Seeing the end near, Robespierre fired a pistol at his head in an attempted suicide, but only succeeded in fracturing his jaw. For hours he lay on a green table, the same table where he and his followers had often sat planning the death of others. As he lay with his head on a wooden box, with blood flowing from his jaw, a workingman approached, looked into the shattered face and exclaimed, "There is a God!" At the guillotine the executioner tore away the bandage that was bound about his head causing the fractured jaw to fall, leaving a gaping chasm. The victim then emitted a tortured roar of agony that was heard to the farthermost extremities of the square. When his severed head was held up by the executioner, men and women fell into each others arms crying, "At last we are free! The tyrant is no more!" The Reign of Terror had a4 ended. The end of the Reign of Terror was not the end of turmoil for France. Eighty years of war and revolution were to follow. The Directory (1795-1799) that succeeded the Convention lasted four years and was follow. that to were abolished because of its tyranny and corruption. The Consulate was formed (1799) and ended five years later. In 1804 Napoleon became emperor and a series of European wars followed resulting in France being invaded by Russians, Austrians, and Prussians. Napoleon was overthrown and France returned to a monarchy in 1814 by calling Louis XVIII to the throne, only to be deposed by Napoleon six months later. Napoleon was 54 The Secret Side of History