12.1.6

The Terror

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The Terror

After the Storming of the Bastille, measures were taken to make French society more equal and representative. But the political changes caused chaos in France and led to violence and terror.

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Counter-revolutionaries

  • There were some people in France who thought that the revolution had gone too far and was spiralling out of control.
  • These people were counter-revolutionaries, meaning they opposed the revolution.
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The Law of Suspects

  • A committee was set up to crush these counter-revolutionaries.
  • It was called the Committee of Public Safety and was led by a man called Maximilien Robespierre.
  • This committee passed the Law of Suspects, which granted the government the right to execute counter-revolutionaries or anyone who threatened the revolution.
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‘The Terror’

  • This was the beginning of a period known as ‘The Terror’ led by extreme revolutionaries, known as Jacobins.
  • They were led by Robespierre and executed people they suspected of being counter-revolutionary using a device called the guillotine (this was used to behead people).
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Robespierre's execution

  • 40,000 suspected counter-revolutionaries are estimated to have been killed in this way during The Terror.
  • France was in chaos, but the worst of this chaos came to an end on 27th July 1794 AD when Robespierre was himself executed by guillotine.

Jump to other topics

1The Medieval World: 450-1450 AD

1.1Anglo-Saxon England

1.2The Contest for the English Throne

1.3Conquering the Holy Land, 10-96-1396 AD

1.4King John

1.5The Magna Carta & Parliament

1.6The Black Death

2Worldviews

3The Empire of Mali

4The Renaissance & Reformations, 1500-1598 AD

5The British Empire, 1583-1960 AD

6The Peasants' Revolt

7Religion in the Middle Ages

8Slavery, 1619-1833 AD

9The English Civil War, 1642-1660

10The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1840

11US Independence, 1775-1783

12The French Revolution, 1789-1815

13The British Empire, 1857–1930

14Suffrage

15World War 1, 1914-1918

16The Inter-War Years, 1919-1939

17World War 2, 1939-1945

18The Cold War, 1947-1962

19Civil Rights in the USA, 1954-1975

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