The Terror: The Radical Phase of the French Revolution

The Reign of Terror (September 1793 - July 1794) was the most radical and most controversial phase of the French Revolution. During this period, the Committee of Public Safety, dominated by the Jacobins and led by Maximilien Robespierre, conducted a campaign of political repression that resulted in the execution of approximately 17,000 people. This article examines the causes, the institutions, the key figures, and the legacy of the Terror.

The Causes of the Terror

The Terror had both immediate and long-term causes.

The immediate cause was the military emergency. In the summer of 1793, France was at war with most of the European powers, and the war was going badly. The Austrian and Prussian forces were invading from the northeast, the British were blockading the French coast, and the royalist forces in the Vendée were in open rebellion against the Republic. The emergency required a concentration of power that the constitutional framework of 1793 could not provide.

The longer-term cause was the development of the Jacobin political culture. The Jacobin Club, founded in 1789, had become the most radical political organization in France. The Jacobins believed that the Revolution had to be carried to its ultimate conclusion, and that the enemies of the Revolution had to be destroyed. The political culture of the Jacobins was characterized by a deep suspicion of moderation, a fervent commitment to the general will, and a willingness to use violence in the service of the Republic.

The combination of military emergency and Jacobin political culture produced the Terror. The Committee of Public Safety, established in April 1793, was given extraordinary powers to defend the Republic, and it used these powers to conduct a campaign of political repression that has few parallels in modern history.

The Institutions of the Terror

The Terror was conducted through several institutions, each of which had a specific role in the system of political repression.

The Committee of Public Safety was the central institution of the Terror. Established in April 1793, the Committee was composed of twelve members of the National Convention, and it was given extraordinary powers to oversee the executive operations of the government. The Committee reported to the National Convention, but in practice it exercised nearly dictatorial power.

The Committee of General Security was established in October 1792, and it was responsible for internal security, including the surveillance of suspects, the conduct of arrests, and the maintenance of the prisons.

The Revolutionary Tribunal was established in March 1793, and it was responsible for trying political offenses. The Tribunal operated with broad definitions of counter-revolutionary activity, and the burden of proof was largely on the accused. The death penalty was applied to a wide range of offenses, including “enemies of the people,” “spreaders of false news,” and “corrupters of public morals.”

The Representatives on Mission were members of the National Convention who were sent to the provinces to oversee the implementation of the Terror. The Representatives on Mission had broad powers to arrest, to try, and to execute suspects, and they were often the most zealous enforcers of the Terror in the provinces.

The Law of Suspects (September 1793) defined the categories of people who could be arrested and tried as enemies of the Revolution. The categories were broad, and they included anyone who had expressed support for the old regime, anyone who had not performed their civic duties, and anyone who had “by their conduct, their contacts, their words, or their writings” shown themselves to be enemies of liberty.

The Key Figures

The Terror was associated with several key figures, each of whom played a distinctive role.

Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) was the most prominent leader of the Terror. A lawyer from Arras, Robespierre had been a member of the Estates-General and of the National Constituent Assembly, and he had emerged as the leader of the Jacobin faction. Robespierre’s political philosophy was based on a strict reading of the general will, and he believed that the Terror was the only means of defending the Republic against its enemies.

Louis Antoine de Saint-Just (1767-1794) was one of the youngest members of the Committee of Public Safety. He was a fervent supporter of Robespierre, and he was known for his uncompromising positions on the Revolution and on the need for terror.

Georges Danton (1759-1794) was one of the early leaders of the Revolution. He had been a member of the Committee of Public Safety, but he had gradually come to oppose the Terror, and he was executed in April 1794 on charges of conspiracy and corruption.

Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793) was one of the most radical voices of the Revolution. The editor of the newspaper L’Ami du peuple, Marat had called for the execution of counter-revolutionaries and for the establishment of a revolutionary dictatorship. He was assassinated in his bath by Charlotte Corday in July 1793.

Camille Desmoulins (1760-1794) was a journalist and a friend of Danton. He had originally been a supporter of the Terror, but he gradually came to oppose it, and he was executed along with Danton in April 1794.

The Course of the Terror

The Terror can be divided into several phases.

The first phase (September-December 1793) was the period of the most intense repression. The Law of Suspects was passed, the Revolutionary Tribunal was reorganized, and the Committee of Public Safety began its campaign of executions. The most prominent victims of this phase were Marie Antoinette and the Girondin deputies.

The second phase (December 1793 - March 1794) was the period of the dechristianization campaign and the establishment of the Cult of the Supreme Being. The Committee of Public Safety, having destroyed the Catholic Church, attempted to replace it with a new civic religion.

The third phase (March-July 1794) was the period of the great Terror. The Hébertists and the Dantonists were purged, and the Terror was intensified. Robespierre’s power reached its peak, and the number of executions increased dramatically.

The fourth phase (July 1794) was the period of the Thermidorian Reaction. The National Convention, fearing for its own safety, turned against Robespierre and his allies. On 9 Thermidor (July 27), Robespierre was arrested, and on 10 Thermidor (July 28), he was executed.

The Legacy of the Terror

The legacy of the Terror has been one of the most contested issues in the history of modern political thought.

The defenders of the Terror have argued that it was a necessary response to the military emergency and to the threat of counter-revolution. Without the Terror, the argument goes, the Republic would have been destroyed, and the achievements of the Revolution would have been lost.

The critics of the Terror have argued that it was a perversion of the Enlightenment ideals that the Revolution claimed to embody. The Terror, in this view, demonstrates the dangers of the Rousseauian concept of the general will, the dangers of revolutionary radicalism, and the dangers of the concentration of power in the hands of a few zealous ideologues.

Further Reading

• Robert Darnton, The Literary Underground of the Old Regime (1982)
• Darrin McMahon, Enlightenment Contested (2006)
• Daniel Roche, The Enlightenment in the West (2010)