The War Of The Revolution - 1951 Words

Ella Kay Chop Concide Hacher 10/5/17 In a futile attempt to protect the French Revolution from utter destruction, the revolutionary radicals decreed the Terror the â€Å"order of the day† (Danton 45) in an effort to â€Å"force people to be free.† The Terror did not pervert Revolutionary ideals but was a result of a necessary amplification of these ideas in order to ensure the safety of the Revolution. Louis Antoine Saint-Just, a French revolutionary stated that â€Å"what produces the general good is always terrible† (Louis Antoine de Saint-Just 46). France, conflicted internally and externally, needed strength and unity to create the general good. The only way to achieve the strength and unity of the nation was by â€Å"removing the source of its†¦show more content†¦The Enlightenment thinkers spurred a sort of mental revolution where people began to rethink their entire society and realize the need for equality and the limitation of the monarch. Almost a century later, this mental enlightenment greatly influenced the French Revolution. Desperate for equality, radicals demanded action, threatening the power of the monarch. Louis XIV, King of France, attempted to escape his kingdom in order to protect his position. He was captured, however, and it was later disclosed that he was planning to go to Austria and lead a counterattack on his nation. The citizens, having been abandoned by their King who had turned against the Revolution and his nation, realized that the King was in fact their enemy. Faced with enemy countries who were nervous about the spread of Revolutionary ideas, along with rebels protesting within France, Robespierre called for an attack, saying, â€Å"we must stifle the internal and external enemies of the Republic† (Robespierre, 46). These â€Å"internal and external† struggles forced the citizens to demand radicalization in order to create a Republic, and sever themselves from old beleifs i n order to gain freedom for all. The Committee of Public Safety a branch of the Republic, created by the National Convention on April 6, 1793, magnified the importance of the â€Å"general will† in order to justify the establishment of the Terror, . Early on, Enlightenment thinkers