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VIOLENCE IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.   Term Paper ID:26592 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines evolution of random violence to organized & systematic terror in 18th Cent. revolution.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Examines evolution of random violence to organized & systematic terror in 18th Cent. revolution. Paper Introduction: ROLE OF VIOLENCE/TERROR IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION This research paper discusses the role of violence and its more malignant manifestation, organized and systematic terror, during the French Revolution. In the early stages of the Revolution, sporadic acts of violence occurred, sometimes spontaneously, generally in response to specific events. They were used by groups interested in obtaining power and/or in pushing the Revolution to one extreme or the other. Later, the use of terror began to be employed systematically to deal with the enemies, real and imagined, internal and external, of the Revolution, and eventually to silence all organized opposition. Additionally, the creation of extreme fear throughout the country was used by political terrorist groups such as the Jacobins to promote the utopian ideal. Furthermore, other revolutionary goals we Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Tensions were further raised by the Massacre of the Champs de Mars inJuly 1791, the killing of some demonstrators and the arrest of many more inParis by the National Guard. The Revolution was caused by many forces, but the mostimmediate set of circumstances which precipitated it was, according toRoberts, "a prolonged crisis . The ancien régime which was toppled from power by the FrenchRevolution had ruled France for many centuries despite many destabilizingfactors and events. Notes1-5: Mish, Frederick. W. The French Revolution in Social & Political Perspective. "The 9 Thermidor: Motives and Effects." The French Revolution in Social & Political Perspective, Ed. . The bloody course of the Revolution (modest --only 17, deaths bysome estimates) and the hatreds it generated left France a mixed legacy: atradition of republicanism, individual liberty, and a strong, centralizedstate and fears of anarchy, class and religious conflict and deep politicaldivisions which have persisted ever since 1795. Robespierre dispatched enemies to his left as well,such as the journalist Jacques Hebert, who was executed in the spring of1794. The mostmoderate group then left in the Assembly, the Girondins, advocated warbecause they thought, according to Blanning, it "would put a stop todomestic unrest, restore political stabilityand arrest the depreciation of the Republic's new currency, theassignat"[3](6 ). New York: St. London, England: Arnold, 1996. Then, a group of deputieswon a majority in the Convention to expel Robespierre and hisclosest associates, who were guillotined or committed suicide. 45 -479.Gough, Hugh. . As the tumbrels filled, the population of the prisons trebled inthe fall of 1793. The polarization of politics, whichfollowed was not necessarily but very probable in a country that had noprevious experience with democratic government or the institutions tomediate conflict and produce peaceful consensus and change. According to Blanning, "now that his weapon of last resort -- thearmy -- had failed him, he [the King] had no option but tocapitulate" (3 ). Peter Jones. Martin's Press, 1993.Hunt, Lynn, ed. . . Whilesome of its excesses temporarily strengthened the power of moderateConstitutionalists, it eventually played into the hands of more radicalelements that began to use it to shift political power in their directionin a more organized fashion. In late 179 the Jacobin Club hadbeen formed; and in early 1791 it began its campaign to force the Assemblyto move in more radical directions. The French Revolutionary Wars 1787-18 2. The first political executions by ad hoc revolutionarytribunals werefollowed by the September 1792 Slaughter of the Innocents in Paris prisons,the hacking or bludgeoning to death of 11 to 13 prisoners after summary'trials.' The French army won an important victory at Valmy in October.Nevertheless, the Assembly proceeded with the trial and execution inJanuary 1793 of the King. The popular upheaval of October 1789 which led to the march onVersailles and the escort of the King back to Paris by the National Guardand a large crowd was relatively peaceful, except for the killing of someof the palace guards. However, this event was largely organized byradical members of the Assembly and the Paris Commune. According toLyons, they acted because they were afraid of themselves, suspicious of Robespierre's intentions, and, predicting that they would be the next victims of the guillotine, prepared to take desperate measures to forestall their arrest (349). Terror fed on itselfand acquired a grotesque momentum of its own until it finally ran itscourse, devouring many of its most extreme proponents and leading tocounter-revolution. However, its root causes lay in the sudden collapse ofthe ancien régime,[2] which was weakerthan it appeared, and the lack of any moderating tradition andinstitutions, which could have mediated conflict and prevented politicalpolarization and the breakdown of order. . A new government was formed, the Directory, in 1795 because theRevolution had burned itself out and the French people had grown exhaustedand disillusioned by its excesses. London, England: Arnold, 1996. At this point, the Kinghesitated to use troops to control crowds in Paris, according to Blanning,because "the conviction had taken hold in the royal council that they wouldmutiny if ordered to take action" (29). Ed. In that atmosphere, wild rumors of impendingplots and disasters gained currency, especially in working class districtsof Paris, where the sansculottes[4] demanded the abdication of the King andfierce repression of the enemies of the Republic. The masses had grown apathetic. Lucas characterized the crowd action in July as"engendered by panic fear and its motive was fundamentally self-defense"(437). After 179 , among the people in Paristhere emerged, according to Lucas, "a clear sense that, in order to obtainredress of grievances, it had to go beyond agents of authority to putpressure on the seats of power" (442). Later, theuse of terror began to be employed systematically to deal withthe enemies, real and imagined, internal and external, of theRevolution, and eventually to silence all organized opposition.Additionally, the creation of extreme fear throughout the country was usedby political terrorist groups such as the Jacobins[1] to promote theutopian ideal. The liberty part of theRevolution's ideals of 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity' became inoperative.However, as Furet said, "by means of the Terror, the Revolution -- ahistory without precedent, entirely new --would make an entirely new man,"a socially-engineered rational and just citizen, the ultimate expression ofthe General Will (463). Peter Jones. M. Peter Jones. . Lyons, Martyn. Into this confusion theJacobins stepped, led by Maximilien Robespierre who said in July 1792 "thestate must be saved by whatever means, and the only unconstitutional actsare those that lead to its ruin" (Gough 25). The weakness of the regime wasopen for all to see when King Louis XVI convened for the first time in 175years the Estates General which met in Versailles in May 1789 to helpresolve that crisis. Similarly, the takeover of power by revolutionaries in 26 of France's3 largest cities and peasant uprisings and random acts of violence (theGreat Fear) during the summer of 1789 were also mostly unorganized. Terror was used not only against political enemies but to crushall political dissent. TheRevolution truly began devouring its own children and appeared to be out ofcontrol, particularly since its greatest excesses occurred afterthe French army had stabilized the frontier and the civil war had beenlargely won by the Republic. London, England: Arnold, 1996. As Darnton said, "in 1789 the French had to confront thecollapse of a whole social order . Peter Jones. AsFuret said, the war[s] "erased the line between opposition and treason"(452). As Furet said, "it was . London, England: Arnold, 1996.Darnton, Robert. Martin's Press, 1996.Jones, Peter, ed. . inpursuit of an expensive foreign policy" (3). Oxford, England: Oxford U P, 1997.-----------------------[1] Jacobin: an extemist or radical political group advocating egalitariandemocracy and engaging in terrorist activities during the Revolution of1789 (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary 645).[2] Ancien régime: the political and social system of France before theRevolution of 1789 (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary 84).[3] Assignat: a bill issued as currency by the French Revolutionarygovernment (1789-1796) on the security of expropriated lands (Webster's1 9).[4] Sansculotte: an extreme radical republican in France at the time of theRevolution (Webster's 1 42).[5] Coup d'état: a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics; esp: the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group(Webster's 298). Agitators such asthe journalist Jean-Paul Marat had inflamed crowds as early as mid-1789,but by mid-1791 the radical Cordeliers Club had organized the Champs de Mardemonstrations to place pressure on the Assembly to demand a democraticreferendum on the future of the King. a ubiquitous means ofgovernment, through which the revolutionary dictatorship of Paris wouldmake its iron hand felt everywhere" (453). ROLE OF VIOLENCE/TERROR IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION This research paper discusses the role of violence and itsmore malignant manifestation, organized and systematic terror,during the French Revolution. It was followed in 1799 by NapoleonBonaparte's coup d'état.[5] Assessment and Conclusion Conservatives like Edmund Burke were correct in stating that violencewas endemic in the Revolution from its inception; however, much of it inthe early stages was unorganized and the inevitable result of the collapseof the old order. By that time, the April Rebellion riots by crowds inParis had already occurred, but Lucas says they were similar to traditionalexpressions of unrest in times of crisis (436). . These fears were heightened by theroyal couple's flight to Varennes in June 1791. London, England: Arnold, 1996. In this stage of the Revolution, moderation had become a crime. 18-29.Furet, Francois. On August 1 , 1792, which Gough said was "the bloodiest day of theRevolution so far," the sansculottes and disaffected federes or provincialNational Guardsmen attacked the royal palace in the Tuileries and massacredthe Swiss Guards. The defection of a leading general, furthermilitary reverses, and riotous debates in the Assembly (now known as theConvention) led to the establishment in March 1793 of a revolutionarytribunal in Paris to try cases of treason and counter-revolution whichGough said was an attempt by the Convention "to pre-empt popular violence"(29). at the heart [of which] lay the state'spenury . The use of violence to achievepolitical ends was becoming much more organized. At some point, Terrorbecame an end in itself and a self-fulfilling prophecy as violence begatfurther violence. Not longthereafter, other southern cities such as Lyons, Marseilles and Toulonjoined the counter-revolution. 1798-1791 During the first two and a half years of the Revolution,violence largely took the form of sporadic and largely spontaneous mob violence. and to find some new order in thechaos that surrounded them" (19). It ended largely because the French public and many oftheir leaders were sick of it and because the collective instinct for therestoration of order was overwhelming. TheKing went along under the mistaken impression that such a war would savehis throne because the republicans would be easily defeated. Editor in Chief. As Gough put it, "the terror was . Many of the traditionalranks and privileges of the old regime and to declare in the Declaration ofRights of Man of August 26, 1789 that "all men are born and remain free inregard to rights" (Hunt 78). Robespierre's utopian schemes, such as his Cult of the Supreme Being,which was intended to replace established religion, and some of theRevolution's more practical welfare programs, such as the provision of freepublic education and relief for the poor, came to an abrupt end along withthe Terror itself on 9 Thermidor (July 27, 1794). In the early stages of theRevolution, sporadic acts of violence occurred, sometimesspontaneously, generally in response to specific events. Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. . 1792-1793 The key event which triggered the widespread incidence of violenceand its use in the form of Terror as a systematic and centralized means ofdefeating the enemies of the Revolution and at the same time moving it inmore radical directions was the decision of the newly elected LegislativeAssembly to declare war on Austria and Prussia in the spring of 1792. Successive radical leaders of the Mountain in the Assembly, such asGeorges-Jacques Danton, orchestrated the expulsion and eventually theexecution of the Girondin leaders in June 1793, only to be himself expelledfrom the Convention in July 1793 and lose his own head in March 1794 on theorders of Robespierre. War fever and panic produced by early French defeats andretreats led to the grant of emergency powers to revolutionary tribunals.Civil war broke out in the western Vendee, largely prompted not by theexternal war, but by peasant reaction to the anti-Catholic Church measurestaken by the Assembly, land hunger and other economic grievances. The French Revolution and Human Rights A Brief Documentary History. Instead, he said only the excitement created by the drive for war could have radicalized so many so quickly. . London, England: Arnold, 1996. A war of no quarter was fought in the Vendee and in theSouth where in October the merchant quarter of Lyons was razed. The Terror in the French Revolution. expressed in deficits and a huge debt accumulated . 42 -449.Roberts, J. Works CitedBlanning, T. Furthermore, other revolutionary goals were pursued throughintimidation, and instilling fear within the public. were moderate centrists; by the following spring they were well down the republican road, borne along by the chariots of war (64). "The Crowd and Politics." The French Revolution in Social & Political Perspective, Ed. . Marat was assassinated by a young royalist from Caen, CharlotteCorday. In the autumn of 1791, most deputies . In any event, the multitudesucceeded in disarming the guards at the Invalides and storming theBastille in July. 1794-1795 The Committee of Public Safety set up by the Convention to supervisecentrally the effort to control opposition turned under Robespierre into adictatorship, institutionalized by the infamous law of 22 Prairial (June1 , 1794). . Theywere used by groups interested in obtaining power and/or inpushing the Revolution to one extreme or the other. Theywere undoubtedly encouraged by the actions taken by the ConstituentAssembly to abolish by its decree of August 4th. 395-415.Lucas, Colin. C. The war abroadand civil war, both of which were in part due to mistakes by theRevolution's leaders (and in part by Louis XVI), intensified the trendtoward more radical politics and the use of Terror as a political weapon.Social and religious conflicts played their part in the outbreak andescalation of violence, the reactionary mindset and fierce resistance ofthe privileged classes to their social demotion. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster Inc, 1985: 84, 1 9, 298, 645, 1 42. It played an important role inpreventing the reimposition of royal authority and in 889consolidating the power of the Constituent Assembly. a self-generating event, creating through its own intransigence increasedopposition which then 'justified' further violence" (78). The French Revolution. Lucas says one immediate effect of the peasantrevolts and the murders in Paris in July of two royal officials was toreinforce calls within the Assembly among constitutional monarchists "forthe creation of new municipal governments and national guards with thepurpose of controlling the crowd" (445). . . Unwise political judgments and mistakes by variousleaders facilitated the expansion of violence and terror being inflictedupon the innocent. However, throughout 179 and into early 1791, theflight of the emigres, the ambiguous stance of the throne, the growingsplit between moderate and more conservative conservatives in the Assemblyand worsening economic conditions all led, according to Gough, to "growingpopular hostility to the king and queen because of their suspectedopposition to the revolution" (17). Ed. "What Was Revolutionary About the French Revolution?" The French Revolution in Social & Political Perspective. New York: St. "Terror." The French Revolution in Social & Political Perspective. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.