[citation needed] In the summer of 1793, leading politicians in France felt a sense of emergency between the widespread civil war and counter-revolution.

Under the pressure of the radical sans-culottes, the Convention agreed to institute a revolutionary army but refused to make terror the order of the day.

[13] Enlightenment thought emphasized the importance of rational thinking and began challenging legal and moral foundations of society, providing the leaders of the Reign of Terror with new ideas about the role and structure of government.

The leaders felt that their ideal version of government was threatened from the inside and outside of France, and terror was the only way to preserve the dignity of the Republic created from French Revolution.

Massive reforms of military institutions, while very effective in the long run, presented the initial problems of inexperienced forces and leaders of questionable political loyalty.

[citation needed] There was the constant threat of the Austro-Prussian forces which were advancing easily toward the capital, threatening to destroy Paris if the monarch was harmed.

[26] While the French military had stabilized and was producing victories by the time the Reign of Terror officially began, the pressure to succeed in this international struggle acted as justification for the government to pursue its actions.

For example, the sans-culottes sent letters and petitions to the Committee of Public Safety urging them to protect their interests and rights with measures such as taxation of foodstuffs that favored workers over the rich.

The Reign of Terror was characterized by a dramatic rejection of long-held religious authority, its hierarchical structure, and the corrupt and intolerant influence of the aristocracy and clergy.

Religious elements that long stood as symbols of stability for the French people, were replaced by views on reason and scientific thought.

[34] This process began with the fall of the monarchy, an event that effectively defrocked the State of its sanctification by the clergy via the doctrine of Divine Right and ushered in an era of reason.

[35] The leaders of the Terror tried to address the call for these radical, revolutionary aspirations, while at the same time trying to maintain tight control on the de-Christianization movement that was threatening to the clear majority of the still devoted Catholic population of France.

[40] Among those charged by the tribunal, initially, about half of those arrested were acquitted but the number dropped to about a quarter after the enactment of the Law of 22 Prairial on 10 June 1794.

[41] On 6 April 1793 the National Convention established the Committee of Public Safety, which gradually became the de facto war-time government of France.

[44] In reaction to the imprisonment of the Girondin deputies, some thirteen departments started the Federalist revolts against the National Convention in Paris, which were ultimately crushed.

[46] On 23 August 1793, the National Convention decreed the levée en masse:[47] The young men shall fight; the married man shall forge arms and transport provisions; the women shall make tents and clothes and shall serve in the hospitals; the children shall pick rags to lint [for bandages]; the old men shall betake themselves to the public square in order to arouse the courage of the warriors and preach hatred of kings and the unity of the Republic.

[48] On that day's session, the Convention, upon a proposal by Chaumette and supported by Billaud and Danton, decided to form a revolutionary army of 6,000 men in Paris.

[49] Barère, representing the Committee of Public Safety, introduced a decree that was promptly passed, establishing a paid armed force of 6,000 men and 1,200 gunners "tasked with crushing counter-revolutionaries, enforcing revolutionary laws and public safety measures decreed by the National Convention, and safeguarding provisions.

Addressing the Convention, Robespierre claimed that the "weight and willpower" of the people loyal to the republic would be used to oppress those who would turn "political gatherings into gladiatorial arenas".

[48] The policy change unleashed a newfound military power in France, which was used to defend against the future coalitions formed by rival nations.

The event also solidified Robespierre's rise to power as president[citation needed] of the Committee of Public Safety earlier in July.

[citation needed] On September 8, banks and exchange offices were shuttered to curb the circulation of counterfeit assignats and the outflow of capital, with investments in foreign countries punishable by death.

[52][full citation needed][53] Joseph Fouché and Collot d'Herbois suppressed the revolt of Lyon against the National Convention, while Jean-Baptiste Carrier ordered the drownings at Nantes.

In mid-April, it was decreed to centralise the investigation of court records and to bring all the political suspects in France to the Revolutionary Tribunal to Paris.

Saint-Just and Le Bas journeyed the Rhine Army to oversee the generals and punish officers for perceived treasonous timidity, or lack of initiative.

[62] On 22 April Malesherbes, a lawyer who had defended the king and the deputés Isaac René Guy le Chapelier and Jacques Guillaume Thouret, four times elected president of the Constituent Assembly were taken to the scaffold.

On 26 June 1794 (8 Messidor), the French army won the Battle of Fleurus, which marked a turning point in France's military campaign and undermined the necessity of wartime measures and the legitimacy of the Revolutionary Government.

[73] The total of death sentences in Paris in July was more than double the number in June,[74] with two new mass graves dug at Picpus Cemetery by mid-July.

"[78] The fall of Robespierre was brought about by a combination of those who wanted more power for the Committee of Public Safety (and a more radical policy than he was willing to allow) and the moderates who completely opposed the revolutionary government.

[87] The great confusion that arose during the storming of the municipal Hall of Paris, where Robespierre and his friends had found refuge, makes it impossible to be sure of the wound's origin.