Reign of Terrors the Transition Essay

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The fear that grew in France with the beginning of the war and the anxiety surrounding the development of the situation was probably one of the main causes that led people to embrace a more open radical leftist position. Many of the conservatives and those who supported the monarchy began to be seen as enemies of France and politicians who would compromise with the monarchic forces at any time. The revolution did not seem to have moved so much from the way things were in 1789 and had not brought the expected changes.

This type of environment made easy for the Jacobins, radical leftist, coagulated around Robespierre and Marat, to mobilize the population into overthrowing the monarchy and, later on, consolidating a terror reign that lasted up to 1794. The first step of the radicalization process is the assault on Tuileries, in August1792 and continued with the abolition of the monarchy, on September 21, 1792. The judgment and execution of the king on January 21, 1793 provoked the rest of Europe and ensured that the many of the rest of the countries on the continent would form coalitions against France.

In order to face this threat, the only potential instrument was to adopt the "levee en masse," which meant that every citizen would serve the country for the completion of the war and the final victory in every way possible. The levee en masse allowed the French government to throw into battle armies that were numerically superior to those of the enemies, although they were less prepared to fight.

With the creation of the Committee of Public Safety, under the control of Robespierre and the Jacobins, the Girondins, a more moderate faction, were removed from power and the Reign of Terror was formally adopted as the way to fight both the enemies inside and those outside. The Law of Suspects creates the legal basis for the Reign of Terror and for the fight against the enemies within the boundaries of the country.

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If we are to have a look at the main political fractions dominating the Reign of Terror, from center to the far right, we find the Girondins, republicans in their beliefs, who rule until June 1793, when they fall from power and are tried and executed in October.

With their fall, the power remains in the hands of Robespierre, Danton and Marat, who, basing their power on the sans-culottes, to which populist figures like Danton and Marat appeal, are able to hold on to their power until their final fall in July 1794. At the very far left, we find the enragees, grouped around Hebert and Jacques Roux.

Nevertheless, the Reign of Terror is used as a justification for the intra-fraction fight throughout the early 1794. With Danton and Hebert accused as being either too moderate (Danton) or too radical (Hebert), Robespierre is left as the sole dominant force of the political stage in France. By this time, however, France had already defeated the immediate threats to its survival, had conquered Belgium and the Reign of Terror seemed now the least justified of any moments. Fear for their own lives led some of the politicians, including Fouche and Barras, to overthrow Robespierre and execute him without a trial.

The entire Reign of Terror phase is difficult to judge. On one hand, many have supported the idea according to which the Reign of Terror helped save France by defeating the enemies that threatened it from within, but also by creating the negative incentives to make it win the wars outside its borders. On the other hand, many of the people who were executed were not really guilty of any beliefs contrary to the official policies, but usually on simple suspicions or association.

Nevertheless, as part of the French Revolution, even the Reign of Terror can be believed to have taken France out of the Middle Ages and change the shape and beliefs in Europe, preparing the continent for the 20th.....

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