第1757期：九月大屠杀
1792年的今天（9月2日），大革命中的法国巴黎城里忽然谣言四起，说监狱里的犯人正计划集体暴动。当时，普鲁士和奥地利军队已兵临巴黎城下，人心惶惶。在内忧外患的情势压迫之下，这个谣言的蛊惑力更胜过了平日，当晚，大批普通民众冲进巴黎的各个监狱开始屠杀狱中的犯人。屠杀一直持续到了9月6日，一千多人被虐杀（Between 1,176 and 1,614 people were killed）。
史称九月大屠杀、巴黎九月惨案（The September Massacres），是法国大革命时期的至暗时刻之一。
Fear escalates to panic; panic begets paranoia; paranoia ferments destruction, including self destruction.
大革命的巴黎陷入无法无天的集体暴力犯罪，巴黎民众表现出的普通人的残暴程度令人震惊。而这种残暴的导火索居然只是一个谣言，这种残暴的可怕之处在于参与人数的众多，一切只需要一个perceived threat…
总结巴黎九月大屠杀的诱因，主要有四点：
- 外敌入侵 the revolutionaries were facing external threats from the Prussian and Austrian armies, which were advancing towards Paris
- 谣言惑众 there was a prevailing belief that the imprisoned counter-revolutionaries and political prisoners held in Parisian jails were collaborating with the invading forces.
- 派系斗争 the revolutionary government was grappling with internal divisions and power struggles
- 经济恶化 the deteriorating economic conditions and social unrest in France added to the general sense of unease.
九月大屠杀是法国大革命历史上的至暗时刻之一，它警醒后人，在动乱时期，不受控制的暴力的危险和政治稳定的脆弱性。
The events also highlighted the deep divisions within French society and the willingness of people to resort to extreme measures in the face of perceived threats.
法国作家古斯塔夫·勒庞在《乌合之众》（The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, by Gustave Le Bon）一书中写道：
“The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.”
“In a crowd every sentiment and act is contagious, and contagious to such a degree that an individual readily sacrifices his personal interest to the collective interest.”
在撕裂的社会中，当危险袭来时，没人能守住理性。
Reference
发现了一篇国内的相关文章，可以一读：https://www.163.com/dy/article/GDA5U35K055220TB.html
The French Revolution: From its Origins to 1793, by Georges Lefebvre
