Discuss the extent to which external and internal problems threatened the formation and development of the new society.

External and internal problems threatened the formation and development of the new society to the extent that necessity distracted the government from the initial aims of the revolution- liberty, equality and fraternity, as translated into the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (26th August 1789). As Lefebvre argued, change could only reach the masses through radical movement; the reality of this being the Terror as the instrument through which to create a new society, based on Robespierre’s notion of virtue.
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) divided the nation into those who supported the revolution and those who remained loyal to their faith. In particular, this radical development disturbed King Louis XVI, and in proving his lack of support for the revolution with the Flight to Varennes (20-21st June 1790), France went from being a constitutional monarchy to a republic on the 21st September 1792, to be replaced with representative democracy.
As the revolution continued, the Jacobins sought to remove all traitors of the revolution, much like the King, in the form of the Terror, with the introduction of the Law of Suspects (17th September 1793). This new law saw suspicion and social paranoia in France sky rocket, and in an effort to remove all political opposition, the Jacobins forced the Girondins from the political scene. Historians, such as Simon Schama who argued ‘Violence was the motor of the revolution’, paint the Terror or indeed the Jacobin’s pursuit for exclusive rule over France as bloody and as being in violation of the aim of liberty.
The Declaration of Pillnitz in 1791 by Austria caused France to declare war on Austria in April 1792. However, the humiliating beginning to the war – Austria’s army was better trained than France’s- escalated into fear with the issuing of the Brunswick Manifesto (25th April 1792), when it was declared that the safety of the royal family was France’s responsibility, and any harm that should come to them would force Austria to respond aggressively. This external opposition to the revolution brought about social paranoia, causing chaotic dissent within France, as seen in the September Massacres of 1793. In June 1792, ‘La patrie en danger’ was declared and 30,000 peasants were ordered to be conscripted. Yet this coupled with resentment felt by the peasants with De Christianisation, it roused peasants to rebel, notably in the Vendee, only to be quashed by repressive means. The seemingly hypocritical nature of this could be seen to be merely a response to crisis, but only further compromised liberty in the new society.
The internal economic problems also threatened the development of the new society, as one of the long term causes of the revolution was the need for taxation reform. The bankruptcy and financial crisis France faced throughout the revolution brought on the introduction of the Maximum in 1794; in particular, this was in response to the inflation of the assignats and bread shortages brought on by the war with Austria. The Maximum was a contradiction of the bourgeois ideals of free trade, though it was deemed essential. As Furet argues, the economic side of things was left disorganised by the revolution, as production had fallen to two thirds of its pre war level and wages had fallen also.
The problems faced by the governments, most notably the Jacobins, were responded to by violent, oppressive means. As Doyle argues, ‘resistance made the revolution grow violent’, and opposition to the revolution, in fact, led to the Jacobins straying from the original ideals of 1789 such as liberty and equality in desperation.