The Great Terror in France

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.04: French Writing and Culture: Eighteenth-Century and the Enlightenment, 1700-1800.
Vol. editors: Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Jenny Mander (University of Cambridge), Síofra Pierse (University College Dublin), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Domains

Political Violence

Dates

Date of occurrence 1794-06-10-1794-07-27

Places

France (Location)

Resources

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Responding to the anti-revolutionary revolts across the country, and the threat of invasion, the Committee of Public Safety directed by Carnot oversaw a complete reform of the army, including mass conscription, which allowed the Convention to put down local insurgencies and defeat the allies at Fleurus on 26 June 1794. The achievement was a remarkable victory for the will of the people and the discipline imposed by Carnot. However, draconian measures were taken to silence opposition: the Law of 22 Prairial II (10 June 1794) abolished the right of defence before the Revolutionary Tribunal and allowed conviction by “patriotic intuition” or “moral proof”. Trials took place in batches of 50 at a time. In 49 days 1400 men and women are executed, nearly 200 each week, ten times the…

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202 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "The Great Terror in France". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 December 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4270, accessed 24 April 2024.]

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