The White Terror of France

After the fall of Robespierre, France was struck by a wave of political murders and impromptu mob violence. The French right was emboldened by the new, more permissive atmosphere after the Thermadorian reaction. They began to come out of the shadows, and they wanted revenge. But with that bond of their service together in the south, Barra made the calculation that it was better to keep Napoleon close. With the Jacobins gone, Napoleon was in the market for new patrons. And so an uneasy alliance was born.