WHAT IS THE TERROR? HOW WAS IT LEGISLATED? LEGAL USE OF IMPRISONMENT AND EXECUTION TO DEAL WITH LAW OF SUSPECTS (SEPTEMBER 1793) TheENEMIES OF THE REVOLUTION. CLAIMED 30,000 French revolution Economic policy – LAW OF MAXIMUM (Sept 1793) + and the ChurchHistory EXPANDED TO BEING AN ATTACK ON POLITICAL GROUPS OTHER DECREE OF REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT WHICH LED TO THE THAN JACOBINS AND MONTAGNARDS* (EVEN THEN, JACOBINS LAW OF FRIMARE (DEC 1793) AND MONTAGNARDS WEREN’T SAFE!) LAW OF 22 PRAIRAL (JUNE 1794) WHAT WAS THE IDEOLOGY BEHIND THE TERROR? WHAT WERE THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE TERROR TOTAL PROBLEMS – IE.WAR AND COUNTER‐REVOLUTION, NEED TOTAL SOLUTIONS : CENTRALISED EMERGENCY GOVERNMENT FROM PARIS THE BIG 2: THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL SECURITY AND THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY (ROBESPIERRE) DANTON: ‘LET US BE TERRIBLE SO THE PEOPLE ARE NOT SO’ REPRESENTATIVES‐ON‐MISSION ROBESPIERRE: ‘REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS OWE GOOD REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL CITIZENS THE PROTECTION OF THE STATE; TO THE ENEMIES OF THE COMMITTEES OF SURVEILLANCE PEOPLE, IT OWES ONLY DEATH’. HOW WAS TERROR USED TO CRUSH?.. GIRONDINS RELIGION THE VENDEE REBELLION THE FEDERALIST REVOLT Girondins linked with the defection De‐Christianisation: replacing old Decree for Levy of 300,000 – would Trading cities in the South: of General Demouriez, (who hoped religious symbols with take men from Bordeau, Lyon, Toulouse, Toulon, war would restore Louis to throne) revolutionary icons. Movement farms/employment. Masrseilles set up on military defeats, and rising tensions supported by radical ‘Ultras’ ‐ Tribunals/Commissions to reject in the South – West. Herbert Action aimed first at local patriot Paris. priests and citizens Accused, by Marat: President of the As of Oct 1793, a new calender Savage backlash: Lyon surrounded Jacobins, friend of the people, of Guerilla action began March ended and starved, drowning at Nantes, being ‘criminal accomplices of Religious holidays disappear – Fete December burning of towns Royalty’ – ie Demouriez de la Federation 70% of all deaths in the terror Girondins fire back, demanding he Virgin Mary – Marianne occurred in the Vendee and be brought to trial before the federalist province . Revolutionary Tribunal. Trial failed; Marat as revolutionary saint a collective disaster for the War against the bourgeoisie? Girondins’ (Schama) Schama slams Marxist argument Journee 31 May‐2 June: the NOT the CULT OF SUPREME BEING expulsion of Girondins WHY DID THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH/SOUTH WEST FRANCE RISE AGAINST THE REVOLUTIONARIES? THE POLITICAL TERROR Traditional Conservative CATHOLIC OR The arrest and execution of Girondins Trading towns being compromised by war The execution of the ultras – Herertistes – dubious evidence is presented to eliminate and Paris dictatorship critics who felt that the revolution had not gone far enough and thus threatened Federalist Robespierre’s desire for strong, centralised government. However, these ultras were also friends of the sans‐culottes. THE TERROR Execution of Danton and the Indulgents – yes Danton! ‐ LET US BE TERRIBLE SO THE PEOPLE ARE NOT SO! Executed because he now believed the Revolution had gone far enough: Federalist Revolt and Vendee crushed, conscription was working. SOURCES: ‘perhaps the terror once served a useful purpose, but it should not hurt innocent Adcock, M ‘Analysing the French Revolution’, Cambridge people. No one wants to see a person treated as a criminal, just because he happens University Press, Melbourne, 2004 not to have enough enthusiasm Fenwick, J and Anderson, J, ‘Revolution: France’, An HTAV Publication, Collingwood, 2006. .