The Reign of Terror

Causes of the Reign of Terror

The main cause of the Terror was the perceived disunity of France at a time of extreme political instability in the face of internal crisis and external threats. This instability showed itself in religious and popular rebellions as well as disagreements over the management of those threats.

Threats of foreign invasion

The monarchies of Europe were hostile to the French Revolution, fearing that revolutionary ideas would spread to their own dominions if it was not stopped. This led Leopold II of Austria (brother of Marie Antoinette) and Frederick William II of Prussia to issue the Pillnitz Declaration on 27 August 1791. The Declaration stated that they would invade France if the French King Louis XVI was threatened, and called on other European powers to join them.

The Declaration created a real fear of invasion and a sense that outside forces were meddling in French affairs. This not only made the revolutionaries more hostile to the King who was thought to be conspiring with other monarchs but led the Jacobins and Girondins to declare war against Austria and Prussia on 20 April 1792. This started the War of the First Coalition.

France suffered devastating defeats in the war until September 1792 when they stopped the Austro-Prussian forces from invading France at the Battle of Valmy.

Their prolonged defeats created paranoia around the continued threat of invasion. This served as a justification for the violence of the Terror, necessary to unify France in the face of foreign threats. Indeed, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, the president of the National Convention, who would become known as the Archangel of the Terror, defended the use of violence:

Popular pressure

The need for Terror was increased by the constant pressure on the Convention from ultra-revolutionary groups. On 10 March 1793, the Revolutionary Tribunal was created in order to judge the actions of perceived enemies of the Revolution. The tribunal's creation was a response to several uprisings that sprung up all over France against the National Convention, known as the Federalist Revolts. Like the Girondins, Federalists favoured a decentralised France. Notable revolts took place in the Vendée and Lyon in 1793.

A key turning point in the course of the Terror was an armed insurrection by the sans-culottes which took place between 31 May and 2 June 1793. The sans-culottes stormed the Convention and demanded that its 29 Girondin deputies be expelled because the sans-culottes viewed them as too moderate.

The Jacobins took this opportunity to arrest the Girondins and take over the Convention. As a result, increasingly terroristic methods were used to maintain the unity of the country.

Religious upheaval

The French Revolution was characterised by a dramatic rejection of religion. The conflict between those who rejected the concept of God entirely in favour of atheism and those who still remained devoted to Catholic Christianity created extreme religious upheaval all around France. This became another cause that urged the use of terror to maintain order.

The first tangible rejection of Catholicism came with the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, issued on 12 July 1790. This involved the reorganisation of the Catholic Church, effectively making priests into civil servants, with wages paid by the State, and a system of elections.

On 27 November 1790, the National Assembly commanded members of the clergy to take an oath proclaiming their support for the French constitution and reorganising the church. Only around 50% of French priests took the oath, splitting the French church. As historian Noelle Plack put it:

To maintain order, the National Convention tried various methods:

• It created the Law of Suspects in September 1793, arresting many dissenting priests.
• On 5 October 1793, the Convention decided to abolish all religious holidays and created a new non-religious calendar. The date of the First French Republic's establishment in 1792 became Year I.
• To replace Catholicism Maximilien Robespierre attempted to create a form of deism in the Cult of the Supreme Being. Robespierre thought atheism would encourage anarchy and that the populace needed a common faith, but his plan utterly failed. It only encouraged a further divide in the country as many people refused to follow the Cult and thus intensified the need for Terror.

Events and purpose of the Reign of Terror

The Terror's purpose was to maintain the unity of France during a period when multiple internal and external actors were threatening the Revolution. So, what happened during the Terror?

The Committee of Public Safety

The Terror had its foundation in the Committee of Public Safety which was brought into being in April 1793. The National Convention supported the Committee's near-dictatorial power as they thought offering them expansive powers would lead to efficiency of government.

The Committee's main role was to protect the Republic against foreign attacks and internal division. It was given control over military, judicial, and legislative efforts but this was only to be a wartime measure.

The Committee struggled to control the populace, and as the threat of invasion by the First Coalition grew, along with internal strife, so did the Committee's powers. This was because the Committee believed that the more tightly they controlled the French people, the more unified the country would stay.

Maximilien Robespierre and the Reign of Terror

In July 1793, following the expulsion of the Girondists from the National Convention, the leaders of the Jacobin Club, Maximilien Robespierre and Saint-Just, were elected to the Committee.

The power of the Committee of Public Safety increased following this unrest, with the National Convention giving it executive powers. The Committee attempted to use these powers to persecute the Federalists, Girondins, monarchists, and others suspected of counter-revolutionary activity like the clergy. This caused a falling-out between Robespierre and his former ally and popular Jacobin leader, Georges Danton, who renounced the use of political violence.

The Committee’s increasingly extreme stance did nothing to curb counter-revolutionary sentiment around France. Many moderates believed that the Terror went against the ideals of justice and equality upon which the Revolution was founded. To make matters worse, popular unrest and violence continued in the regions of Lyon, Marseille and Toulon.

Portrait of Maximilien Robespierre, commons.wikimedia.org

The Execution of Danton

Robespierre wanted to carry the Revolution with one single will, as he put it. As a result, he conducted a fratricidal (brother-against-brother) campaign against any fellow Jacobins he perceived as counter-revolutionary or a threat to his position.

At the end of March 1794, Georges Danton, a vocal critic of the Committee of Public Safety, was arrested on charges of financial corruption and conspiracy. Robespierre insisted that Danton was in the pay of a foreign power, likely Great Britain. Danton and Camille Desmoulins, another prominent Jacobin and Montagnard, were executed along with thirteen others on 5 April 1794. The death of Danton would come back to haunt Robespierre.

The Law of 22 Prairal

Robespierre's manic wish to purify the Republic led to tyranny and he essentially killed anyone who disagreed with him. Thousands were arrested, and, on 10 June 1794, the National Convention passed the Law of 22 Prairial Year II (the corresponding date on the French revolutionary calendar), which suspended the rights to a public trial and to legal assistance.

Juries could only acquit or sentence the accused to death. Subsequently, the rate of executions increased sharply and at least 1300 people were executed in June 1794 alone. Executions increased to such an extent after the Law of 22 Prairial that the month following its enactment became known as the Great Terror, only ending with July's Thermidorian Reaction.

The Battle of Fleurus

On 26 June 1794, a French army under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan won the Battle of Fleurus (in the Austrian Netherlands) against the First Coalition, marking a turning point in France’s military fortunes. With the First Coalition now on the backfoot, this lowered the likelihood that France itself would be invaded. It undermined the necessity of strict wartime measures and the legitimacy of the Revolutionary Government, which had justified extreme measures as necessary to resist foreign powers. Jourdan himself had been temporarily dismissed by Robespierre in early 1794.

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan in 1792, Wikimedia Commons.

The Thermidorian Reaction

The Thermidorian Reaction on 27 July 1794 (9 Thermidor Year II in the revolutionary calendar) was a parliamentary revolt against Maximilien Robespierre, who had been the leader of the National Convention since June 1794.

As the paranoia of the Great Terror gripped France everyone was suspecting everyone of treason. Robespierre addressed the National Convention on 26 July 1794 suggesting that he was aware of a number of people who had committed treason but he would not name them. This caused a frenzy amongst the members of the Committee as they feared that any of them could be convicted and executed.

To prevent this, the next day the members of the National Convention shouted him down and decreed his arrest. Robespierre along with his supporters barricaded at the Hôtel de Ville (the centre of the Parisian civic government) but he was arrested on 28 July 1794. On the same day, he was executed, along with 21 of his closest associates.

Over the next few days, around 100 supporters of Robespierre were executed. Although the Reign of Terror was ending, the White Terror had just begun: moderates now started terrorising the Jacobins and other radicals.

Consequences of the Reign of Terror

The Reign of Terror had the opposite results to those intended. Arbitrary executions and lack of accountability created a sense of paranoia across France. Many became completely disillusioned with the Revolution and helped fuel the counter-revolution calling for a return to the monarchy. Eventually, even Robespierre's former allies turned against him during the Thermidorian Reaction as he himself turned against his fellow Jacobins and Montagnards.

When Robespierre was arrested on 9 Thermidor, he was rendered momentarily speechless. At this, a fellow deputy reputedly cried out:

Robespierre, shocked at this, simply remarked that if the execution of Danton had bothered the members of the National Convention so much, then they should have done something to save him.

The Reign of Terror and the resulting White Terror permanently damaged the position of the Jacobin Club. They never again held the power that they did between 1792 and 94 and their membership dropped massively following the executions of Robespierre and his supporters. On 12 November 1794, the National Convention unanimously passed a decree permanently closing the Jacobin Club.

1. Noelle Plack, 'Challenges in the Countryside, 1790–2', in David Andress (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the French Revolution (Oxford, 2015), p. 356.

3. Simon Schama, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (New York, 1999), p. 844.