B (11:22)

Maximilien Robespierre was a lawyer in Arras in northern France. If the revolution hadn't happened, no one would have heard of him. He was mild mannered, he was inoffensive. But then the Revolution happened and he got drawn into it like so many other people, and he becomes very much a political activist. If Robespierre had died in 1792, we would probably just think he was a good man, an idealistic man, he was all those things. But he was also a very dedicated revolutionary. And he comes to believe, like many others, that in the cause of the Revolution, you may have to do things that are terrible. And so he starts to accept, as many others do, that terrible things must be done.

A (12:07)

While the patriotic sans culottes sign up to fight in the war, fear spreads that the Revolution's enemies might break out of prison while they're away. In early September, news reaches Paris that the Prussians have captured Verdun in northeastern France, close to the border. In response, a bloodthirsty mob storms the prisons in the capital, believing that the political prisoners there are planning to join a counter revolutionary plot. What follows is nothing less than a bloodbath. Some of the victims are priests who have refused to swear allegiance to the Constitution. Others include vagrants and children, hardly counter revolutionary conspirators. A friend of Marie Antoinette's refuses to reveal details about the royal couple's communication with foreign powers and is brutally beaten to death in the streets. Her severed head is paraded on a pike outside the temple prison to taunt the former queen, who is invited to kiss the woman they allege was once her lover. It's thanks to the loyalty of friends such as these that Marie Antoinette has survived this long. Her correspondence with contacts abroad have indeed been treacherous, but so far the revolutionaries have been unable to prove it. So Marie Antoinette is permitted to live for now. All in all, the carnage of these September Massacres continues for four days and claims more than 1200 lives. When word of the killings spreads to the rest of Europe, it's met with horror and revulsion. The Times newspaper in London reports with particularly grisly panache. On the scenes in Paris, the carcasses of the mangled victims, it says, are become so familiar that they are passed by and trod on without any particular notice. But even amid such bloodshed, the administration has work to do. During this critical phase of the French Revolution, a new body is elected to provide an updated constitution for the country. Calling itself the National Convention, it numbers over 700 deputies, including Danton and Robespierre. Two of the Convention's earliest acts are the formal abolition of the monarchy on September 21 and the next day, the establishment of the Republic. The early days of the National Convention are dominated by the struggles between opposing revolutionary factions. The Girondins call for a more moderate transition of power, while the more radical voices come from the Montagnards. Their name, meaning the mountain men, comes from the high benches they sit on at the Convention. One of the burning questions on which the two factions disagree is what to do with Louis the Last, as the King is known. In the end, a trial is agreed upon. The trial of Louis XVI takes place in December 1792. He stands accused of various charges that cover his attempt to flee from Paris, his alleged collusion with foreign powers against the Republic, and his opposition to revolutionary reforms. He is found guilty, but the decision to execute him is passed by a single vote. It is the first time in history that a French royal has been sentenced to die, and the Republic marks the occasion with the use of a new contraption.

B (15:42)

The guillotine was invented by the French revolutionaries themselves. It was meant to be humane. That is compared with hanging or beheading by an axe. It was quicker than either of those things. Obviously to our eyes, very horrible. But this is a society that has a death penalty and so it doesn't seem seem so strange to them. So they see it as a humane and egalitarian way of killing people. They use it experimentally a couple of times in 1792, but the first time it's used for a political execution is with the King 21st of January 1793.

A (16:22)

That day on the scaffold, the king's hair is cut in preparation for the guillotine. He attempts to make one last speech, but his words are drowned out by an anticipatory drum roll. And at 10:22 the blade of the guillotine falls. A cannon is fired. Hearing it in the temple prison, Marie Antoinette collapses in grief.

C (16:51)

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A (18:09)

this is a paid advertisement from Indeed, if you're a small business, the right hire can be make or break. Hoping the right people see your job posting isn't the best growth strategy. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for Sponsored Jobs Indeed Sponsored Jobs gets you quality candidates when you need them most. Sponsored Jobs boosts your job. Post in search results so you can reach the people that help your business thrive. Plus, with Indeed Sponsored Jobs you only pay for results. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results when you need the right person to cut through the chaos. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs and listeners of this show will get a 75 doll a sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves@ Indeed.com podcast just go to Indeed.com podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply. Hiring this is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs the execution of the King wins the Republic Few new friends, but our enemies swiftly multiply. Great Britain and the Dutch Republic join the fight against France, followed by Spain and several Italian states. In February 1793, uprisings break out in Brittany and the Vendee in western France. There, rebels begin to form a Catholic and royal army devoted to restoring the heirs of the king they see as a martyr. Within a month, the Convention initiates the Revolutionary Tribunal in order to keep control of an increasingly turbulent situation. The Tribunal is a court for the trial of political offenders accused of counter revolutionary activities, treason and other crimes against the state. It gains a reputation for its swift and often arbitrary judgments. By the early summer, the moderates, the Girondins, are overthrown and the more extreme left leaning Montagnards now dominate the Convention. It is the latter who compose the majority of the new Committee of Public Safety, which holds sway from 1793 to 1794. But despite its innocuous sounding name, the period it presides over becomes known as the Reign of Terror.

B (20:39)

The period of the Terror was a traumatic time in French history. It's the time when revolutionaries have recourse to laws which will enable the revolutionary regime to stay in power and to fight off its enemies. You can't understand that without understanding that there was a war going on, that France was surrounded on all sides by enemies. And also there was internal conflict within France.

A (21:06)

Within France's own boundaries, civil war in the Vendee continues to rage with royalist forces opposed to the revolutionary government fighting against the Republic. There is a series of horrific mass drownings of Catholic priests and others considered to be against the revolution's aims. But those hoping to repel the Convention will not be deterred. Similar pockets of resistance result in uprisings Throughout France, called the Federalist revolts, the Committee of Public Safety launches a campaign to eliminate perceived counter revolutionaries and internal enemies. However, killing French men, even a French king, is one thing, but what of his widow, Marie Antoinette? Robespierre asks the Convention if they can leave in peace someone who is, in his words, no less guilty and no less accused by the nation than Louis. There is no doubt that he is referring to the hated former queen who will always be associated in the minds of the people with France's long term enemy and neighbor, Austria. Marie Antoinette's trial takes place on October 14th, 1793, when she stands accused of immorality and treason.

B (22:32)

When France and Austria were at war with one another over whether the revolution should continue, Marie Antoinette passed battle plans of the French armies to the Austrians. So in fact she was a traitor. She actually was. But the people who put her on trial didn't know that. They guessed it, but they didn't know it. And what they really convict her of is kind of being a bad woman. Generally, on the basis of some quite fabricated evidence, she was actually accused of having sexually abused her small son in order to corrupt him politically. And that was a terrible and a very, very unjust accusation and an awful thing to be said to her.

A (23:16)

What makes it worse is that her son, Louis Charles, has been forced by the family's enemies to make the accusation against his own mother. The moment in which Marie Antoinette defends herself against this terrible charge is the most dramatic of her trial. Appearing in a ragged black dress, her hair now white as snow, despite her age of just 37, she makes a passionate plea, calling on all mothers as her witness. She insists that she could never do the disgusting things she has been accused of doing to her son, Louis Charles. There is a rousing cheer from the women in the public gallery. But this brief moment of support does not save Marie Antoinette. She is pronounced guilty and sentenced to follow her husband to the guillotine. It is 4:30 on the morning of October 16, 1793. In a cold, damp cell of the Conciergerie prison on an island in the Seine, Marie Antoinette is seated at a desk, quill in hand. She is writing a final letter to her sister in law, Elisabet, in which she sends her love and blessings to her children whom she hasn't seen in months. She extends her pardon to her son Louis Charles, forgiving him for the unfounded allegations he'd been forced to make. His words in part, are what condemned her. But she knows how easy it can be to manipulate a fragile child. She leaves the letter on her desk and returns to her bunk. Facing the small high window on the wall opposite, she looks out at her last hours of daylight. At 7, her maid attends to her. Marie Antoinette dresses in a plain black dress and takes just a few mouthfuls of broth for breakfast. But at 8, a priest and the executioner arrive. They order her to change into a white dress instead, and though she begs for privacy, she is forced to undress in full view of her guards. Now the executioner cuts her long white hair in preparation for the blade. Thin and frail, Marie Antoinette is a shadow of her former self. There is no sign now of the pretty teenager whose diamond covered wedding dress sparkled at Versailles two decades ago. She covers her head with a makeshift bonnet and her hands are painfully bound behind her back with rope. It's a humiliation she knows her husband was not forced to endure. The moment comes at last and she is taken from her cell to meet her fate. Outside the prison, Marie Antoinette's transport to the guillotine is waiting for her. An open cart so the crowd can see her and shout their final insults. She climbs in, obeying the instruction to sit with her back to the horses paraded through the streets of Paris. With crowds 10 people deep, Marie Antoinette sits up straight and keeps her gaze fixed ahead. She doesn't speak to the priest sitting beside her and does her best to ignore the jeers of the thousands of gleeful spectators. Eventually, she arrives at the Place de la Revolution, the largest square in Paris, adjacent to her former home of the Tuileries. Dominating the square is an enormous Statue of Liberty represented seated on a rock, the red cap on her head, a spear in her hand. In her shadow stands the guillotine. The cart pulls up next to the scaffold and Marie Antoinette climbs out and begins her ascent up the wooden stairs. She doesn't try to run or bargain. Her long suffering is now close to its end. The faces in the crowd, held back by guardsmen, are a blur to her. But as the towering structure of the guillotine looms ahead for a moment, fear descends. Stepping back, Marie Antoinette treads on the executioner's foot. Her final words are an apology. Her head is placed in the lunette, the U shaped board that is named for its shape like a crescent moon. The other half is closed on her neck. The guillotine falls. Just after midday, the head of the former queen is held up to the ecstatic crowds. The body of the former queen is thrown in a communal grave, but not before a young woman called Marie Grossholtz makes a death mask of her face. When she marries in two years time, she will become Madame Tussaud later in life, the proprietor of a waxworks museum in London. The Chamber of Horrors at her famous collection will include exhibits made from death masks of victims of the French Revolution, including of course the ill fated Queen of France. The execution of Marie Antoinette further enrages revolutionary France's enemies. The Reign of Terror continues to escalate under the auspices of the Committee of Public Safety led by Robespierre and Danton. Thousands of people are arrested, tried and executed in the name of revolutionary justice. Death carts rattle through the streets of Paris and the Committee's spies are everywhere. Paranoia sweeps through the city. The Law of Suspects, a decree passed by the Convention that autumn, defines those who can now potentially be subject to arrest and potential execution. The many categories include returning aristocratic emigre and their family. But other criteria for being labeled a suspect are deliberately vague. They can extend to anyone perceived as not actively supporting the new government or those believed to have demonstrated counter revolutionary sentiment. The victims of the Reign of Terror are diverse. They range from obvious candidates such as the former King's sister to a one time mistress of his grandfather Louis xv. But even common criminals can now be seen as enemies of the state. Indeed, even something as small as a kind word about the former king or use of the old terms monsieur or Madame instead of the egalitarian citizen can have dire consequences. Catholic priests are again considered to be supporters of the old regime and suffer continued persecution as a result.

D (30:18)

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A (31:44)

this May on the Noiser Podcast Network Real Vikings concludes as the epic excursions of the Norsemen culminate in a monumental showdown on Short History of We'll witness the world changing events of the Spanish Civil War and uncover the real James Bond on Real Survival Stories, a remarkable tale of escape from a devastating earthquake in China and an extraordinary encounter with a humpback whale. And in Sherlock Holmes short stories, we're amidst the misty expanse of Dartmoor for one of Conan Doyle's most beloved works, the Hound of the Baskervilles. Get all of these shows and more early and ad free on Noiser plus and by the Way, A Short History of Ancient Rome. Noiser's first book is out now in in paperback, available in all good bookshops. The authorities initiate a policy of de Christianisation to remove the influence of the Catholic Church and promote revolutionary ideology. Churches are desecrated and streets bearing religious references like the word saint are renamed. A revolutionary calendar replaces the old Christian one. Now the months are named after nature and the seasons. Floriel occurs in spring, Thermidor in summer. Each month of 30 days is divided into three 10 day weeks called decades. And the decimalization doesn't stop there. The days are now formed of 10 hours, which are in turn divided into 100 decimal minutes of 100 seconds each. History itself is reset with years numbered from when France officially became a republic. What most of the world calls September 22, 1792 is now determined to be the first day of year one. At this point, France's fortunes seem to change. At the end of December 1793, the British forces supporting the Royalist rebels in Toulon on the Mediterranean coast are driven away. Playing an important role in this success is a little known artillery officer in the French revolutionary army by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. Further afield, there has been a developing situation in the Caribbean French colony of Saint Domingue. Inspired by France's revolutionary principles, enslaved individuals and free people of color have staged their own revolution. Their arguments persuade the French Republic to outlaw slavery in its colonies in February 1794.

B (34:28)

Not everything that the revolutionaries did within that time period was about terror. They did many humanitarian things as well, like the abolition of slavery in the French colonies.

A (34:38)

By spring 1794, the Republic is free from foreign occupation. The Reign of Terror has achieved its goals. So can its steely grip now be loosened. Former allies Danton and Robespierre disagree on this point. Danton advocates for a relaxation of the purging, but Robespierre thinks his old friend is being too moderate. For the idealist Robespierre, the concepts of virtue and terror are intertwined. Terror without virtue, he says, is disastrous. But virtue without terror is powerless. What Robespierre dreams of is a republic of virtue. By virtue, he means commitment to the common good, civic duty and self sacrifice for the benefit of the nation. In contrast, the pleasure seeker Danton jokes that virtue is what he does every night in bed with his wife. Robespierre insists on continuing the harsh measures to protect the Revolution. Soon the fallout between the two old friends grows deadly. On April 2, 1794, Danton is accused of treason and sent to trial. The powerful speaker argues his case eloquently, but to no avail. Three days later, Danton meets his end at the guillotine. Just before the blade falls, he exclaims that his only regret is that he's going before the man he calls that rat Robespierre. The Revolution is devouring its own children. The terror intensifies with the guillotine pausing only for festivities in June 1794. For a single day, what the people call the national razor is dismantled and put away for a celebration of the new civic religion, Festival of the Supreme Being. It is the brainchild of Robespierre, who has concerns about the effects of de Christianization and the growing number of atheists. He thinks people need something to believe in, a replacement for the traditional Catholic church. By introducing a new civic religion centered around the Supreme Being, Robespierre and his supporters aim to create a sense of national unity and loyalty to the revolutionary government. The religion is arguably a strange marriage, merging both Catholic and Enlightenment values. Its adherents believe in a creator and the immortality of the soul alongside republican sentiments and an emphasis on virtue. It is 5 o' clock in the morning on June 8, 1794. What would have been the day of Pentecost in the old calendar, the sound of drums rouses Maximilien Robespierre from a light sleep. Today, the whole city is being woken early to give the people a chance to decorate their homes with wreaths of oak and laurel, tricolor ribbons and flowers. Too excited for breakfast, Robespierre dresses carefully in a sky blue coat, tricolor sash and powdered wig. Checking his reflection in a mirror, he adds the finishing touch of a plumed hat. And then he's ready. The man they call the incorruptible strides out into a sunlit morning. It is going to be a good day. At 8 o', clock, a cannon is fired to call delegates to their marching positions. Robespierre makes his way to the Jardin national, beside the Tuileries palace, where today's celebrations will begin. By the time he reaches the garden, a crowd is gathering. The landscape is dominated by a vast papier mache statue representing Atheism, a misshapen figure with donkey's ears. When everyone has gathered, Robespierre surveys the sunlit scene. Women with roses in their hair, men in hats decorated with leaves. He clears his throat and makes a speech in praise of the Supreme Being, which is followed by by a performance from the choir. Then the moment arrives. He must set the statue of Atheism alight. Stepping forward to receive the lighted torch, he touches the flames to the statue. It catches instantly. And as the representation of Atheism disintegrates into ash, another statue is revealed within. This one, met with an eruption of cheering from the crowd, represents wisdom. The seated female figure, made of plaster overlaid with fireproof clay, is a little scorched, but still in one piece. Robespierre breathes a sigh of relief that the magic triggers worked. And after the smoke has cleared, he makes another speech. Then it is time for the celebratory parade through the city. Accompanied by the military band, the procession sets off, with Robespierre as the president of the Convention, at its head. First they pass through the Place de la Revolution, where the guillotine has been removed for the day. The cobblestones have even been scrubbed of blood. But Robespierre can't resist a glance down. There are still faint traces of red staining the ground beneath his feet. Next, the route takes them over the Seine, its many boats covered in flags. But the best is yet to come. On reaching the Champs de la Reunion, the procession pools around the base of an enormous man made mountain, 120ft long and 30ft high. It is covered in greenery and flowers, and right at its peak is a liberty tree beside Hercules on a tall pillar, a representation of the people. Now Robespierre leads a delegation up the mountain. Officials, soldiers and citizens nursing mothers holding babies. Members of the Convention, plus an orchestra and choir follow the man who has become the nation's leader. Standing on the highest platform, he squints against the sun to survey the sea of faces gazing up at him. He notices their expressions, a mixture of reverence and in some cases, skepticism. Robespierre remains impassive. Certainly there are those in the Convention accusing him of tyranny, of playing God, but he won't let them affect this perfect day. At the top of the artificial peak, he begins his carefully crafted oration and tries not to think about how from here the only way is down. What Robespierre doesn't know is that the Festival of the Supreme Being will mark a turning point in his own political fortunes. It will lead to the twilight of his influence and the dawn of a new chapter in the French Revolution. Since the death of Danton, there has been dissent in the National Convention and murmurs that Robespierre is acting like a dictator. His downfall finally comes in late July 1794. He delivers a speech in the National Convention in which he accuses his political opponents of conspiracy. But he makes the mistake of naming only three deputies in a cryptic address that seems to incriminate many others. With everyone else terrified that their own names will be denounced at a later point, the tide turns against him. Robespierre, his brother and several of his close associates are arrested and kept under watch in the city Hall. When shots ring out early the next morning, guards race to the scene. One of the prisoners has jumped out of the window, another has shot himself. Whether it's an accident or suicide attempt, Robespierre has a bullet wound to the face, his jaw is shattered and the famous orator is silenced. Robespierre and his associates are sentenced to death for crimes against the people. As they are prepared for the guillotine in a cell at the Conciergerie prison, one of his friends gestures to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen hanging on the wall. At least we did that, he says. With the death of Robespierre, the Terror is over. Or is it?

B (43:51)

It's hard to say exactly when the Terror ended, but the general view is that these laws that enable terror begin to be wound down after the fall of Robespierre in the summer of 1794. It's also the time when France has won a big military victory over the invading armies. And from that point on, they don't need that violence so much that internal violence, and they are happy to divest themselves of it. Not least because many of the deputies

A (44:21)

themselves died under the guillotine in 1795. Yet another form of government is in place, established in reaction to the excesses of the Reign of Terror. The Directory is a five member executive government which aims to provide more stability. But it is not flawless. Within four years, the French government is again in disarray. Threatened by corruption and factionalism, recognizing an opportunity when he sees one, Napoleon Bonaparte, now a general, stages a coup that leads to the dissolution of the Directory. What takes place is yet another new government, the Consulate.

B (45:07)

Robespierre had warned of the dangers of this. He said, you will have a Julius Caesar, you will have an Oliver Cromwell who will set himself up. And there were a number of generals who wanted to set themselves up in political power. The one who was successful, the one we remember, is Napoleon Bonaparte. And he was both very lucky and very astute in how he managed his situation.

A (45:36)

As First Consul, Napoleon becomes the de facto ruler of France. But that's not enough for the man nicknamed the Little Corporal by his soldiers. In May 1804, he crowns himself Emperor under the name of Napoleon I. Like his hero, Julius Caesar, he offers his rule as a stable alternative to the murderous turmoil that preceded it. If there is a whiff of hypocrisy about crowning himself emperor, he can argue that in his case it is meritocracy at work, rather than the hereditary aristocracy of the old regime. After a series of military victories, Napoleon signed the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807 with Russia and Prussia, effectively dividing Europe into French and Russian spheres of influence. But it marks a high point in the Emperor's power. Within a few years, various conflicts culminate in a disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812, and he tumbles from grace. Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to the island of Elba, between Corsica and Italy in 1814. The next year he escapes and returns to power for what historians will call later the Hundred Days. His comeback is short lived. Defeated by the British at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, he is exiled again. He'll spend the rest of his life on the remote island of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. By the time Napoleon falls. Decades have passed since the Revolution first called for the end of the monarchy. The major European powers are keen to restore stability to post Napoleonic Europe. It's time for a king to return to France. Louis XVI's son, he who was manipulated into accusations against his mother, is long since dead from tuberculosis. So now the period called the Bourbon Restoration sees the throne go to Louis Brother. But that is not the end of the story. Other revolutions follow in France in 1830, 1848, 1871 and even 1968. Some see these later revolutions as a continuation of what began at the time of the tennis court oath and the storming of the Bastille.

B (48:05)

Some people say that the French Revolution ended with the fall of Robespierre in July 1794, because that saw the end of the most radical phase of, of the French Revolution. Other people, other historians say that it ended with the military coup by which Napoleon came to power, November 1799. But Napoleon said for some time that he was continuing the French Revolution, but under other means. He said the French Revolution had been given to the care of an emperor. So some people would say the French Revolution went on until the final overthrow of Napoleon in Waterloo 1815. Some people say the French Revolution is still going on because there were other revolutions in France afterwards.

A (48:52)

Far from being a contained moment in history, the ramifications of the French Revolution extend far beyond national borders. Its lessons are learned by the thinkers of the coming centuries and its leaders too.

B (49:07)

So for Karl Marx, for example, he thinks that all history is the history of class struggle and they should have been much tougher. And Lenin, of course, takes lessons from the French Revolution, but he also thinks that they were weak and the first thing they should do if you're having a revolution is to take hold of the money, close down the banks, kill anybody who might be in your way, to be utterly ruthless. So people learn lessons from the French Revolution, but they are different lessons depending on what their political perspective is.

A (49:41)

The French Revolution tore up the old order of things. Getting rid of the aristocracy, the king, even rethinking religion. The way in which we understand politics now in terms of left and right, comes from the French Revolution and where the deputies sat in the assemblies according to their political allegiances. Many of the Revolution's ideals, though radical at the time, have slowly been integrated into politics worldwide.

B (50:10)

In 1948, when the United nations sets out a framework of rights for all people, it's actually modeled quite closely on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen that was framed by the French revolutionaries in 1789. Many of those principles still stand. The idea that people have rights over and above the specific laws of a country. Rights to existence, right to live freely, very important.

A (50:36)

The French Revolution endures then in our daily lives and conversations. But is it possible to make a clear eyed assessment of its legacy even now? Did it truly achieve its aims? And can its end, if indeed it has one, be justified by the terrifying means that achieved it? Perhaps, as Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai is reputed to have claimed in 1972, it is still too early to say. Next time on Short History of We'll bring you a short history of the real pirates of the Caribbean.

C (51:23)

Why do we look upon pirates as these colorful characters, good natured rapscallions operating on the open ocean as opposed to looking at them as what they were

A (51:35)

and what they are today, which is thieves. Not romantic at all. Perhaps people want to abstract the image of, you know, getting rid of their

C (51:45)

job, going on the open ocean, searching for treasure, getting drunk when they want to. Wine, women in song. I mean, in the abstract. It was a very alluring image.

A (51:56)

That's next time.