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CHAPTER 2 | 1600s–1800s

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FEAR OF SPIES IN

REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE

The French Revolution, which began in 1789, can be seen as one

of the turning points in history, as the monarchy of Louis XVI

was overturned and replaced by a government of the people.

During this radical transformation of society, the new republican

government was beset by rumors of counter-revolution.

The revolution became increasingly violent with the

passage of time. Although the revolutionaries had

seized power with relative ease, their position was

far from secure. The new French republic faced

internal opposition from those still loyal to the

king, as well as the threat of military intervention

from the major foreign powers—Austria, Prussia,

and Britain— who wanted to restore the French

monarchy. Large numbers of the French aristocracy

had fled the country, and these émigrés also

plotted against the republic.

GROWING PARANOIA

The threats faced by the republic created an

intense anxiety among the revolutionaries and

the people of Paris. This turned into a corrosive

paranoia with the outbreak of war against Austria

and Prussia in the summer of 1792. Counter-

revolutionary spies were seen at every turn and

mass arrests became commonplace, most of

those thrown into prison innocent of any crime.

As a Prussian army advanced into France in

September 1792, mass hysteria descended on

the capital, and many prisoners were brutally

murdered by the Paris mob. The September

Massacres, as they became known, were the

prelude to a reign of state-sponsored terror that

included the execution of Louis in January 1793.

The establishment of the Committee of Public

Safety in April 1793 formalized the Terror, with the

creation of an early version of a police state,

responsible for surveillance, investigation, and

repression. The atmosphere of fear and suspicion

this engendered could make loose talk or the

telling of jokes against the Republic punishable

by a visit to the guillotine.

Below: Louis XVI was executed in the Place de

la Revolution in Paris on January 21, 1793, the

day after he was convicted of conspiracy with

foreign powers.