The context of political violence inherited from the Ancien Regime in addition

attained a considerable influence in the use of terror during the revolutionary

period. The Ancien Regime, which had been enforced before the revolution, was
fundamentally an organisation of society in which the largely peasant population
were prepared, or forced, to provide the aristocracy with service or payment in
exchange for protection. This inequitable system was often exploited, and
retributions and executions, especially of the peasants, were frequent. Therefore
the use of terror could be mirrored upon the values inherited from the Ancien
Regime. The reasons for the use of terror from the period 1793 to 1794 could
certainly be accounted for. The survival of the Republic, a symbol of the success
and the achievements accomplished by the revolution, was imperative and worth
battling for. Occurrences such as that of external invasion, internal rebellion and
internal political opposition had all jeopardised the survival of the Republic. The
use of terror was extensively used to eliminate these unceasing threats, as well
as other reasons such as that of the personality of Jacobin leader, Maximilien
Robespierre and the context of political violence inherited previously from the
Ancien Regime.