The Reign of Terror in France – What were the legal implications of this historical period?

The Reign of terror plagued France between September 5,1793 until July 27,1794. This violent period of French history resulted in the execution of more than 16,000 people. The Reign of Terror also introduced scores of controversial legal rules and decrees to silence those who opposed the ideals of a French republic, which often resulting in miscarriages of justice. 

 

(ii) The Legal Implications of the Reign of Terror

During a time of political unrest, a young lawyer from Arras named Maximilien Robespierre soon became the driving force behind the French Revolution which would ultimately result in the Reign of Terror. The Reign of Terror coincided with a violent conflict between two rival political factions in France: the Girondins and the Jacobins. The Jacobin defeat of the Girondins, resulted in ‘terror’ being used as a mechanism to achieve political goals. As the leader of the Jacobins, Robespierre had a powerful sway over public opinion in France and was given the nickname, ‘the incorruptible’. Originally, Robespierre was opposed to the death penalty which he stated before the Constituent Assembly in May 1971, “I thus conclude that the death penalty should be abrogated.” However, in 1793, Robespierre fervently demanded the head of King Louis XVI using a legal pretext for his execution.

 

 

 

  

A.   Le Comité de Salut Public

Following the execution of the King, French citizens became restless and turned to radical extremists such as Robespierre and Danton for guidance. Danton was a leading figure in the French Revolution who famously once stated, “Let us be terrible, so that the people will not have to be.” This sentiment was often echoed in Robespierre’s speeches and encapsulates the mentality behind the Reign of Terror: Death would render France a ‘true’ and virtuous republic, an ideal which Robespierre had been aspired to through his reading of Rousseau’s social contract.

   The Committee of Public Safety was first established on April 6, 1793. The Committee began to oversee the bureaucracy of the French State, the military and judicial and legislative issues.

Government officials no longer reported to the National Convention, and the Committee declared itself the de facto government of France.

    The infamous sans-culottes began to administer orders and decrees laid out by the Committee of Public Safety and a revolutionary army was created to ensure that these orders and decrees would be complied with by French citizens. This resulted in the formulation of stringent and draconian laws, which aimed to eradicate counter-revolutionists.

                                                   

                                                                              Maxmillien Robespierre 

B. Legislation during the Reign of Terror

Following the fall of the Monarchy in France, the preamble of the Code Pénal 1791 was amended by removing any reference to the King or the Monarchy. Legal terms such as conspiracy and treason were also redefined to reflect the new ‘revolutionary’ era. For example, conspiracy and treason were now considered to be assaults against the Republic rather than assaults against the king and his family. In addition, a clear distinction was made between constitutional and revolutionary law, giving the committee broader and more expansive powers.

 

C. ‘Emergency’ Legislation 

Montesquieu once said, “There are cases when a veil has to be drawn for a moment over liberty.”

During a state emergency, new laws and regulations are often implemented in order to urgently respond to any serious issues facing the State. However, these ‘emergency’ powers were highly abused over a considerable period of time by members of the Committee of Public Safety in order to be successful in their political pursuits. In addition, the disproportional amount of laws which were created prior to and during the Reign of Terror is further evidence of an abuse of power, “I have been able to identify over eighty different laws…registered by the Paris Revolutionary Tribunal during this period”.

 

(i)    The Law of Suspects

The Law of Suspects significantly weakened individual freedoms in September, 1973. This law pertained to priests, emigrants, foreigners, farmers and colonialists. The Committee were able to arrest any individual suspected of treason or conspiracy, whether they had royalist origins or vehemently disapproved the manner in which the revolution was transpiring. The law of suspects also removed the presumption of innocence of the accused, which is a fundamental cornerstone of any functioning society.

 

(ii)   The Law of the General Maximum 

The scope and powers conferred onto the committee were strengthened by the introduction of the Law of the General Maximum. This law affected mostly small enterprises and farmers who were forced to surrender the meagre supply of food they possessed and were regularly harassed by the sans-culottes of the revolutionary army. This law also enabled the revolutionary police (the committee of general security) to imprison more than 300,000 individuals, “numerous suspects are carried off to one of the prisons, which are now over-flowing with inmates.”

 

(iii) The Law of 22 Prairial 

This law diminished the rights afforded to an accused as a method to resolve over-crowding in prisons and to speed up the execution process. An accused was no longer entitled to:

1.     A defence counsel.

2.     A public trial.

3.     A review of witnesses who had testified against them or the ability to call a witness to bolster one’s own defence.

In addition to this, citizens were urged to be weary and suspicious of family members, neighbours and friends who might conspire against the Revolution. This instilled extreme paranoia and fear amongst the French population. As a result, many innocent individuals were imprisoned and executed. Laws and decrees began to increasingly became more and more incoherent and often verged on absurdity. For example, in September 1793, a law was passed which stated that cobblers would be charged with conspiracy if the shoes were found to not be of ‘good quality’ material’.

    Fouché openly criticised Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety and gradually gained loyal supporters, “You will perish tomorrow if [Robespierre] does not.” As a result, the National Convention declared Robespierre and his followers outlaws and after his failed suicide attempt, Robespierre was executed on July 28,1794 and brought an end of the Reign of Terror.

  It is evident that the Reign of Terror was only feasible because of the formulation of corrupt legislation. The Law was used as a tool to justify the brutal killings of thousands of innocent people, favouring political aspirations over the well-being of society as a whole. The law was abused by the Committee of Public Safety and used as a legal weapon against those who questioned its authority.

 It is quite poignant that the regicide of Louis XVI paved the way for the Reign of Terror and the death of Maximilien Robespierre brought an end to it. Despite the fact that Robespierre had strived to attain French Republican ideals, his conduct ultimately led to his own demise in 1794 and ended his tyrannical Reign of Terror in France.

 

 SOURCES:

Articles and Academic Journals 

• Andrews, R. (1989) “Boundaries of Citizenship: The Penal Regulation of Speech in Revolutionary France.” French Politics and Society 7 no.3.

• Dart, G. (1999). Rousseau, Robespierre, and English Romanticism (Ser. Cambridge studies in romanticism, 32). Cambridge University Press.

• Edelstein, D. (2009). The terror of natural right : republicanism, the cult of nature, and the french revolution. University of Chicago Press

• Greer,D. (1953). The Incidence of the Terror in the French Revolution: A Statistical Interpretation (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).

• Hesse, C. (1999) “The Law of Terror” John Hopkins University Press, Vol. 114, No.4 French issue pp.702 - 718.

• Hobsbawm, J.E. and Scott W. (1980). “Political Shoemakers.” Past and Present, Nº 89: 86-44.

• Mirante, R. (2014). Medusa’s Head: The Rise and Survival of Joseph Fouch´,m Inventor of the Modern Police State,

• Patrick. A. (1969) Political Divisions in the French National Convention, 1792-1793.  The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 41, Nº 4. Pp 421-474.

• Tackett, T. (2015). The coming of the terror in the French revolution. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674425163

Books:

• Montesquieu (1748) De l’esprit des lois