Élisabeth of France (1764–1794) to the spirit of equality proclaimed by the Republic [...] representing to the General Council of the Commune the absurdity of keeping three persons in the Temple Tower, who caused extra service and excessive expense", and Hébert insisted on her execution. Although Robespierre himself wished to avoid such a "useless cruelty", the political climate was such that he "hid his thought of reprieve under words of insult. He dared not claim that innocent woman from the ferocious impatience of Hebert without insulting the victim he desired to save. He called her the 'despicable sister of Capet'." On 9 May 1794,
Influence of the French Revolution the royal courts in Vienna and Berlin denounced the overthrow of the king and the threatened spread of notions of liberty, equality, and fraternity. By 1793, the execution of the French king and the onset of the Terror disillusioned the "Bildungsbürgertum" (educated middle classes). Reformers said the solution was to have faith in the ability of Germans to reform their laws and institutions in peaceful fashion. After Prussia was humiliated by Napoleon opinion swung against France and stimulated and shaped German nationalism. France took direct control of the Rhineland 1794–1814 and radically and permanently liberalized the government, society and economy.