Summary
Highlights
In August 1792, with the king deposed, Robespierre and his Jacobins battle the moderates for control of the national government. Meanwhile, a new political movement, the Sans-culottes, emerges in Paris. Rejecting aristocratic traditions by not wearing knee breeches, the Sans-culottes, consisting of well-off artisans and shopkeepers, represent the ordinary people of France. They seize control of Paris's city government, while the Jacobins and Girondins govern the rest of the country from the National Assembly, now called the Convention.
As the beleaguered French army loses ground to Austria and Prussia and faces incursions at the border, the Revolutionary Government cracks down on internal enemies, arresting over a thousand people. While Robespierre focuses on internal crises, his friend, Minister of Justice George Danton, a more bombastic and relatable figure to the working class, motivates men to join the war effort. His fiery rhetoric, particularly his famous call for "boldness, more boldness, forever boldness," rallies the country against the invaders. However, with many able-bodied men departing, Paris is left vulnerable, and Marat calls for a bloody assault on the overflowing prisons.
In the first week of September, news arrives that Prussia has taken Verdun, just miles from Paris, intensifying fear in the city. The Sans-culottes break into the prisons, carrying out impromptu trials that often end in slaughter. Over 1600 inmates, including women, priests, and aristocrats, are brutally killed. This event, known as the September Massacres, sparks revulsion across Europe, with the London Times condemning the "two-legged Parisian animals." Even Robespierre recognizes that the revolution has gone too far without proper guidance, positioning himself as the leader needed to control it.
Robespierre, who once supported a constitutional monarchy, now believes there is no place for the king. France decides to put its king on trial. With the verdict a foregone conclusion, the debate shifts to punishment. The moderates, the Girondins, advocate for sparing Louis' life, isolating them within the convention. However, the Jacobins, led by Robespierre's argument that "you have to kill the king so the revolution can live," outnumber them. On January 20th, 1793, Louis XVI is declared guilty, and the sentence of death is read.
On the evening before his execution, Louis is briefly reunited with his family, promising to return in the morning but ultimately unable to bear their anguish. The next morning, a closed carriage brings him to the scaffold. He stoically approaches the blade and attempts to give a speech wishing for the happiness of his people and expressing fear for France, but guards drown him out with drums. At 10:22 a.m., the king is executed. In the temple prison, Marie Antoinette hears the cannons fire, signaling her husband's death. The revolutionaries celebrate their victory, but enemies of the revolution will soon target Marat.