The Reign of Terror and Robespierre

 After the French abolished the Feudal system the National Assembly announced it’s Declaration of the Rights of Man  What was in this Declaration?  However the Declaration was not welcomed by Louis the XVI  Even after the National Assembly’s declaration many members of the previous 3 rd Estate were still starving and struggling to survive  So despite the forward looking steps the National Assembly had taken, The Monarchy still lived lavishly and in their Royal Palace (Versailles)

 Out raged by the Monarchy’s lack of concern with domestic affairs, the needs/demands of the 3 rd Estate, the National Assembly took Control  To pay back the bourgeoisie, the people who France was in debt too  First they placed church under state control; Clergy members were now elected and given salaries. Church lands were sold, and convents and monasteries were sold to aid in paying off debts.  Not everyone agreed with the Civil Constitution, among those who rejected it were The peasants, Clergy, and the Pope.

 Established a Limited Monarchy, as opposed to the Absolute Monarchy  Allowed for a new legislative assembly to create laws, collect taxes and decide issues of war and peace  To moderate reformers this seemed to be the end of the revolution…

 The rising tension in France forced many Nobles and Clergy to flee from France, they were known as Émigrés  These political refugees and the escalation of the Revolution worried other monarchies in Europe, The threat to other monarchies was so great that Prussia and Austria announced that if it were to threaten them they would have to intervene; this was done through the Declaration of Pilnitz  However, it was not only the foreign influence France would soon have to worry about

 The Two Radical Groups France would soon have to worry about were the sans-culottes and the Jacobins  The Sans-Culottes were men and women of the working class, they demanded that the government become a Republic.  On the other hand the Jacobins were mostly middle class lawyers & intellectuals, the sans-culottes and Jacobins both strived for the same thing elimination of the Monarchy  As these radicals gained strength in the new legislative body they brought the war across their borders to other monarchies, these wars would last from 1792 to 1815, on and off of course

 Radicals begin to slaughter people  In august 1792 they raid the palace of the Tuileries and kill all of the King’s guards  During the September Massacre the Parisians raided prisons and killed 1,200 people; these prisoners were not just political prisoners such as offending nobles and clergy, but many ordinary criminals.  Radicals take over the national convention and demand Universal Manhood Suffrage  September 1792, National Convention votes for the creation of the French Republic

 King Louis XVI is put on Trial  January 1793, Off with his head  Before his execution Louis XVI still claims he is innocent of any crimes he has been accused of  Shortly after Louis XVI’s execution Marie Antoinette is executed  Your book claims she showed great dignity as she went to her death

Louis XVI Qu’un sang impur abreuve nos sillons = Impure blood shall water our furrows (plants/gardens)

 Formed to deal with threats to France, and had almost absolute power…  What is a threat?  First order of business Levee en Masse, more taxes?  The committee was also in charge of trials and executions

 The head of the Committee of Public Safety  Born in 1758 and losing his parents at a young age, mother due to death and father abandoning him and his siblings, Max grew up fast  He attended Law school at the University of Paris  He even gave a speech at Louis XVI coronation  Honore Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau remarked that “This man will go far, he believes what he says”  Quotes by Robespierre:  He believed in “prompt, severe, inflexible justice”  “Liberty cannot be secured unless criminals lose their heads”

 Sept 1793 – July 1794  During the Reign of terror  2,639 (~7 people a day) in Paris were killed  16,595 people were killed throughout France, including Paris.  Guillotine was used to execute criminals because it was more humane  Robespierre argued that “it is necessary to stifle the domestic and foreign enemies of the republic or perish with them…If the basis of popular government in time of peace is virtue, the basis of popular government in time of revolution is both virtue and terror…”