Editing Reign of Terror (section)

===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.