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Robespierre's Reign of Terror

 

            During the French Revolution, the revolutionaries wanted to make a new government that would give the citizens more freedom, liberty, and equality. The Reign of Terror, led by Robespierre, was a period of the French Revolution during which many people were ruthlessly executed by the new government. This period started from the execution of Louis XVI in January 1793 to late July 1794. During those eighteen months, more than 20,000 French people were put to death by guillotine. The behavior by the revolutionary French government was not justified. This claim can be supported by looking at these three reasons: internal and external threats were not serious, the government failed to support the main ideas of the revolution, and the actions the government took were extreme and unnecessary.
             The internal and external threats were not serious enough to justify the Reign of Terror. Austria and Prussia did make their way into France and the emigres did form armies but throughout the war, France stayed in the lead. According to Document B, the French won the famous Battle of Valmy and even defeated Prussia and Austria, taking over the Austrian Netherlands, in a matter of just 3 years. Also, Document A shows how these foreign threats even died down before the peak of the Reign of terror. The reason the internal threats even started was because the French Revolutionary Government was taking away their peoples freedom by abolishing sunday worship, Christmas, and Easter. The government could have prevented the rebellions if they had not restricted religious practices.
             Another reason is that the government didn't reinforce or support the main ideas of the revolution. Robespierre invoked The Declaration of man which was made to protect the people from the government. But according to Document G, in 1794 he was saying how they must smother the enemies of the republic. Many of the enemies though were French citizens that challenged the government.


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