Reign of Terror June 1793 and the end of July 1794, there were 16,594 official death sentences in France, of which 2,639 were in Paris. There was a sense of emergency among leading politicians in France in the summer of 1793 between the widespread civil war and counter-revolution. Bertrand Barère exclaimed on 5 September 1793 in the Convention: "Let's make terror the order of the day!" They were determined to avoid street violence such as the September Massacres of 1792 by taking violence into their own hands as an instrument of government. Robespierre in February 1794 in a speech explained the necessity of
Arthur Dillon (1750–1794) Arthur Dillon (1750–1794) Arthur Dillon (3 September 1750 – 13 April 1794) was an Irish Catholic aristocrat born in England who inherited the leadership of a French army regiment, serving both the Ancien Régime during the American Revolutionary War and the French First Republic during the War of the First Coalition. After serving in political positions during the early years of the revolution, he was executed in Paris as a royalist during the Reign of Terror, in 1794. Born at Bray Wick in Berkshire, England, Dillon was the son of Lady Charlotte Lee and Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon of