Causes Of The Reign Of Terror

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 collaborators who 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.  ThispolicywasextendedtootherprovinceswhichspreadviolencethroughoutFrance.

6. The death of Mira beau (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 to eliminate 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.

9a. 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 and Robespierre 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.

The 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.

1.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.

2. 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.

3. 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 was 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 to government 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.

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