4.6 Execution of Louis XVI and Reign of Terror

Great Fear Sweeps France

II. Peasants marched to

Versailles and demanded

King and Queen come to

Paris…They did.

I. Peasants fear violence from nobles

A. Did this happen? No

B. What did happen? Peasants

became outlaws. The king

prepares an army to take control…

III. Women March to Versailles

Infuriated women walked 12

miles in the rain to Versailles,

angry with the Royal Court’s

extravagance.

Also happening…

The King and Queen Arrive in Paris

After two years of signing laws for the National Assembly, Louis wants to

get help from foreign lands so, Louis XVI tries to escape to the

Netherlands (or Austria)…

BUT is caught by

postmaster at near

French border…

… and the Royal Family is returned to Paris

The King and Queen Arrive in Paris

Louis’ Plot• Once back in Paris, Louis

and family act like they

are supporting the

Revolution

• Marie has been sending

letters to Austria

• War breaks out between

France and Austria

• Louis and Marie are seen

as traitors!!

• Frenchmen go crazy and

attack…Louis is stripped

of power and family is put

in jail

1792 - Despite Gains, Fear Persists

Upon returning, French mobs attack King

because he was aligned with foreigners. With

war problems abroad, mobs feared he would

re-establish control.

What happens? Attack of Monarchy in

Prison & 1,000 people die.

Radicals Assert Control – Jacobin Club

removes the King and establishes a

republic

New Government = National Convention

Abolishes Monarchy

Tries King Louis XVI

Finds him…Guilty

King Louis XVI Executed - 1793

Off

with

his

head

Guillotine -

Head chopping machine

created by a doctor to be

a more humane way to

kill people…yes, a

doctor!

The Guillotine

Supporters said it was:

Efficient

More humane

No pain

Opponents said it:

It was too quick to be

enjoyed by public

Rather pull victims apart

by horses; broken on a

wheel

Louis XVI as a Pig

c To some, the king was a traitor.

c Others felt that the Revolution had gone far enough and didn’t want to execute the king

[maybe exile him].

Actual

cartoon

of the

time!

Marie Antoinette as a Serpent

The “Widow Capet”

Actual

cartoon

of the

time!

Robespierre was

able to raise an army

of 800,000 citizen

soldiers - the biggest

army ever assembled

in Europe.

Raising An Army…

…and Executing the Queen

October 16, 1793

Marie Antoinette on the Way to the Guillotine

Marie Antoinette Died in October, 1793

The political group – the Jacobin Club

forms the “Committee of Public Safety”

is was led by Maximillian Robespierre.

Their objective: wipe out France’s

monarchy in both present and past

How?

• Execute the “unpatriotic”: between

20,000 - 40,000 are killed

• Removed monarchy from playing

cards

• Removed Sundays from calendars

• Closed Church on Sunday

• Trial and execution on the same day

• 85% killed were common peasants

who supposedly benefited from the

Revolution

The Reign of Terror

Maximilien Robespierre

The Reign of Terror

Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible. --

Robespierre

Let terror be the order of the day!

c The Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris alone executed 2,639 victims

in 15 months.

c The total number of victims nationwide was

over 20,000!

Different Social Classes Executed

31%

28%

7%

8%

25%

End of the Terror

Fellow radicals –

fearing their own

lives and

positions – turn

on Robespierre

and kill him

People had grown tired of the

Terror, were angry at rising food

prices, and Robespierre’s new

ideas/changes

Moderate leaders of the National

Convention draft a new government

– the 3rd in 6 years.

also…

so…

Robespierre is executed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otnADq4Y0-A

(Spoof recap 3:37)

The Arrest of Robespierre

The Revolution Consumes (or ate)Its Own Children!

Robespierre lies woundedbefore the Revolutionary

Tribunal that will order him to be guillotined, 1794.

The “Monster” Guillotine

The last guillotine execution in France was in 1939!