Changes

Following the second [[French Revolution]] and the [[Battle of Tuileries]], there was a period of great anxiety in France. The attempt by the [[Duke of Brunswick]] to orchestrate a foreign backed invasion of [[France]], sponsored by the French [[Monarchy]] had raised the stakes to an extreme level.

Following the second [[French Revolution]] and the [[Battle of Tuileries]], there was a period of great anxiety in France. The attempt by the [[Duke of Brunswick]] to orchestrate a foreign backed invasion of [[France]], sponsored by the French [[Monarchy]] had raised the stakes to an extreme level and the French army was without a leading general following the defection of the[[Marquis de Lafayette]] to the Austrians.

Counter revolutions occurred in in [[Brittany]] and on the 2nd September, the [[Prussia]]ns captured [[Verdun]]. Verdun represented the last major town between the Prussians and [[Paris]], thus prompting terror of an invasion that would seek revenge for the revolution. Tales that [[Royalist]] soldiers would be released and criminals incorporated into the invading army lead to general alarm throughout France.

Counter revolutions occurred in in [[Brittany]] and on the 2nd September, the [[Prussia]]ns captured [[Verdun]]. Verdun represented the last major town between the Prussians and [[Paris]], thus prompting terror of an invasion that would seek revenge for the revolution. Tales that [[Royalist]] soldiers would be released and criminals incorporated into the invading army lead to general alarm throughout France.

On the afternoon of the second, a coach of suspected royalists in Paris was being transported towards prison and surrounded. A fracas ensued and the defenders were slaughtered. This prompted a killing spree, generated by tales of atrocities by Royalist forces, throughout the prisons. Every royalist appeared a menace and trials frequently became brief, it was a series of events unopposed by the then Minister of Justice, [[Danton]].

On the afternoon of the second, a coach of suspected royalists in Paris was being transported towards prison and surrounded. A fracas ensued and the defenders were slaughtered. This was the beginning of the massacres. Rumours of a plot to free the criminals in the overcrowded Parisian jails and the shortage of troops and weapons in the capital itself created a situation of high tension. [[Jean-Paul Marat]] called for the execution of the conspirators and a mob of ''sans-culottes'' arose to follow his lead. This was the beginning of the [[Reign of Terror]] under [[Maximilien de Robespierre]] and in the five days following 2 September between 1100 and 1400 of 2600 prisoners were killed.

[[Category:French Revolution]]

[[Category:French Revolution]]