Maximilien Robespierre and the Reign of Terror (Part 2)
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2024
- The year is 1793, Louis XVI has just been executed. France is devastated by its civil war and is now threatened by the 1st Coalition. Paranoia and terror, oh, terror grips the country by its throat as the people ask for more and more purges. As a result, almost 17,000 are executed in just over a year. France now lives under the tyranny of the Committee of Public Safety, with at its head, Maximilien Robespierre.
Hi there! This is Barris, a French - American that lived most of his life in France and is passionate about learning, exploring, hiking and cooking. It’s a vast and beautiful world out there so join us as we discover the historical, cultural and culinary heritage of France, Europe and the rest of the World.
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I post twice a month so make sure to check out the channel regularly.
On April 1792, the largely Girondist Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria, thus starting the war of the 1st Coalition. Unprepared and weakened by the revolution, France quickly suffered disastrous defeats and Robespierre, along with Danton, another famous revolutionary, feared a military “coup d’état”. They were especially concerned by Le Marquis de LaFayette, who had openly advocated for the dissolution of the Jacobin Club.
In September 1792, Robespierre was elected as First Deputy of Paris to the National Convention. There, he and his close supporters sat on the highest benches of the assembly, thus acquiring the nickname “Les Montagnards”.
Later that year, following the capture of two fortresses by the Austrians, the Parisians were afraid the city would soon be captured, and its aristocratic prisoners freed to take part in the city’s sacking. As a result, more than 1,300 prisoners, most common criminals, were massacred in what would later be known as the “September Massacre.”
The Girondins accused Robespierre of failing to stop this massacre as well as trying to install a dictatorship along with Marat, a radical journalist turned politician and Danton. Robespierre turned these accusations back to them by saying, “Citizens, do you want a revolution without a revolution? What is this spirit of persecution which has directed itself against those who freed us from chains?”
On the 14th of January 1793, Louis XVI was voted guilty of conspiracy and attacks upon public safety after the discovery of compromising documents in his chambers. At his trial, Robespierre strongly pushed for the King’s execution by saying, “With regret, I pronounce this fatal truth: Louis must die so that the nation may live.”
On the 21st, Louis XVI was executed.
After that, France’s economic situation was deteriorated and the Girondins were blamed for failing to deliver the gains the revolution had promised. As a result, their influence wavered to the benefit of radicals such as Robespierre and Danton.
They were also accused of Royalism following their “Appel aux Peuple”, a referendum to decide the King’s fate. The Girondins, which had been considered radicals just a couple of years prior, were now accused of being too conservative.
One of these accusers was Marat, who decried, “Nous sommes trahis!”, a chant that was picked up all over Paris, which now largely supported the Montagnards thanks to their revolutionary zeal. Eventually, the capital’s hostility towards the leading party was such that riots arose in retaliation of the foolish arrest of Marat on the 18th of May 1793.
His exoneration a few days later did little to calm public outrage and when on the 25th, Maximin Isnard, a Girondin leader, threatened “to march France upon Paris”, the Parisians marched themselves to the Tuileries Palace, where the National Convention was held. There, they demanded the removal of 22 leading Girondists from the Convention.
Further protests would start on the 27th of May and culminate on the 2nd of June, a Sunday, when François Hanriot, at the head of 80,000 sans-culottes, lower-class Parisians that could not afford to wear “La Culotte”, surrounded and aimed 160 cannons at the Tuileries.
The president of the convention sent a messenger to demand that Hanriot stops his intimidations, to which he replied, “Tell your fucking president that I don’t give a fuck about him and his Assembly, and that if in one hour, you don’t deliver me the twenty-two, I will blow you up!” As a result, the Convention attempted to escape, only to be pushed back by Hanriot’s order to man the guns.
Finally, the situation was solved after the Convention voted in favors of the suspension and arrest of 29 Girondins, including their leader, Brissot. On the 24th of October, 22 of them were trialed by the Revolutionary Tribunal and seven days later, they were guillotined. It took only 36 minutes to execute them all.
Hey everyone,
I'm back! I'm sorry for the wait - I wasn't able to work on the video for two weeks because of serious family issues and I will probably not be uploading much for the rest of the month since I've got exams.
Just a little disclaimer: The research on these videos is incredibly tough. The French revolution is a vast and complicated subject and I am not a professional historian, so I am really sorry if you ever find any mistakes or inaccuracies. If you do, please let me know! Also, I've tried to use a wide range of sources, but there is no denying that a considerable amount came from Wikipedia. While I don't believe that affected the quality of my research, I understand why some may think otherwise so I felt better being transparent about it.
Finally, while the ending of the Reign of Terror is unanimously tied with the ending of Robespierre in 1794, its beginning is still a point of debate with historians as such when I say that Louis XVI's execution started the Reign of Terror, it's more for a dramatic effect than accuracy. I hope that's alright.
Cheers and Merde to you all!
Just keep the stuff going, dude. Don't worry about where the info is from. History is something that happened as it happened. You can only tell what exists, and not weave new stories. And if you want to learn one thing from me, it's to upload videos at your own leisure.
Thank you man - I appreciate it. I guess I just worry I might upset someone by doing something wrong.
Good luck on your exams you beautiful bastard
@@digitalranger7646 Thank you man! I really appreciate it. And a lot of it is just using the "spaghetti technique" - I just throw pasta to the wall by trying different things and see what sticks.
@@cattablaharts8475 Thank you
"You could make a religion out of this."
"No. DOn't."
You're joking but Robespierre did end up making a religion out of this! That'll be for the next episodes though ;) Thank you for watching man and merde to you!
Please try this new religion.
Your editing is exquisite, as always. Really enjoyed it, your videos start to look like short feature films more and more!
Thank you man! I really appreciate it. I'll definitely put out a video which will be every episode together so that could be a short feature film. Always happy to see you in the comments and merde to you!
"Committee of Public Safety." "17,000 Executions." Something doesn't add up here...
Great job as always, I really liked the editing of this video. Keep killing it, my man!
Imagine if it had been named the "Committee of Public Order" then :|
Thank you man! I really appreciate your support and I'll keep trying my best.
yeah duh because they didn't sign death warrants, only arrests.
Ohhhh man your narration is great! I really liked the music choice in this one too
Thank you man! At first I considered just reusing the same music as the first episode but felt it would be boring so I'm glad you liked it. Merde to you!
@@ThisisBarris What is the music? I vaguely recognize it and it's driving me insane!
@@lindseyfrancesco4 Hey Michael, sorry for the late reply. The music is "La Strasbourgeoise" - a song about the loss of Alsace following the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, but I thought the tone fit the subject well.
ua-cam.com/video/wlogKJhiGOQ/v-deo.html Thank you for watching and merde!
"Grips the country by it's throat"
"At its head"
Guillotine be like "Challenge accepted"
Good video, dude. I was waiting for this one for a long time. At least someone posts here ;'3
Guillotine always accepts the challenge! Making these I realize how many guillotine related puns they are and I really have to stop myself because it's a "serious" video.
Thank you man! I really appreciate it and I hope you upload soon, too. Merde to that!
“At its HEAD was Maximilian Robespierre.”
*not for long*
OMG stop spoiling!!! Haha
I guess you could say his reign was cut short
*badum tsssss*
*head falls to the ground*
*people cheer*
@@HistoryHouseProductions *1793 French comedian going on stage* "Wait this isn't the right stage!"
he.... wasn't at the head of the csp. I don't know where you guys get that from.
Hérault actually said that?! Man makes me wish I've heard of this before. Well I have now thank you for creating this video definitely going to share it with others and subbed.
It was Hanriot, not Hérault that said - it's confusing cos they both have a very similar name but yes, Hanriot definitely said it! The French revolution was a pretty wild time full of fascinating and great characters. I just don't understand why they aren't any HBO show about it yet but I plan on working on that in the future.
Thank you for sharing and thank you for subscribing! I hope you enjoy my future videos too. Merde!
Ha! I was waiting for this. There is nothing better in the morning than a cup of black coffee and some Revolutionary France history. I wonder how quickly their guillotine blade became dull?
P.S. Transitions are perfect indeed, my friend. I should steal some.
Hahha, I'm happy to hear that! It does sound like a great way to start a day. I don't know how quickly they would become dull but I do know that the chief executioner was strong in favor of the guillotine. There are sources of him complaining about previous methods of execution as the executioner had to buy its own tools and apparently swords became too dull to cut after 3 beheadings and would even shatter after a while. So I guess the guillotine was relatively much better.
If you want, I can send some by email. I'm glad to see you're close to 10,000 subscribers! Merde to you.
The editing and detail that goes into your videos keeps on getting better and better. Very impressive! Love the video and its presentation!
Thank you Hipstorian! I absolutely love your videos too. You have such a great concept man.
A bloody and fascinating episode, so many events and characters during a short and intense period...informative and great vid!
It's definitely an intense period and it's a mess to get around it - I had to make a timeline. The problem is also having to go back and forth because I want to keep the chapters themed base. But I think it's working out fine.
Thank you Phil! Always happy to see you in the comments.
Wonderful work!
Press F to pay respect to Marat, the guy who writes while bathing...
Thank you Ipernick! I really appreciate it.
Marat did spend a lot of time in his bath haha its because he had a painful skin condition so towards the end of his life, he would talk salt baths to soothe the pain.
That´s very interesting, I didn´t know that!
Great video Barris! Been looking forward to this video for some time now. :)
Thank you Quill! Always happy to see you in the comments. I hope your assignments went well man and that we'll get a new video soon.
Fabulous
Thank you :)
Amazing as always man. Top notch quality and honestly extremely entertaining. I also love that I can convince myself I am being productive by watching your videos. Good luck with exams man
Thank you man! I'm glad you appreciated it. I miss your videos though - I loved them. Do you plan on doing more? Cheers man.
@@ThisisBarris Yeah man! Actually planning on filming tomorrow so hopefully something will be up in the near future
Awesome! Looking forward to it man
Holy moly. Finally got a chance to watch some of your stuff and wow, has it been amazing.
Thank you man! I really enjoy your videos so it's great to hear you enjoy mine, too.
@@ThisisBarris Means a lot to hear that you enjoy my content. Quality and production value are nothing in comparison to yours though xD
Hahah maybe but I think in the end, it's content that matters and you have great content.
Barris this was fantastic holy shut! Bravo bravo und wunderbar!
Danke mein deutscher nachbar! I'm glad you enjoyed it and Merde to you.
Fantastic work man! I’m taking a course specifically on the French Revolution in university right now and I love hearing your insight on the revolution. I’m curious, is this how the revolution is taught in the French curriculum?
Hey Jose, thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope you are enjoying learning about it at university - please let me know if I forget anything. As for how it's taught in French schools, I wouldn't be able to tell. I was educated in France but in an English school, hence why I speak English relatively well. I'm sorry I can't help you more. I do know he's still quite a controversial figure in France.
That’s so interesting to hear! We wrapped up the course today and I loved learning so much about this event. Your last video really helped me out on my essay so I’m excited to see your third instalment. That’s what I’m curious to understand, how Robespierre is remembered in France. Some historians suggest that he embodied the revolution while others consider him a despot. I appreciate all your work man it’s super insightful!
I'm glad you enjoyed the course man! I definitely think it's a fascinating subject and I'm surprised it's not more common in the media cos it has a lot of movie/series potential. I was planning on making a video on the legacy of Robespierre once I was finish with the series - there is constantly a change in opinion of him depending of prevailing politics. For example, in the 1920s, when socialist ideas were becoming more prominent, Robespierre was seen as the revolutionary that was willing to do anything to keep the Revolution going. I'm glad my video helped with your essay! Made me really happy to read that :)
Awesome video - been meaning to get around to watching this 2nd part! Your editing is really good as well, love the graphics and transitions!
Also, thanks for commenting on one of my vids recently - I removed the vid so I couldn't respond! :)
Hey Pooj,
Thank you man! Always happy to see you in the comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
And that's a shame, how come? Really enjoyed your latest videos.
How come this channel doesn’t have more subs? The video quality is top notch!
Thank you! My channel is fairly young but it's thanks to the support of people like you that I keep growing, so I really appreciate it. Merde!
You're so underrated! Looking forward to more :)
Thank you man! I really appreciate it. Currently have exams but I promise more afterwards! :)
Ah the Committee of Public Safety.
Motto: we suck at public safety.
Hi Barris: I want to learn more about the Cult of Reason during the french revolution, and the prosecution of the church during those years. Which books do you recommend?
Hey Benjamin,
It is definitely a fascinating subject which I hope to discuss more in the next episodes. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend a book on that very subject, since I don't know any, but I can guide you to William Doyle's "The Oxford History of the French Revolution", which is probably the number one source when it comes to the French revolution. However, his writing can be quite technical and drag on a bit.
For something more approachable, I recommend historical novels like "A place of greater safety" by Hilary Mantel or "A tale of two cities" by Charles Dickens. I hope this helps you out.
Thank you for watching!
@@ThisisBarris I'll be waiting for your videos on that subject! :)
Damn man I thought this was the best one. Really well edited and super gripping. Congrats on an amazing video!
Thank you guys, I really appreciate it. Starting to get my hand around after effect so it's definitely becoming easier and more laid out so that might be why my videos are getting better.
Is that your second channel? I see that it has all your skits. Merde to you!
I have not used after effects? Did you find it intuitive to use?
Indeed it is man. We wanted to streamline our channel into one niche. However we didn't want to stop doing the sketch writing, we also want to do musical performances in the future. So this is our performing arts channel now.
It's definitely not intuitive - a lot of it customizable which means that doing the most basic things can be very complicated but with time, just by playing around, you get a hang of it.
Oh okay, that's pretty neat! I hope it works out and I look forward to musical performances man!
@@ThisisBarris Hey man, So I am just entering the world of video essay type videos. Until now I have been using hitfilm express. I have a question for you. Do you only use adobe after effects for the entire video? Or are you doing the basic video in another editing software like premiere pro then added the special effects in after effects later?
You are a great person
You too! Merde
Thanks
Our boy is back
I am! Thank you for watching man - always happy to see you here.
This is Barris! - French History pleasure to be here, mate ;)
Holy editing 😱
Thank you! The editing on your own videos is getting really good too man! I look forward to your next video and merde to you.
Really good
What's the song in the background?
The song is "La Strasbourgeoise" - a song about the loss of Alsace following the Franco-Prussian war, so anachronistic but I felt that the mood fit the video, no? ua-cam.com/video/wlogKJhiGOQ/v-deo.html
Thank you for watching and merde!
Hey Barris! This episod was so intense! Great job, French revolution is definitly a huge mess and you describe it very clearly.
I still feel like each new video you upload is better than the previous one.
btw, I noticed an effort on tempo and elocution, this is great for me as french :p.
I look forward the end of your exams and wish you merde!
Hey Bugs! Always glad to see my Strasbourg friend here - it's a constant reminder that I have to come visit someday haha
It is definitely a mess and requires a huge amount of research. My biggest fear is missing a key event simply because so much happened! I don't know why there isn't more movies/shows about the French Revolution - so much material! haha
I'm definitely trying to improve my audio and narration so I'm glad it shows :) I look forward to the end of the exams too and merde to me!
Great content
Thank you! I really appreciate it. Merde!
Hello! What is the piece you used in the beginning right before La Strasbourgeosie? The classical one :)
It's Sarabande by Haendel: ua-cam.com/video/klPZIGQcrHA/v-deo.html
Merde!
At least my man Barris has more subs now, I remember when he only had 500 or something.
Yes I've really grown, and it's all thanks to subscribers like you. so thank you! And merde!
Vive Robespierre 💓
Signé : le peuple reconnaissant
Victor Hugo seems to have a novel called 1793
+16,000 people over the course of a year? That's insane but really shows how chaotic and extreme the time and people were. How many episodes are you planning for this series?
Tres bien video! (Go easy on me I'm trying to brush up on my French)
Yeah, and that doesn't even include the off the book murders and executions and all which, IIRC but don't quote me on this, amount to over 40,000 nationwide, so yeah quite a chaotic time! I really don't know tbh, I have a timeline of the events and it's just seeing how many events I can cover by episodes. I expect maybe three more.
Merci mon ami! C'est "très bonne vidéo" par contre :)
Welp, I messed up on the internet. Feel free to guillotine me as it would be more pleasurable than what I am feeling right now! Je suis embarrassé!
Don't tempt me!
Good
Happy to see you here Kévin! And I'm glad that you approved of this episode.
Such an interesting period of history! Excellent vidéo encore une fois. Je ne savais pas que la classe pauvre se faisait appeler les sans culottes! C'est très drôle... et triste
C'est vraiment une période fascinante de notre histoire et ça m'étonne qu'il n'y ait pas plus de films/séries sur ce sujet. Et oui, ils étaient surnommés comme ça mais à l'époque, la culotte n'était pas des sous-vêtements mais plutôt des collants. Merci beaucoup et merde à toi!
@@ThisisBarris je suis bien d'accord! Il devrait y en avoir plus c'est riche en evenements. Merde à toi aussi!
@@WowlxX Oui! Peut-être si je deviens UA-cam famous je peux contacter HBO pour en faire une série haha
Les sans culotte portaient des pantalons , avec un slip.,ou pas
Perfect editing
Watching your videos from the airport
I totally watched this a while ago, and left an awesome comment, but I think it disappeared :( From memory I said you need to say "oh, terror" in a dramatic voice in your videos at least once a month from now on!
Oh really? That sucks! I didn't even see it so something must have happened.... I appreciate you coming back to comment though. I'll try to fit in "Oh terror" at some point haha definitely fits with my dramatic side ;) Thank you for watching Chris!
7:00 dang! i wasn't expecting that
Yeah, I was pretty surprised too so I made sure to mention it. The French Revolution is full of great characters.
What editing tool did you use?
Adobe Premier and After Effects
Great Video!
Thank you Eran! I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy my other videos too.
How aren't you at 100k subs yet?
Hahha the great mysteries of life! One day, I'm sure. It's thanks to the support of great viewers like you that it'll happen so thank you and merde to you!
Stellar work as always Barris. Hope the exams go well!
Thank you! Always glad to see you in the comments. I hope my exams go well, too haha Merde to you and to my exams!
Always glad to be here. Word of advice- always read the questions twice! In your exam stress you might miss what they're after in the first sweep. And depending on the type of exam.. pick your battles. ;)
Hhaha I definitely need that advice! I got ADHD and for sure my biggest source of mistakes in exams is going too fast. Gotta learn to slow down.
Whats the song in the backround?
Hey Amin,
The song is called "La Strasbourgeoise", which is a song about the loss of Alsace-Lorraine following France's defeat during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. It's not really era-appropriate but I thought the tone and mood fit the video. Thank you for watching!
This is Barris! - French History thank you man, love the videos keep up the good work.
Thank you Amin! I really appreciate it.
Well that escalated quickly!
I love the French!
you earn more subs
Thanks to great viewers like you!
Wow this was a really informative video. Your narration is very good! What was the name of the song being chanted btw?
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. The song is "La Strasbourgeoise", which was made following the loss of Alsace-Lorraine after France's defeat against Prussia in 1870. I thought the mood of the song fit the video quite well. I hope you enjoy my other videos too. Merde!
What program did you use to make your videos and animations?
I've like to see a video on the Conspiracy of the Equals. Some say Babeuf was a supporter of Robespierre while other say Bounaroti misrepresented Babeuf in his biography.
Great idea! It's a very "obscure" subject that few know about, including French people, so it could make a great video. I'll definitely discuss it whenever I make a video on the Directory. Thank you for the suggestion Jared! I hope you enjoyed the video.
committee of public safety what a joke.
Is there a particular significance for choosing the Strasbourgeoise (if I'm not mistaken) for the background music?
I'm pleasantly surprised to see that someone did recognize the music. There is no particular significance - I just think it's a very powerful song that fit the mood of the video even though it discusses another significant French event (the Franco-Prussian war of 1970).
I hope you enjoyed the video and that I will see you again in the comments!
@@ThisisBarris I have no merit, I've attended a military school in France, and although I wasn't under military status myself, l remember multiple times hearing my classmates chanting it.
Anyway bravo for you excellent work. This is quality content that deserves (and will surely get) more viewership.
Also I love your accent, which is weird because I generally don't like the French accent when talking in English :)
Oh, that's really interesting. Where was the school? If I can ask.
Hearing that people enjoy my content this much really motivates me to keep going so thank you!
And I guess it's because it's not as strong as usual? haha
@@ThisisBarris
It was Polytechnique. I didn't have the French citizenship at the time so I didn't get the obligations and perks of the military status.
About the accent, you're probably right. I think we find an accent that doesn't harm the understanding of the sentence quiet charming. I probably dislike the French accent because when heavy it starts to make words like hit, heat, it and eat sound like the same thing.
That's pretty incredible - I didn't know polytech was a military school but it seems like it. Pretty neat that you were able to study there, too. And I'm glad you appreciate my accent and that I am still understandable. I can assure you that I've come a long way.
Just in time for my exams this year :)
I'm sure a 10 minute break isn't going to change much ;) thank you for watching!
How is a king greater than a common criminal when both are under the falling blade?
By the way...why put "la Strasbourgeoise" in this video...?
How many innocent people were executed durring the revolution?
Well innocent is subjective and that's a complicated question to answer but overall, 40,000 people were guillotined during the reign of terror, of which, 17,000 was in Paris. However, that pales compared to the Vendée war which led to the death of 170,000 people in the Vendée region, many of which, in my opinion, were innocent. Thank you for watching Bethany!
J’approuve cet accent
Heureux d'entendre ça! J'avais peur que les gens ne puissent pas me comprendre. Merci d'avoir regardé. Toujours heureux de voir d'autre francophones dans mes commentaires.
Terror over élite is justice for people 😘
Ironic fact : Robespierre was an extremist Revolutionary but in the same time the only thing he did was pursuing the absolutism / centralization of the state that started centuries before him thus creating the first modern nation state.
Yes, there was definitely an increasing amount of centralization that went along with absolutism, especially under Louis XIV, but the French revolution really strengthened that centralization. Interestingly, this still leads to some animosity against Paris today as the rest of the country feel they're being put in the backstage in favor of the capital.
Thank you for watching! Merde.
You make it sound as bad thing!
I never knew the F-word even existed way back then lol.
Haha yes the quote was so wild and out of place that I went out of my way to include it. Absolutely loved it.
Thank you for watching Julian! And merde to you.
@@ThisisBarris out of curiosity what was the quote in French?
@@ThisisBarris No problem, I just love your videos! Keep up the great work! Merci beaucoup! :)
Merde!
PS: So "merde" means "shit" in French? 😂
"Dis à ton foutu président que je me fous de lui et de son Assemblée et que si dans une heure elle ne me livre pas les vingt-deux, je le fais foudroyer." - 'foudroyer' was pretty awesome, too, but I wasn't able to translate it literally.
dicocitations.lemonde.fr/citation_historique_ajout/1327.php
Thank you! Means a lot to hear you enjoy my videos so much. And yes, Merde does mean 'shit' but it's also said to wish good luck/fortune. I'll explain one day :)
Bye , I am traveling
I hope you had a safe flight!
... kind of like now, in the United States ... "Hold on to your Ha" ... hmmm ... "heads" everybody ...
robespierre wasn't that bad you guys are just mean
Does this remind anyone of cancel culture??? Just a little bit???
does this remind anyone of inaccurate historiography and false comparisons