Twelve Who Ruled – Why Tenacious Terror was Necessary Essay

The French Revolution spanned ten years and was a period of great change within France. The official beginning of the French Revolution was in May-August of 1789 when common citizens, upset with how the upper class was treated them, forced King Louis XVI (the king of France at the time) to sign the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen (the DoRoMaC). The DoRoMaC was a document that described exactly what rights the citizens wanted, such as freedom of speech and religion and innocence until proven guilty. Over the next four years, commoners lobbied for a democracy and, when King Louis XVI was executed in early 1793, a new governing body was formed called Committee of Public Safety., which was designed to subdue counterrevolutionaries. A man named Maximilien Robespierre was part of the Committee, and on September 5, 1793, he decided that the best way to keep France under control was fear. That day marks the start of the Reign of Terror.

twelve men (Robespierre, Barere, Saint Just, Couthon, Lindet, Carnot, Saint-Andre, Prieur, Varenne, Herbois, Scholles, and Duvernois) ruled France; even though they were technically under the control of the Convention.

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.

The newly formed Central Committee of the National Guard came out as the main authority during the government’s swift retreat. The immediate concern of the committee was to have municipal elections and move power to the Commune as quickly as possible. On March 26, the elections brought a Paris Commune that was to the left of the Assembly at Versailles. Many of the districts elected officials that were in opposition of the government. Of the ninety one representatives, thirty five were manual laborers, mostly craftsmen in little workshops. Members of the Commune had little to no experience politically. They often rambled during their debates which caused many matters to be dropped rather than addressed (Magraw 88). Politically, the Commune had no direction. This was a very important aspect because it was needed in order to win a civil war.

On September 5, 1793, the National Convention of France declared terror “the order of the day,” which essentially meant that the government would take any and all necessary measures to maintain a sense of peace and stability. Strict laws and policies were imposed to ensure that the nation would continue to evolve and change. This day marked the beginning of the infamous Reign of Terror. The Reign of Terror was a period of turmoil in France following the onset of the French Revolution in 1789. Extreme violence and unwarranted brutality became standard during this decade. The head of the revolution and primary leader of the Committee of Public Safety was a French politician named Maximilien Robespierre.

The Committee of Public Safety was made up of a group of 13 men whose goal was to overthrow the Queen and the government, set up a provisional government, and annex Hawaii to the United States of America. The Committee of Public Safety worked with Minister Stevens and helped him illegally bring in United States troops. When the troops or soldiers came uniformed and armed, the Queen surrendered and with that, they declared a provisional government. The Committee of Public Safety completed one of their goals and made a provisional government in

The Committee at first kept everyone safe by making sure no one would hurt anyone else. As time went by the peasants realized they didn't have power anymore and the ones that had power were the Committee. Some tired to get help from Britain or others. The Committee said that that was treason and killed those who tried to get help. The main goal wasn't to protect the revolution from its enemies. The real goal was to have as much power as possible and they hoped no one would try to have a revolution against the Committee.

The Committee of Public Safety was the political council created by the National Convention during the Reign of Terror. This committee was formed to help protect France against enemies of the Republic. The council had 9 members but later expanded to 12. This committee was responsible for supervising ministers and defending in emergency situations. They were also expected to help win the war and end the famine. Over time, the committee gained a lot of power and eventually took over all the power in France and ran the government. The Committee of Public Safety was led by Robespierre and his fellow Jacobins.. With the committee gaining all the control over France, Robespierre used the committee to prevent any counter attacks. Because the Committee

The year of terror is one of the most complex and misunderstood periods in the French Revolution. Palmer, in his book, Twelve Who Ruled, however, takes this period and skillfully turns it into a written masterpiece. The book is narrated from the point of view of someone with an omniscient knowledge of the subject matter, who is reflecting back on the period from the outside.

France was experience a great amount of change in the summer of 1793, when the Jacobins succeeded the moderates in the National Convention. With the radical Jacobins in power, the country was in tumult, and a Reign of Terror ensued due to a law of suspects that legalized local revolutionary committees. Because of this, thousands of people were killed by guillotine or other methods. Throughout the summer of 1793, the radical Jacobins’ control of the Committee of Public Safety instituted the Terror which was advantageous in it’s intended purpose, yet it was disadvantageous because of the enemies it created.

The Impact of the Reign of Terror Many people believe that the Reign of Terror was just a bloody time where several citizens living in France were executed for small crimes, but it actually had a profound impact on the society and country as a whole. The Reign of Terror was a time where people who opposed the Committee of Public Safety were being executed, usually by the guillotine. The Committee was led by a man named Maximilien Robespierre who believed in a “republic of virtue” by cleansing France from the supporters of the King. This period of chaos and bloodshed impacted society extremely, and it also started wars and developed the government of France.

The once kind Louis XVI had us Jacobins against him for the whole trial for multiple different reasons. One reason was that he had give up on his duties as king. After the “third estate had set out in Sieyes’s pamphlet and declared itself the National Assembly” (Mason 25) they eventually formed the Legislative Assembly which, became in charge of France at that time. During this period in time they replaced everyone in office with citizens who

In this essay I shall try to find whether the Terror was inherent from the French revolutions outset or was it the product of exceptional circumstances. The French revolution is the dividing line between the Ancien Regime and the modern world. After France the hierarchy that societies of the time had been founded on began to change and they began to sweep away the intricate political structures of absolute monarchy, but however to achieve this was the Terror absolutely necessary? And was it planned/ or was it just the extraordinary circumstances, which the French had lead themselves into once they had deposed of Louis the

While it is plausible that one of the goals of the Committee of Public Safety was to protect the revolution from its enemies, an analysis of the surrounding historical context and the seemingly reform driven proclamations made by the C.O.P.S. strongly suggest that the main goal was to essentially protect the revolution through radicalization.

In March 1793 the revolutionary Tribunal, which is a court of justice) was established to try all crimes against the state. These Tribunal members could not be elected by the people. Watch committees were also set up in every neighborhood to ferret out and expel and foreigners suspected of counterrevolutionary activities. The committee of public safety employed a shadowy network of informers and spies to keep france externally and internally safe. A careless word of criticism spoken against the government could put one in prison or worse. (Doc E.) The guillotine became one of the main killing machines in the French revolution. The people loved the idea of the guillotine, when someone was being executed people were laughing chanting like they were at a