Reign of Terror

The Reign of Terror, sometimes referred to simply as the Terror, was a period of intense social and political violence in France - and particularily in Paris - that erupted shortly after the beginning of the French Revolution, in which thousands of people across the country were executed, imprisioned, tortured, or exiled for real or percieved crimes of treason against France.

Instigated by several revolutionary politicians, most notably Maximilien de Robespierre, the Terror began with the execution of the deposed King, Louis XVI of France, in 1793, after the Revolution had gained momentum and the support of the oppressed lower classes. The King was followed in death by his wife, Marie Antoinette, and most members of the Girondin political party.

The executions soon sparked off a long series of arrests, trials (which almost always found the accussed guilty), and executions across the nation, with the most popular method of execution being the guillotine. Almost 16,600 people were recorded to have been beheaded during the Terror. Another 25,000 summary executions took place throughout the country. Notable victims included chemist Antoine Lavoisier, lawyer Georges Danton, and the counts Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector and Honoré Gabriel Riqueti.

In July 1794, the Terror intensified into "The Great Terror" before finally ending on the 27th, when several revolutionaries revolted against the Terror's leaders and their execessive violence. Soon after, most of the Terror's instigators were executed, including Robespierre, becoming the last victims of their own violent Reign.