Reign of Terror
I've been watching the Doctor Who's from the beginning in order recently (via the DVDs when available, and dailymotion when not) and the last serial of the first season was on the Reign of Terror. I decided to go ahead and read up on Robespierre and the Reign of Terror since I wasn't too familiar with it.
And all I have to say is wow!
I always assumed the Reign of Terror was one of those appellations made after the fact. Not so. Here is a quote from Robespierre:
If virtue be the spring of a popular government in times of peace, the spring of that government during a revolution is virtue combined with terror: virtue, without which terror is destructive; terror, without which virtue is impotent. Terror is only justice prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue; it is less a distinct principle than a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing wants of the country. ... The government in a revolution is the despotism of liberty against tyranny.
Robespierre, as the de facto leader of the Committee of Public Safety, wasn't a big mercy person, stating that "slowness of judgments is equal to impunity" and "uncertainty of punishment encourages all the guilty." So when he took over the government he was instrumental in pushing through a tribunal that only needed suspicion with no witnesses for a citizen to be sent to the guillotine.
Those dystopic future sci-fi programs where society is run by a Committee of Public Safety, where you're guilty until proven innocent and then executed publicly? Well, that was revolutionary France and more time traveling shows should visit that time period. Learning about it was quite illuminating. It makes the atmosphere defined by McCarthyism seem downright cordial.
While I ended up reading a dozen articles, if you're unfamiliar with the time period, I recommend taking 5-6 minutes to read the Wikipedia article on Robespierre - particularly the Reign of Terror section. I found it really interesting.
And all I have to say is wow!
I always assumed the Reign of Terror was one of those appellations made after the fact. Not so. Here is a quote from Robespierre:
If virtue be the spring of a popular government in times of peace, the spring of that government during a revolution is virtue combined with terror: virtue, without which terror is destructive; terror, without which virtue is impotent. Terror is only justice prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue; it is less a distinct principle than a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing wants of the country. ... The government in a revolution is the despotism of liberty against tyranny.
Robespierre, as the de facto leader of the Committee of Public Safety, wasn't a big mercy person, stating that "slowness of judgments is equal to impunity" and "uncertainty of punishment encourages all the guilty." So when he took over the government he was instrumental in pushing through a tribunal that only needed suspicion with no witnesses for a citizen to be sent to the guillotine.
Those dystopic future sci-fi programs where society is run by a Committee of Public Safety, where you're guilty until proven innocent and then executed publicly? Well, that was revolutionary France and more time traveling shows should visit that time period. Learning about it was quite illuminating. It makes the atmosphere defined by McCarthyism seem downright cordial.
While I ended up reading a dozen articles, if you're unfamiliar with the time period, I recommend taking 5-6 minutes to read the Wikipedia article on Robespierre - particularly the Reign of Terror section. I found it really interesting.