Madeline Barnard Essays (307 words) - French Revolution, Jacobins

Madeline Barnard Professor Coffey HS- 102-01 27 September2016 Reign of Terror Short Essay The Reign of Terror started in 1793, Maximilien Robespierre, the leader of the twelve men Committee of Public Safety, was the mastermind of this tragic time period. He was a conservative thinker who put his own personal beliefs before everyone else. This led him to be impatience with others. During his reign, he sentenced 238 men, and 31 women to death, while 5,434 individuals sat in prison awaiting trial. (Text) Eventually, Maximilien Robespierre was arrested him self and guillotined. Robespierre justified the use of terror by believing this was the only way to end the war of liberty against tyranny. He deemed that the country of France needed to rebel against tyranny. He insisted that we needed to think of the nation as a whole instead of individual agendas. Another way he justified the use of terror was believing that we must kill our enemies to stay alive. Controlling our enemies was also very important; if we wanted to control them we must use terrorizing tactics. Maximillien Robespierre stated that "virtue, without which terror is fatal; terror, without which virtue is powerless" (Robespierre). The way I interpret this quote is that without virtue terror holds no power over the people. He also thought that terror was just another form of justice. Lastly, he believed that the only people that deserved protection were the peaceable citizens and he thought that the only citizens in the republic were republicans. I do believe that the reign of terror was nec essary because eventually, it did bring stability after the reign ended. One reason it ended was due to the fact that everyone involved was tried and wanted the bloodshed to end. The reign of Terror in France was an awful time but key to a succeeding government.