The Twilight of the Terror

By early 1794, France found itself at a crossroads. The revolutionary government’s Reign of Terror, initially conceived as an emergency measure to protect the Republic, had spiraled into a self-perpetuating machine of suspicion and execution. As the original architects of the Terror began falling victim to their own creation, fundamental questions emerged about the Revolution’s purpose and direction. A police informant reported citizens questioning: “I don’t know what all this will lead to. People denounce two revolutionary committees, so we suspect these committees. They denounce the revolutionary army, and now it’s dissolved. The word ‘revolution’ seems to mean something opposed to everything.”

Robespierre, the incorruptible leader of the Committee of Public Safety, offered a starkly different vision. In his February 5 speech to the National Convention, he articulated his revolutionary creed: “What is the goal we pursue? The peaceful enjoyment of liberty and equality, the reign of eternal justice… What government can realize these miracles? Only a democratic or republican government.” Yet his definition of democracy carefully excluded direct popular participation, insisting instead on representative government guided by virtue – a concept that would become increasingly rigid and exclusionary.

The Machinery of Virtue

Robespierre’s vision took concrete form through several key developments in spring 1794. The execution of Danton and Desmoulins in April marked a turning point. Unlike previous victims like the Hébertists who faced specific charges, these “Indulgents” were condemned for their potential opposition rather than concrete actions. As Robespierre ominously declared: “The word virtue made Danton laugh; how could someone blind to all moral ideas be a defender of liberty?”

Simultaneously, power became increasingly centralized. On April 1, the executive council was abolished, replaced by committees supervised by Committee of Public Safety members. By mid-April, all conspiracy cases were directed to Paris’s Revolutionary Tribunal, while provincial tribunals were closed. The infamous Law of 22 Prairial (June 10) streamlined procedures, eliminating defense lawyers and witnesses while expanding capital punishment’s scope. The results were immediate and horrifying – of 2,639 executions in Paris from March 1793 to August 1794, over half (1,515) occurred in June-July 1794 alone.

The Cult of the Supreme Being

As the Terror intensified, Robespierre sought to provide spiritual foundation for his Republic of Virtue through the Cult of the Supreme Being. Announced on May 7, this deistic civil religion acknowledged a supreme being and soul’s immortality while rejecting both atheism and traditional Christianity. The June 8 festival, designed by artist Jacques-Louis David, featured Robespierre presiding over ceremonies at the Champ de Mars – a spectacle that fueled growing accusations of dictatorship.

Economic policies also reflected this moral vision. The Paris Commune, now firmly under Committee control, finally implemented wage controls that the radical Hébertists had avoided. The resulting pay cuts, finalized on July 23, reduced most workers’ wages below subsistence levels while eliminating their means of protest through the suppression of popular societies.

The Thermidorian Crisis

By July 1794, tensions reached breaking point. Military successes at Fleurus (June 26) undermined the Terror’s justification as wartime emergency. Meanwhile, Robespierre’s isolation grew as his suspicions extended to colleagues. His July 26 speech to the Convention, warning of unspecified conspiracies within the government itself, proved the final provocation.

The next day (9 Thermidor), coordinated attacks by Tallien, Billaud-Varenne and others prevented Robespierre from speaking. As cries of “Down with the tyrant!” filled the hall, the Convention ordered his arrest along with Saint-Just and Couthon. Though the Paris Commune initially resisted, poor coordination and lack of popular support doomed their efforts. By July 29, Robespierre and 82 followers had been guillotined.

The White Terror and Its Discontents

The Thermidorian Reaction unfolded in several phases. Initial measures dismantled the Terror’s apparatus: the Law of 22 Prairial was repealed, the Revolutionary Tribunal purged, and suspects released from prisons. By August’s end, only six executions occurred in Paris, compared to hundreds monthly before.

However, this relaxation unleashed violent backlash. The jeunesse dorée (gilded youth), young middle-class reactionaries, harassed former terrorists and Jacobins. In provinces like Lyon and Marseille, “White Terror” saw hundreds of former terrorists lynched or murdered. The government’s closure of the Jacobin Club (November 12) and execution of Carrier (December 16) for his drownings at Nantes symbolized this reaction.

Economic crisis compounded political instability. The winter of 1794-95 was the century’s worst, with frozen rivers halting food and fuel supplies. The abolition of price controls (December 24) caused hyperinflation – by May 1795, assignats had lost 92% of their value. Bread riots culminated in the Germinal (April 1) and Prairial (May 20) uprisings, where crowds demanding “Bread and the 1793 Constitution” invaded the Convention. Their suppression marked the sans-culottes’ final defeat as a political force.

Legacy of Thermidor

The Thermidorian period represented both continuity and rupture with the Terror. While ending mass executions, it maintained many revolutionary institutions while allowing royalist resurgence. The death of Louis XVII (June 8) and his uncle’s uncompromising declaration as Louis XVIII (June 25) closed possibilities for constitutional monarchy, ensuring continued conflict.

Ultimately, 1794-95 witnessed France’s painful transition from revolutionary emergency to more stable (if unstable) governance. The contradictions of this period – between liberty and order, between revolutionary ideals and practical governance – would continue shaping French politics for decades. As the Revolution entered its final phase, the stage was set for the Directory’s attempt to stabilize France between royalism and Jacobinism – an unstable equilibrium that would ultimately give way to Napoleon’s rise.