Topic > A question of justification of the reign of terror

Was the reign of terror justified or not? It was necessary for the revolution. Although the Reign of Terror did not protect human rights as the initiators of the French Revolution wanted, it allowed the military to ensure victories for the French against external enemies, the counterrevolution was calmed down (started in France thanks to the nobility and clergy ) and the powerful speeches of political leaders, such as Robespierre, helped convince ordinary people to join the Reign of Terror in the fight against France's external and internal enemies. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Reign of Terror opened the door for the French government to secure military victories thus reducing the amount of stress on the government. Both documents B and C show what different French organizations did to give France victory against foreign enemies. In Document B a timeline of events leading up to the Reign of Terror is shown and we can see how actions taken by the Committee of Public Safety, such as the Levee en Masse, helped bring about the French victory. Document C supports this inference from Document B since Document C talks about the effect of the revolution and the Kingdom on the external threat to France. We can also deduce from Document C that due to the reaffirmation or revolutionary ideas that the Reign of Terror would have caused the soldiers fighting against foreign enemies to have a fire of passion burning in their hearts as they would want to spread the ideas of the revolution . The French Revolutionary Committee of Public Safety, established to protect the nation and people of France, ironically killed thousands of people during what became known as the Reign of Terror. Maximilien Robespierre, the leader of the Committee, was tasked with starting the highly successful French army and protecting it from counter-revolutionary uprisings. The Committee sent thousands of people to die by guillotine to protect themselves from the "enemies" of the republic. Ultimately these actions of Robespierre sent him to his death. On July 27, 1793, Robespierre was elected to the Committee of Public Safety, where he became a very powerful figure in the French government. He opposed the far left, under Jacques Hebert, and the moderates, under Georges Danton. Both of these groups were arrested and met their end by the guillotine. The Committee derived its power from the Law on Suspects, which allowed them to arrest “those who by their conduct, their relationships or spoken or written language, have shown themselves to be partisans of tyranny or federalism and enemies of freedom”. All those arrested would likely have been sentenced to death by guillotine. From 1793 to 1794 over 200,000 people were detained under the Suspicions Act. Over 10,000 of these people were locked up in horrible prisons where they died. Another 20-40 thousand were executed by guillotine. To help the Committee make all the arrests, they instructed local authorities to create paramilitary forces. These forces became known as the instruments of terror in the provinces. The Committee governed with greater sovereignty than monarchies of the past. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Robespierre pushed the use of force to protect his country which led to the fall of the revolution and his own death. With the Committee killing so many people, it began to anger other political powers. Tensions between the new government and the people were growing.