![]() ![]() By this point everyone active in politics not in the Committee’s camp figured it was only a matter of time before the guillotine would come for him (or her-the Committee went in heavily for executing women, as well as men, for political opposition). Each one was made easier by law, culminating in the “Law of 22 Prairial” (the irritating French Revolutionary calendar makes following dates hard that’s June 10, 1794) which allowed anyone to be summarily tried for sedition on the vaguest of charges, without any lawyers or defense being allowed and the only possible verdict death or innocence. ![]() This began the pattern of subsequent purges, where as factions developed after each cleansing, their opponents would attempt to tar them with the brush of those who had been purged earlier, and so distinguishing oneself from those killed earlier became essential to survival. Just prior to the Committee’s formation, the “moderate” Girondists had been completely purged from the Convention, by the simple expedient of arrest and execution. > The Committee’s bloodthirstiness followed an exponentially rising arc. I thought, "A long review for the book? Sounds like a fun time", it wasn't. I was just browsing through some reviews of The Twelve Who Ruled by R.R Palmer, and I stumbled upon this article. ![]()
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