The Dark Side of Liberty: A Historical Analysis of the Reign of Terror's Devastating Consequences

 The reign of terror was the second significant stage in the course of the 
French revolution. It began after the death of Mirabeau and ended with 
the death of Robespierre. The reign of terror was characterized by violence, 
total breakdown of law and order, economic crisis, under development, 
loss of property and heavy massacres. It was championed by lower class 
people with burning desires for power like Herbert, Danton, Marat and 
Robespierre.
There were three forms of terror i.e. political, terror, which was against anti-
revolutionary elements especially the clergy and the nobles, economic 
terror which was designed to eliminate currency manipulators and 
hoarders of essential commodities and religious terror which was directed 
against the catholic church, its practices and privileges.
It should be noted that the French revolution was initially a peaceful reform 
movement that merely demanded for changes within the monarchy. 
However by 1793, the peaceful reform movement had changed to a 
violent one that demanded for too much blood and heads of the 
Frenchmen. This can be attributed to internal and external factors.
CAUSES OF THE REIGN OF TERROR
1. Tension between the Liberals and conservatives.
The French revolution destroyed the old order of despotism and super 
imposed a new one of Liberalism. This brought direct conflict and 
confrontation between the Liberals who wanted changes to survive and 
the conservatives (nobles and clergy) who resisted such changes. For 
example, the nobles and the clergy resisted the scrapping of their 
privileges. Henceforth, the revolutionaries resorted to violence to ensure 
that the changes brought by the revolution survive which led to the reign 
of terror.
2. The civil constitution of the clergy. 
The civil constitution of the clergy made the Catholic Church an enemy of 
the revolution. The non- Juring priests refused to it and led revolts against 
the revolutionary government. For instance, in the Lavandee district of 
western France, they waged a serious revolt which was brutally suppressed. 
Thus, the revolutionaries had to resort to violence as a political survival 
mechanism hence the reign of terror.
3. The declaration of rights of man and citizens.
The declaration of the rights of man and citizens also contributed to the 
reign of terror. It dealt only with the rights of citizens and neglected their 
duties towards the state. This left the people with a lot expectation from the 
state on one hand and ignorant of their duties towards the state on the 
other hand. This indirectly paved way for violence and the reign of terror. 
Besides, the declaration made the Frenchmen crazy under emotional 
excitement of freedom. The Frenchmen had lived in the darkness of 
freedom for centuries and when they were granted, they became so 
confused and surprised that they over amplified freedom to killing one 
another, mistreating and executing the king etc. These escalated the scale 
of violence to the reign of terror.
4. The threat of émigrés.
The threat of the émigrés made the reign of terror inevitable. By Jan. 1792, 
they had mobilized themselves on the French boarder to a tune of about 
20,000 troops. They wanted to suppress the revolution, restore their 
privileges and king Louis xvi to his throne. They had internal collaboratorswho were providing them with valuable military secrets and strategies. This 
made the revolutionaries to resort to violence as a means of eliminating 
internal collaborators and external enemies (Émigrés).
5. Foreign invasion
Foreign invasion made the outbreak of the reign of terror inevitable. The 
ambitions of the revolutionaries to export the French revolutionary ideas 
brought confrontation between France and other European nations. The 
first coalition of Britain, Austria, Russia and Holland was formed in 1793. They 
invaded France, defeated the French troops and occupied important 
towns like Verdum. This made the revolutionary government to issue the law 
of suspect which was so extravagantly applied that even those guilty of 
lack of interest in the revolution were guillotined. Besides, the hysteria of 
defeat made the revolutionaries to resort to terror against opponents both 
actual and assumed. For example, over 1000 royalist sympathizers were 
butchered under the pretext of methods essential for the safety of the 
nation. Thispolicywasextendedtootherprovinceswhichspreadviolencethro
ughoutFrance.
6. The death of Mirabeau (April 1791).
The death of Mira beau led to power struggle and the reign of terror. It's 
urged that if he had lived beyond 1791, he could have counseled Louis xvi 
and cooled the violent tempers of the revolutionaries. He had the wisdom 
and courage in advising the King to accept all that had so far been 
achieved by the revolution for there was no going back to the past, 
(Peacock H.L 1982, P.35). He foretold the fate of the monarchy when he 
lamented that; I carry with me the last rags of the monarchy. Had Mira 
beau lived up to 1793, the monarchy and Louis could have been saved 
from destruction. Thus, his death robbed France of a political conciliator 
who could have maintained some degree of harmony between the 
monarchy and the revolutionaries. In short, his death left behind self-
opportunists like Robespierre who had overwhelming desire for power that 
drove France to the reign of terror.
7. Role of the mob.
Economic hardship in the villages forced people to move to towns and 
cities. This led to the formation of mobs and mob justice became the order 
of the day in settling cases. The impression created, was that the mob was 
always right and it became difficult to control the mob even when they 
were obviously wrong. The Paris mob was used by radical revolutionaries toeliminate their opponents hence the reign of terror. On top of this, the 
democratic system of open debates and judgment in the national 
assembly, conventions, conference and seminars was utilized by diehard 
revolutionary leaders to spread terror throughout France.
N.B France during this period was so chaotic that suspect were tried and 
brought to the streets to be lynched by the mob. There was even free 
entrance of debate in the parliament for anyone who wishes to do so!
8. The death of Louis xvi and his wife.
The execution of King Louis xvi and his wife contributed to the reign of terror 
in two ways. Internally, it led to violent protests by the royalists. Externally, it 
caused fear and panic amongst European powers and forced them to 
declare war against France. This pressure from within and without made 
France to be at crossroads and only terror could clear the way for her. To 
Danton, France and the Revolution; Were caught between two fires, the 
enemy at the frontier and the enemy at home, in order to survive it was 
necessary to frighten the enemy. The fact that the whole king could be 
manhandled and killed by the revolutionaries shows that life was "worthless" 
in France. It means ordinary persons could easily be massacred without any 
regrets. This attitude escalated violence and the reign of terror in
France.
9. The weakness of Louis xvi
The reign of terror owes its origin to the failure of Louis xvi to accept the 
reforms proposed by the revolutionaries. All that the revolutionaries wanted 
in the initial stage of the revolution were reforms and no one wanted 
violence. But Louis and his supporters proved to be road blocks to the 
reform demands of the masses. He stubbornly refused to sign the 
declaration of the rights of man and citizens, the civil constitution of the 
clergy and amnesty for the return of émigrés. These, together with the 
dismissal of popular Necker provoked violence from the revolutionaries 
leading to the storming of Bastilles and frequent attacks on the castles 
(mansions) of the nobles and clergy. This is why the revolution entered into 
an era of mob action and mob justice.
b. Louis xvi's attempt to suppress the revolution using the royal guard and 
foreign troops made the revolutionaries to start using violence as a counter 
measure (right answer) to violence and injustice. This made the leadership 
of the revolution to fall to the hands of bloodthirsty^ men like Danton andRobespierre who used the policy of blood and iron to achieve their hidden 
political ambitions.
c. Louis xvi's attempted flight and his arrest at Varrenes made the outbreak 
of the reign of terror inevitable. Pressure of events forced Louis to make an 
abortive flight to Austria from where he expected to join the émigrés, 
mobilize foreign support and suppress the revolution. He was arrested at 
Varrenes and brought back to Paris as a traitor and collaborator with the 
enemies of the revolution. This event made Louis xvi and his supporters to 
lose the little Support he hitherto, and had strengthened the popularity of 
diehard revolutionaries like Robespierre who started the reign of terror. On 
the other hand, the humiliation of Louis xvi during and after his arrest 
provoked internal resistance from the aristocrats and external war. All these 
made a revolutionary government to embark on the reign of terror.
10. 1791 constitution
The 1791 constitution greatly contributed to violence and consequently the 
reign of terror. It had numerous loopholes in the sense that it never satisfied 
all interest groups m constitution still granted King Louis xvi some degree of 
power, which made him stubborn. The worst was the power to veto the 
decision of the national assembly that he used against the reforms 
proposed by the assembly like the declaration of the rights of man and 
citizens. This brought a constitutional crisis which forced the revolutionaries 
to resort to the reign of terror. Secondly the constitution disqualified the 
majority of Frenchmen from voting. It went against the declared rights of 
man and citizens by making property qualification the basis for one to vote 
or to be voted. It classified people into active and passive citizens. Active 
citizens were men of over 25 years who paid direct taxes equivalent to 
3days work and enrolled in the National Guard. Passive citizens were those 
especially peasants who could not afford the stipulated conditions. This was 
opposed by radical revolutionaries. Desmoulins criticized the criterion for 
categorizing active citizens and declared that; Active citizens are those 
who have taken the Bastilles, they are those who till the fields, while the 
idlers of the church and court are parasitic plants that should be thrown to 
the flames like the barren tree in the Bible 
In short, this led to violent protests from the disciples of Rousseau's 
democratic ideas like Robespierre, Marat, Desmoulins and Danton.
11. Economic crisis.
The unabated economic hardship climaxed in to the reign of terror. 
Inflation, unemployment and shortage of basic necessities were common 
issues. This was because there was wide spread smuggling, profiteering and 
hoarding by businessmen. Business men were therefore accused of 
economic sabotage which led to massive destruction and looting of their 
property and commodities. Henceforth this led to economic terror which 
was designed to eliminate unscrupulous businessmen who thrive (prosper) 
on people's misery.
12. The role of political parties
Power struggle between the different political factions in France made the 
peaceful revolution to take a violent dimension. These included the 
Jacobins, the Cordiliers, the Girondins and the Feuviliants. These parties 
engaged in serious intrigues in an attempt to eliminate their rivals. 
They resorted to politics of elimination (killing) to achieve their hidden 
political ambitions. This led to political instability and violence hence the 
reign of terror.
13. The role and character of Revolutionary Extremists
The role of diehard revolutionary leaders was very influential in the reign of 
terror. Marat provoked the masses against the aristocracy and the 
monarchy though his revolutionary paper L Ami u people. The paper was 
very critical of the government and the aristocrats. He was also behind the 
Paris mob and was the main instigator of the September massacre (1792). 
Robespierre guillotined his enemies and friends for the sake of 
incorruptibility and virtue (goodness). Robespierre, Danton and Marat 
carried terror to a point where one had to kill in order not to be killed. By 
1794, Robespierre had eliminated almost all his political rivals and 
colleagues and remained as the champion of terror. Within the 7weeks of 
his reign, more people went to the guillotine than the period before. One 
can therefore say that, the reign of terror was perpetuated by ambitious 
politicians who used violence as a political strategy to eliminate their rivals 
and rise to power.
14. The flight of Lafayette and Dumouriez
The flight of Lafayette and Dumouriez to exile also contributed to the 
outbreak of the reign of terror. Lafayette, the commander of the National 
Guard and sympathizer of the monarchy after receiving news of the fall of 
the King, attempted to incite the army against the revolutionaries. 
However, he -found himself in danger when he discovered that the army as not ready to support the monarchy .against the revolution. This made 
him to flee to exile from where, he was imprisoned by Austrians. Dumouriez, 
another army officer also found himself in a similar situation and fled to exile 
after the army refused to support his coup attempt against the 
revolutionary government. The treasonable actions,; by such senior army 
officers alarmed the revolutionaries and .led them to start executing 
unpopular and un successful army officers. It also made the revolutionaries 
to lose trust in the army, which paved way for mob justice and eventually, 
the reign of terror.
15. The worship of reason.
The emergency of religion of reason under the leadership of Herbert 
accounts for-the outbreak of the reign of terror. On Nov 1793, Herbert and 
his followers started the worship of reason to undermine the catholic religion 
and its practices. The Catholic Church condemned the worship of reason 
and some priests went to the extent of holding rallies in which they 
protested against the new constitution of France. This generated more 
tension between the revolutionary government and the Catholic Church. 
It led to religious terror where Herbert and his followers started arresting, 
imprisoning, slaughtering and exiling rebellious Catholics and priests.
16. The downfall of Girondists
The downfall of Girondists also contributed to the outbreak of the 1:793 -
1794 reign of terror in France. The Girondists who had dominated the 
national assembly were humane, conciliatory and had a good relation with 
the King. They opposed the trial and execution of the King by January 1793. 
However, they were overthrown in May 1793 by Jacobins, which led to civil 
war in France. Civil war was inevitable because people were afraid of 
persecutions by the Jacobins whose hostilities were well known. The 
Girondists also took up arms against the Jacobins with Austrian support 
which intensified civil war and the reign of terror. One can assert that if the 
Jacobins had not overthrown the Girrondists, the Girrondists would have 
continued with the reconciliatory/moderate policies and the reign of terror 
could have been avoided.
17. The role of the committees of public safety, general security and 
revolutionary tribunal. Lastly, the establishment of the committees of public 
safety, general security-and revolutionary tribunals by the convention 
government marked the beginning of the reign of terror. The role of these 
committees was directly or indirectly related to terror. The committee of 
public safety issued the law of suspect, sent agents and spies togovernment departments who arrested those with anti- revolutionary ideas. 
The committee of general security was in charge of internal affairs such as 
prisons, police and intelligence network. There revolutionary tribunal was a 
special court to try anti- revolutionary suspects which condemned and sent 
even innocent people to the guillotine. All these committees were 
manipulated by Robespierre and Danton to begin and sustain the reign of 
terror.
The death of Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror
The 7 weeks reign of Robespierre made him very unpopular and the 
Frenchmen decided to guillotine the guillotiner on 28th July 1794. His terror 
was so much that everybody in France decided to risk his or her head by 
joining the opposition. He was first imprisoned by the convention 
government but was forcefully released by his close followers. However, he
was re-arrested and guillotined as a criminal.
With the death of Robespierre, the leadership of France passed in the 
hands of moderates who ended the reign of terror. They enacted measures 
that promptly ended the reign of terror. For instance, the revolutionary 
tribunal was re-organized on August 10th 1794 to be in harmony with the 
ordinary French law. The committee of public safety although continued to 
exist was no longer independent. The committee of general security as well 
as the Jacobins club was abolished. Most political prisoners were also 
released. Finally the convention government enacted a new constitution 
and voted for a new government, which came to be known as the 
directory government (1795 - 1799). Read more