The French Revolution came as a great surprise to the French. It can be said that France had many problems but France’s absolute monarchy itself was a cause for the Revolution (French Revolution, pg. 1) France guarded the traditional structure of society and moved slowly in regards to modernizing the economy. Long-term problems like overcrowding, overseas exploration, and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution did not help because the government was slow to respond. Maximilien Robespierre was considered a big influence during this time. Robespierre, like most the revolutionaries during this time was a bourgeois. He identified with the urban workers, also known as the common people, and became a spokesperson for their cause. It is for this
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The reasons for the terror occurred from the threat of foreign invasion and constant counter-revolutions jeopardizing the survival of the Republic. The circumstances surrounding France during 1793 to 1794 contributed to the use of terror as the newly established power of the National Convention. It faced many threats, in particular, foreign invasions. The outrage which had instigated from the abolition of feudalism, eventually led to the execution of the French monarch, King Louis XVI (French Revolution, pg. 81). The constant growing fear of invasions by foreign armies were inevitable in these circumstances. The French deputies, in order to protect France, did not have much of a choice but to employ strong and deliberate measures to drive away foreign armies from France. Therefore, it was through the use of the guillotine that foreign threats to the revolution could be eliminated. Another threat to the power of the National Convention was the counter-revolutionary uprisings occurring within France itself. The uprisings that predominantly cultivated in the provinces of La Vendee and in the cities of Bordeaux and Lyons were ongoing and never-ceasing (French Revolution, pg. 76). It was both crucial and vital to sustain internal political order in France for the National Convention to be …show more content…
It 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. From January 1793-July 1794, France was governed by the Committee of Public Safety. The first victim was Marie Antoinette. She had been imprisoned with her children after she was separated from King Louis. The guillotine, the new instrument of justice, was put to work. Public executions were considered educational. The Revolutionary Tribunal ordered the execution of 2,400 people in Paris by July 1794. Across France 30,000 people lost their lives. In the course of nine months, 16, 000 people were guillotined (French Revolution, pg. 93). The Terror was designed to fight the enemies of the revolution and to prevent counter-revolution from gaining ground (powerpoint, 2-21-17). Most of the people taken were not aristocrats, but ordinary people. A man and his immediate family might go to the guillotine for saying something against the revolutionary government. If an informer happened to overhear just a small part of a conversation and it sounded like it was against the Revolution, that was all the tribunal needed. The promises of the Declaration of the Rights of Man were forgotten. Terror was the order of the day. In the words of Maximilien Robespierre, "Softness to traitors will destroy us all"(powerpoint, 2-16-17). Robespierre was the
The reasons for the terror occurred from the threat of foreign invasion and constant counter-revolutions jeopardizing the survival of the Republic. The circumstances surrounding France during 1793 to 1794 contributed to the use of terror as the newly established power of the National Convention. It faced many threats, in particular, foreign invasions. The outrage which had instigated from the abolition of feudalism, eventually led to the execution of the French monarch, King Louis XVI (French Revolution, pg. 81). The constant growing fear of invasions by foreign armies were inevitable in these circumstances. The French deputies, in order to protect France, did not have much of a choice but to employ strong and deliberate measures to drive away foreign armies from France. Therefore, it was through the use of the guillotine that foreign threats to the revolution could be eliminated. Another threat to the power of the National Convention was the counter-revolutionary uprisings occurring within France itself. The uprisings that predominantly cultivated in the provinces of La Vendee and in the cities of Bordeaux and Lyons were ongoing and never-ceasing (French Revolution, pg. 76). It was both crucial and vital to sustain internal political order in France for the National Convention to be …show more content…
It 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. From January 1793-July 1794, France was governed by the Committee of Public Safety. The first victim was Marie Antoinette. She had been imprisoned with her children after she was separated from King Louis. The guillotine, the new instrument of justice, was put to work. Public executions were considered educational. The Revolutionary Tribunal ordered the execution of 2,400 people in Paris by July 1794. Across France 30,000 people lost their lives. In the course of nine months, 16, 000 people were guillotined (French Revolution, pg. 93). The Terror was designed to fight the enemies of the revolution and to prevent counter-revolution from gaining ground (powerpoint, 2-21-17). Most of the people taken were not aristocrats, but ordinary people. A man and his immediate family might go to the guillotine for saying something against the revolutionary government. If an informer happened to overhear just a small part of a conversation and it sounded like it was against the Revolution, that was all the tribunal needed. The promises of the Declaration of the Rights of Man were forgotten. Terror was the order of the day. In the words of Maximilien Robespierre, "Softness to traitors will destroy us all"(powerpoint, 2-16-17). Robespierre was the