Abstract
Wars, revolutions, and conflict have done its share in influencing and removing European monarchies in power for the past centuries. Many have risked their lives in hopes of a better Europe, while some instigated rebellions to seize the throne they lusted to claim as their own. In France, the Reign of Terror became a symbol of fear upon its onset in the dawn of the French Revolution as countless conflicts between rival political parties and mass execution of rebels painted the streets of Paris in red. With the goal to purge France of those who wish to rebel against the throne and foreigners who wish to take part, the la Terreur became infamous for killing its foes through the guillotine all throughout the country. The la Terreur took thousands of lives for the sake of the country and the monarchy, and yet its end still caused conflict as to the next successor of the throne. Maximilien Robespierre, one of the key actors in the Reign of Terror even wanted to continue the purge as he believes France is harbouring corrupt citizens.
Centuries later, it would seem that the legacy of the la Terreur continues to haunt Europeans as several prominent figures ordered for the deaths of thousands: The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Both countries had ordered for mass killings and executions, however, the killings were more prominent in the time of the Nazi Period due to Hitler’s desire to cleanse Europe’s tainted race, similar to Robespierre’s goal in the Terror. In the 20th century, the la Terreur still causes fear to many Europeans as a new form of Terror makes itself be known. This paper aims to discuss the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, from its causes, perpetrators, significant events, victims, and its end. The paper also aims to discuss how the legacy of the Terror continued on to the 20th century.
Reign of Terror in the French Revolution
Wars, revolutions, and conflict have done its share in removing and establishing European regimes and governments throughout the course of history. Many have died as martyrs, some managed to rise to power, while some managed to cling to power but had died due to their ambition. In France, these types of characters and events have etched their legacy not only in the country but also in Europe. However, with wars and conflict come violence and death making France’s own history tarnished by blood especially in the 17th century when the Reign of Terror became enforced throughout France. With the goal to purge France of rebels, aristocrats, and revolutionaries, the la Terreur became a symbol of pre-modern terrorism and an event that would haunt the entire European region. Even after the bloody and violent event, the la Terreur or the French Terror still continues to haunt Europeans as several prominent figures re-enacted its horror; such as the Soviet Union and the Nazi Germany. In the 20th century, the la Terreur still causes fear into the hearts of millions of Europeans especially now that a new form of “Terreur” comes into form.
According to Purdue (1989) before the French Terror began, France’s power has gradually weakened under the reign of Louis XV (1715-74) as it has lost a lot of its empire’s territories against the British empire. The aristocrats and the church had immense power over most of the French land, and the Empire was in the verge of bankruptcy as commercialists were already seeking a return of profits they lend to the crown. As his bills kept getting higher, Louis XV had to borrow money to pay all the interest his debts have accumulated. When Louis XVI assumed the throne in 1774, he had to face bankruptcy, aristocrat take-over, and the influence of British economic dominance. In the countryside, the French people continued to pay their taxes and obligations to the nobles and eventually rioted against these aristocrats, like in 1788’s food riots. The control of the aristocracy left the state to be unprepared for the country’s political and economic development. Louis XVI established the Estates-General in 1789 which would comprise the Lords Spiritual (the clergy), the Lords Temporal (nobility) and the Commons (bourgeoisie). This grouping has never been used since 1614 and dreamed to be the first of its kind to sustain the creation of the National Constituent Assembly on the 17th of June. However, the powers of the aristocrats or nobility driven out of their homes and property became a reality on the 14th of July 1789 as the bourgeois elites slowly distrusted the representative nobles. Despite this, the storming in Bastille of the sans-culottes was not a form of revolt to overthrow the government. It was also not considered a means to overpower the shadow government led by the Jacobins under Maximillien Robespierre.
Under the National Constituent Assembly, the aristocratic privileges were abolished for both the nobility, religious groups, and taxpayers. However, by March 10, 1793, a Revolutionary Tribunal was established to exercise justice against traitors. By April 6, the Committee on Public Safety was established, under the lead of Maximillien Robespierre, to ensure the protection of the country. The Committee was given the power to place people on trial and execution should the suspect be found guilty of armed revolutionary. Later laws became enforced to ensure that the jury could convict a person under their moral certainty. The Committee on Public Safety was given power to move the guillotines around the country and ensure people are aware of their punishment. The Revolutionary Tribunal and military commissions were also powered and became killing machines for the CPS. Robespierre noted that the Terror was a method to cleanse the country. While he was confident he can cleanse the country, the public were dissatisfied with Robespierre’s persistence. However, Robespierre’s allies turned against him despite their support of the Terror. Robespierre was called “outside the law” and executed him without trial. When he was about to be arrested by the National Guard in Hotel de Ville, Robespierre attempted suicide. However, the gunshot he triggered only broke his jawline. By July 28, 1974, Robespierre who called himself Incorruptible, was killed by the same blade he used to begin the French Terror.
Intellectuals and politicians outside France had viewed the French Revolution differently as the “la Terreur” terrorizes the people in the country. According to Purpura (2007) at first, many saw the Terror as a positive change for the French government considering that Robespierre called for justice at the time of the revolution. However, by the time it had listed down traitors in 1794, many slowly saw the French Terror in a negative light as the executions no longer saw justice. For Edmund Burke, writer and statesman in Britain, he noted that the French Revolution was a failure and an act of violence rather than justice. He even denoted the term “terrorism” to the French Terror, seeing it as a repulsive action that is not justified by law, religion or God. It was an action that only aims to support a political ideology that people would not easily support . Mary Wollstonecraft, according to Bulliet, Crossley, Headrick, Hirsch, Johnson and Northrup (2010), also noted that the French Terror is justifiable since the public no longer sees trust and hope in the laws of the country. She also noted that bloody carnage such as the one in the French Terror is not that rare if one looks in history. She also noted that France has already become sick due to corruption and eventually it is up to the people to analyze if the actions of the French regarding the Terror . For the Russians, they saw the French Terror as a key component that would determine Russia’s future. According to Shlapentokh (2008) the Russians saw the French Revolution as an indicator of what might happen if there were political and social order conflicts that would happen in the country. The French Terror was also considered a symbol on how the West could possibly develop and how democracy would become the future of most nations. As time went on, Russian experts and universities noted that the French Revolution’s Terror indicated the spread of Western ideology, noting that the Reign of Terror must be treated with apprehension considering it affected both the public and the revolutionaries themselves.
Whenever the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror are analyzed, historians often note that the French Terror is the founding event that developed the foundations of the modern state violence and terror, and especially the role model as to how violence has been used as a state apparatus. According to Barnett and Reynolds (2009) there is also an implication to the history of the European nations, but also to the world as its implications of the French Terror enabled the creation of a third power that could turn relations between nations into violence. Eventually the Terror reconfigured the systems which revolutions following the French Revolution applied their ideologies and campaigns. This can be seen in the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, and the Holocaust in Germany as these revolutions revealed the ideological fanaticism of Russian and Nazi officials as to how they would enforce their ideologies and eliminate all those who would rebel. Aside from founding the concept on modern terrorism, the Reign of Terror and the French Revolution paved the way for contemporary terrorism to blossom in Russia in the 19th and 20th century. Russia had also experienced several economic and social conflicts that led to the removal of the tsarist autocracy by the Bolsheviks.
The Bolsheviks’ power grew from "propaganda by deed” that grew to a power that can be unleashed through “propaganda or by terror”. Since many did not apply propaganda in calling for change, anarchists moved on to the Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will) and slowly planned to execute Czar Alexander II. The People’s Will or the Narodnaya Volya also became the first terrorist group recorded in Russian history, succeeding in killing Alexander II in 1881 through a bomb. However, their successful killing of the Czar was met in negativity as many condemned the killing. Eventually the terrorist group’s leadership fell to Alexander Ulyanov, brother of Soviet Premier Vladimir Lenin. After his brother, it was Lenin who enabled the Bolsheviks to start the “Red Terror”, which was modelled after the “la Terreur”. The Bolsheviks eventually used the Red Terror starting 1917-1921 to remove all possible threats through concentration camps and executions.
There were also similar events in other countries in Europe as anarchists, and other aspiring leaders followed the concept known as the “propaganda by deed” or violence to gain political influence. This concept has been supported in several countries such as Italy, Spain, France, and also Russia as noted. In Spain, the propaganda by deed met success as terrorist utilized the strategy to pressure the governments in the 20th century. According to historian Olivier Hubac-Occhipinti, Spanish anarchists utilized terrorism to link violence to the person who had committed a crime, and it is the society’s right to revolt. Spanish anarchists also targeted some people from various social classes who connived with the state. According to Blain (2009), the French Terror had also appeared during the times of the English Civil War (1600) and the American War of Independence (1776), noting that they also fought against monarch-tyrants who have issued tyranny policies that removes the independence of the country. All of these wars have also been fought in the name of restoring the individual liberty and rights, creating a democratic movement. In both English and American revolutions, violence has also prevailed, but it did not consider terrorism as a means for violence.
Finally, aside from Russia’s Red Terror, Germany also harboured the same results as that of the French Terror, especially in the time of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany. For Hitler, he believed that it is crucial to eliminate the “Racially unfit” members of the country as they tarnish the perfect German race. Concentration camps were already built around the country before the Polish invasion to ensure that programmatic terror is sent immediately to the Nazi opponents. However, as Germany continued to purge other nations, these concentration camps grew in size and eliminated Jews, gypsies, diseased and those who are considered beneath the Germans in the guise they are to be used for “scientific research”. Victims were experimented, infected with numerous types of poisons and even forced them to drink only salt water. Eventually these concentration camps paved the way to mass genocide to ensure no one would fight against the Nazis. This was noted as the “Final Solution” of the Nazis and considered a form of regime terror much like Robespierre’s French Terror.
It is undeniable that the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror had indeed harboured the concept of terrorism and passed it down throughout the nations in Europe. Not only was the “la Terreur” known for its massive killings of aristocrats, nobles, martyrs and the innocent, it also cemented that it is possible to use terrorism to push the public in certain political ideologies. On the one hand, the terror serves as a lesson for many nations, especially in the West, of the possible outcome of terrorism to the public now that new forms of terror are now sprouting in various part of the globe. On the other hand, the Reign of Terror provided the foundations as to how such form of violence can be prevented in upholding peace. Now that more forms of violent terrorism groups are applying the same ideology as that of Robespierre’s terror, countries would be prepared to combat possibilities that would lead to bloodshed and terror like the French Terror.
References
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Bulliet, R., Crossley, P., Headrick, D., Hirsch, S., Johnson, L., & Northrup, D. (2010). The Earth and its People: A Global History. Boston: Wadsworth.
Perdue, W. (1989). Terrorism and the State: A Critique of Domination Through Fear. Westport: Praeger Publishers.
Purpura, P. (2007). Terrorism and Homeland Security: An Introduction with Applications. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Shlapentokh, D. (2008). The French Revolution in Russian Intellectual Life, 1865-1905. Piscataway: Transaction Publishers.
