second stage was organized around principles of democracy. The National Convention opened on September 21, 1792, and declared France a republic. "Louis XVI was placed on trial for betraying the country. The National Convention found him guilty of treason , and a slim majority voted for the death-penalty. The king was beheaded on the guillotine on January 21, 1793. The revolution gradually grew more radical-that is more open to extreme and violent change. Radical leaders came into prominence. In the Convention, they were known as the mountain because they sat on the high benches at the rear of the hall during meetings. Leaders of the Mountain were Maximilien Robespierre, Georges Jacques Danton, and Jean Paul Marat. The Mountain dominated a powerfulpolitical club called the Jacobin Club. "Growing disputes between the Mountain and the Gironde led to a struggle for power, and the Mountain won. In June 1793, the Convention arrested the leading Girondists. In turn, the Girondists' supporters rebelled against the Convention. One of these supporters assassinated Marat in July 1793." (Woloch, 526) This was the most horrific period of the revolution. The Convention's leaders included Robespierre, Lazare Carnot, and Bertrand Barere. The Convention declared a policy of terror against rebels, supporters of the king, and anyone else whopublicly disagreed with official policy. "In time, hundreds of thousands of suspects filled the nation's jails. Courts handed downabout 18,000 death sentences in what was called the Reign of Terror. Paris became accustomed to the rattle of two-wheeled carts called tumbrels as they carried people to the guillotine." (Woloch, 526) In time, the radicals began to struggle for power among themselves. Robespierre succeeded in having Danton and other formerleaders executed. Many people in France wanted to end the Reign of Terror, the Jacobin dictatorship, and the democratic revolution. Robespierre's enemies in...
