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why did the french revolution become so violent
In August 1789 the Revolution declared the rights of man. By 1794 it was guillotining thousands. The violence wasn't there from day one; it grew in steps.
A popular story blames one madman, Robespierre. But the Terror was government policy, run by a committee and pushed along by war, panic and crowds in the streets.
France declared war in April 1792. By summer enemy armies advanced on Paris, panic grew, and in September crowds killed over a thousand prisoners they feared were traitors.
Then 1793 closed in from every side. The king was executed in January, Europe's monarchies united against France, and peasants in the Vendée rose up. The government grew desperate.
Desperate governments build tools. The Law of Suspects, in September 1793, let local committees arrest anyone vaguely suspected. At least three hundred thousand were arrested; about forty thousand died.
And it wasn't mostly nobles. Historian Donald Greer found about eight and a half percent were nobles and six and a half percent clergy. Most victims were ordinary commoners.
So here is the spiral. War and fear of traitors bred emergency powers, which bred more fear. It only ended when Robespierre fell in July 1794, weeks after trials were sped up.
The Terror grew out of war, panic and emergency powers feeding each other, which is why it is a warning and not just a monster story.