The French Revolution,Part 2: 1793-99

Introduction

• By 1793, the French Revolution had entered a “radical” phase which sought to preserve the gains of the “moderate” phase while eliminating any counter-revolutionary opposition through a Reign of Terror.

• By 1795, this “radical” phase caused a backlash known as the “reaction,” which attempted to restore order to France.

The Monarchy Abolished

• After the executions of the King and Queen, the Jacobins tried to wipe out all traces of the old order.

• They wrote a new, more radical constitution, which abolished monarchy, seized nobles’ lands, & outlawed titles of nobility The Heads of Louis & Marie,

from Madame Tussaud’s wax museum

The Committee of Public Safety

• By early 1793, France was at war with most of Europe, & civil war between Jacobins & Girondins was likely.

• To deal with the threats, the Jacobin-led National Convention created the 12-member Committee of Public Safety, with absolute power to “preach the hatred of kings & the unity of the Republic.”

Maximilien Robespierre

• Lawyer/politician who led the Committee of Public Safety

• Believed in Rousseau’s idea of “social contract” needing to be enforced by the will of the people

• Popular with the sans-culottes & other radicals

Robespierre Leads Reign of Terror• One of the chief architects of the “Reign of Terror,” which

lasted from July 1793 to July 1794• “Liberty cannot be secured unless criminals lose their

heads.”• Any “enemy” of the

Revolution was tried, sentenced, & executed.

• About 40,000 died during Terror; over 70% were 3rd Estate!!

The Instrument of Terror

• The guillotine had been popularized by a member of the National Assembly named Joseph Guillotin as a “more humane” method of execution than the ax.

• Quickly became the ultimate symbol of terror instead of humanity

“Show my head to the people. It is worth seeing. - Georges Danton

“La Mort de Marat” – Jacques-Louis David

Cultural Changes• Metric System

• Greet everyone with term “citizen”

• Completely secularize calendar

• 12 months – 10 day weeks – 10 hour days – 100 minutes in an hour

• Today is Duodi, 2 Fructidor 220

The Death of Robespierre

• Members of the Convention, fearing for their own lives, arrested Robespierre on July 27, 1794.

• He was executed the next day; thereafter, the executions slowed dramatically.

The Head of Robespierre• After the Reign of

Terror, the French people were tired of the violence and the radical elements of the Revolution, and they were ready for a more normal existence.

The Reaction to the Terror• In 1795, the Revolution entered a new phase,

called the “Thermidorian Reaction”• Moderates produced the third French Constitution,

which set up a 5-man Directory & a 2-house legislature elected by property-owning males.

• The Directory was weak but dictatorial and failed to solve the problems created by the Revolution.

• In 1797, supporters of constitutional monarchy took a majority of seats in the Legislature