Paris 1794. The square is already crowded. Vendors murmur, children cling to their mothers,

Revolutionary soldiers hold the line. At the centre stands the guillotine, freshly washed,

its blade catching the pale morning light.

A cart rattles in, carrying the condemned, their names read aloud, condemned as enemies of the Republic.

Some in the crowd cheer, others look away, no one speaks loudly.

In Revolutionary France, silence can be a kind of survival. This is the reign of terror.

A revolution born in the language of liberty now governs through fear, where justice is swift,

public and final, and where the promise of freedom is measured in the fall of a blade.

The French Revolution began with the promise of liberty, equality, and a new political dawn for Europe.

It shattered a centuries-old monarchy and declared power to be in the hands of the people.

But revolution is rarely a straightforward road. As France faced war, hunger and fear,

hope soon gave way to suspicion and paranoia. In the name of virtue and survival,

the revolutionary government unleashed the reign of terror, a period defined by mass arrests, public executions and a state that ruled

through fear.

This was the moment when the revolution turned its blade inward onto its citizens, and eventually

its leaders.

From the streets of revolutionary Paris, this is Maddie.

Now, the French Revolution brought about the dramatic collapse of the French monarchy

and the birth of the French Republic.

Yet, for all its promises of freedom, the revolution also descended into what is often

considered its darkest chapter, the reign of terror, a period in which revolutionary ideas

were driven to their most extreme conclusions. To help us tackle the topic of today's

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