Jacobin more prominent in leading France, the period when war was declared on Austria and Prussia, the monarchy was overthrown and the Republic created. In May 1793, the leaders of the Mountain faction led by Maximilien Robespierre succeeded in sidelining the Girondin faction and controlled the government until July 1794. Their time in government was characterized by high levels of political violence and for this reason the period of the Jacobin/Mountain government is also commonly referred to as the Reign of Terror. In October 1793, 21 prominent Girondins were guillotined. The Mountain-dominated government executed 17,000 opponents nationwide, purportedly to suppress the
An Episode Under the Terror An Episode Under the Terror Un épisode sous la Terreur "(An Episode Under the Terror)" is a novel by French author Honoré de Balzac, published in 1842. Originally titled "Une messe en 1793" "(A Mass in 1793)", the text took its final title in the Chlendowski edition of 1845. The work appears in "Scènes de la vie politique" "(Scenes from Political Life)", which is a part of the series of works that make up "La Comédie humaine" "(The Human Comedy)", Balzac’s multi-volume collection of interlinked stories. The later edition is dedicated to Monsieur Guyonnet-Merville, under whom Balzac had done his