Terror, Reign of

Phase of the French Revolution when the Jacobins were in power (October 1793 to July 1794) under Robespierre and began systematically to murder their political opponents. The Terror was at its height in the early months of 1794. Across France, it is thought that between 17,000 and 40,000 people were executed, mainly by guillotine, until public indignation rose and Robespierre was overthrown and guillotined in July 1794.

The Reign of Terror began with the Jacobin seizure of power from the more moderate Girondins in June 1793. The Committee of Public Safety, with Robespierre at the helm, assumed dictatorial powers and liquidated anyone regarded as a threat to the state. One of the most prominent of the Terror's victims was the revolutionary minister of justice Georges Danton.