DBQ: Reign of Terror What would start as an act to protect people from the abuses of the government, would turn into one of the most oppressive periods of French History, giving it the name: Reign of Terror. King Louis XIV’s expensive and unnecessary war debts and lavish expenditures left his citizens starving and without a platform. In order to solve this, Louis XIV raised taxes, making the very mistake of King George III that led to the American Revolution. The social classes were called to reach a solution, but as always reached a stalemate. Delegates of the Estates General then took for themselves their natural right to dissention, and created the National Assembly. Regarding the right to dissent, the right to one’s own religious views, …show more content…
Accordingly, Document A suggests, “No one should be silenced on account of his opinions, including his religious views. (Document A) It is shown later in the Revolution the oppression of certain religions and viewpoints. This excerpt serves as proof of further contradiction. Likewise, Document B suggests that, “Christian churches are soon closed by revolutionary government.” (Document B) As simply stated, Christians, with one of the largest followings, are oppressed against the very standard of the Revolutionary government. Even if this action was for economic reasons, the Revolution promised to provide economic stability, which would not be the case if this were true. “Furthermore, Document C shows that, The Vendée region was the center of [the Counterrevolution]. People here fiercely fought against the military draft called the levee en masse and against laws that tried to abolish Christianity in France.” (Document C) Taking away the tools of religion is far enough, not mentioning the abolishment of religion all together. The Reign of Terror once again severely violates their own word and one of the most agreed upon rights of that time. These rulers of “peace” reject one of the most proven principles of order: the freedom of religion, making their rule misleading and extremely …show more content…
Moreover, Document C relays that, “The Counterrevolutionaries included some members of the aristocracy, priests, peasants, and townspeople.” (Document C) The leaders of the Reign of Terror had a goal to punish the emigres and label all dissenters as enemies of their peaceful rule. The diversity of the countermovement shows that not just the emigres are rebelling against their abolition of superiority, and that all groups are oppressed unjustly.Withal, Document D concludes that, “At this time, counterrevolutionary activity had been increasing for more than a year. This official is reporting that soldiers already sent by the government have failed to stop the “rabble” and he is writing for more help. To make matters even more unsettling, Prussians were invading at the same time from the north.” The large number of dissenters shows that Revolutionary rule is widely abusive, and is therefore unjust. (Document D) Similarly, Document F also reports that, “Historians estimate that 16,000 people were guillotined during the Reign of Terror.” (Document F) The penalty of death is usually reserved for the most serious crimes. It cannot be that 16,000 people of the Counterrevolution are deserving of immoral public humiliation on top of death, making the methodology of the Reign of terror false. The oppression of the just Counterrevolution shows
Liberté, Egalité, and Fraternité were the main principles of the French revolution. However, it was a time where these three ideals would be twisted into nothing more than moral and physical violence. The revolution was ultimately a failure which spun out of control and began to murder itself. The French wanted Freedom from its absolutist ruler, but in turn saw themselves being governed by the devil. These citizens wanted a sense of brotherhood amongst their country, but saw their nation being torn apart by violence. Furthermore, the third estate sought to benefit from a new government that promised equality; however, the result was a further imbalance in an already corrupt society. Ironically, the gruesome reign of terror which was
Have you ever heard of the Reign Of Terror? The Reign Of Terror was during the French Revolution.Maximilien De Robespierre used extreme methods to punish those who didn't agree with him. The Reign Of Terror wasn't Justified. The methods Robispierre used were barbaric and unjust.
A careless word of criticism spoken against the government could put one in prison or worse” i chose this quote because it shows how a person could be convicted of a crime and be incense.the tribunal sentenced 2,750 to death most likely more than 20 percent of those people were innocent and an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 were killed by guillotine in total. The method of punishment did not show that the reign of terror was justified more
Revolutionaries eliminated the guilt of the bloodshed by making their fight against people that are no longer viewed as human. Dechristianization was one of the first big steps in this. Although freedom of religion is a civil liberty, religion to the Catholic French is so deeply personal and spiritual, it is almost inhumane to remove someone’s spiritual side. In November, 1793, began, and churches were closed by the revolutionary government (Document A). Like mentioned above, the Vendée region fought against dechristianization, but the French went to humiliating extremes. One church official in Auxerre said that government representatives, “took a copper crucifix which was on the altar… [and] carried it mockingly, upside down on a cart, offering it to passers-by to spit on. (Document C). Religious people were not only stripped of their religion but humiliated, too. The greatest discrimination was towards the counterrevolutionaries, who were just trying to fight for their rights like anyone else. These people were aristocracies, priests, farmers, and townspeople, but they were regarded as thieves or rabble (Document C). A local government official sent a letter to the National Convention asking for an example to be set for the counterrevolutionaries. He said, “… six patriots have already fallen victim to this rabble, but at least forty of their numbers were killed (Document D).” The same men who vowed to fight for fraternity found comfort in the fact that more of their enemies were killed, even though they share the same French blood, and still they crave more. In October 1793, the revolutionaries set their example in Lyons, where they destroyed 1600 homes and beheaded twelve people in one day (Document C). Of course these revolutionaries felt no remorse, though, because they viewed the lives of these innocent people less important than theirs. Finally, the greatest
The Reign of Terror was not justified because it created internal threats.‘‘The levee en masse was a military draft imposed by the Revolutionary Government’’ On one occasion, a crucifix was even taken from
The excess can be seen in the treatment of the monarchy. Louis XVI was forced to abdicate power, and eventually the monarchy was established in 1792. However, even before that--in 1791--the royal family attempted to flee France (Doc B). Had the National Assembly simply decided to let the royal family go, they would have achieved the same outcome of total removal of the monarchy. Instead, though, they decided to behead the king and queen, adding to the terror. These deaths had no logical backing, and were rather due to passionate anger. This would have contributed to unrest and the rise of counter- revolutions, adding to the death toll later, as seem in the Vendee Revolution, which resulted in the death of over 80,000 (Doc C). Had the Republic been more tolerant and listened to the ideas of its people against the draft and complete, humiliating destruction of the nobility, thousands more would have lived on to contribute to France’s prosperity. The Reign of Terror was extreme and rigid, not allowing concessions which would have appeased the militants. This intolerance surfaced again with tribunals. According to Steven Otfinoski, dissenters were tried based on intuition rather than evidence, and even simple words of criticism could sentence one to death. Otfinoski had a negative view of these tribunals, describing it
After the execution of King Louis XVI, France was without a monarchy and the new revolutionary government ruled over all. However, the chaos was not even close to being over. As it became apparent that the new government wasn’t universally loved and had enemies within and outside of France, the Reign of Terror began. The Reign of Terror was a series of extreme methods and events the French Revolutionary Government put in motion during the revolution. As armies sent by both Prussian and Austrian monarchies approached the border, and fear rose within the people of France, the government took action.
This violated the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens" because within this document it stated that man has the right to resist against oppression from the government. This evidence proves that the revolutionary government of the Reign of Terror gave limited rights to individuals who weren't in their favor, and didn't have the same motives as
The French Revolution began in 1789 as an attempt to form a new government in France.For quite a long time outright ruler had ruled the French country with little thought for most of the people.The execution of Louis XVI offered path to a year-long stretch of the French Revolution known as "The Reign of Terror". Should people be oppressed for his or her convictions? The Reign of Terror kept going under two years, from the execution of Louis XVI in January 1793 to past due July 1794. Amid those eighteen months, in excess of 20,000 French individuals have been executed with the aid of guillotine. Guillotines have been tremendous falling slicing edges that were utilized by political enthusiasts known as radicals to execute traditionalists, who had been people that needed to hold the old methods. It isn't always proper for people to be abused for his or her convictions. The Reign of Terror in France became not supported. This claim can be reinforced by way of taking a gander at 3 zones: outer chance, the inner chance, and the techniques.
The French Revolution is arguably the bloodiest period in French history, with men such as Maximilien Robespierre leading the country into a situation of state sponsored terror. Originally being quite a liberal thinker inspired by the works of Rousseau, Robespierre quickly gained a reputation for being a radical throughout the course of the Revolution, especially during the Terror. Early on terror was justified as a means to root out foreign and domestic enemies of the Revolution, however; once the foreign threat had been taken care of it became increasingly difficult for Robespierre to rationalize his use of terror to bring about a supposed Republic of Virtue. In his speech, the “Justification of the use of Terror” which he presented to
The Reign of Terror was the culmination of foreign enemies, a superfluous amount amount executions, and distrust amongst the citizens of France. The Austrian-Prussian war that plagued France in 1792 was a natural response to the rising threat of the French Revolution, which was followed by the growing support of the death penalty via guillotine; behind these conflicts, the revolutionary government of France followed their agenda of purging the revolution of any individuals who disagreed with or criticized their ideals. Others may view the French Revolution as more successful than the American Revolution, but fail to realize that France’s monarchy only evolved from a “divine right” to a “constitutional right”, as seen from Napoleon’s reign and
While this was going on in France, the army was trying to make France’s government better, but while doing it, the rights of the people were violated. From Louis XVI’s unfair treatment to the citizens, it caused them to revolt. Since the citizens did not agree with the authority, they were not treated right for speaking out. The rights they deserve were not given to them. For example, “People here fiercely fought against the military draft called levée en masse and against laws that tried to abolish Christianity in France.” (Doc C). They were not given the right for freedom of
King Louis XVI and Marie Antionette were two people that should not have been ruling a country. King Louis was always gone on hunting trips and Marie Antionette spent every dime of French money. Once the Monarchy ran out money, they started to tax the Third, and poorest, estate. The third estate took up 97% of the population. 97% of the population was starving and the royal family kept spending large amounts of money until the people revolted. The people of France tried to reason with King Louis, but he refused to change his ways and kept taxing the third estate. When the people revolted, they stormed the Bastille and took all of the weapons they could. The people then went to the King’s palace and demanded he fix the way he was ruling before they killed him. The King didn’t listen and was executed along with his wife. Of the three kids that Marie Antionette had, the two boys died of Tuberculosis in jail and the daughter was sent to live the remainder of her life in exile in Austria. It may seem as though the people of France had successfully overgrown their monarchy and could begin a life of freedom, however this is not the case. The French had rushed into combat too fast and did not have a plan for what to do after they had killed their rulers. The right of Terror begins where Maximilian Robespierre beheads 40,000 people in the span of ten months for speaking against the revolution. In the end, Robespierre ends up getting
The French Revolution began in 1789 as an attempt, by the revolutionaries, to form a new government that would give the people more liberty, equality and value people’s rights. Between 1793 and 1794 the government used extreme ways to achieve their goals. This period of time, led by Robespierre, was called the reign of Terror because between 20,000-40,000 french people were killed by the government forces. The Reign of Terror was not justified for three reasons:The external and internal threat did not deserve it, they denied natural rights against people who opposed them and the methods of the Terror were too extreme.
As said by the British Prime Minster, William Pitt, the French people are urged into the field by the fear of the guillotine. Most often the people would join the revolutionary army just to escape the wrath of the army (Doc14). Charles James Fox, A member of parliament and a sympathizer of the revolution, the leaders of the French people were “guilty of such unheard of crimes and cruelties.” The other countries were even able to recognize how the terror was nothing more than a way to fear the people into following the revolutionaries’ commands (Doc13). Louis Antoine, in a speech to the National Convention, talked about how the French peoples’ greatest mistake was thinking that concentration authority would save the state. He thought this was a mistake; because, the concentration of the authority lead to even more chaos within the terror (Doc5). Many did think that the revolutionaries in charge of the trials for anti-revolutionary cases were much disorganized and in disarray, as seen in this picture by an unknown artist who; most likely disagreed with the terror. The artist depicts a scene where a revolutionary committee is deliberating were or not a person is guilty. In the painting, you see many different uniforms for the people, no one is looking in the same direction, dogs are running around the room and the guards look almost