The Reign of Terror lasted from 1793-1794 and marked the height of the radical phase of the French Revolution. The Reign of Terror was led by Maximilian Robespiere.
Estimates of those killed during the Reign of Terror range from 30,000 to more than 40,000. From July 1793 to July 1794, Maximiilian Robespierre led what has become known as the Reign of Terror. In the end, Robsepierre would die by the very guillotine that was his weapon of choice.
Robsepierre believed that all enemies of the French Revolution had to die so that the Revolution would live. Only Robespierre and his committee of Public Safety decided who the enemies were. Anyone suspected of loyalty to the Bourbon kings were killed. Children were ecouraged to turn in parents who might be against the Revolution. A person who owned books with the symbol of the Crown might be sentenced to death as a enemy of the Revolution.
Spectators watched as the trundles carrying the convicted arrived at the guillotine. Eyewitnessess have reported that women often did their knitting while watching the executions. Those convicted perons were often greeted with cries of "Death to the Traitors" shouted from spectators.
Of the tens of thousands killed during the Reign of Terror, most were poor peasants. On July 28, 1794, Robespierre was executed--a victim of his own radicalism. Within a few short years, France would be ruled again by Napoleon and plunged into war.
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