The Reign of Terror was a horrific event that occurred in France as a result of the French Revolution. The French Revolution, led by a powerful prosecutor named Maximillien Robespierre, was a movement that began in the late 1780's and ended in the late 1790's. The main goals of the revolution were to overthrow the absolute monarch, Louis XVI and make France a republic. While there were many supporters of this movement, there were also people who were against it. This caused a great conflict within France as supporters of the revolution feared that it may fail. The Reign of Terror began in 1793 with the execution of Louis XVI. Its goals were to kill all the rebels of the revolution. However, many citizens were murdered that were not necessarily rebels. This brings us to the question, was there justification for the executions during the Reign of Terror? The answer is no, the horrific events that took place during The Reign of Terror were in no way justified due to the unnecessary manner of the extreme actions taken, the unfair power of the government, and the inconsistent values of the supporters. .
It is important to realize that the actions taken by the supporters of the French Revolution were completely unnecessary. For example, in Document E, Steven Otfinoski writes, "Tribunal members would not be elected by the people, but by the National Convention and their power would be absolute." This means that the revolutionary leaders would have complete control and power over the lives of the citizens, making no one safe, regardless of their innocence. The government had the option to put suspected rebels in jail or investigate further, but they chose to take it further with the Reign of Terror. Therefore, the action of taking their control a step further, by execution, was not only unnecessary but in some cases done without proper cause. To continue, with this in mind, the Revolutionary Government's ridiculous amount of power produced an unfair advantage.
