RADICAL DAYS Of The REVOLUTION

By: Scott Craig

Monarchy is Abolished

September Massacres

The French were losing wars abroad which lead to heightened tensions.

Revolutionaries thought the king was in league with foreign enemies.

They stormed the royal palace killing all the guards.

Citizens attacked prisons holding political prisoners, killing up to 1,200 prisoners.

These are known as the “September Massacres”

Radicals Take Over

Radicals take over the National Assembly.

A new legislative body is created called the “National Convention”

The right to vote was extended to all male citizens, suffrage.

Noble’s land was seized and their titles abolished.

The French Republic was established.

Louis XVI Executed

Louis is put on trial as traitor to France.

Louis is convicted by a single vote and is sentenced to death.

Louis is executed January, 1793.

Mary Antoinette his wife is executed 9 months later.

The Committee Of Public Safety

Terror gripped the country as foreign enemies were threatening France’s borders and rebellions against the Republic started.

The Convention formed “The Committee of Public Safety”, a 12 man committee which had almost absolute power over the country.

To pay for the war effort the Committee issued a mass levy (taxes).

The committee was in charge of trials and executions.

Robespierre

Maximillian Robespierre quickly rose to become the leader of the Committee of Public Safety.

Also known by the nickname “the incorruptible”

He believed in Religious freedom and attempted to abolish slavery.

He embraced “Rousseau’s idea of general will as the source of legitimate law.”

He believed violence and executions were the only way France could achieve a true “republic of virtue”

The Reign of Terror

The Reign of Terror lasted from September 1793 to July 1794.

People accused of a crime against the republic were put through a hasty trial, often falsely accused, and sentenced to death.

The guillotine was introduced as a more humane way to execute people but soon became a symbol of terror.

As many as 17,000 people were executed in the reign of terror.

The Reign of Terror Ends

The Reign of Terror soon came back to haunt those of the Committee of Public Safety who had started it.

Members of the convention who feared for their own lives turned on the committee.

Robespierre was arrested and soon after executed, a victim of his own crime.

Soon after many other radicals were executed and the rate of executions in France decreased.

The Final Stages of the Revolution

Getting away from the violence of the Reign of Terror the constitution was rewritten.

A 5 man directory and 2 house legislature came to power.

Many people became discontent with this new leadership and turned against it.

Receiving threats both externally and internally, politicians turned to Napoleon Bonaparte to solve their problems.

The Revolution Leaves a Lasting Impression

The New title of “Citizen” applied to all people of all social classes.

The French got a strong sense of National Identity, Nationalism spread rapidly throughout France.

In 1793, France was a nation in arms.

State schools replaced religious schools, organizations were set up to help the poor, old soldiers and war widows.

After the French revolution ideas of revolution spread throughout the rest of Europe leading to many other European revolutions.