8.2 The Radical Phase and the Reign of Terror

Notes

After 1791, the Revolution became more radical (seeking extreme change).

• The National Assembly made France a constitutional monarchy (1791) and took control of Church lands.
• Austria and Prussia threatened to restore the king, and France declared war in 1792.
• Radicals ended the monarchy and declared France a republic (September 1792). Louis XVI was executed by guillotine in January 1793; Marie Antoinette was executed later that year.
• Maximilien Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety led the Reign of Terror (1793 to 1794), executing about 17,000 people officially as "enemies of the Revolution," and many more died in prison or in fighting.
• Robespierre himself was executed in July 1794. A moderate five-man Directory took over in 1795 but was weak and corrupt.
• Political terms: left (radicals who want big change) and right (conservatives) come from where groups sat in the assembly.