Date: September 5th, 2023

As a passionate history buff, there is little that I love more than European History, however in the large expanse of events in which encompass the umbrella of European History, there is a special place in my heart for the French Revolution. In speaking of the French Revolution, most people think of its similarities to the American Revolution, the beheading of the French King, and some may even know the name Napoleon Bonaparte. However, what few people think about or even know about, would be the Reign of Terror. This leads me to….

On this day 230 years ago, the Reign of Terror began in France.

The Reign of Terror is one of the most influential, yet unknown, “legs” of the French Revolution, as it gave the French public a very clear image as to what NOT to do in terms of handling the government. It is important to note that the Reign of Terror began on September 5th, 1793, only months after the execution of King Louis XVI, which left France, for the first time in over a thousand years, without a central monarch. The unstable government struggled to handle the rising pressures from surrounding countries which were eager to invade France. France was essentially drowning in its own chaos, and Maximilien Robespierre recognized this as a dangerous weakness and spearheaded the Reign of Terror.

On September 5th Maximilien Robespierre, along with the rest of his Jacobins party, declared that terror would “order the day,” rather than civil government. Worried about the constant uprisings across the French countryside within the revolution and the hostile armies surrounding France, Robespierre announced the immediate new rule where harsh actions would be taken against those suspected of being enemies of the state. The promises of harsh actions culminated in over  50,000 people being executed by guillotine over a ten-month period.

During the Reign of Terror, the group in power was the Committee of Public Safety. The Committee exercised “virtual dictatorial control” over all aspects of the government and operations of society. I have to insert the obvious hypocrisy which surrounds the name as this so-called  Committee of “Public Safety,” ordered countless unwarranted executions under the premise of halting the counter revolution. Those in power at the time believed that the only way the future of the revolution was to be guaranteed was through harsh actions against all. However, this deep mistrust of the French public by those in power led to extreme measures being taken against ordinary citizens, thus beginning a mutual mistrust and hatred between the people and their government. What few realize is that it would be years until Napoleon Bonaparte would take power and begin to rebuild this deeply fractured relationship which would halt much of the progress of the revolution. This mistrust between the public and the government would ultimately be the downfall of Robespierre, the Committee, and ultimately this period. The Reign of Terror officially ended with the execution of Robespierre as a result of his conspiring behind the backs of his fellow Jacobins.

In an overview of these ten-months, few to no steps forward were taken in regards to the economy, rights of the citizens, or the issue of food scarcity, thus achieving none of the three primary issues in which started the whole revolution in the first place. It is safe to say that truly none of the original goals or motivations of the Reign of Terror were ever actually achieved, thus, pointing to the somewhat obvious fact that in terms of the revolution, it was an outright failure.

Source:

“Reign of Terror.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 29 Aug. 2023, www.britannica.com/event/Reign-of-Terror.