World History

to be so horrible. The French monarchy, however, was overly reluctant to respect the natural rights of ordinary people. The effects of the reign of terror were devastating to the country -- just horrible and, as we know, the whole thing ended with Napoleon and a France with an unstable government for a long, long time.

So, I don't think the terror was necessary. I don't know whether the French could have ended the monarchy through strictly peaceful means. Nonviolence was not given a chance -- by either the nobility or the ordinary people.