terror in french revolun essays

terror in french revolu'n essays The Terror, generally recognised as being the time period of 1793 1794, saw a dramatic escalation of violence as desperation intensified, and the ideals were always the driving force behind the brutality; their significance did not diminish, but rather grew in strength as they justified the violence. The ideals that led to the Revolution and thus its Terror phase originated in the Age of Enlightenment, which was, as Wikipedia describes, an intellectual movement in 18th Century Europe. This period involved the criticism of existing status quo, which meant challenging established institutions such as the church and the government. These intellectuals believed that solution to the worlds problems was rational thinking, and therefore shunned religion and social structures like feudalism in favour of deism and republics. The ideas from the Enlightenment about religion and the government were carried through into the Revolution, and the Terror, where resistance to them was met with brutality. In order to fully appreciate the Terror of the French Revolution, the revolution itself must be explored. There were several causes for the revolution, including the resentment of the Kings absolutist powers, bitterness toward the unfair feudal system by the lower classes, the introduction of Enlightenment ideals, unmanageable national debts (both due to and exacerbating the taxation system), and extreme food shortages in the years directly before the revolution. Franà §ois Mignet says this of the revolution: To some extent the old order succumbed to its own rigidity in the face of a changing world; to some extent, it fell to the ambitions of a rising bourgeoisie, allied with aggrieved peasants and wage-earners and with individuals of all classes who had come under the influence of the ideas of the Enlightenment ... As the revolution proceeded and as power devolved from the monarchy to legislative ...