Editing Reign of Terror (section)

== Background ==
=== Enlightenment thought ===
[[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] thought emphasized the importance of [[Rationality|rational thinking]] and began challenging legal and [[Moral foundations theory|moral foundations]] of society, providing the leaders of the Reign of Terror with new ideas about the role and structure of government.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Church |first=William F. |title=The Influence of the Enlightenment on the French Revolution |date=1964 |publisher=D. C. Heath and Company |editor-last=Church |editor-first=W. F. |location=Boston |page=vii |chapter=Introduction}}</ref> [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]'s [[The Social Contract|''Social Contract'']] argues that each person was born with rights, and they would come together in forming a government that would then protect those rights. Under the social contract, the government was required to act for the [[general will]], which represented the interests of everyone rather than a few factions.<ref>[[Jean-Jacques Rousseau|Rousseau, Jean-Jacques]]. 1901. "[http://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2039/More_1414_Bk.pdf The Social Contract] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806170120/http://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2039/More_1414_Bk.pdf |date=6 August 2020}}." pp. 1–126 in ''Ideal Empires and Republics'', edited by Charles M. Andrews. Washington: M. Walter Dunne. p. [http://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2039/More_1414_Bk.pdf#page=112 92] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806170120/http://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2039/More_1414_Bk.pdf#page=112 |date=6 August 2020}}–94. [http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/rousseau-ideal-empires-and-republics Available as etext] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027042846/https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/rousseau-ideal-empires-and-republics |date=27 October 2020}} via [[Liberty Fund|Online Library of Liberty]].</ref> Drawing from the idea of a general will, Robespierre felt that the [[French Revolution]] could result in a [[republic]] built for the general will but only once those who fought against this ideal were expelled.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Peyre |first=Henri |date=1949 |title=The Influence of Eighteenth Century Ideas on the French Revolution |journal=Journal of the History of Ideas |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=63–87 |doi=10.2307/2707200 |jstor=2707200}}</ref><ref name="sourcebooks.fordham.edu">Halsall, Paul. [1997] 2020. "[https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/robespierre-terror.asp Maximilien Robespierre: Justification of the Use of Terror] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813124419/https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/robespierre-terror.asp |date=13 August 2021}}." [[Internet Modern History Sourcebook]]. US: [[Fordham University]], Retrieved 25 June 2020.</ref> Those who resisted the government were deemed "tyrants" fighting against the virtue and honor of the general will. The leaders felt that their ideal version of government was threatened from the inside and outside of France, and terror was the only way to preserve the dignity of the republic created from French Revolution.<ref name="sourcebooks.fordham.edu" />

The writings of [[Montesquieu|Baron de Montesquieu]], another Enlightenment thinker of the time, also greatly influenced Robespierre. Montesquieu's ''[[The Spirit of Law]]'' defines a core principle of a democratic government: [[virtue]]—described as "the love of laws and of our country."<ref>Hallsal, Paul. [1996] 2020. "[https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/montesquieu-spirit.asp Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws, 1748] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031005225/https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/montesquieu-spirit.asp |date=31 October 2018}}." ''[[Internet Modern History Sourcebook]]''. US: [[Fordham University]]. Retrieved 25 June 2020.</ref> In Robespierre's speech to the [[National Convention]] on 5 February 1794, he regards virtue as being the "fundamental principle of popular or democratic government."<ref>[[Maximilien Robespierre|Robespierre, Maximilien]]. [1794] 1970. "[http://courses.washington.edu/hsteu302/Robespierre%20speech.htm Virtue & Terror] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806173853/http://courses.washington.edu/hsteu302/Robespierre%20speech.htm |date=6 August 2020}}." pp. 32–49 in ''The Ninth of Thermidor'', edited by R. Bienvenu. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]].</ref><ref>"[http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/413 9 Thermidor: The Conspiracy against Robespierre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030210617/http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/413 |date=30 October 2018}}." ''Liberty, Equality, Fraternity''. US: [[Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media]] and American Social History Project.</ref> This was, in fact, the same virtue defined by Montesquieu almost 50 years prior. Robespierre believed the virtue needed for any democratic government was extremely lacking in the French people. As a result, he decided to weed out those he believed could never possess this virtue. The result was a continual push towards Terror. The Convention used this as justification for the course of action to "crush the enemies of the revolution…let the laws be executed…and let liberty be saved."<ref>"[https://www.worldhistorycommons.org/terror-order-day Terror Is the Order of the Day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806182526/https://www.worldhistorycommons.org/terror-order-day |date=6 August 2020}}." ''World History Commons''. Retrieved 25 June 2020.</ref>

===Threats of foreign invasion===
[[File:Batayedifleuru1794-1.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Fleurus (1794)|Battle of Fleurus]], won by General [[Jean-Baptiste Jourdan|Jourdan]] over the Coalition Army led by the Prince of [[Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|Coburg]] and [[William I of the Netherlands|William of Orange]] on 26 June 1794]]
At the beginning of the French Revolution, the surrounding monarchies did not show great hostility towards the rebellion.{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|p=54}} Though mostly ignored, [[Louis XVI]] was later able to find support in [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold II of Austria]] (brother of [[Marie Antoinette]]) and [[Frederick William II of Prussia]]. On 27 August 1791, these foreign leaders made the [[Declaration of Pillnitz|Pillnitz Declaration]], saying they would restore the French monarch if other European rulers joined. In response to what they viewed to be the meddling of foreign powers, [[Campaigns of 1792 in the French Revolutionary Wars|France declared war]] on 20 April 1792.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rothenberg |first=Gunther E. |date=1988 |title=The Origins, Causes, and Extension of the Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon |journal=Journal of Interdisciplinary History |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=771–793 |doi=10.2307/204824 |jstor=204824}}</ref> However, at this point, the war was only [[Prussia]] and [[Austria]] against France.

Massive reforms of military institutions, while very effective in the long run, presented the initial problems of inexperienced forces and leaders of questionable political loyalty.{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|p=55}} In the time it took for officers of merit to use their new freedoms to climb the chain of command, France suffered. Many of the early battles were definitive losses for the French.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}} There was the constant threat of the Austro-Prussian forces which were advancing easily toward the capital, threatening to destroy Paris if the monarch was harmed.<ref>Leopold II, and Frederick William. 27 August 1791. "[https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/declaration-of-pillnitz-1791/ The Declaration of Pillnitz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203094908/https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/declaration-of-pillnitz-1791 |date=3 December 2022}}." ''French Revolution''. AU: Alpha History. Retrieved 25 June 2020 .</ref> This series of defeats, coupled with militant uprisings and protests within the borders of France, pushed the government to resort to drastic measures to ensure the loyalty of every citizen, not only to France but more importantly to the revolution.

While this series of losses was eventually broken, the reality of what might have happened if they persisted hung over France. In September 1792 the French won a [[Battle of Valmy|critical victory at Valmy]], preventing an Austro-Prussian invasion.{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|p=59}} While the French military had stabilized and was producing victories by the time the Reign of Terror officially began, the pressure to succeed in this international struggle acted as justification for the government to pursue its actions. It was not until after the [[execution of Louis XVI]] and the annexation of the [[Rhineland#French Revolution|Rhineland]] that the other monarchies began to feel threatened enough to form the [[War of the First Coalition|First Coalition]]. The coalition, consisting of [[Russia]], Austria, Prussia, [[Spain]], [[Holland]], and [[Sardinia]] began attacking France from all directions, besieging and capturing ports and retaking ground lost to France.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bok |first=Hilary |title=Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat |date=2014 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2014/entries/montesquieu |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |access-date=2023-09-15 |edition=Summer 2014 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |archive-date=27 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527070952/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2014/entries/montesquieu/ |url-status=live }}</ref> With so many similarities to the first days of the [[French Revolutionary Wars|Revolutionary Wars]] for the French government, with threats on all sides, unification of the country became a top priority.{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|p=64}} As the war continued and the Reign of Terror began, leaders saw a correlation between using terror and achieving victory. Well phrased by [[Albert Soboul]], "terror, at first an improvised response to defeat, once organized became an instrument of victory."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ozouf |first=Mona |date=1984 |title=War and Terror in French Revolutionary Discourse (1792–1794) |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=580–597 |doi=10.1086/242733 |jstor=1880323 |s2cid=153782457}}</ref> The threat of defeat and foreign invasion may have helped spur the origins of the Terror, but the timely coincidence of the Terror with French victories added justification to its growth.

=== Popular pressure ===
{{stack|[[File:Heads on pikes.jpg|thumb|Heads of aristocrats on [[Pike (weapon)|pikes]].]]}}
[[File:Robespierre crop.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Maximilien Robespierre]], member of the [[Committee of Public Safety]]]]
During the Reign of Terror, the ''[[sans-culottes]]—the urban workers of France—''and the [[Hébertists]] put pressure on the National Convention delegates and contributed to the overall instability of France. The National Convention was bitterly split between the [[The Mountain|Montagnards]] and the [[Girondins]]. The Girondins were more conservative leaders of the National Convention, while the Montagnards supported radical violence and pressures of the lower classes.{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|p=64}} Once the Montagnards gained control of the National Convention, they began demanding radical measures. 

Moreover, the ''sans-culottes'' agitated leaders to inflict punishments on those who opposed the interests of the poor. The ''sans-culottes'' violently demonstrated, pushing their demands and creating constant pressure for the Montagnards to enact reform.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schechter |first=Ronald |title=Martyrdom and Terrorism |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-1999-5985-3 |pages=152–178 |chapter=Terror, Vengeance, and Martyrdom in the French Revolution |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199959853.003.0008}}</ref> They fed the frenzy of instability and chaos by utilizing popular pressure during the Revolution. For example, they sent letters and petitions to the [[Committee of Public Safety]] urging them to protect their interests and rights with measures such as taxation of foodstuffs that favored workers over the rich. They advocated for arrests of those deemed to oppose reforms against those with privilege, and the more militant members would advocate pillage in order to achieve the desired equality.<ref>Albert Soboul, ''The Sans-culottes; the Popular Movement and Revolutionary Government, 1793–1794'', (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1972), 5–17.</ref> The resulting instability caused problems that made forming the new republic and achieving full political support critical.

=== Religious upheaval ===
[[File:Miniac-Morvan (35) Église Saint-Pierre Intérieur 11.jpg|thumb|Nuns in a cart taking them to the guillotine in [[Cambrai]] on 26 June 1794]]
The Reign of Terror was characterized by a dramatic rejection of long-held religious authority, its hierarchical structure, and the corrupt and intolerant influence of the [[aristocracy]] and clergy. Religious elements that long stood as symbols of stability for the French people, were replaced by views on reason and scientific thought.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pressense |first1=Edmond |title=Religion and the reign of terror, or, The church during the French revolution |last2=Lacroix |first2=John |date=1869 |publisher=Carlton & Lanahan; Hitchcock & Walden |series=World constitutions illustrated |location=New York : Cincinnati}}{{Page needed|date=June 2022}}</ref>{{Sfn|Kennedy|1989|p=343}} The radical revolutionaries and their supporters desired a cultural revolution that would rid the French state of all Christian influence.<ref name="Lynn Hunt p 3">{{Cite book |last=Hunt |first=Lynn |title=Politics, Culture, and Class in the French Revolution |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-5209-3104-6 |pages=87–120 |chapter=The Imagery of Radicalism |doi=10.1525/9780520931046-011 |s2cid=226772970}}</ref> This process began with the [[Absolute monarchy in France|fall of the monarchy]], an event that effectively defrocked the state of its sanctification by the clergy via the [[Divine right of kings|doctrine of Divine Right]] and ushered in an era of reason.{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|pp=72–73}}

Many long-held rights and powers were stripped from the [[Catholic Church]] and given to the state. In 1789, church lands were expropriated and priests killed or forced to leave France.<ref name="Lynn Hunt p 3"/> Later in 1792, "refractory priests" were targeted and replaced with their secular counterpart from the [[Jacobins|Jacobin club]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Report by the Jacobin Society of Besançon on Refractory Priests |date=8 January 1792 |url=https://revolution.chnm.org/d/548 |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209015307/https://revolution.chnm.org/d/548 |url-status=live }}</ref> Not all religions experienced equal aggression; the Jewish community, on the contrary, received admittance into French citizenship in 1791.<ref>{{Citation |title="Admission of Jews to Rights of Citizenship," 27 September 1791 |date=27 September 1791 |url=https://revolution.chnm.org/d/287 |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=26 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626015107/https://revolution.chnm.org/d/287/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[Cult of Reason|Festival of Reason]] was held in the [[Notre-Dame de Paris|Notre Dame Cathedral]], which was renamed "The Temple of Reason", and the traditional calendar was replaced with a [[French Republican calendar|new revolutionary one]].{{Sfn|Popkin|2016|pp=72–73}} The leaders of the Terror tried to address the call for these radical, revolutionary aspirations, while at the same time trying to maintain tight control on the [[Dechristianization of France during the French Revolution|de-Christianization movement]] that was threatening to the clear majority of the still devoted Catholic population of France. Robespierre used the event as a means to combat the "moral counterrevolution" taking place among his rivals.<ref>{{Citation |title=Robespierre, "On Political Morality" |date=5 February 1794 |url=https://revolution.chnm.org/d/413 |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209015303/https://revolution.chnm.org/d/413 |url-status=live }}</ref> Additionally, he hoped to stem "the monster atheism" that was a result of the radical secularization in philosophical and social circles.<ref>{{Citation |title=Religion: The Cult of the Supreme Being |date=8 June 1794 |url=https://revolution.chnm.org/d/436 |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209015301/https://revolution.chnm.org/d/436 |url-status=live }}</ref> The tension sparked by these conflicting objectives laid a foundation for the "justified" use of terror to achieve revolutionary ideals and rid France of the religiosity that revolutionaries believed was standing in the way.