The Dark Legacy of Revolutionary France
The very mention of the French Revolution can put some reaching for the smelling salts over thoughts of the horrors and shudders of people being dragged to the guillotine. The more I read about the ‘Reign of Terror’, the more angry I became when you read the political stirrings of cauldrons of the evil minds who showed no compassion for the suffering of the people they supposedly claimed to champion for. From an American perspective, the new chant was seemed more of “Kill the Nobles and the Elites ..and the rich , and those who get in the way. One key player, the radical Antoine Saint Just proclaims “That which constitutes a Republic is for the total destruction of that which opposes it1“, Ironically he was called ‘The Angel of Death” Agatha Christie penned her novel as, “Then There Was None” So apt to this Revolution.
Pushing aside abject horror, the fact is, not all of the French people who were condemned to death were executed by the guillotine. A good many many more were executed by firing squads, drownings, murder, massacres, sieges, or died by the thousands languishing to death in over-crowded prisons, or shot, and those executed without trial, and thus no record of it. In a nutshell, one can not accurately say how many died in the French Revolution.
Contrary to popular belief, many more, much more ‘peasants’ were executed or put to death, than those snooty, rich, money-grubbing and heartless nobles, elites, and the untouchable Catholic hierarchy. Death sentences were handed out to higher upper-class, lower upper-class, bourgeoises, working class, and those who were deemed wealthy. Let us not forget the accused being tried as ‘terrorists’, traitors, spies, conspirators, different political standings, or those entertaining anti-revolutionary thoughts (Thought Police) Outlawed Catholic priests or clerics (called refractory) who rejected allegiance to the new Constitution over the Church’s authority. (i.e. Pope) were put to death. Three young women of the same family (BÉRON) were executed for such a crime as hiding Catholic clergy..
And finally, enter everyone’s famous mass murderer, Jean-Pierre Carrier. A ruthless and soulless figure sent by the new “Committee of Public Safety” with orders to ‘purge the city of Nantes2 of counter-revolutionists, Vendéen soldiers, brigands, the rich, the middle class, peasants, priests. perceived traitors, rebels, and any ‘undesirables’ to the Revolution. And purge he did. Thus starts the murders and massacres of any whom were denounced as enemy to the Revolution, whether they were or not. No proof, no trial, just the word of a ‘Sans Culotte’ or anyone wanting to make a few bucks.. Inventive ideas and ways to murder the citizens of Nantes en masse were installed. Guillotine (too time consuming), hangings, shot by firing squads, and mass drownings. It seems Carrier couldn’t murder scores of people fast enough. No one was safe; men, families, women and children were either marched out to fields to be shot, or dragged out in the middle of the night, strapped together, and then plunged into the River Loire to drown. He sneered as people begged for their lives and laughed as they suffered and died.. Another madman legacy builder..
But enough of that nasty and heartless demon.
And then to Paris; executions were a family affair, jeering crowds and cheering as one new enemy after another were sent to the guillotine. People condemned to death as a conspirator, or for assassination attempts on ’cause celebre’ (such as Robespierre), had the distinction of wearing ‘une chemise rouge’, a red shirt of some kind to denote their ‘hideous’ crime, on their way to the guillotine.? Not all, but most cases of conspiracies were judged in Paris, then the condemned were executed. There were 2639 people who received death sentences.3
As I conclude, Not all executions were recorded; the true account of lives lost in the Revolution have been debated by historians; Not all of the genealogical information surrounding the condemned were available or recorded. For example, if the victim was charged and sentenced as a ‘brigand of the Vendée, you might find very little information about them, which could include place of birth. Across France, thousands were slain in wars or in city sieges. Early historians who lived through the Revolution, have written of varying accounts of the population number4 of the executed, the people killed without trial (murder). One source estimated that roughly 400,000 people lost their lives while others research put the number around 14,000 to 18,000 executions.
Louis M Prud’homme wrote two volumes (in French) ‘ Dictionnaire des individus envoyés à la mort judiciairement: révolutionnairement et contre-révolution, pendand la révolution France ‘ You can find these volumes here. Explore the index /census of names of the unfortunate and condemned victims who faced arrest and execution of the French Revolution between 1792-1796. Other sources you will find, are the Rathelot collection of ‘Extraits‘ of what was left of archival documents after the Communards5 burned Paris City Hall in 1871, and the Tribunal Révolutionaire (in Paris) of 10 volumes can be found here. Search for ancestors, historical figures, victims and villains, of the recorded information that was available at the time. This is an ongoing project..
To gather a more concise statistical break down of those who died and where, as well as a short summary of the key players and the evolution of the Reign of Terror, visit Hathitrust for “The incidence of the terror during the French Revolution; a statistical interpretation” by Donald Greer. A copy of his work, well sourced and cited, would make an excellent addition to your French Revolution history library.
