The ParisCommune took over control of Paris.In the spring of 1792, the First Committee of Public Safety was established,charged with judging and punishing traitors. Soon the streets of Parisbegan to run with blood, as thousands of people were killed by theguillotine.As more soldiers were needed to "liberate" the rest of Europe, Franceinstituted history's first universal levy, the ultimate in state controlover the lives of its citizens. For opposing the Revolution, most of thecity of Lyons was destroyed. Lafayette, who at first had embraced theRevolution, was arrested as a traitor.Soon a progressive income tax was passed, prices on grain were fixed, andthe death penalty meted out to those who refused to sell at thegovernment's prices. Every citizen was required to carry an identity cardissued by his local commune, called, Certificates of Good Citizenship.Every house had to post an outside listing of its legal occupants. TheRevolutionary Communes had committees that watched everyone in theneighborhood and special passes were needed to travel from one city toanother. The jails were soon filled with more people than they had beenunder Louis XVI. Eventually, every citizen was technically guilty of crimesagainst the state. The desire for absolute equality resulted in everyone'sbeing addressed as "citizen," much as the modern-day Communist is referredto as "comrade."Education was centralized and bureaucratized. The old traditions, dialects,and local allegiances that helped prevent centralization, were swept awayas the Assembly placed a mathematical grid of departments, cantons, andmunicipalities on an unsuspecting France. Each department was to be runexactly as its neighbor. Since "differences" were aristocratic, plans weremade to erase individual cultures, dialects, and customs. In order toaccomplish this, teachers that were paid by the state began to teach auniform language. Curriculum was controlled totally by the centralgovernment. Summing...
