1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,280 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, we're rerunning two episodes today, which means you 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: might hear two hosts enjoy the show. Welcome to this 3 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: day in history class. It's July. An armistice was declared 4 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: in the Korean War on this day in and really 5 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:22,959 Speaker 1: nothing about this was supposed to be permanent. Yet that 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: armistice is still in place today decades later. It goes 7 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: back to the thirty eight Parallel being established as the 8 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: border between North and South Korea at the end of 9 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: World War Two. This was not intended to be a 10 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: permanent borderline was supposed to be negotiated later, with people 11 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:42,480 Speaker 1: figuring out a more concrete and specific plan for where 12 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,519 Speaker 1: that borderline should go. But the United States and the 13 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: Soviet Union were key players and these negotiations for seeking 14 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: a more permanent solution, and the Cold War got in 15 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: the way of doing anything about what was supposed to 16 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: be this temporary borderline. The Korean War file load. On 17 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: June nineteen fifty, North Korea invaded South Korea. North Korea 18 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: really wanted to unite both Korea's into one nation, and 19 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: it needed to be a united country under a communist government. Unsurprisingly, 20 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,839 Speaker 1: the United States got involved, not long after, and also 21 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: called on the United Nations for support. Then, in late 22 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty one, China joined on the North Korean side, 23 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: at which point this just became a war of attrition. 24 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: The armistice in nineteen fifty three came after more than 25 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: two years of peace talks. This was the longest armistice 26 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: negotiation in history, and this war was ongoing the whole 27 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,319 Speaker 1: time that the peace talks were going on. These talks 28 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,479 Speaker 1: included hints that the United States might resort to using 29 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: nuclear weapons to end this war. So typically at the 30 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: end of a war like this, the peace talks would 31 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: end at an actual treaty that was signed by all 32 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: of the belligerents in question, setting clear terms for the war. 33 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: But this armistice is more like a truce. It put 34 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: a stop to the active fighting without either side being 35 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: able to acknowledge the other as the victor. It suspended 36 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: the open hostilities between North and South Korea. It established 37 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: a demilitarized zone on either side of a borderline, and 38 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:23,079 Speaker 1: it prevented both sides from entering the other through the air, 39 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: the ground, or the sea. And it set up a 40 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: process for transferring prisoners of war and displaced persons from 41 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: one place to the other. This armistice also required the 42 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: establishment of a Military Armistice Commission to make sure that 43 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: the armistice itself was not broken. It seems pretty tenuous, 44 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: and it was. Both sides were not even equally present 45 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: in signing the armistice. On one side where delegates from 46 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: China and North Korea, and on the other side was 47 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: a delegate from the United Nations Command delegation. And these 48 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,119 Speaker 1: three delicates signed eighteen copies of the armistice in three 49 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: different languages. But you will notice South Korea wasn't actually 50 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: one of the signatories. This doesn't sound like the most 51 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: stable ending to a war, and it really wasn't. The 52 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,680 Speaker 1: armistice wasn't intended to last for this long. It was 53 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: just supposed to be a temporary measure that would stop 54 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: the fighting until North Korea and South Korea could work 55 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: out an actual peace agreement, and a conference was held 56 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: in Geneva in nineteen fifty four that was supposed to 57 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: work out the final terms, but the talks broke down. 58 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: It ended without actually reaching that agreement, and one of 59 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: the questions that prevented an agreement from being reached was 60 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: how to hold fair elections if Korea was unified into 61 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: one nation. So even though the United States has never 62 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: signed a peace agreement actually ending the war, the US 63 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: isn't technically still at war with North Korea because the 64 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 1: United States was never technically at war in the first place. 65 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: The United States framed its involvement in this whole conflict 66 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: as a police action, not a formal declaration of war. 67 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: Although korea nuclear weapons, peace talks, and the idea of 68 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: a unified Korea have all continued to make ongoing headlines 69 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: even in the weeks leading up to this episode of 70 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: this podcast. Thanks to Christopher Hasciotis for his research work 71 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: on today's episode, at Torry Harrison for her audio skills 72 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: on all of these episodes. You can subscribe to This 73 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: Day in History Class on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and 74 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,719 Speaker 1: wherever else you get your podcasts. Tune in tomorrow for 75 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: an unusual road to a country's independence. Hi um Eve's 76 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to This Day in History Class, a show that 77 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: reveals a little bit more about history day by day. 78 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: The day was July four. Members of the National Convention, 79 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: which was the assembly that governed France, arrested Maximilian Robespierre 80 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: and leaders of the Paris City government. This incident was 81 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: called the Thermidorian reaction because it happened in the month 82 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: of Thermidor in the French Republican calendar one that was 83 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 1: used during the French Revolution. This day on the French 84 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: Republican calendar wasn't nine Thermidor year two. The Reign of 85 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,559 Speaker 1: Terror was the nearly one year period during the French 86 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,800 Speaker 1: Revolution when the revolutionary government took extreme measures against people 87 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: who were suspected of being enemies of the revolution. On 88 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: September five, the National Convention declared that quote terror is 89 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: the order of the day, and proceeded to shut down 90 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: opposition to the revolution by arresting and executing counter revolutionaries, 91 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: controlling prices in confiscating land. The Committee of Public Safety 92 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:00,159 Speaker 1: was the body that was set up in April of 93 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety three to deal with France's foreign and domestic 94 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: enemies and to oversee the government. Maximilian Robespierre was the 95 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: most prominent member of the committee, which formed the de 96 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,159 Speaker 1: facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror. 97 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:22,039 Speaker 1: On June tenth, four, the Committee passed a law that 98 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: required the revolutionary tribunal to choose a verdict of either 99 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 1: acquittal or death for a suspect. The period from the 100 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: enactment of this law to the Thermidorian reaction became known 101 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: as the Great Terror, as the number of executions increased 102 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,720 Speaker 1: a lot. The Reign of Terror had been validated by 103 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: the argument that it was necessary due to immediate military threats, 104 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: but even though the tyranny was getting worse, the Republic 105 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 1: was not in immediate danger. Still, Robespierre continued to denounce 106 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: people as traders and proclaim his own integrity. But after 107 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,600 Speaker 1: the assassinations of Jean Paul Murrat and the executions of 108 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: Jacques Avert, George Danton, and Camille des Moulan, Maximilian Robespierre 109 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: did not have much real political power. His power was 110 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: mainly in the Jacobin Club, a political group that was 111 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: instrumental in the Reign of Terror. Robespierre became the target 112 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: of many conspiracies, some formed for ideological reasons, others for 113 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: practical and personal reasons. On July four, these conspiracies converged 114 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: when members of the National Convention denounced the tyranny of 115 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: Robespierre and ordered the arrest of Robespierre and his followers. 116 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:43,160 Speaker 1: He his brother Augustine, and his allies Francois en Rio, 117 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: George Couteau and Louis Antoine Leon du Saint Juice were arrested. 118 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: Robespierre and his supporters were declared outlaws, which meant they 119 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: would be executed without judicial process. Paris Commune troops failed 120 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: to free robes Pierre and followers, and the National Convention 121 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: troops easily seized them. On July, Robespierre and twenty one 122 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: of his allies were guillotined. More than a hundred supporters 123 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: of Robespierre were executed over the next few days. The 124 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: reign of Terror had ended, but the executions triggered more 125 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 1: unrest and violence. Jacobins and people with connections to Robespierre 126 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 1: were targeted, put on trial without due process, or massacred. 127 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: The period characterized by these attacks became known as the 128 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: White Terror. The attacks were largely carried out by the 129 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: moosecata or street fighters, as well as people who were 130 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: close to victims of the Great Terror. The Thermidorian reaction 131 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:50,319 Speaker 1: also catalyzed in economic crisis and working people were facing 132 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: harsh conditions. Instead of implementing the constitution of se the 133 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: Thermidorians drew up a new constitution called the Constitute of 134 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 1: the Year three. It established a liberal republic with a 135 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: franchise based on the payment of taxes, a bicameral legislature, 136 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: and a five man executive directory the new regime. The 137 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: directory replaced the Convention and November and lasted four years. 138 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Jeffcote and hopefully you know a little more 139 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:28,599 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. And today is 140 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: a very special day on this date in history class 141 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 1: because it is our producer, Chandler May's birthday. Everybody can 142 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 1: send him all the birthday wishes and thanks for all 143 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: the amazing work that he does on this show. If 144 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: there are any upcoming days in history that you'd really 145 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:46,439 Speaker 1: like me to cover on the show, give us a 146 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: shout on social media at t D I h C podcast. 147 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:59,719 Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. For 148 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: more podcast from I Heeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 149 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.