Editing Reign of Terror

{{Short description|1793–94 killings during the French Revolution caused by Maximilian Robespierre}}
{{About|the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution}}
{{Redirect|The Terror}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox event
| title = Reign of Terror
| partof = the [[French Revolution]]
| image = Octobre 1793, supplice de 9 émigrés.jpg
| caption = Nine ''émigrés'' are executed by [[guillotine]], 1793
| date = <!--5 September -->1792/1793 – 27 July 1794<!--<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|year1=1793|month1=09|day1=05|year2=1794|month2=07|day2=27}})-->
| location = [[First French Republic]]
| organisers = [[Committee of Public Safety]]
| casualties1 = at least 35,000–45,000<ref name="DG"/><ref name="JCM">{{Cite book |last=[[Jean-Clément Martin]] |title=La Terreur : vérités et légendes |date=2017 |publisher=Perrin |location=Paris |pages=191–192|language=fr}}</ref>
}}

[[File:Epouvantail pour les ennemis de la France Fleisch.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Historical caricature of the Reign of Terror.]]
[[File:Barere.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|[[Bertrand Barère]] by [[Jean-Louis Laneuville]].]]

The '''Reign of Terror''' ({{Langx|fr|link=no|la Terreur}}) was a period of the [[French Revolution]] when, following the creation of the [[French First Republic|First Republic]], a series of massacres and [[Capital punishment in France|numerous public executions]] took place in response to the [[Federalist revolts]], revolutionary fervour, [[Anti-clericalism|anticlerical]] sentiment, and accusations of treason by the [[Committee of Public Safety]]. While terror was never formally instituted as a legal policy by the Convention, it was more often employed as a concept.<ref name="RfytDwAAQBAJ p. 200">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RfytDwAAQBAJ&dq=5+september+1793+Terror+order+of+the+day+Bar%C3%A8re&pg=PA200|title=A Natural History of Revolution: Violence and Nature in the French Revolutionary Imagination, 1789–1794|first=Mary Ashburn|last=Miller|date=2011|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0801460845|via=Google Books|access-date=12 March 2023|archive-date=8 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408013150/https://books.google.com/books?id=RfytDwAAQBAJ&dq=5+september+1793+Terror+order+of+the+day+Bar%C3%A8re&pg=PA200|url-status=live}}</ref>

Historians disagree when exactly "the Terror" began. Some consider it to have begun in 1793, often giving the date as 5 September or 10 March, when the [[Revolutionary Tribunal]] came into existence.<ref name="EncBrit"/> Others cite the earlier [[September Massacres]] in 1792, or even July 1789 when the first killing of the revolution occurred.{{Efn|The dates July 1789, September 1792, and March 1793 are given as alternatives in {{Cite book |last=Martin |first=Jean-Clément |title=La Terreur, part maudite de la Révolution |date=2010 |publisher=Gallimard |series=Découvertes Gallimard |volume=566 |location=Paris |pages=14–15 |language=fr |trans-title=The Terror: Cursed Period of the Revolution}}}} Will Durant stated that "strictly, it should be dated from the [[Law of Suspects]], September 17, 1793, to the execution of Robespierre, July 28, 1794."<ref name="Story of Civilization">{{cite book |last1=Durant |first1=Will |url=https://archive.org/details/TheStoryOfCivilizationcomplete/Durant_Will_-_The_story_of_civilization_11/page/n79/mode/2up |title=The Story of Civilization: The Age of Napoleon |date=1975 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1567310238 |page=62}}</ref>

The Terror concluded with the [[fall of Maximilien Robespierre]] and his alleged allies in July 1794,<ref name="EncBrit" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Linton |first=Marisa |date=2004-05-26 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117152123/http://www.port.ac.uk/special/france1815to2003/chapter1/interviews/filetodownload%2C20545%2Cen.pdf |title=The Terror in the French Revolution |publisher=Kingston University |url=http://www.port.ac.uk/special/france1815to2003/chapter1/interviews/filetodownload,20545,en.pdf |archivedate=2012-01-17 |accessdate=2011-12-02 }}</ref> in what is known as the [[Thermidorian Reaction]]. By then, 16,594 official death sentences had been dispensed throughout France since June 1793, of which 2,639 were in Paris alone. An additional 10,000 to 12,000 people had been executed without trial, and 10,000 had died in prison.{{fact|date=February 2025}}

== Background ==
=== Enlightenment thought ===
[[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] thought emphasized the importance of [[Rationality|rational thinking]] and began challenging legal and [[Moral foundations theory|moral foundations]] of society, providing the leaders of the Reign of Terror with new ideas about the role and structure of government.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Church |first=William F. |title=The Influence of the Enlightenment on the French Revolution |date=1964 |publisher=D. C. Heath and Company |editor-last=Church |editor-first=W. F. |location=Boston |page=vii |chapter=Introduction}}</ref> [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]'s [[The Social Contract|''Social Contract'']] argues that each person was born with rights, and they would come together in forming a government that would then protect those rights. 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.<ref>[[Jean-Jacques Rousseau|Rousseau, Jean-Jacques]]. 1901. "[http://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2039/More_1414_Bk.pdf The Social Contract] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806170120/http://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2039/More_1414_Bk.pdf |date=6 August 2020}}." pp. 1–126 in ''Ideal Empires and Republics'', edited by Charles M. Andrews. Washington: M. Walter Dunne. p. [http://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2039/More_1414_Bk.pdf#page=112 92] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806170120/http://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2039/More_1414_Bk.pdf#page=112 |date=6 August 2020}}–94. [http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/rousseau-ideal-empires-and-republics Available as etext] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027042846/https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/rousseau-ideal-empires-and-republics |date=27 October 2020}} via [[Liberty Fund|Online Library of Liberty]].</ref> Drawing from the idea of a general will, Robespierre felt that the [[French Revolution]] could result in a [[republic]] built for the general will but only once those who fought against this ideal were expelled.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Peyre |first=Henri |date=1949 |title=The Influence of Eighteenth Century Ideas on the French Revolution |journal=Journal of the History of Ideas |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=63–87 |doi=10.2307/2707200 |jstor=2707200}}</ref><ref name="sourcebooks.fordham.edu">Halsall, Paul. [1997] 2020. "[https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/robespierre-terror.asp Maximilien Robespierre: Justification of the Use of Terror] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813124419/https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/robespierre-terror.asp |date=13 August 2021}}." [[Internet Modern History Sourcebook]]. US: [[Fordham University]], Retrieved 25 June 2020.</ref> Those who resisted the government were deemed "tyrants" fighting against the virtue and honor of the general will. The leaders felt that their ideal version of government was threatened from the inside and outside of France, and terror was the only way to preserve the dignity of the republic created from French Revolution.<ref name="sourcebooks.fordham.edu" />

The writings of [[Montesquieu|Baron de Montesquieu]], another Enlightenment thinker of the time, also greatly influenced Robespierre. Montesquieu's ''[[The Spirit of Law]]'' defines a core principle of a democratic government: [[virtue]]—described as "the love of laws and of our country."<ref>Hallsal, Paul. [1996] 2020. "[https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/montesquieu-spirit.asp Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws, 1748] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031005225/https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/montesquieu-spirit.asp |date=31 October 2018}}." ''[[Internet Modern History Sourcebook]]''. US: [[Fordham University]]. Retrieved 25 June 2020.</ref> In Robespierre's speech to the [[National Convention]] on 5 February 1794, he regards virtue as being the "fundamental principle of popular or democratic government."<ref>[[Maximilien Robespierre|Robespierre, Maximilien]]. [1794] 1970. "[http://courses.washington.edu/hsteu302/Robespierre%20speech.htm Virtue & Terror] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806173853/http://courses.washington.edu/hsteu302/Robespierre%20speech.htm |date=6 August 2020}}." pp. 32–49 in ''The Ninth of Thermidor'', edited by R. Bienvenu. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]].</ref><ref>"[http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/413 9 Thermidor: The Conspiracy against Robespierre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030210617/http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/413 |date=30 October 2018}}." ''Liberty, Equality, Fraternity''. US: [[Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media]] and American Social History Project.</ref> This was, in fact, the same virtue defined by Montesquieu almost 50 years prior. Robespierre believed the virtue needed for any democratic government was extremely lacking in the French people. As a result, he decided to weed out those he believed could never possess this virtue. The result was a continual push towards Terror. The Convention used this as justification for the course of action to "crush the enemies of the revolution…let the laws be executed…and let liberty be saved."<ref>"[https://www.worldhistorycommons.org/terror-order-day Terror Is the Order of the Day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806182526/https://www.worldhistorycommons.org/terror-order-day |date=6 August 2020}}." ''World History Commons''. Retrieved 25 June 2020.</ref>

===Threats of foreign invasion===
[[File:Batayedifleuru1794-1.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Fleurus (1794)|Battle of Fleurus]], won by General [[Jean-Baptiste Jourdan|Jourdan]] over the Coalition Army led by the Prince of [[Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|Coburg]] and [[William I of the Netherlands|William of Orange]] on 26 June 1794]]
At the beginning of the French Revolution, the surrounding monarchies did not show great hostility towards the rebellion.{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|p=54}} Though mostly ignored, [[Louis XVI]] was later able to find support in [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold II of Austria]] (brother of [[Marie Antoinette]]) and [[Frederick William II of Prussia]]. On 27 August 1791, these foreign leaders made the [[Declaration of Pillnitz|Pillnitz Declaration]], saying they would restore the French monarch if other European rulers joined. In response to what they viewed to be the meddling of foreign powers, [[Campaigns of 1792 in the French Revolutionary Wars|France declared war]] on 20 April 1792.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rothenberg |first=Gunther E. |date=1988 |title=The Origins, Causes, and Extension of the Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon |journal=Journal of Interdisciplinary History |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=771–793 |doi=10.2307/204824 |jstor=204824}}</ref> However, at this point, the war was only [[Prussia]] and [[Austria]] against France.

Massive reforms of military institutions, while very effective in the long run, presented the initial problems of inexperienced forces and leaders of questionable political loyalty.{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|p=55}} In the time it took for officers of merit to use their new freedoms to climb the chain of command, France suffered. Many of the early battles were definitive losses for the French.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}} There was the constant threat of the Austro-Prussian forces which were advancing easily toward the capital, threatening to destroy Paris if the monarch was harmed.<ref>Leopold II, and Frederick William. 27 August 1791. "[https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/declaration-of-pillnitz-1791/ The Declaration of Pillnitz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203094908/https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/declaration-of-pillnitz-1791 |date=3 December 2022}}." ''French Revolution''. AU: Alpha History. Retrieved 25 June 2020 .</ref> This series of defeats, coupled with militant uprisings and protests within the borders of France, pushed the government to resort to drastic measures to ensure the loyalty of every citizen, not only to France but more importantly to the revolution.

While this series of losses was eventually broken, the reality of what might have happened if they persisted hung over France. In September 1792 the French won a [[Battle of Valmy|critical victory at Valmy]], preventing an Austro-Prussian invasion.{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|p=59}} 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. It was not until after the [[execution of Louis XVI]] and the annexation of the [[Rhineland#French Revolution|Rhineland]] that the other monarchies began to feel threatened enough to form the [[War of the First Coalition|First Coalition]]. The coalition, consisting of [[Russia]], Austria, Prussia, [[Spain]], [[Holland]], and [[Sardinia]] began attacking France from all directions, besieging and capturing ports and retaking ground lost to France.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bok |first=Hilary |title=Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat |date=2014 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2014/entries/montesquieu |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |access-date=2023-09-15 |edition=Summer 2014 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |archive-date=27 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527070952/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2014/entries/montesquieu/ |url-status=live }}</ref> With so many similarities to the first days of the [[French Revolutionary Wars|Revolutionary Wars]] for the French government, with threats on all sides, unification of the country became a top priority.{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|p=64}} As the war continued and the Reign of Terror began, leaders saw a correlation between using terror and achieving victory. Well phrased by [[Albert Soboul]], "terror, at first an improvised response to defeat, once organized became an instrument of victory."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ozouf |first=Mona |date=1984 |title=War and Terror in French Revolutionary Discourse (1792–1794) |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=580–597 |doi=10.1086/242733 |jstor=1880323 |s2cid=153782457}}</ref> 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.

=== Popular pressure ===
{{stack|[[File:Heads on pikes.jpg|thumb|Heads of aristocrats on [[Pike (weapon)|pikes]].]]}}
[[File:Robespierre crop.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Maximilien Robespierre]], member of the [[Committee of Public Safety]]]]
During the Reign of Terror, the ''[[sans-culottes]]—the urban workers of France—''and the [[Hébertists]] put pressure on the National Convention delegates and contributed to the overall instability of France. The National Convention was bitterly split between the [[The Mountain|Montagnards]] and the [[Girondins]]. The Girondins were more conservative leaders of the National Convention, while the Montagnards supported radical violence and pressures of the lower classes.{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|p=64}} Once the Montagnards gained control of the National Convention, they began demanding radical measures. 

Moreover, the ''sans-culottes'' agitated leaders to inflict punishments on those who opposed the interests of the poor. The ''sans-culottes'' violently demonstrated, pushing their demands and creating constant pressure for the Montagnards to enact reform.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schechter |first=Ronald |title=Martyrdom and Terrorism |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-1999-5985-3 |pages=152–178 |chapter=Terror, Vengeance, and Martyrdom in the French Revolution |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199959853.003.0008}}</ref> They fed the frenzy of instability and chaos by utilizing popular pressure during the Revolution. For example, they sent letters and petitions to the [[Committee of Public Safety]] urging them to protect their interests and rights with measures such as taxation of foodstuffs that favored workers over the rich. 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.<ref>Albert Soboul, ''The Sans-culottes; the Popular Movement and Revolutionary Government, 1793–1794'', (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1972), 5–17.</ref> The resulting instability caused problems that made forming the new republic and achieving full political support critical.

=== Religious upheaval ===
[[File:Miniac-Morvan (35) Église Saint-Pierre Intérieur 11.jpg|thumb|Nuns in a cart taking them to the guillotine in [[Cambrai]] on 26 June 1794]]
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. Religious elements that long stood as symbols of stability for the French people, were replaced by views on reason and scientific thought.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pressense |first1=Edmond |title=Religion and the reign of terror, or, The church during the French revolution |last2=Lacroix |first2=John |date=1869 |publisher=Carlton & Lanahan; Hitchcock & Walden |series=World constitutions illustrated |location=New York : Cincinnati}}{{Page needed|date=June 2022}}</ref>{{Sfn|Kennedy|1989|p=343}} The radical revolutionaries and their supporters desired a cultural revolution that would rid the French state of all Christian influence.<ref name="Lynn Hunt p 3">{{Cite book |last=Hunt |first=Lynn |title=Politics, Culture, and Class in the French Revolution |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-5209-3104-6 |pages=87–120 |chapter=The Imagery of Radicalism |doi=10.1525/9780520931046-011 |s2cid=226772970}}</ref> This process began with the [[Absolute monarchy in France|fall of the monarchy]], an event that effectively defrocked the state of its sanctification by the clergy via the [[Divine right of kings|doctrine of Divine Right]] and ushered in an era of reason.{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|pp=72–73}}

Many long-held rights and powers were stripped from the [[Catholic Church]] and given to the state. In 1789, church lands were expropriated and priests killed or forced to leave France.<ref name="Lynn Hunt p 3"/> Later in 1792, "refractory priests" were targeted and replaced with their secular counterpart from the [[Jacobins|Jacobin club]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Report by the Jacobin Society of Besançon on Refractory Priests |date=8 January 1792 |url=https://revolution.chnm.org/d/548 |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209015307/https://revolution.chnm.org/d/548 |url-status=live }}</ref> Not all religions experienced equal aggression; the Jewish community, on the contrary, received admittance into French citizenship in 1791.<ref>{{Citation |title="Admission of Jews to Rights of Citizenship," 27 September 1791 |date=27 September 1791 |url=https://revolution.chnm.org/d/287 |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=26 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626015107/https://revolution.chnm.org/d/287/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[Cult of Reason|Festival of Reason]] was held in the [[Notre-Dame de Paris|Notre Dame Cathedral]], which was renamed "The Temple of Reason", and the traditional calendar was replaced with a [[French Republican calendar|new revolutionary one]].{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|pp=72–73}} The leaders of the Terror tried to address the call for these radical, revolutionary aspirations, while at the same time trying to maintain tight control on the [[Dechristianization of France during the French Revolution|de-Christianization movement]] that was threatening to the clear majority of the still devoted Catholic population of France. Robespierre used the event as a means to combat the "moral counterrevolution" taking place among his rivals.<ref>{{Citation |title=Robespierre, "On Political Morality" |date=5 February 1794 |url=https://revolution.chnm.org/d/413 |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209015303/https://revolution.chnm.org/d/413 |url-status=live }}</ref> Additionally, he hoped to stem "the monster atheism" that was a result of the radical secularization in philosophical and social circles.<ref>{{Citation |title=Religion: The Cult of the Supreme Being |date=8 June 1794 |url=https://revolution.chnm.org/d/436 |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209015301/https://revolution.chnm.org/d/436 |url-status=live }}</ref> The tension sparked by these conflicting objectives laid a foundation for the "justified" use of terror to achieve revolutionary ideals and rid France of the religiosity that revolutionaries believed was standing in the way.

== Terror of the day ==
In the summer of 1793, leading politicians in France felt a sense of emergency between the widespread civil war and counter-revolution. [[Bertrand Barère]] exclaimed on 5 September 1793 in the National Convention: "Let's make terror the order of the day!"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shusterman |first=Noah |title=The French Revolution |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-4294-3291-0 |pages=176–205 |chapter=The federalist revolt, the Vendée, and the start of the Terror (Summer 1793–fall 1793) |doi=10.4324/9780429432910-7 |s2cid=225258435}}</ref> This quote has frequently been interpreted as the beginning of a supposed "system of Terror", an interpretation no longer retained by historians today. Under the pressure of the radical ''sans-culottes'', the Convention agreed to institute a revolutionary army but refused to make terror the order of the day. According to French historian [[Jean-Clément Martin]], there was no "system of terror" instated by the Convention between 1793 and 1794, despite the pressure from some of its members and the ''sans-culottes''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martin |first=Jean-Clément |title=La machine à fantasmes |date=2014 |publisher=Vendémiaire |isbn=978-2-3635-8029-0 |location=Paris |pages=86–118 |language=fr}}</ref> The members of the Convention were determined to avoid street violence such as the [[September Massacres]] of 1792 by taking violence into their own hands as an instrument of government.<ref name="History Today">{{Cite journal |last=Linton |first=Marisa |date=August 2006 |title=Robespierre and the terror: Marisa Linton reviews the life and career of one of the most vilified men in history. |url=http://www.historytoday.com/marisa-linton/robespierre-and-terror |url-status=live |journal=[[History Today]] |volume=8 |issue=56 |page=23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930160214/http://www.historytoday.com/marisa-linton/robespierre-and-terror |archive-date=30 September 2018 |access-date=28 April 2017}}</ref> The monarchist [[Jacques Cazotte]] who predicted the Terror was [[Guillotine|guillotined]] at the end of the month.

What [[Maximilien Robespierre]] called "terror" was the fear that the "justice of exception" would inspire the enemies of the [[French First Republic]]. He opposed the idea of terror as the order of the day, defending instead "justice" as the order of the day.<ref>Hervé Leuwers, ''Robespierre'', Paris, Fayard, 2014</ref> In February 1794 in a speech he explains why this "terror" was necessary as a form of exceptional justice in the context of the revolutionary government:
{{Blockquote|sign=|source=|If the basis of popular government in peacetime is virtue, the basis of popular government during a revolution is both virtue and terror; virtue, without which terror is baneful; terror, without which virtue is powerless. Terror is nothing more than speedy, severe and inflexible justice; it is thus an emanation of virtue; it is less a principle in itself, than a consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing needs of the {{Lang|fr|patrie}} <small>[homeland, fatherland]</small>.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Halsall |first=Paul |date=1997 |title=Maximilien Robespierre: On the Principles of Political Morality, February 1794 |url=https://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1794robespierre.asp |access-date=5 March 2016 |publisher=[[Fordham University]] |archive-date=6 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206084206/http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1794robespierre.asp |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="History Today"/>}}

[[Marxism|Marxist]] historian [[Albert Mathiez]] argues that such terror was a necessary reaction to the circumstances.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mathiez |first=Albert |title=La Révolution Française |publisher=Librairie Armand Colin |year=2011 |isbn=978-7-1000-7058-4 |language=fr |trans-title=The French Revolution}}</ref> Others suggest there were additional causes, including ideological<ref>{{Cite book |last=Furet |first=Francois |title=A Deep-rooted Ideology as Well as Circumstance |page=224}}</ref> and emotional.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tackett |first=Timothy |title=The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution |publisher=[[Belknap Press]]: An Imprint of [[Harvard University Press]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-6747-3655-9}}</ref>

== Major events ==
{{Main|History of France#Revolutionary France (1789–1799)|France#Revolutionary France (1789–1799)}}
[[File:Le Bataillon Carré, Affaire de Fougères 1793 (Square Battalion).jpg|thumb|The [[War in the Vendée|Vendeans revolted]] against the revolutionary government in 1793]]

On 10 March 1793 the National Convention set up the [[Revolutionary Tribunal]].<ref>{{Citation |title=The Law of Suspects |date=1793-09-17 |url=https://revolution.chnm.org/d/417 |access-date=2023-09-15 |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830094328/https://revolution.chnm.org/d/417/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Among those charged by the tribunal, initially, about half of those arrested were acquitted, but the number dropped to about a quarter after the enactment of the [[Law of 22 Prairial]] on 10 June 1794. In March, [[War in the Vendée|rebellion broke out]] in the [[Vendée]] in response to mass conscription, which developed into a civil war. Discontent in the Vendée lasted—according to some accounts—until after the Terror.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Furlaud |first=Alice |date=1989-07-09 |title=Vive la Contre-Revolution! |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/09/travel/vive-la-contre-revolution.html |access-date=2023-09-15 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=16 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110216045154/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/09/travel/vive-la-contre-revolution.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 6 April 1793 the National Convention established the Committee of Public Safety, which gradually became the ''[[de facto]]'' war-time government of France.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mantel |first=Hilary |author-link=Hilary Mantel |date=6 August 2009 |title=He Roared |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n15/hilary-mantel/he-roared |journal=London Review of Books |volume=3 |issue=15 |pages=3–6 |access-date=16 January 2010 |archive-date=22 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522002318/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n15/hilary-mantel/he-roared |url-status=live }}</ref> The Committee oversaw the Reign of Terror. "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."<ref name="DG">{{Cite book |last=Greer |first=Donald |title=The Incidence of the Terror during the French Revolution : A Statistical Interpretation |date=1935 |publisher=Harvard University Press, coll. « Harvard historical monographs » (no VIII) |location=Cambridge |pages=26–37}}</ref><ref name="EncBrit">{{Cite web |title=Reign of Terror {{!}} History, Significance, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Reign-of-Terror |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=Britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=20 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620204345/https://www.britannica.com/event/Reign-of-Terror |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 2 June the Parisian ''sans-culottes'' surrounded the National Convention,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mark |first=Harrison W. |title=Fall of the Girondins |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2090/fall-of-the-girondins|date=20 October 2022 |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830094328/https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2090/fall-of-the-girondins/ |url-status=live }}</ref> calling for administrative and political purges, a fixed low price for bread, and a limitation of the electoral [[Suffrage|franchise]] to ''sans-culottes'' alone. With the backing of the [[National Guard (France)|national guard]], they persuaded the Convention to arrest 29 Girondist leaders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Peter |title=The French Revolution 1787–1804 |date=2003 |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |page=57}}</ref> In reaction to the imprisonment of the Girondin deputies, some 13 departments started the [[Federalist revolts]] against Convention, which were ultimately crushed. 

On 24 June the Convention adopted the first republican constitution of France, the [[French Constitution of 1793]]. It was ratified by public [[referendum]], but never put into force.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety {{!}} History of Western Civilization II |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/robespierre-and-the-committee-of-public-safety |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=courses.lumenlearning.com |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830094328/https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/robespierre-and-the-committee-of-public-safety/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Reference only sourced to Wikipedia|date=December 2024}} On 13 July the assassination of [[Jean-Paul Marat]]—a Jacobin leader and journalist—resulted in a further increase in Jacobin political influence. [[Georges Danton]], the leader of the [[10 August (French Revolution)|August 1792 uprising]] against the king, was removed from the Committee of Public Safety on 10 July. On 27 July Robespierre became part of the Committee of Public Safety.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Maximilien Robespierre {{!}} Biography, Facts, & Execution |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maximilien-Robespierre |access-date=19 September 2017 |language=en |archive-date=28 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128201040/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maximilien-Robespierre |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:La fournée des Girondins 10-11-1793.jpg|thumb|The execution of the [[Girondins]]]]

On 23 August the National Convention decreed the ''[[levée en masse]]'':<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Forrest |first=Alan |date=1 March 2004 |title=L'armée de l'an II : la levée en masse et la création d'un mythe républicain |trans-title=The Army of the Year II in modern memory: the levée-en-masse and the creation of a republican myth |url=https://journals.openedition.org/ahrf/1385 |journal=Annales historiques de la Révolution française |language=fr |issue=335 |pages=111–130 |doi=10.4000/ahrf.1385 |doi-access=free |access-date=19 June 2022 |archive-date=15 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415190644/https://journals.openedition.org/ahrf/1385 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
{{Blockquote|The young men shall fight; the married man shall forge arms and transport provisions; the women shall make tents and clothes and shall serve in the hospitals; the children shall pick rags to lint [for bandages]; the old men shall betake themselves to the public square in order to arouse the courage of the warriors and preach hatred of kings and the unity of the Republic.{{Efn|{{In lang|fr}} ''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.''}}}}

On 5 September on the proposal of Barère, the Convention was supposed to have declared by vote that "terror is the order of the day".<ref name="OrderOfTheDay">{{Cite web |date=5 September 1793 |title=Terror Is the Order of the Day |url=http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/416 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623231851/https://revolution.chnm.org/d/416 |archive-date=23 June 2020 |access-date=26 October 2018 |website=Liberty, Equality, Fraternity}}</ref> On that day's session, the Convention, upon a proposal by [[Pierre Gaspard Chaumette]] and supported by Billaud and Danton, decided to form a revolutionary army of 6,000 men in Paris.<ref name="auto4">Richard T. Bienvenu (1968) ''The Ninth of Thermidor'', p. 22; R.R. Palmer (1970) ''The Twelve who Ruled'', pp. 47–51</ref> Barère, representing the Committee of Public Safety, introduced a decree that was promptly passed, establishing a paid armed force of 6,000 men and 1,200 gunners "tasked with crushing counter-revolutionaries, enforcing revolutionary laws and public safety measures decreed by the National Convention, and safeguarding provisions."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hazan |first=Eric |title=A People's History of the French Revolution |year=2014}}</ref> This allowed the government to form "revolutionary armies" designed to force French citizens into compliance with Maximilian rule. These armies were also used to enforce "the [[law of the General Maximum]]", which controlled the distribution and pricing of food. Addressing the Convention, Robespierre claimed that the "weight and willpower" of the people loyal to the republic would be used to oppress those who would turn "political gatherings into gladiatorial arenas".<ref name="OrderOfTheDay" /> The policy change unleashed a newfound military power in France, which was used to defend against the future coalitions formed by rival nations. The event also solidified Robespierre's rise to power as president{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} of the Committee of Public Safety earlier in July.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}
[[File:Marie Antoinette 16 10 1793 (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Marie Antoinette]]'s execution by guillotine on 16 October 1793]]
On 8 September banks and exchange offices were shuttered to curb the circulation of counterfeit [[Assignat|''assignats'']] and the outflow of capital, with investments in foreign countries punishable by death. The following day, the extremists [[Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois]] and [[Jacques-Nicolas Billaud-Varenne]] were elected in the Committee of Public Safety.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} On 9 September the convention established paramilitary forces, the "revolutionary armies",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Soyoye |first=Akin A. |url=https://www.academia.edu/8475802 |title=French Revolution I. Introduction  |access-date=30 August 2023 |archive-date=17 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017212717/https://www.academia.edu/8475802 |url-status=live }}</ref> to force farmers to surrender grain demanded by the government. On 17 September the [[Law of Suspects]] was passed, which authorized the imprisonment of vaguely defined "suspects". This created a mass overflow in the prison systems. On 29 September the Convention extended [[price fixing]] from grain and bread to other essential goods and also fixed wages.

On 10 October the Convention decreed "the provisional government shall be revolutionary until peace." On 16 October [[Marie Antoinette]] was executed. The trial of the Girondins started on the same day; they were executed on 31 October in just over half an hour by [[Charles-Henri Sanson]].<ref>Sanson Memoirs Vol II p. 70</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=December 2024}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=History |first=Alpha |date=2015-03-15 |title=French Revolution timeline 1792–95 |url=https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/french-revolution-timeline-1792-95 |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=French Revolution |language=en-US |archive-date=27 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527070531/https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/french-revolution-timeline-1792-95/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Joseph Fouché]] and Collot d'Herbois suppressed the [[revolt of Lyon against the National Convention]], while [[Jean-Baptiste Carrier]] ordered the [[drownings at Nantes]]. [[Jean-Lambert Tallien]] ensured the operation of the guillotine in [[Bordeaux]], while Barras and Fréron addressed issues in [[Marseille]] and [[Toulon]]. [[Joseph Le Bon]] was sent to the [[Somme (department)|Somme]] and [[Pas-de-Calais]] regions.<ref name=Bienvenu23>Richard T. Bienvenu (1968) ''The Ninth of Thermidor'', p. 23</ref>

On 8 November, the director of the ''assignats'' manufacture, and [[Manon Roland]] were executed. On 13 November the Convention shut down the [[Paris Bourse]] and banned all commerce in precious metals, under penalties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cdn.mises.org/Fiat%20Money%20Inflation%20in%20France_2.pdf|title=Fiat Money in France: How It Came, What It Brought, and How It Ended by A.D. White, p. 43|access-date=30 October 2022|archive-date=7 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407151512/https://cdn.mises.org/Fiat%20Money%20Inflation%20in%20France_2.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><!--On 10 November (20 Brumaire Year II of the French Republican Calendar), the Hébertists organized a Festival of Reason.--> Anti-clerical sentiments increased and a campaign of dechristianization occurred at the end of 1793. Eventually, Robespierre denounced the "de-Christianisers" as foreign enemies.

[[File:Olympe gouges.jpg|thumb|upright|The execution of [[Olympe de Gouges]], feminist writer close to the Girondins]]

In early December, Robespierre accused Danton in the Jacobin Club of "too often showing his vices and not his virtue".<ref name="auto10">{{Cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb34452336z/date1793|title=Gazette nationale ou le Moniteur universel – Year available 1793 – Gallica|website=Gallic.bnf.fr|access-date=15 February 2020|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803192002/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb34452336z/date1793|url-status=live |language=fr}}</ref> [[Camille Desmoulins]] defended Danton and warned Robespierre not to exaggerate the revolution. On 5 December the National Convention passed the [[Law of Frimaire]], which gave the central government more control over the actions of the [[Représentant en mission|representatives on mission]]. The Commune of Paris and the revolutionary committees in the sections had to obey the law, the two Committees, and the Convention.<ref>''Le Moniteur Universel'' de 5 décembre 1793, p. 4</ref> Desmoulins argued that the Revolution should return to its original ideas en vogue around 10 August 1792.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Funck | first1=F. | last2=Danton | first2=G.J. | last3=Châlier | first3=M.J. | title=1793: Beitrag zur geheimen Geschichte der französischen Revolution, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Danton's und Challier's, zugleich als Berichtigung der in den Werken von Thiers und Mignet enthaltenen Schilderungen | publisher=F. Bassermann | year=1843 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IsxBAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA52 | language=de | page=52 | access-date=16 August 2019 | archive-date=7 November 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107230954/https://books.google.com/books?id=IsxBAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA52#v=onepage&q&f=false | url-status=live }}</ref> A Committee of Grace had to be established. On 8 December, [[Madame du Barry]] was guillotined. On receiving notice that he was to appear on the next day before the Revolutionary Tribunal, [[Étienne Clavière]] committed suicide. American [[Thomas Paine]] lost his seat in the Convention, was arrested, and locked up for his association with the Girondins, as well as being a foreign national. 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 Danton, who demanded moderation and clemency. The Committee of Public Safety took actions against both.

On 8 February 1794 Carrier was recalled from Nantes after a member of the Committee of Public Safety wrote to Robespierre with information about the atrocities being carried out, although Carrier was not put on trial. On 26 February and 3 March [[Louis Antoine de Saint-Just]] proposed decrees to confiscate the property of exiles and opponents of the revolution, known as the [[Ventôse Decrees]].

In March the major Hébertists were tried before the Revolutionary Tribunal and executed on 24 March. On 30 March the two committees decided to arrest Danton and Desmoulins after Saint-Just became uncharacteristically angry.{{sfn|Schama|1989|pp=816–817}} The Dantonists were tried on 3 to 5 April and executed on 5 April. In mid-April it was decreed to centralise the investigation of court records and to bring all the political suspects in France to the Revolutionary Tribunal to Paris. Saint-Just and [[Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas]] journeyed the [[Army of the Rhine (1791–1795)|Rhine Army]] to oversee the generals and punish officers for perceived treasonous timidity or lack of initiative.<ref name="Bienvenu23" /> The two committees received the power to interrogate them immediately. A special police bureau inside the Comité de salut public was created, whose task was to monitor public servants, competing with both the Committee of General Security and the Committee of Public Safety.<ref>Herlaut. Les missions de Saint-Just à l'armée du Nord. Seconde Mission (30 Avril 1794–28 Juin 1794) . In: Revue du Nord, tome 28, n°109, Janvier-mars 1946. p. 2. {{doi|10.3406/rnord.1946.1872}}, {{Cite journal |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/rnord_0035-2624_1946_num_28_109_1872 |title=Les missions de Saint-Just à l'armée du Nord. Seconde Mission (30 Avril 1794-28 Juin 1794) |doi=10.3406/rnord.1946.1872 |access-date=27 May 2024 |archive-date=27 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527070957/https://www.persee.fr/doc/rnord_0035-2624_1946_num_28_109_1872 |url-status=live |date=1946 |last1=Herlaut |journal=Revue du Nord |volume=28 |issue=109 |pages=1–33|language=fr }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.antoine-saint-just.fr/chrono.html|title=Chronologie|website=www.antoine-saint-just.fr|access-date=30 April 2024|archive-date=11 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211182946/http://www.antoine-saint-just.fr/chrono.html|url-status=live |language=fr}}</ref> Foreigners were no longer allowed to travel through France or visit a Jacobin club; [[patriottentijd|Dutch patriots]] who had fled to France before 1790 were excluded.<ref>J. Rosendaal (2003) Bataven! Nederlandse Vluchtelingen In Frankrijk 1787 1795, pp. 420–422</ref> 

On 22 April [[Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes]], [[Isaac René Guy le Chapelier]], [[Jacques Guillaume Thouret]] were taken to be executed.<ref name="auto3">A. Jourdan (2018) Le tribunal révolutionnaire. {{doi|10.3917/perri.boula.2018.01.0269}}</ref> Saint-Just and Le Bas left Paris at the end of the month for the [[Army of the North (France)|army in the north]].{{sfn|Linton|2013|p=235}} On 21 May the revolutionary government decided that the Terror would be centralised, with almost all 
the [[revolutionary Tribunal|tribunals]] in the provinces closed and all the trials held in Paris.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lWNCwAAQBAJ&dq=government+decided+that+the+Terror+would+be+centralised&pg=PR14-IA87 |title=The French Revolution: From Enlightenment to Tyranny, p. xiv |isbn=978-1-84765-936-1 |access-date=22 February 2024 |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230043346/https://books.google.nl/books?id=9lWNCwAAQBAJ&pg=PR14-IA87&lpg=PR14-IA87&dq=government+decided+that+the+Terror+would+be+centralised&source=bl&ots=9mj36Ba2-K&sig=ACfU3U0dgFkTRlC3cyUqlRT1XoaBaNQLYA&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiBi7eu9OTkAhUQfFAKHZ4RBYgQ6AEwDHoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=government%20decided%20that%20the%20Terror%20would%20be%20centralised&f=false#v=onepage&q=government%20decided%20that%20the%20Terror%20would%20be%20centralised&f=false |url-status=live |last1=Davidson |first1=Ian |date=25 August 2016 |publisher=Profile Books }}</ref> On 20 May Robespierre signed [[Theresa Cabarrus]]'s arrest warrant, and on 23 May, following an attempted assassination on d'Herbois. [[Cécile Renault]] was arrested near Robespierre's residence with two penknives and a change of underwear claiming the fresh linen was for her execution.<ref>[https://www.houghton.hk/?p=232 A Peoples' History 1793–1844 from the newspapers.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922205654/https://www.houghton.hk/?p=232 |date=22 September 2020 }} ''The Bombay Courier'', Sat 18 October 1794</ref> She was executed on 17 June.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iMIBAAAAYAAJ&q=PRAIRIAL&pg=RA1-PA135|title=Memoirs of the Sansons: From Private Notes and Documents (1688–1847)|first=Henri|last=Sanson|date=12 March 1876|publisher=Chatto and Windus|via=Google Books|access-date=30 April 2024|archive-date=17 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017155729/https://books.google.com/books?id=iMIBAAAAYAAJ&q=PRAIRIAL&pg=RA1-PA135|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fb9Y0UgN-K0C&dq=Cecile+Renault+parent+execution&pg=PA178|title=Death Comes to the Maiden: Sex and Execution 1431–1933|first=Camille|last=Naish|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1136247620|via=Google Books|access-date=30 April 2024|archive-date=17 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017155653/https://books.google.com/books?id=Fb9Y0UgN-K0C&dq=Cecile+Renault+parent+execution&pg=PA178|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RHzQAAAAMAAJ&dq=Cecile+Renault+execution+1794+May&pg=PA242|title=The Edinburgh Review|date=12 March 1809|publisher=A. and C. Black|via=Google Books|access-date=30 April 2024|archive-date=17 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017155541/https://books.google.com/books?id=RHzQAAAAMAAJ&dq=Cecile+Renault+execution+1794+May&pg=PA242|url-status=live}}</ref><!--On 8 June 1794, (20 Prairial) 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.-->

[[File:Beaux-Arts de Carcassonne - Appel des dernières victimes de la terreur dans la prison de saint Lazare.7, 9 thermidor 1794 - Charles Louis MULLER.jpg|thumb|Calling out the last victims of the terror at [[Saint-Lazare Prison]], July 1794]]
[[File:Pierre-Antoine Demachy (1723 – 1807); Une exécution capitale, place de la Révolution (Place de la Concorde), vers 1793. Huile sur papier marouflé sur toile, 37 x 53,5 cm. Musée Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris.jpg|thumb|Execution on the future [[Place de la Concorde]]]]
On 10 June the National Convention passed a law proposed by [[Georges Couthon]], known as the [[Law of 22 Prairial]], which simplified the judicial process and greatly accelerated the work of the Revolutionary Tribunal. With the enactment of the law, the number of executions greatly increased, and the period became known as "The Great Terror" ({{Langx |fr| la Grande Terreur}}). Between 10 June and 27 July, another 1,366 were executed, causing fear among d'Herbois, Fouché and Tallien due to their past actions.<ref>Jean Jaurès, "[http://www.marxists.org/archive/jaures/1901/history/great-terror.htm The Law of Prairial and the Great Terror (Fall, year IV)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422234650/http://www.marxists.org/archive/jaures/1901/history/great-terror.htm |date=22 April 2021 }}", in ''Socialist History of the French Revolution'' (translated by Mitchell Abidor), Marxists.org</ref> Like Brissot, Madame Roland, Pétion, Hébert and Danton, Tallien was accused of participating in conspicuous dinners.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/id/eprint/30691/1/Linton-M-30691.pdf|title='Come and Dine': The Dangers of Conspicuous Consumption in French Revolutionary Politics, 1789–95|first1=Marisa|last1=Linton|first2=Mette|last2=Harder|date=12 March 2015|journal=European History Quarterly|volume=45|issue=4|pages=615|doi=10.1177/0265691415595959|s2cid=143310428|via=academia.edu|access-date=30 April 2024|archive-date=3 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203061811/https://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/id/eprint/30691/1/Linton-M-30691.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> On 18 June [[Pétion de Villeneuve]] and [[François Buzot]] committed suicide, and [[Joachim Vilate]] was arrested on 21 June.

On 26 June the French army won the [[Battle of Fleurus (1794)|Battle of Fleurus]], which marked a turning point in [[Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition|France's military campaign]] and undermined the necessity of wartime measures and the legitimacy of the revolutionary government.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Reign of Terror: Causes, Purpose & Effects {{!}} StudySmarter |url=https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/history/the-french-revolution/the-reign-of-terror |access-date=31 January 2023 |website=StudySmarter UK |language=en-GB |archive-date=31 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131080804/https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/history/the-french-revolution/the-reign-of-terror/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=anonymous uncited high school study notes|date=December 2024}} In early July about 60 individuals were arrested as "[[enemies of the people]]" and accused of conspiring against liberty.<ref>Le Républicain français, 9 juillet 1794</ref> The total of death sentences in Paris in July was more than double the number in June,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.justice.gouv.fr/histoire-et-patrimoine-10050/la-justice-dans-lhistoire-10288/le-tribunal-revolutionnaire-22842.html |publisher=Ministère de la Justice|title=Le Tribunal révolutionnaire|date=23 May 2011|access-date=30 April 2024|archive-date=7 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407151511/http://www.justice.gouv.fr/histoire-et-patrimoine-10050/la-justice-dans-lhistoire-10288/le-tribunal-revolutionnaire-22842.html|url-status=dead |language=fr}}</ref> with two new mass graves dug at [[Picpus Cemetery]] by mid-July.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pariscemeteries.com/picpus-1|title=Picpus (12)|website=Paris Cemeteries|access-date=30 April 2024|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803181406/http://www.pariscemeteries.com/picpus-1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Spaces of Mourning:The Cemetery of Picpus and the Memory of Terror in Post-Revolutionary France|first=Ronen|last=Steinberg|date=9 September 2008|journal=Proceedings of the Western Society for French History|volume=36|hdl = 2027/spo.0642292.0036.011}}</ref> There was widespread agreement among deputies that their [[parliamentary immunity]], in place since 1 April 1793, had become perilous.{{sfn|Linton|2013|p=163}} On 14 July Robespierre had Fouché expelled. To evade arrest about 50 deputies avoided staying at home.

== Thermidorian Reaction ==
{{Main|Thermidorian Reaction}}
[[File:Execution robespierre, saint just....jpg|right|thumb|The execution of [[Maximilien Robespierre]]]]

The [[Fall of Maximilien Robespierre|fall of Robespierre]] was brought about by a combination of those who wanted more power for the Committee of Public Safety (and a more radical policy than he was willing to allow) and the moderates who completely opposed the revolutionary government. They had, between them, made the Law of 22 Prairial one of the charges against him, so that after his fall, to advocate terror would be seen as adopting the policy of a convicted enemy of the republic, putting the advocate's own head at risk.

Between his arrest and his execution, Robespierre may have tried to commit suicide by shooting himself, although the bullet wound he sustained, whatever its origin, only shattered his jaw. Alternatively, he may have been shot by the gendarme [[Charles-André Merda]]. A change in orientation might explain how Robespierre, sitting in a chair, got wounded from the upper right in the lower left jaw.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/25444943|title=Robespierre (Paris, Fayard, 2014; rééd. Pluriel, 2016) – extraits|first=Hervé|last=Leuwers|via=www.academia.edu|pages=366–367|access-date=30 April 2024|archive-date=2 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602141720/https://www.academia.edu/25444943|url-status=live |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Aulard|first=Alphonse|title=Études et leçons sur la Révolution Française|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zMhsG1Ul4JEC&pg=PA292|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-03497-5|page=292|access-date=30 April 2024|archive-date=27 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527070956/https://books.google.com/books?id=zMhsG1Ul4JEC&pg=PA292#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live|language=fr}}</ref><ref name="Biard2015">{{cite book|last=Biard|first=Michel|title=La liberté ou la mort, mourir en député, 1792–1795|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S7hSCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT119|date=2015|publisher=Tallandier|isbn=979-1-02-100844-1|page=119|access-date=30 April 2024|archive-date=27 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527070957/https://books.google.com/books?id=S7hSCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT119|url-status=live |language=fr}}</ref>) According to Bourdon, Méda then hit Couthon's adjutant in his leg.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZ4PAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA394|title=Précis historique inédit des événemens de la soirée du 9 Thermidor An II|first=C. A.|last=Méda|date=12 March 1825|publisher=Baudouin|via=Google Books|access-date=30 April 2024|archive-date=27 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527070958/https://books.google.com/books?id=nZ4PAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA394#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live |language=fr}}</ref><ref>[[Louis Blanc|L. Blanc]] (1861) Histoire de la Révolution Française, Vol. 11, book 12, ch. 7, p. 256</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/memoirsofsansons02sansuoft|title=Memoirs of the Sansons, from private notes and documents, 1688–1847 / edited by Henry Sanson|first1=Henri|last1=Sanson|first2=Charles Henri|last2=Sanson|first3=Henri|last3=Sanson|first4=d'|last4=Olbreuze|date=12 March 1876|publisher=London : Chatto and Windus|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>E. Hamel, pp. 337–38</ref> Couthon was found lying at the bottom of a staircase in a corner, having fallen from the back of his adjutant. Saint-Just gave himself up without a word.{{sfn | Linton | 2013 | p=283}} According to Méda, Hanriot tried to escape by a concealed staircase to the third floor and his apartment.<ref>C.A. Méda, p. 385</ref> The great confusion that arose during the storming of the municipal Hall of Paris, where Robespierre and his friends had found refuge, makes it impossible to be sure of the wound's origin. A group of 15 to 20 conspirators were locked up in a room inside the Hôtel de Ville.<ref>Richard T. Bienvenu (1968) The Ninth of Thermidor, p. 219</ref> In any case, Robespierre was guillotined the next day, together with Saint-Just, Couthon and his brother [[Augustin Robespierre]].<ref>Merriman, John (2004). "Thermidor" (2nd ed.). ''A history of modern Europe: from the Renaissance to the present'', p. 507. W.W. Norton & Company Ltd. {{ISBN|0-3939-2495-5}}</ref> The day following his demise, approximately half of the Paris Commune (70 members) met their fate at the guillotine.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VcJWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT82|title=OCR A Level History: The French Revolution and the rule of Napoleon 1774–1815|first=Mike|last=Wells|date=2018|publisher=Hodder Education|isbn=978-1510415829|via=Google Books|access-date=30 April 2024|archive-date=17 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017233940/https://books.google.com/books?id=VcJWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT82|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to Barère, who just like Robespierre never went on mission: "We did not deceive ourselves that Saint-Just, cut out as a more dictatorial boss, would have finished by overthrowing [Robespierre] to put himself in his place; we also knew that we who stood in the way of his projects, he would have us guillotined; we overthrew him."<ref>{{cite book |last=Barère |first=Bertrand |url=https://archive.org/details/mmoiresdebbar01bar |title=Mémoires de B. Barère: membre de la Constituante, de la Convention, du Comité de salut public, et de la Chambre des représentants |publisher=J. Labitte |year=1842 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mmoiresdebbar01bar/page/118 118] |language=fr}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Bals des victimes]]
* [[Infernal columns]]
* [[Revolutionary terror]]
* [[State terrorism]]
* [[Terrorism in France]]
* [[Tricoteuse]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* Bloy, Marjorie. "The First Coalition 1793–1797." A Web of English History. Accessed 21 October 2018. http://www.historyhome.co.uk/c-eight/france/coalit1.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008092049/http://www.historyhome.co.uk/c-eight/france/coalit1.htm |date=8 October 2018}}.
* {{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Emmet |title=A Cultural History of the French Revolution |date=1989 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-3000-4426-3}}
* Leopold, II, and Frederick William. "The Declaration of Pillnitz (1791)." French Revolution. 27 February 2018. Accessed 26 October 2018. https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/declaration-of-pillnitz-1791/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203094908/https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/declaration-of-pillnitz-1791 |date=3 December 2022}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Linton |first1=Marisa |title=Choosing Terror: Virtue, Friendship, and Authenticity in the French Revolution |date=20 June 2013 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-957630-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sh2vu4mIOh4C |language=en |access-date=12 May 2024 |archive-date=27 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527071000/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Sh2vu4mIOh4C |url-status=live }}
* McLetchie, Scott. "Maximilien Robespierre, Master of the Terror." Maximilien Robespierre, Master of the Terror. Accessed 23 October 2018. http://people.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1983-4/mcletchie.htm#22 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205142542/http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1983-4/mcletchie.htm#22 |date=5 December 2017}}.
* Montesquieu. "Modern History Sourcebook: Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws, 1748." Internet History Sourcebooks. Accessed 23 October 2018. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/montesquieu-spirit.asp {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031005225/https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/montesquieu-spirit.asp |date=31 October 2018}}.
* {{Cite book |last=Popkin |first=Jeremy D. |title=A Short History of the French Revolution |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-3155-0892-4}}
* "Robespierre, "On Political Morality"," Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, accessed 19 October 2018, http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/413 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030210617/http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/413 |date=30 October 2018}}.
* {{Cite book |last=Schama |first=Simon |title=Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution |title-link=Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-3945-5948-3 |location=New York |pages=678–847 |author-link=Simon Schama}}
* Voltaire. "Voltaire, Selections from the Philosophical Dictionary." Omeka RSS. Accessed 23 October 2018. http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/273/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129083348/http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/273 |date=29 January 2020}}.
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
===Primary sources===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Cléry |first1=Jean-Baptiste |title=Journal of the Terror |last2=Henry Essex Edgeworth |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1961 |editor-last=Sidney Scott |location=Cambridge |oclc=3153946 |author-link=Jean-Baptiste Cléry |author-link2=Henry Essex Edgeworth |orig-year=1798}}
{{Refend}}

===Secondary sources===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book |last=Andress |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/terror00andr |title=The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-3742-7341-5 |location=New York }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Andress |first1=David |title=Revolution and Changing Identities in France, 1789–99 |last2=Popkin |first2=Jeremy |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
* {{Cite book |last=Arasse |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Arasse |title=The Guillotine and the Terror |publisher=Allen Lane |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-7139-9008-9 |location=London}}
* Baker, Keith M. François Furet, and Colin Lucas, eds. (1987) ''The French Revolution and the Creation of Modern Political Culture, vol. 4, The Terror'' (London: Pergamon Press, 1987)
* {{Cite journal |last=Beik |first=William |author-link=William Beik |date=August 2005 |title=The Absolutism of Louis XIV as Social Collaboration: Review Article |journal=Past and Present |issue=188 |pages=195–224 |doi=10.1093/pastj/gti019}}
* Biard, Michel and Linton, Marisa, ''Terror: The French Revolution and its Demons'' (Polity Press, 2021).
* {{Cite book |last=Censer, Jack |first=and Lynn Hunt |title=Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |year=2001 |location=University Park, PA}}
* {{Cite book |last=Fife |first=Graeme |author-link=Graeme Fife |title=The Terror: The Shadow of the Guillotine. France 1792–1794 |publisher=Portrait |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7499-5005-7 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hunt |first=Lynn |url=https://archive.org/details/politicsculturec0000hunt |title=Politics, Culture, and Class in the French Revolution |publisher=University of California Press |year=1984 |location=Berkeley |url-access=registration }}
* Gough, Hugh. ''The Terror in the French Revolution'' (London: Macmillan, 1998)
* {{Cite book |last=Hibbert |first=Christopher |url=https://archive.org/details/daysoffrenchre00hibb |title=The Days of the French Revolution |publisher=Quill-William Morrow |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-6881-6978-7 |location=New York }}
* {{Cite book |last=Kerr |first=Wilfred Brenton |title=Reign of Terror, 1793–1794 |publisher=Porcupine Press |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-8799-1631-2 |location=London}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Linton |first=Marisa |date=August 2006 |title=Robespierre and the terror: Marisa Linton reviews the life and career of one of the most vilified men in history, (Maximilien Robespierre)(Biography) |url=http://www.historytoday.com/marisa-linton/robespierre-and-terror |journal=History Today |volume=8 |issue=56 |page=23 |access-date=30 March 2015 |archive-date=30 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930160214/http://www.historytoday.com/marisa-linton/robespierre-and-terror |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite book |last=Loomis |first=Stanley |title=Paris in the Terror |publisher=Dorset Press |year=1964 |isbn=978-0-8802-9401-0 |location=New York |author-link=Stanley Loomis}}
* McLetchie, Scott. "[http://people.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1983-4/mcletchie.htm#22 Maximilien Robespierre, Master of the Terror]." Maximilien Robespierre, Master of the Terror. Accessed 23 October 2018. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205142542/http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1983-4/mcletchie.htm#22 |date=5 December 2017 }}.
* {{Cite book |last=Moore |first=Lucy |url=https://archive.org/details/libertylivestime0000moor |title=Liberty: The Lives and Times of Six Women in Revolutionary France |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-0072-0601-8 |location=London |url-access=registration }}
* {{Cite book |last=Palmer |first=R. R. |url=https://archive.org/details/twelvewhoruledye00palm_0 |title=Twelve Who Ruled: The Year of the Terror in the French Revolution |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-6911-2187-1 |location=[[Princeton, New Jersey]] |author-link=Robert Roswell Palmer }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Reinberg |first1=M |title=Modernity and Ethics: The Ghost of Terror in the French Thought |last2=Chaouat |first2=Bruno |last3=Brewer |first3=Daniel |last4=Brewer |first4=Maria |last5=Schlte-Sasse |first5=Jochen |date=2010}}
* {{Cite book |last=Scott |first=Otto |title=Robespierre, The Fool as Revolutionary – Inside the French Revolution |publisher=The Reformer Library |year=1974 |isbn=978-1-8876-9005-8 |location=Windsor, New York}}
* {{Cite news |last=Shadow |date=9 February 1870 |title=The 'Reign of Terror' |work=The New York Times}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Shulim |first=Joseph I. |date=1977 |title=Robespierre and the French Revolution |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=82 |issue=1 |pages=20–38 |doi=10.2307/1857136 |jstor=1857136}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Soboul |first=A. |date=1954 |title=Robespierre and the Popular Movement of 1793–4 |journal=Past & Present |issue=5 |pages=54–70 |doi=10.1093/past/5.1.54 |jstor=649823}}
* {{Cite book |last=Steel |first=Mark |title=Vive La Revolution |publisher=Scribner |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7432-0806-2 |location=London}}
** [http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1977666,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=10 Reviewed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626052007/http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1977666,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=10 |date=26 June 2008 }} by Adam Thorpe in ''[[The Guardian]]'', 23 December 2006.
* Sutherland, D.M.G. (2003) ''The French Revolution and Empire: The Quest for a Civic Order'' pp 174–253
* {{Cite book |last=Thoral |first=Marie-Cécile |title=From Valmy to Waterloo |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-3493-2253-4 |doi=10.1057/9780230294981}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wahnich |first=Sophie |title=In Defence of the Terror: Liberty or Death in the French Revolution |date=2016 |publisher=Verso |isbn=978-1-7847-8202-3 |edition=Reprint |author-link=Sophie Wahnich}}
** [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/17/defence-terror-french-wahnich-review Reviewed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527071000/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/17/defence-terror-french-wahnich-review |date=27 May 2024 }} by [[Ruth Scurr]] in ''The Guardian'', 17 August 2012
* {{Cite book |last=Weber |first=Caroline |title=Terror and Its Discontents: Suspect Words in Revolutionary France |date=2003 |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-0-8166-3887-1}}
{{Refend}}

===Historiography===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Kafker |first1=Frank |first2=James M. |last2=Lauz |first3=Darline Gay |last3=Levy |title=The French Revolution: Conflicting Interpretations |publisher=Krieger Publishing Company |year=2002 |location=Malabar, FL}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rudé, George |url=https://archive.org/details/robespierreportr00rude |title=Robespierre: Portrait of a Revolutionary Democrat |publisher=Viking Press |year=1976 |isbn=978-0-6706-0128-8 |location=New York |author-link=George Rudé}} A Marxist political portrait of Robespierre, examining his changing image among historians and the different aspects of Robespierre as an 'ideologue', as a political democrat, as a social democrat, as a practitioner of revolution, as a politician and as a popular leader/leader of revolution, it also touches on his legacy for the future revolutionary leaders [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] and [[Mao Zedong|Mao]].
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|French Revolution}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p003k9cf "The Terror"] from ''[[In Our Time (radio series)|In Our Time]]'' (BBC Radio 4)

{{French Revolution}}
{{Terrorism topics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reign Of Terror}}
[[Category:1793 events of the French Revolution]]
[[Category:1794 events of the French Revolution]]
[[Category:Anti-Catholicism in France]]
[[Category:Persecution of Christians]]
[[Category:Police brutality in France]]
[[Category:Political and cultural purges]]
[[Category:Political repression in France]]
[[Category:Terrorism committed by France]]
[[Category:People killed in the French Revolution]]
[[Category:Revolution terminology]]
[[Category:Politicides]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in France]]
[[Category:Massacres committed by the French First Republic]]
[[Category:Massacres of the French Revolution]]
[[Category:Left-wing terrorism]]
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