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Y8 History
Week beginning: 13/7/
The Reign of Terror
Please spend ONE HOUR on each lesson this week.
Lesson One:
1. Review/complete your storyboard from last week about the French
Revolution so far.
2. Read the information about the Reign of Terror. This followed the events
you explored last week.
3. Write a paragraph, in your own words, explaining what the Reign of Terror
was.
4. Look through the sources. For each source explain what it tells you about
the Reign of Terror and how the lives of the people had changed from before
the revolution began.
5. Write a paragraph explaining why you think the French government
became a government that led through terror.
Task 1 - The Reign of Terror
Last week you explored the French Revolution from the collapse of the estates system to the execution of the King in 1793. The Reign of Terror incudes the death of King Louis and goes up until the death of Maximilian Robespierre, the leader of the government, in 1794. When the revolutionaries overturned the estates system and reduced the power of the King, they realised that they had to ensure this new France remained strong. The revolutionaries believed that they had made a country that was fairer and allowed for greater equality, but they also felt it was under threat from those people who had lost power and influence. Therefore, in order to ensure that the revolution couldn’t be reversed, some revolutionaries decided they had to remove any opponents. In practice this meant removing any supporters of the king or those who wanted to maintain aspects of the old system. After the events of 1789 some people had wanted to work alongside Louis. However, Louis made a number of mistakes that meant people lost trust in him. This led to his execution in January 1793. The National Assembly voted in favour of his execution. A group of men within the Assembly decided that France’s management needed to change. They created different committees to monitor different aspects of society. The Committee of Public Safety became the most famous of the committees. It was led by one man in particular, Maximillian Robespierre. Robespierre was devoted to protecting the revolution, and was willing to put what he considered to be the best interests of France over anything else- including people’s lives. Robespierre and his supporters created a new government called the National Convention. The National Convention declared a ‘Reign of Terror’. They put in place policies to control and monitor the people of France. They wanted to make sure that anyone that expressed negative ideas or views about the government could be arrested or even killed. They created a sense of fear and terror across France so that people would be too scared to oppose them. People who had been supporters of the King were targeted, with many fleeing the country. Religious people who believed that the King was sent by God and so shouldn’t have been executed were sent abroad or suffered a worse fate. Anyone who was critical of Robespierre’s government was immediately executed. Thousands upon thousands of people were executed, many as a punishment for tiny acts of opposition. The Reign of Terror was aimed at protecting the gains made by the French revolution. However, to protect freedom, liberty and brotherhood, it ultimately it had created a dictatorship where people feared for their lives. People began to question whether the revolution had been worth it, or whether it was worse than it had been under King Louis XVI.
Image showing the drowning at Nantes, where many people were drowned for being against the revolution. This included lots of Catholic priests and nuns. “Robespierre, to establish his authority over men’s minds, was ready, if necessary to pass over the dead bodies of his opponents” Peter Kropotkin, The Great French Revolution, Jean Julien, wagoner, having been sentenced to 12 years hard labour, took it into his head to cry ‘long live the king’, brought back to the Tribunal and condemned to death. Henriette Francoise Marboeuf, aged 5, convicted of having hoped for the arrival of the Austrians and Prussians (France was at war with them) and of keeping food for them, condemned to death and executed on the same day. The above shows two parts of the execution records from 1793 as part of the reign of terror.
Painting showing the arrest of Maximilien Robespierre after opposition forces led a campaign against him, called the Thermidorian reaction. He was eventually killed and a new government replaced his, marking the end of the Reign of Terror.
Task 3
Write a paragraph explaining why you think the French government became
a government that led through terror.
since the 1870s.
On 14 July 1989, when most of France was celebrating the
200 - hundred year anniversary of the storming of the Bastille,
some were protesting about its horrors.
The Tricolore was the flag of the Revolution. It became the
flag of France, but it also became a symbol of freedom.
Many new nations which gained their independence
adopted the tricolour as their flag.
In the National Assembly during the Revolution, radicals who
wanted change sat ‘on the left wing’, and conservatives
who wanted things to stay as they were sat ‘on the right
wing’. Around the world today, political parties are known
as left-wing or right-wing depending on whether they want
change or not.
King Louis XVI was executed in January 1793, and
Revolutionary France became a Republic (a state without a
monarch). Although the monarchy returned briefly, France is
a republic again today.
Before the Revolution, Catholicism was the only religion
tolerated in France. During and after the Revolution, any
religion was allowed.
The Revolution replaced the French monarch with an
assembly, which had the power to make laws and raise
taxes. This assembly was elected by all French men who
paid tax.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris was built in 1889 to remember the
revolution. It was the tallest building in the world then.
Lenin led Russia in the world’s first Communist Revolution in
1917. He was greatly influenced by the ideas of the French
Revolution.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man was introduced, which
declared that all people were equal before the law. People
could no longer be put in prison without being tried in a
court first.
Crisis, revolt and violence in France following the King’s
execution in 1793 led the new government to take strong
action. This period became known as the Terror. In total,
more than 12,500 people were officially guillotined in two
years, but countless others were shot or drowned. In
addition, it is estimated that 300,000 people were imprisoned
for not supporting the Revolution
Task 3-Review the task from last week’s lesson where you had to place the events in the correct order. Mark your answers. Correct order of events. Number them 1-8. 1 being the event that happened first and 8 last. a. The estates general begins in May, however Louis says that each estate will meet separately and discuss their concerns individually with him.
b. When they cannot gain access to their normal meeting room, the three estates meet on a Tennis Court in June and declare the Tennis Court Oath. This is where they say that they wont leave until Louis allowed them to meet together.
c. The estates decide, prior to the meeting that they want to join together and not be separated
d. Louis calls the meeting of the estates general due to being advised to do so by hid controller general (financial advisor)
e. Louis gives in to some of the demands of the National assembly but begins to place troops in Paris
f. Each estate submits a list of grievances they have with the king, after he has called the meeting but before it occurred.
g. The three estates declare themselves the new governing body of France in the tennis court, this new governing body is called the National assembly.
h. The estates arrive at Versailles to find the room they normally use has been locked in order to keep them separate.
Task 4-Microsoft Teams quiz on the French Revolution. Follow the instructions below:
In order to complete the Quiz about the French Revolution you must...
Go to your Microsoft Teams page for history. Find the assignment section and
it should be there entitled Year 8 French Revolution Quiz 13/07/20.
