September Massacres

September Massacres, mass killing of prisoners that took place in Paris from September 2 to September 6 in 1792—a major event of what is sometimes called the “First Terror” of the French Revolution. The massacres were an expression of the collective mentality in Paris in the days after the overthrow of the monarchy (August 10, 1792). The people believed that political prisoners were planning to rise up in their jails to join a counterrevolutionary plot....