What is "reign of terror"

Terror \Ter"ror\, n. [L. terror, akin to terrere to frighten, for tersere; akin to Gr. ? to flee away, dread, Skr. tras to tremble, to be afraid, Russ. triasti to shake: cf. F. terreur. Cf. Deter.]

1. Extreme fear; fear that agitates body and mind; violent dread; fright.

   Terror seized the rebel host.
   --Milton.

2. That which excites dread; a cause of extreme fear.

   Those enormous terrors of the Nile.
   --Prior.

   Rulers are not a terror to good works.
   --Rom. xiii.

3. There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats.
   --Shak.

   Note: Terror is used in the formation of compounds which are generally self-explaining: as, terror-fraught, terror-giving, terror-smitten, terror-stricken, terror-struck, and the like.

   King of terrors, death.
   --Job xviii. 1

4. Reign of Terror. (French Hist.) See in Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.

   Syn: Alarm; fright; consternation; dread; dismay. See Alarm.

n. A period of brutal intimidation by those in power.

1. n. any period of brutal suppression thought to resemble the Reign of Terror in France

2. the historic period (1793-94) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed; "the Reign of the Bourbons ended and the Reign of Terror began"

The Reign of Terror (6 September 1793 – 28 July 1794), also known as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between two rival political factions, the Girondins and The Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of the revolution". 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.

The guillotine (called the "National Razor") became the symbol of the revolutionary cause, strengthened by a string of executions: King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, the Girondins, Philippe Égalité (Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans), and Madame Roland, and others such as pioneering chemist Antoine Lavoisier, lost their lives under its blade. During 1794, revolutionary France was beset with conspiracies by internal and foreign enemies. Within France, the revolution was opposed by the French nobility, which had lost its inherited privileges. The Roman Catholic Church opposed the revolution, which had turned the clergy into employees of the state and required they take an oath of loyalty to the nation (through the Civil Constitution of the Clergy). In addition, the French First Republic was engaged in a series of wars with neighboring powers, and parts of France were engaging in civil war against the republican regime.

The extension of civil war and the advance of foreign armies on national territory produced a political crisis and increased the already present rivalry between the Girondins and the more radical Jacobins. The latter were eventually grouped in the parliamentary faction called the Mountain, and they had the support of the Parisian population. The French government established the Committee of Public Safety, which took its final form on 6 September 1793, in order to suppress internal counter-revolutionary activities and raise additional French military forces.

Through the Revolutionary Tribunal, the Terror's leaders exercised broad powers and used them to eliminate the internal and external enemies of the republic. The repression accelerated in June and July 1794, a period called la Grande Terreur (the Great Terror), and ended in the coup of 9 Thermidor Year II (27 July 1794), leading to the Thermidorian Reaction, in which several instigators of the Reign of Terror were executed, including Saint-Just and Robespierre.

The Reign of Terror is a historical period during the early part of the French Revolution.

Reign of Terror may also refer to:

Reign of Terror (also known as The Black Book) is a 1949 American drama film directed by Anthony Mann and starring Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart and Arlene Dahl. The film is set during the French Revolution. Plotters seek to bring down Maximilien Robespierre and end his bloodthirsty Reign of Terror.

Reign of Terror was a demo released by Death in 1984.

Along with Death's demo Infernal Death, Reign of Terror "influenced the Death metal scene tremendously", as "their low and guttural nature would become the staple of the genre". Author Ian Christe, in his book Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal, noted that Death's demos "became as heavily shared by tape traders as any well-established act in metal".

Reign of Terror is the second studio album by American noise pop duo Sleigh Bells. The album was released on February 21, 2012 by Mom+Pop.

Following the critical success of their debut album Treats, Sleigh Bells started writing new material for their next album while on tour for their debut album, and recorded it over the course of five months in 2011. While Treats used a mixture of guitars and beats that eschewed pop song structures for their overall sound, Reign of Terror emphasized more guitar sounds that follow structures with emotionally heavy lyrics.

The album received a generally positive reception from critics. Reign of Terror debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200 and spawned only one single: " Comeback Kid". To promote the album, Sleigh Bells toured across North America and Europe.