“Fear of foreign intervention had a great impact on the French Revolution.” Discuss with reference to the period between 1792 and 1794.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the statement that fear of foreign intervention had a great impact on the French Revolution in the period between 1792 and 1794. Early defeats in war and the Brunswick Manifesto threatened the Revolution, the September Massacres were partially triggered by fear of the fall of Verdun. Republicanism grew because of the “flight to Varennes” and France became a republic in September 1792. Internal factors include the economic crisis leading to sans-culottes support for Danton and the radical Jacobins. Revolts in the Vendee, Brittany and the Girondin Revolts threatened the Revolution leading to extreme policies. Robespierre became dominant, he controlled the Committee of Public Safety, encouraging the Terror. Robespierre’s price controls on food gained the support of the sans-culottes. The fear of foreign intervention ended the constitutional monarchy but the underlying economic crisis and its impact on the sans-culottes contributed to the radicalization of the revolution. Candidates’ opinions or conclusions should be stated clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.

The question required that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the statement that fear of foreign intervention had a great impact on the French Revolution in the period between 1792 and 1794. Candidates tended to focus on the causes of the French Revolution rather than answering the question and so the demands of the question were not fully met.