The Reign of Terror 1793–1794: Leading the Angry Mob and Murdering Political Rivals. Part 1: L’Ancien Régime
Charlotte Corday walked through the streets of Paris on a hot July day determined to speak with the most infamous Parisian at that time. Being turned away by the guard already, she asked him to deliver a letter stating she was from Caen and could reveal the treasonous activities going on in that region. Upon her third visit to the house, the infamous Parisian finally admitted her to discuss the men and activities from her region in order for him to write their names in his renowned journal and denounce them as traitors to the Republic. Charlotte observed the man, suffering from a skin disease, soaking in the bathtub for relief with a cool cloth wrapped around his head to suppress the hot summer months. With paper and pen in hand and a cloth covering the bathtub, the infamous journalist eagerly awaited her report. Yet, Charlotte Corday was not there to discuss treason but pulled out a dagger and stabbed Jean-Paul Marat in the chest. July 13, 1793 marks the day Charlotte Corday assassinated the beloved and despised journalist Jean-Paul Marat. His controversial writings and political tactics have baffled historians ever since his death. Marat’s death did not begin the “Terror” which ravaged France from September 5, 1793 to July 27, 1794; his death made the Terror and the execution of over 16,000 people appear reasonable and necessary. Many contemporaries considered Marat’s writings merely scare tactics and unsubstantiated conspiracies; however, his vision and ability to control the angry mob was unparalleled. The Revolution began when Parisians stormed the Bastille on July 14, 1789. For the next four years Jean-Paul Marat would not only be the voice of the people but give purpose and outrage to the unstoppable angry mob: the Sans-culottes. The initial French government reforms derived out of necessity, but fear is what launched the French Revolution in 1789. Fear is what shattered the monarchy in 1792. Fear is what sustained the French Revolution till 1802. And fear is what legitimized the Reign of Terror.
Following the hilarious defeat in the Seven Years’ War where the British acquired the French-Canadian territories, France eventually regained prestige and much needed retribution while assisting the British colonies’ revolution. Although the fighting between Britain and its colonies ended in 1781, France continued fighting the British in the Caribbean until 1783. The massive cost of these back to back wars effectively bankrupted the French monarchy and an increase in taxation was the only available means of revenue at the time. While frantically looking for new methods of taxation, the monarchy continued to squeeze the peasantry of everything it could give. Author William Doyle (2002, 16) states, “peasants accounted for 80 percent of the French population,” while Jean Paul Marat biographer, Clifford D. Conner (2012, 33), estimates the peasantry “at least 95 percent of the population.” Possible discrepancies between the estimations include the “floating vagrants” (Doyle 2002, 16) and the urban poor population, which Victor Hugo affectionately labeled Les Misérables.
Taxation before the Revolution was significantly bottom heavy due to the traditional medieval roles still prominent in French society. Under Louis XVI’s monarchy, better known as the Ancien Régime (old order), the French people fell into three social categories or estates. The first estate, the clergy, guided the country’s morality; the second estate, the nobility, protected the country; and the third estate, the rest, worked to sustain the country (Doyle 2002, 32). The third estate encompassed a wide range from the urban poor to the wealthy bourgeoisie (merchants/businessmen). Since the first and second estates guarded the people morally and physically, they enjoyed several tax exemptions, especially the abhorred taille (the direct tax). Along with the taille, the third estate also faced the gabelle (salt tax), capitation, the vingtième (income tax), the traites (internal & external customs duty), and the aides (excise tax on wine & tobacco) (Doyle 2002, 27; Encyclopædia Britannica 2020). Since the first two estates were either exempt or paid very little in taxes, the third estate bore the brunt of the countries revenue which made it exceedingly difficult for the peasant population to make a living or advance in society.
On top of heavy taxation and to make matters worse, the peasantry faced judicial inequality and did not have the writ of habeas corpus, which requires a trial to determine the legality of their imprisonment. Prisons during this time were often dark, inhumane, isolated cells where the prisoner received a better chance of dying from disease or execution than receiving his or her freedom. Louis XIV used the infamous Bastille far more than Louis XVI. This prison, viewed as the epitome of absolute tyranny, was reserved for political prisoners or the vilest offenders and essentially sentenced them to death. Editor Richard Maxwell’s (Dickens 2003, xvi) introduction to A Tale of Two Cities provides insight to the Bastille’s conditions when he writes, “the Bastille had become a semi-mythical site of terror and oppression…the prisoner finds himself in a dark, unhealthy cell, where the names of other victims of despotism are frequently written on the walls (or where, perhaps, he writes his own name). He is tortured mentally as well as physically.” The third estate often pleaded for mercy since they could not demand justice or reform. Any seditious act or protest met face to face with the dreaded lettre de cache, which gave the king the authority to imprison whomever he pleased without any explanation (Encyclopædia Britannica 2017).
Oddly enough, an unjust legal system and oppressive taxation did not cause rioting and reform, but food shortages played the part of catalyst. Doyle (2002, 21) explains in his book, “sudden rises in the price of bread or grain were universally recognized as the most dangerous moments for public disorder.” In the twenty years leading up to the Revolution, only three harvests produced an abundant crop yield. The monarchy intentionally kept bread prices low, then used the heavy taxes to “benevolently” subsidize the farmer’s failed harvests. The circulation of finances prevented bread riots, yet the monarch’s bankruptcy due to the two colonial wars broke the cycle and bread prices began to rise to a natural supply and demand rate. Author J. Neumann (1977, 163) explains how twelve acres per family is generally required for a sufficient subsistence during this period; however, about 58% of farmers actually owned five acres or less. Neumann goes on to explain, “The poorer classes, 95% of whose diet consisted of bread and cereals and which before the drought had to spend about 55% of their earnings on bread, were forced by the famine conditions of the first half of 1789 to spend now 85% and over of their income on this staple food.”
France experienced a significant spring drought in 1788 followed by a devastating summer hailstorm to ruin whatever survived the spring and ended with a ruthless winter from 1788 to 1789. Famine struck the country, bread prices skyrocketed, and “when crops failed no amount of administrative tinkering could guarantee abundance” (Doyle 2002, 58). The Estates General assembled on 5 May 1789, but only the bourgeoisie represented the third estate, leaving the peasants and urban poor without a voice. But when the oppressed are not heard, rioting and vandalism becomes their voice. And when the oppressed are dismissed, murder and revolution becomes their representative. In 1789 there was one person willing to listen and only one to represent the oppressed at the expense of his own safety: Jean-Paul Marat.
References
Conner, Clifford D. 2012. Jean Paul Marat: Tribune of the French Revolution. New York: Pluto Press.
Dickens, Charles. 2003. A Tale of Two Cities. Edited by Richard Maxwell. London: Penguin Books.
Doyle, William. 2002. The Oxford History of the French Revolution. 2nd ed. New York: University of Oxford Press.
Encyclopædia Britannica. 2017. “Lettre de cachet.” Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/lettre-de-cachet.
— — — . 2020. “France: Tax Reform.” Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/France.
Neumann, J. 1977. “Great Historical Events That Were Significantly Affected by the Weather: 2, The Year Leading to the Revolution of 1789 in France.” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 58, no. 2 (February): 163–68.
