Reign Of Terror DBQ

The Reign of Terror

Throughout history there has been a lot of bloodshed from wars, civil wars, revolutions, and revolts. Each of these events changing people's lives, some for the better, and worse for others. When talking about these events the question to whether the event was justified or not comes up. This is where people disagree on many aspects. After the onset of the French revolution the Reign of Terror began, and just by reading the name one can already assume that the Reign of Terror was not an enjoyable time. The Reign of Terror was not justified due to the amount of innocent people who were executed, the weakening of the country, and the violation of human rights.

During the Reign of Terror paranoia set in frightening the people

of the revolution who feared that the revolution was going to fail, and that the country was going back to the way it was. This fear led people to start executions to help the revolution, and save it from enemies of the revolution. During this time revolting, and anything else that was considered counterrevolutionary could get one killed. Little things such as, “A careless word of criticism spoken against the government could put one in prison or worse”(Doc E) Steven Otfinoski wrote. These reasons for executions were so small that the number of executions greatly increased. These people, some who just expressed their thoughts went through, ruthless commissions that killed 35,000 to 40,000 people(Doc E). Ruthless commissions are unjust especially to people who did not do anything wrong, or act upon their words. Furthermore,it is estimated that between 20,000 and 40,000 people were killed by the guillotine during the Reign of Terror (Doc F) which affected the population greatly. The guillotine was looked at by the french as the most humane way to execute criminals, because it killed everyone the same way, thus making everyone equal. But there is a big difference between executing someone for crimes that they have committed and executing someone who has spoken their beliefs. This makes the Reign of terror unjust, because of its ruthless execution against people that haven't done anything wrong.
The revolution caused many revolts within the country making it weak to foreign invaders.

After the revolution passed laws that abolished christianity in France the people of the Vendée were not pleased. Rather the opposite really, because now according to the map on top of fighting against the laws that abolished their religion, ”The Vendée region was the hub of the counterrevolution. People here fiercely fought against the military draft”(Doc C). By fighting against the military draft less people were put into the military. Which means less people to stop revolts and outside invader making the country weak. In the same year the counterrevolutionary activity had been increasing. In the town of Niort an official sent a letter, “reporting that the soldiers already sent by the government have failed to stop the ‘rabble’ and he is writing for more help”(Doc D). The revolutionaries were losing control and to make things even worse, “Prussians were invading at the same time from the north”(Doc D). The government was losing control, the military couldn't keep up with the revolts or deal with the foreign invaders making the whole country of France weak. The Reign of Terror was not worth weakening the country making France susceptible to

downfall.
On top of the executions and revolts, basic human rights were violated during the Reign of Terror. Basic human rights are not something that a person wants it is something that a person should have. By having these rights it gives a person freedom, and it makes every person equal no matter what. During the Reign of Terror, “A careless word of criticism spoken against the government could put one in prison or worse”(Doc E). The government was violating the right to freedom of speech during the Reign of Terror. This was unfair to the people, because they were being punished for using their human rights. In addition to getting taken in for doing nothing wrong the people were subjected to “ruthless commissions”(Doc E) which not only violated the right to a fair trial, but also led them to their deaths. The revolution was taking control over the country, and were not treating the people as they should have been treated. Along with freedom of speech and rights to a fair trial, the freedom of religion was also violated.According to the map, “In 1793, a revolutionary campaign was launched against the Catholic Church. Sunday worship, Christmas, and Easter were abolished”(Doc C). The outcome for France after the Reign of Terror was not worth violating all these human rights, because the revolution was supposed to help the people, but instead it got them killed.
Although the outcome from the revolution is looked at in a positive light and made France the way it is today many innocent people from the revolution did not get to see the outcome, because they were executed. People overlook all the bloodshed, because the outcome is seen as positive, but when doing this they look over the unethical ways of the Reign of Terror. The country was weakened, and the people’s right were violated, because of these facts the Reign of terror is not justified, and one should not look over these facts just because they liked the outcome.