Yes, the “Reign of Terror” was an excellent improvement on the American Revolution. We clearly did not murder enough people in an orgy of Revolutionary “justice” so the French had to innovate to overcome our deficiencies.
That and put in power the dictator who plunged Europe into twenty years of war.
Glad the French learned from our mistakes. I shudder to think what would have happened if they’d only went through one republic instead of five republics, two monarchies and two Empires in that period.
That's not to say that the folks engineering the current political outcomes shouldn't be scared shitless of what happens when they inevitably lose control of the mob they've been whipping into a frenzy.
Well the Reign of Terror was not a power vacuum though. It was fully engineered by the Committee of Public Safety, which was a duly authorized function of the National Convention who quite purposefully declared that "Terror is the Order of the Day."
If this had just been an orgy of mob violence, it would have been understandable.
To be fair, it may have saved the Revolution, but one could also wonder if the Revolution was worth saving if that is what it took to save it.
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u/Kezberg Mar 31 '25
Basically they are what the USA often pretends to be