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Describe the ‘Reign of Terror’ and role played by Robespierre in it.

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The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror. Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment. All those whom he saw as being ‘enemies’ of the republic – ex-nobles and clergy, members of other political parties, even members of his own party who did not agree with his methods – were arrested, imprisoned and then tried by a revolutionary tribunal. If the court found them ‘guilty’ they were guillotined. The guillotine is a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person is beheaded. It was named after Dr Guillotin who invented it. Robespierre’s government issued laws placing a maximum ceiling on wages and prices. Meat and bread were rationed. Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at prices fixed by the government. The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden; all citizens were required to eat the pain degalite (equality bread), a loaf made of wholewheat. Equality was also sought to be practised through forms of speech and address. Instead of the traditional Monsieur (Sir) and Madame (Madam) all French men and women were henceforth Citoyen and Citoyenne (Citizen). Churches were shut down and their buildings converted into barracks or offices. Robespierre pursued his policies so relentlessly that even his supporters began to demand moderation. Finally, he was convicted by a court in

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One of the most fascinating figures to emerge from the French Revolution was Maximilian Robespierre. In the 1790s he rose to wield great power in the revolutionary government. As an extreme radical leftist, he was instrumental in instituting 'Reign of Terror'. This was a period when anyone who opposed Robespierre's idealism, was judicially murdered, generally by the use of Guillotine.

Robespierre was the leader of the Committee of Public Safety, the Executive Committee of the National Convention and the most powerful person in France. Robespierre used his position in the Committee to further impose his idealism on the French nation. He did this by instituting the Reign of Terror. After the death of King Louis XVI in 1793, The Reign of Terror began. The first victim was Mary Antoinette. The guillotine was the new instrument of egalitarian justice and it was put to work. Public executions were considered educational. The Revolutionary Tribunal ordered the execution of 2400 people in Paris by July 1794. Across France, around 30000 people lost their lives. The terror was designed to fight the enemies of the revolution, to prevent counter-revolution from gaining ground. Most of the people rounded up were not aristocrats, but ordinary people. Even the radical Jacobins, the supporters of Robespierre, felt that the Terror must be stopped. In July 1794, Robespierre was arrested and sent to the guillotine next day. He was the last victim of the Reign of Terror.

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