Reign Of Terror Research Paper

One of the most frightening events in history took place in France. Fittingly, the “Reign of Terror” was its name. Day after day, the people of France would be astonished at the all the deaths during this time period. Francois the terrible was the main leader of France at the time. Hideously, he was going to murder of all of the aristocrats. This was because after the revolution, no one wanted a wealthy and powerful person to rule with an iron fist. The extensive list of people he was going to execute was getting quickly smaller and smaller. The finger of Francois went to one name on the list, Steven West. West was a well known businessman who was known to give large sums of money to his peasants. He inherited this money from his father, which would put him in the category of an aristocrat. Furthermore, West was also known not only to give money, but he was
also known to give housing and food to others in need. Nevertheless, Francois didn’t take any of this into account, and he never would for any names on the list. While this wicked dictator was ordering his soldiers for attack, Steven felt he was with no doubt safe. Even though he was a nobleman, why wouldn’t he be safe? He had donated so much money, there could not be a reason to kill him.
Steven’s neighbors and close friends advised him to flee, but Steven always gave the same response, “Nonsense, Francois isn’t so ignorant to kill a good samaritan like me!”
Steven kept up this ignorant and complacent attitude until the people in his city spotted two groups of soldiers marching close to the city. Steven was extremely frightened, and he bolted to his closest and most trustworthy friend Jack’s house. Jack was not a well known person who was inconspicuous in his ways, and therefore, he was Steven’s best choice. Steven and Jack had stayed in the house for about a day until they realized the soldiers were near. They prepared to leave with all their necessities, but Lo! the soldiers surrounded the shelter. Steven was petrified by this sight. The soldiers were feared across the country. Even the most clever criminals were not a match for the quickness and diligence of the soldiers. Jack, who was always cautious, was prepared for an event like this, and he shot a pistol at an unknown direction to distract the cavalry. After that, the commandos looked in the direction of the bullet, and sadly, a soldier was shot. They sent only one of the groups of soldiers out to find Steven, and the other group was going to treat the wounds of this soldier. Steven and Jack had planned their location to flee to. They could not stay in France, so the had to go somewhere internationally. Spain, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Italy could not work for two reasons. They were well known, powerful, and wealthy countries that could establish rock solid relations with France. There was only one country left, Andorra. This country was weak, small, and poor. Very few established relations with Andorra, and this country had a miniscule military that was composed of untrained civilians. Also, the trip to Andorra was going to be fairly easy because it was very near to Jack’s house’s city. This made the decision very easy. However, the soldiers would be ready at any time. The soldiers were close to their back as they went on the road to Andorra. The footmen forgot one thing, the French soldiers could not come to Andorra without a proper reason by an official government. At this point, the French government was in chaos. There was not a country that recognized France after the revolution. Because of this, the soldiers sent a message to their leader, Francois. Francois could come up with some sort of government specifically for that time. Francois conversed with the soldiers, and he issued a de facto government. He told all the countries of Europe to recognize the republic of France, but Andorra did not recognize it and said that King Louis XVII although young at age 10, was the official ruler of France. French officials could not come up with anything else to retrieve Steven West other than war. If France declared war, they could bring their soldiers into Andorra. Francois officially declared war on Andorra, and he brought all of his soldiers into Andorra. Meanwhile, Steven and Jack were contemplating how to get refuge and shelter in Andorra’s kingdom. Steven could easily go to the castle of Andorra because it was so small. They hired someone to bring them there with the little money that they had.
At the castle of Andorra, Steven asked King Arthur of Andorra for amnesty, “Kind sir, I am a good samaritan that happens to be an aristocrat, but this dictator is on a mad rampage to kill all of the nobleman! I am the next person on the kill list, and I have come here to seek refuge. Please my king, please. I beg of you.”
Arthur contemplated for a while.
He knew that if he granted Steven amnesty, then the French government would quickly attack his country. But, Arthur was the kind-hearted man that all of Andorra idolized and respected. He was not going to give into this. King Arthur was saddened. He had to choose between death or death. Either the people of Andorra would die through the soldiers of France killing them, or Steven West would die. King Arthur would much rather sacrifice his own life. He was known for putting himself in harm’s way during battles to protect another soldier. Then he came up with an idea, since Arthur and West looked very similar, Arthur was at the end of his lifetime due to illness, and Arthur would much rather sacrifice his own life, Arthur decided he would switch clothes with West. West would be king, and Arthur would be taken to France to get arrested. Arthur whispered the plan to West, and West was flabbergasted. West’s eyebrows were raised to the sky, his jaw dropped to the ground, and was possibly going to shout in astonishment. Arthur calmed him down, for shouting in the castle was
unacceptable.
“Do not worry. I am reaching the end of my lifepoint. Therefore, my life is less important than yours,” Arthur solemnly said.
Arthur marched out with the knights that were supposed to take West back to France. Arthur was kept in a small carriage to go to the French castle. After they crossed the border, different citizens were shouting at the knights.
“You evil people, this man is a humble, kind, and generous man!” One citizen shouted.
The knights tied him up with a rope, and threw him into Francois’ quarters. Francois slapped Arthur multiple times for leaving for Andorra. He whipped Arthur and tortured him. Francois said Arthur’s guillotine trial would happen in a few days. Arthur was left in the disgusting dungeon. At that time, West was hiring some mercenaries to assassinate Francois. These mercenaries would, if captured, not tell anyone who they were working for. Also, France’s defense system below par at the time, so these assassins would find it easy to kill Francois. A killer for hire in Europe did not cost much money at all, which made this very easy. The assassins hid inside of a carriage to the castle. Assassins went on hidden roads to not be seen by the military. These roads were often rural with very little government presence. They went to his castle and broke in. Francois was dumbfounded because he thought France would be able to catch a mercenary before he could reach the castle.
Francois pleaded, “Please do not kill me, I am sorry for what I have done.”
Francois, with haste, was shot down by one of the assassins. The shooter’s name was Jacques Martin, his parents, both of nobility, were killed by Francois. He didn’t care at all for Francois. The assassins quickly captured Arthur and brought him to Andorra. The government of France was left in chaos, while Andorra was a peaceful place. France adopted a new government, without taking revenge on Andorra, and Steven moved back to his old house. Arthur was taking back as king, with his son as his successor when Arthur died. Jack was again a neighbor to Steven, and all of them were happy.