Video: 'Terror: Robespierre and the French Revolution' (parts 1-6)

(Thursday, September 5, 1793, during the French Revolution) — The Reign of Terror, a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions and marked by mass executions of “enemies of the revolution,” began today as the National Convention instituted harsh measures to repress counter-revolutionary activities.

The death toll ranged in the tens of thousands, with 16,594 executed by guillotine (2,639 in Paris) and another 25,000 in summary executions across France.