What were the causes of the Reign of Terror?

Prior to the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror (1793–94), France was governed by the National Convention. Power in this assembly was divided between the more moderate Girondins, who sought a constitutional monarchy and economic liberalism and favored spreading the Revolution throughout Europe by means of war, and the Montagnards, who preferred a policy of radical egalitarianism. By the spring of 1793, the war was going badly, and France found itself surrounded by hostile powers while counterrevolutionary insurrections were spreading outward from the Vendée. A combination of food scarcity and rising prices led to the overthrow of the Girondins and increased the popular support of the Montagnards, who created the Committee of Public Safety to deal with the various crises. On September 5, 1793, the Convention decreed that “terror is the order of the day” and resolved that opposition to the Revolution needed to be crushed and eliminated so that the Revolution could succeed.