The spread of the Terror

Question 1

Victims of Terror 1792-1794

Answer 1

40,000 victims of the Terror, 17,000 of those guillotined

Question 2

Revolutionary Tribunal

Answer 2

March-September: 260 cases, September-December: 500,000 cases

Question 3

When was Marie Antoinette’s trial and execution?

Answer 3

14th October 1793 and 16th October 1793

Question 4

Who else was condemned to death?

Answer 4

Brissot, Vergniaud and nineteen other Girondin leaders

Question 5

Who was being tried on 24th October 1793?

Answer 5

21 expelled Girondin leaders - all condemned to death and guillotined in 31 minutes on 31st October

Question 6

Who was executed on 6th November 1793?

Answer 6

Duc d’Orleans due to his ties with Dumouriez and the royal family, Madame Roland condemned to death 2 days later and Bailly and Barnave executed

Question 7

When was Saint-Just’s speech?

Answer 7

10th October 1793 - named CPS as provisional government - used to justify local watch committees, armees revolutionaries, spies, and agents

Question 8

Dechristianisation

Answer 8

sans-culottes supported a move to close churches and destroy religious symbols, spread to provinces, official policy by Paris Commune in October 1793 - attacks on religious buildings led to an order in November to close all remaining Churches

Question 9

When was the Festival of Reason?

Answer 9

November 1793 as a culmination of dechristianisation efforts - not authorised by Convention but their decision to adopt a new non-religious calendar helped

Question 10

When was the Law of 14 Frimaire II?

Answer 10

4th December 1793 - gave CPS direct power over ministers, generals, representatives on mission, local government. Popular societies closed down

Question 11

When were revolutionary armies scrapped?

Answer 11

March 1794

Question 12

Indulgents

Answer 12

Danton, Desmoulins: wanted a scaling back of the Terror

Question 13

Herbertistes

Answer 13

Claimed Robespierre was establishing a dictatorship, demanded hoarders to be executed, property redistributed, led dechristianisation campaign

Question 14

What did Hebert call for in March 1794 and what happened?

Answer 14

An insurrection. Saint-Just made a speech denouncing them and Hebert was arrested along with 18 supporters for being foreign agents who wanted a military dictatorship which would lead to monarchy

Question 15

When were the Hebertistes and Indulgents guillotined?

Answer 15

24th March 1794 and 5th April 1794

Question 16

How did the CPS take advantage of this?

Answer 16

Parisian revolutionary army disbanded, Cordeliers Club closed, Commune purged

Question 17

When was the COSB established?

Answer 17

7th May 1794 (18 Floreal) - Robespierre made a speech to the Assembly persuading them to declare faith in the COSB, festivals celebrating important dates (July 14th 1789, August 10th 1792) and for the COSB on 20 Prairial

Question 18

What did the COSB call for?

Answer 18

Suppression of aristocratic gatherings, vague terminology to allow them to brand anyone as counter-revolutionary, idea of new deity, back track from dechristianisation, Terror no longer driven by sans-culottes

Question 19

When and what was the Law of 22 Prairial?

Answer 19

10th June 1794. Proposed by Couthon - all those accused of political crimes to be taken before Revolutionary Tribunal, citizens obliged to denounce suspects, anyone can arrest a counterrevolutionary without proof, no need for spoken witnesses, no defence lawyers

Question 20

When was the Great Terror?

Answer 20

10th June - 26th July 1794

Question 21

Victims of the Great Terror

Answer 21

35% nobles, 25% clergy, 40% bourgeoisie (more class based than before - 85% came from Third Estate)

Question 22

How many had been beheaded in the Great Terror?

Answer 22

Over 1,500

Question 23

When was a maximum wage set?

Answer 23

23rd July/5 Thermidor 1794 - to force back illegally rising wages

Question 24

Tensions between CPS and CGS

Answer 24

CGS became increasingly hostile due to COSB and they weren’t consulted about 22 Prairial, Robespierre had set up separate police network thereby infringing on CGS power

Question 25

How long did Robespierre stop attending the CPS?

Answer 25

3 weeks in July

Question 26

When did Robespierre address the Convention?

Answer 26

26th July 1794 (8 Thermidor) - accused committees of conspiring against public liberty, suggested purges need, attacked CPS members and hinted he was about to issue another list of traitors but didn’t, and din’t actually name people

Question 27

What happened on 27th July 1794 (9 Thermidor)?

Answer 27

Saint-Just arrived to deliver a speech but interrupted and accusations levied against Robespierre - decree to arrest him, Saint-Just, Couthon, Le Bas passed unanimously (Coup of Thermidor)

Question 28

When was Robespierre sentenced to death?

Answer 28

28th July 1794 (10 Thermidor), as well as his 22 associates. A further 71 death sentences pronounced the next day