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
Battle of Neerwinden (1793) "Army of Holland" had 23,244 troops and there were 15,000 men in Belgian garrisons. All told, the strength of the French army in the Low Countries was 122,293 men. The French army became overconfident, believing itself invincible. Meanwhile, the National Convention was riven by bitter political struggles between the moderate Girondists and the extreme Jacobins. During this period the army supply system fell apart through neglect. Dumouriez crossed the Dutch frontier on 16 February 1793. The fortress of Breda fell after a quick siege from 21 to 24 February 1793. The 3,000 Dutch defenders, which included 2,500 infantry and a