The Scarlet Pimpernel

After serious political unrest the people of France had rumors of a possible military coup that would take over their current King Louis XVI. While Louis XVI had ruled France to the brink of bankruptcy with his extravagant spending and had been king during decades of famine and shortages, the people were still afraid.  Exploding on July 14th 1789, these rumors drove the people to march to The Bastille, a fortress, to secure gunpowder and weapons as protection from political unrest. This lead to the lower classes looting and burning property of the rich aristocracy. The elite of France fled, or at the very least tried.  

                On August 4th 1789 one the most prolific writing in history was adopted by the National Assembly, The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizen. Taking from the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau the document demanded equal opportunity, freedom of speech, sovereignty, a representative government and above all: liberty, equality, and fraternity.

                King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette attempted to escape in June 1791, and on September 3rd 1791 a constitutional monarchy was put in place despite Louis’ dwindling popularity (not that it was ever that large to begin with.) This compromise greatly upset men higher up in the revolution, including Maximillien Robespierre.

                By 1792 France was at war with Austria and Prussia, countries who feared that idea of revolution would spread to their lands. In this time of political weakness, the revolutionary extremists called the Jacobins arrested King Louis XVI on August 10th 1792. The Legislative Assembly was then overtaken by the National Convention. The arrest and the sudden surge of power from the Jacobins led to hundred being massacred in Paris.

                January 21st 1793 was when King Louis XVI, having been tried for treason fell victim to the guillotine. In fact, he was so fat that the razor had to be released twice, because the first time did not sever his head.  Nine months later his wife, Marie Antoinette, too was beheaded. By this point the Jacobins had taken over the National Assembly and The Reign of Terror was in full swing. The Jacobins got rid of Christianity, and created a calendar- unfortunately for them The Terror only lasted 10 months. Within that 10 months at least 17,000 were executed by Guillotine after an official trial; since many went uncounted and many died in prison the count may be closer to 40,000. One estimate goes so far to say almost 300,000 people were killed. It is known that Robespierre, head of the Committee of Public Safety, saw to the execution of thousands of people.

                The Terror is said to have ended when Robespierre and other extremists were beheaded on July 28th 1794. Their ideas and actions were far too radical for the French people who overtook them.