History Fact Finder | War and Conflict: Pre-Twentieth Century - What Was The Reign Of Terror?

What was the Reign of Terror?

The Reign of Terror was the short but bloody period during the French Revolution (1789–99), a movement that resulted in the overthrow of the monarchy, a government ruled by a king or queen. The Reign of Terror began in 1793 and ended in July 1794. During this time revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) headed a group called a tribunal that arrested, tried, and put to death more than 17,000 people—most of them by guillotine, an execution device used for beheading.

In 1789 revolutionary leaders had taken the famous Oath of the Tennis Court, in which they agreed to form a representative government called a national assembly and to write their own constitution (a document that specifies a country's laws). When King Louis XIV (1754–1793) sent out troops to stop their efforts, an armed resistance movement began forming. The situation reached a crisis when a mob of...

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass