Reign Of Terror Dbq Analysis

The Reign of Terror was one of the most brutal events of the French Revolution, killing over 35,000 people, including two rulers. The Reign of Terror was an 18 month period where Maximillien Robespierre led the government to execute all who did not support the revolution. These enemies were located both inside and outside the country of France. Some documents support the Reign of Terror, but it can also be argued that it was unfair and unjustified. After reading several documents, I feel the government’s campaign to execute thousands of innocent citizens was not justified for multiple reasons. The external threat did not require it, the internal threat did not deserve it, and the methods of Terror were too extreme.

Two countries made up the main “external threat” of the French Revolution; Austria and Prussia. Both Austria and Prussia feared that the revolution would spread to their countries (Docs A, B). Austria feared for the safety of Marie Antoinette, as she was the sister of the king. Many French army officials moved out of France and to the Netherlands to ally themselves with France’s external enemies (Doc B). Though these were logical reasons to to fear the revolution of the French citizens, the Terror against these countries was too extreme. The Terror against the external threats was not required, and so it was …show more content…
Many citizens did not want to give up the monarchy French had. Other citizens rebelled against the “levee en masse”, a military draft in Vendee (Doc C). On top of the forced draft, the government also tried to abolish Christianity, upsetting French citizens even more (Doc C). These events caused the citizens to revolt against the local government (Doc A). Even though many citizens were against the revolution, they were innocent and did not deserve the Terror against them. Citizens deserve the right to speak against the government without being executed for