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Preview
‡ Main Idea / Reading Focus
‡ A Radical Government
‡ The Reign of Terror
‡ Quick Facts: Governments of Revolutionary France
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An extreme government changed French society and tried
through harsh means to eliminate its critics within France.


  
‡ What changes did the radical government make in French
society and politics?
‡ What was the Reign of Terror, and how did it end?
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In 1792, the radical representatives were in charge of the National
Convention. The constitutional monarchy came to a violent end, and
France became a republic.
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‡ Radical Mountain ‡ Marat ‡ King put to death
± Sansculottes,
by 

 

‡ Moderate Girondins
advocate of ‡ Europeans reacted
‡ The Plain (swing violence with horror
voters)
‡ Danton ± Revolution
‡ No group had savagery
± Compromiser
program or plan of condemned
action ‡  



‡ Personal rivalries ± Dedicated radical
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‡ Committee of Public Safety set up to manage military defense

‡ Drafted all able-bodied men between 18 and 45 for service
‡ Established the Revolutionary Tribunal to protect the Revolution

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‡ Leaders wanted to erase connections to old ways of life
‡ Clergy members lost positions; churches closed in Paris
‡ Robespierre created the cult of the Supreme Being
‡ Metric system was introduced
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Why did the National Convention
want to change French government
and society?


!"# It saw the old government and

systems as oppressive and it wanted to create a
better society.
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‡ Revolutionary leaders feared  


 and took drastic actions
with accusations, trials, and executions. This period was known as the 

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‡ Peasants, essentially conservative, only wanted an end to feudal dues.
‡ Remaining devoutly Catholic, the Vendée region opposed the Revolution in a
civil war. The government put down the counterrevolution to regain control.



  



‡ Robespierre used the Revolutionary Tribunal to rid the country of dissent.
‡ It started with the Girondists, but soon anyone who had ever criticized the
Revolution, or who had connections to the Old Order, was in danger.
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‡ Most common sentence - death by guillotine
‡ Condemned paraded through Paris in open carts
‡ Mobs watched at scaffold; executions took less than one minute

 




  
 



‡ No one was spared ‡ France started over with new
constitution in 1795
‡ Peasants and laborers affected
‡ Voting limited to property owners
‡ Danton and Robespierre
‡ The Directory established
‡ 40,000 executed in 10 months ‡ High prices, bankruptcy, and
‡ ³Oh Liberty, what crimes are citizens¶ unrest continued
committed in your name!´ ‡ Power vacuum developed
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Why was the period of mass
executions called the Reign of
Terror?


!"# It was a period of accusations, trials,

and executions that led to a wave of fear.