Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction was a coup d'état during the French Revolution against the leaders of the Jacobin Club, who had dominated the Committee of Public Safety and led the Reign of Terror.
Background[edit | edit source]
After the execution of Louis XVI, the French Republic became engaged in a war against its European neighbors. As the threat of a counter-revolutionary plot rose, Maximilien de Robespierre, head of the Jacobins and of the Committee of Public Safety, orchestrated the Reign of Terror to eliminate perceived enemies of the revolution. The other goal of the Terror was to accomplish the "Great Work" of the Sage and Grand Master of the French Templars, François-Thomas Germain, who wanted to reshape humanity by making them fear unrestrained liberty.[1]
The Templar Élise de la Serre and her lover, the former French Assassin Arno Dorian, allied to stop Germain, who was responsible for the murder of Élise's father François de la Serre. To reach Germain, the two decided to discredit Robespierre and interrogate him. During the festival of the Supreme Being, Élise poisoned Robespierre with ergot to make him look like a madman, while Arno recovered a list of deputies from the National Convention written by Robespierre. He then sent the document to several deputies, who thought that it was a list of individuals that Robespierre wanted to execute.[2]
History[edit | edit source]
On 10 June 1794, Robespierre increased the Reign of Terror, calling for a purge of all members of government who perpetrated massacres around France. Jean-Lambert Tallien led a group of deputies, and the National Convention voted for the arrest of Robespierre and his acolytes on 27 July. The Convention held Robespierre under arrest on the charge of treason until he was rescued by troops from the Paris Commune and taken to the Hôtel de Ville, where he hid.[3]
Robespierre was declared an outlaw, and members of the National Guard, commanded by Paul Barras, were sent after him. As Arno and Élise wanted to discover Germain's location, they infiltrated the Hôtel de Ville to interrogate Robespierre. When he refused to speak, Élise shot him in the jaw. Robespierre then wrote the location of his master, the Temple. As the lovers left the hotel, Barras' forces overpowered the Jacobins and recaptured Robespierre, alongside his closest allies, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, Georges Couthon, François Hanriot, and Augustin Robespierre.[3] The next day, Robespierre and his allies were executed, putting an end to the Reign of Terror.[4]
The same day, Arno and Élise confronted Germain inside the Temple. The Grand Master was in possession of a Sword of Eden, which was damaged during the fight, creating an energy blast that killed Élise and mortally wounded Germain. Arno finished off the dying Germain, who in his final moments explained his actions to the Assassin and claimed that someone else would take control of the new society he had created. Afterwards, that Arno left the Temple carrying Élise's body and the depowered Sword of Eden.[1]
On the night of 28–29 July, Théroigne de Méricourt led an attack on the convent of Jacobins where the last remnants of Germain's faction had taken refuge. The Assassins helped Théroigne and killed the Jacobin leaders before they could escape, ending their control over France.[4]
Appearances[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
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