new republic. The Reign of Terror was a portion of time in the French Revolution characterized by murderous suppression and executions intended to demolish counter revolutionaries and conspirators. An innovative stable government was required to end the chaos, and the Committee of Public Safety was created with 12 members in the Committee and overseen by Maximilien Robespierre. His goal was to create a “republic of virtue” in which the government would compel the people to be converted into virtuous republicans through an immense reeducation program. “Terror is nothing else than swift, severe, indomitable justice; it flows, then, from virtue”-Maximilien Robespierre. It resulted in the deaths of around 20 000 to 40 000 people and was viewed by Robespierre as an unavoidable period to stabilize France. It was a time of violence and murder with a direct correlation to the French Revolution with its goal to aid in the survival of the revolution. Even though, the rationale of the reign was to institute...
Words: 797 - Pages: 4
...Terror 1 Nolan Nguyen Mrs. Rich English 1 – TT November 16, 2011 The Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror was a period in history when the Convention established a war dictatorship rather than a democracy. The reason for this choice was due to the fact that other nations were attacking France’s borders from all four sides, there was resistance to the idea of French democracy, and that the people wanted a stronger government that can lead the nation through hard situations were a few reasons why the French revolution started. These causes lead the way for the reign of terror to begin. In response to the turmoil of war and resistance, the government established new laws, which was one of the causes of the Reign of Terror. These laws were designed to strengthen and restore order by using terror, virtue, fear, and force. During this time, the guillotine was used, beheading people, and causing panic throughout the nation. After the Revolution was successful, when King Louis XVI was executed by a guillotine on January 17, 1793 in Place du Reunion, the National Convention established a war dictatorship instead of a democracy. The war dictatorship government was lead by few men to govern the country and wage war during a time of crisis. The Convention created watch committees, which imposed strict regulations on foreigners and citizens. The new government imposed the Levee en Masse. It said that the government can conscript anyone in France and that everyone has a part in the...
Words: 552 - Pages: 3
...Reign of Terror lasted from September 1793 until the fall of Robespierre in 1794. Its purpose was to purge France of enemies of the Revolution and protect the country from foreign invaders. Phase of the French Revolution. It began with the overthrow of the Girondins and the ascendancy of the Jacobins under Robespierre. Against a background of foreign invasion and civil war, opponents were persecuted and 16000 executed by the guillotine. The reign of terrors methods were used , and losing a lot of their population using forces like the guillotine, as in document F the methods were way too harsh the guillotine was Between June 1793 and the end of July 1794, there were 16,000 death sentences in France . However, the total number of deaths in...
Words: 361 - Pages: 2
...Should people go to the extreme and provoke the rights of citizens if that meant they were protecting the country? During the French Revolution in the late 1700’s, France went to extreme measures to protect their country and called for The Reign of Terror. The Reign of Terror killed thousands of people, mainly using a guillotine, to protect their country without actual evidence of why they were an enemy or threat. The Reign of Terror was not justified because of their very extreme measures and killings, not enough or no evidence at all for the killings, and for violating the rights of the people. Under any circumstance, there is no reason a person’s rights should be violated, if they do not have enough evidence. Document A shows us the many...
Words: 480 - Pages: 2
...his hand in The Reign of Terror. Just like many others before him and after him, Maximilien led a very full life with a variety of accomplishments and downfalls. Maximilien De Robespierre was born on May 6, 1758 in Arras,, France (Maximilien Marie Isidore De Robespierre). He was the oldest child in his family (Maximilien Marie Isidore De Robespierre) but after the demise of his family he and his siblings were raised by their grandparents (Bouloiseau, Marc). After being much of the family role model during his life Robespierre received his law degree in 1781 (Maximilien Marie Isidore De Robespierre). Once he had received his law degree Maximilien worked as a lawyer in Arras, France (Maximilien Marie Isidore De Robespierre)....
Words: 534 - Pages: 3
...The Reign of Terror was the period of the French revolution from september 5, 1793, to july 27, 1794. The civil War was spreading rapidly through countries, and france was surrounded by hostile amies. The french government decided to take harsh order upon all suspected enemies of the revolution. Executions followed throughout many cities but paris was the main one. When the french military success began in early 1974, very brutal measures at home grew rapidly fast. The Reign of terror answered the need for a strong executive and saved france from anarchy's and military defeating them. This was extremely harmful to the revolutionary cause. The terror wiped enemies out left and right, one problem was some men would get killed by mistake. The...
Words: 308 - Pages: 2
...laws and consider them to be just. Robespierre was the leader of the Reign of Terror, and during the beginning of the French Revolution he believed that laws should obey fundamental rights according to this quote. Throughout the revolution however, his views changed drastically, and this is clearly shown in his speech to the National Convention regarding his justification for the Reign of Terror. His speech includes his justification for wanting France to be a republic and why the Reign of Terror must take place. The speech follows a format that goes from inspiring to contradictory very quickly. In the beginning of his speech, he outlines the aims, objectives and goals that the revolution set out to achieve as: liberty, equality, and brotherhood, however these were not achieved during the Reign of Terror.During the middle of the speech, Robespierre contradicts his previous goals/aims/objectives of liberty, equality, and justice by saying that the Reign of Terror was necessary to root out anyone who opposed the republic or die with them, because being a republic was what Robespierre believed was best for the nation of France. Robespierre believed that France needed the “virtues and miracles” that a republic conveyed, and they needed to do away with the “vices and snobbishness” that a monarchy displayed, as well as he wanted to be a model for the other nations of the world. His actions during the Reign of Terror , according to him, were justified by the virtue that is a republic...
Words: 1428 - Pages: 6
...I don't believe in any form of unjustified extremism! But when a man is exercising extremism-a human being is exercising extremism in defense of liberty for human beings it's no vice, and one is moderate in the pursuit of justice for human beings I say he is a sinner – Malcolm X Extremism: The New Patriotism The recent rise of Islamic extremism on the international stage has alarmed many individuals around the world. Theories about the cause of its rapid and often time’s violent expansion have ranged from reactions to US foreign policy to the fall of “moderate secular” rulers in the Middle East. While these may be important contributing factors to the rise of Islamic extremism it is important that it is recognize for what it truly is: a form of patriotism. This is true for all other forms of radical extremism existing today and in the near past. Whether it is in defense of a nation-state, religion, or region extremists of all stripes, whether morally right or wrong can be viewed as being deeply patriotic regarding their cause. This can be seen not only in today’s contemporary Islamic extremists, but also in the Irish Republican Army during the 20th century, and even as far back as the French Revolution. Judd 2 Webster’s dictionary defines patriotism simply as “a devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country; national loyalty.” It also defines terrorism as “the use of violence and threats to intimidate or...
Words: 1302 - Pages: 6
...Gerald Seymour's well-known phrase "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" has been widely spread for decades. Nonetheless, I don't think this quote makes a lot of sense to me, since the terrorist and the freedom fighter are two divergent terms.The term "terrorist" represents a person who uses terror as the means to achieve his/her goal; the "freedom fighter" means a person whose overarching goal is freedom, but here, it talks nothing about his/her means or tactics used to reach the goal. The terrorists, who fight for freedom and equality, are truly freedom fighters. But albeit their legitimate demands, their means of achieving them are not legitimate, and those are what make them terrorists. Similarly, even Robespierre's goal of eliminating opposition groups was for the good of the society, the violent means he used could not be justified. In retrospect, not only was the sacrifice of individualism huge during the Reign of Horror, but also there was a tremendous loss of life -- the victims of the Reign of terror were countless, and even Robespierre himself, as a "victim of his own terror", was executed. All in all, If there is anyone out there who still doubts if Robespierre should be called as a "bloodthirsty charlatan", this essay is my...
Words: 399 - Pages: 2
...Maximillien Robespierre was a major part in the French Revolution after the execution of Louis XVI. He rose to prominence and led a large part of the revolution through what was happening. He was not as radical as many of the revolutionaries of the time but he wanted to keep the revolution in check so as to not lose everything that had already been accomplished and to make sure that the country of France did not go into complete anarchy. The majority of his influence was from 1793-1794 and his fall from prominence came soon thereafter. Maximillien was a “small, thin dogmatic man of thirty-two wit thick, carefully brushed and powdered hair and a slightly pockmarked skin of a deathly greenish pallor.” That is how he is visually described in the book. He was also very true to himself and never goes against what he believed, he is described as being unremittingly conscious of his own virtues. Ever since he was in school, he was a very intelligent hard working student who was very determined to make sure that he would succeed in this life. (204) He went on to be a lawyer just like his father was and he was a very good one at that utilizing his intelligence to help people. He also was never extra greedy for high fees like Danton was. He also tried as hard as he could to only defend the people that he believed were right and did not go against any of his morals, or to defend an unworthy cause. (206) He made a name for himself amongst the people while he was doing this...
Words: 1709 - Pages: 7
...Chapter 1 The French Revolution French Society during the Late Eighteenth Century 1774: Louis XVI of the Bourbon family of kings ascended the throne of France. Under Louis XVI, France helped America in gaining their independence from Britain. France was experiencing financial instability due to the long years of wars fought by her and the cost of maintaining an extravagant court at the palace of Versailles. Taxes were increased for meeting the expenses of maintaining an army, the court and running government offices or universities. The French Society was divided into three estates– First Estate: Clergy Second Estate: Nobility Third Estate: Big businessmen, merchants, court officials, lawyers, peasants, landless labourers and servants. The first two estates enjoyed certain privileges by birth which also excluded them from paying any taxes to the French government. The members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the State that included a direct tax called taille and a number of indirect taxes levied on the articles of daily consumption. Peasants served in the fields and houses of the privileged classes and they also built the roads and served in the army. The Church collected taxes known as tithes from the peasants. The price of the food grains increased with an increase in the demand for the same. Fixed-waged workers could not afford the expensive food grains. Hence, the gap between the poor and the rich widened. A growing Middle Class 18th...
Words: 1520 - Pages: 7
...what it meant to be a military dictator. To say that there was chaos and political unrest during the French Revolution is a huge understatement. After decades of oppression amidst a feudalistic society, the country peasants revolted against wealthy landowners and the aristocracy. The gap between the wealthy and powerful and those who were less fortunate was enormous, and the majority of Frenchmen would no longer tolerate living amidst poverty, hunger, and sickness while the French aristocracy lived the life of luxury off the taxes they imposed on the impoverished. After the uprising, France quickly fell into political unrest and financial disaster, with different men rising to power on nothing more than their own aspirations or “reigns of terror”, a la Robespierre. France was spinning out of control and nothing seemed to stabilize society or wield control on the population. The French were desperate for a hero, someone who would come and not only save their dying country, but also reinstate their dignity, power, and sense of national pride. Napoleon recognized himself as just the savoir France needed. He was already a well-established and highly regarded military tactician when he seized his moment. On November 10, 1799, Napoleon seized control in a coup d’etat, becoming a military dictator. Napoleon’s ambition and ruthlessness is legendary. He was a complex personality with grandiose ideas....
Words: 945 - Pages: 4
...Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most intelligent, power driven emperors in French history. During the French revolution, the people were at war with their government because the peasants overthrew every form of government that was made. Peasants were getting tired of social classes and being taxed so heavily. During this time, the reign of terror had begun. The reign of terror was made of radicals (a group of peasants) who killed people who did not agree with the revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself emperor which ends the French revolution. Napoleon was a hero to the citizens of France because he did great things for their country. The way Napoleon used the power he had and gained more embodies the ideals of the French revolution because he did everything in his power to make things fair. Napoleon embodies the ideals of the French revolution because of his treatment towards the peasants. After the French revolution, Napoleon wanted to give more rights to peasants in other countries. For example, Napoleon issues an imperial decree in Spain that outlaws feudal rights (document 2). To give the peasants more land, the number of convents in Spain are eliminated. Napoleon also wanted the peasants to be taxed less so he made it illegal to tax imports with in Spain (document 2). Napoleon wanted to...
Words: 592 - Pages: 3
...He used the theme of violence that eventually helped progress into an inspiration leading to the Revolution. Throughout this novel, we find that Robespierre and Gamelin are two very influential people because not only do their actions characterize power, they show how power is a corrupting force when put in the hands of a few. During the years of the French Revolution there were blasts of changes that were being made that would perpetually change history. Anatole France’s The Gods will have Blood took place during the terrifying time of terror in which many were executed for the belief that it was justice to kill those who were no longer loyal to the Republic. This time period caused such a stir of emotions within society because it targeted anyone and showed little mercy. A new tool during the terror time period developed and was known as the guillotine. It quickly became a bloody symbol of the French Revolution and of government terror to intimidate society. On page 75, Gamelin quotes, “Only the Guillotine can save our Country!” As Gamelin gained a spot he quickly goes mad and begins to lose himself. Gamelin started to develop more of a passion for the Republic...
Words: 1049 - Pages: 5
