The Dark Origins of Communism: Part 3 of 3

How communist ideology was formed by the dark occult, atheism, and societies of violent revolution

An 18th century painting presents the horrors of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, which it depicts as a scene in Hell. Nicolas-Antoine Taunay, "Le Triomphe de la Guillotine"

The French Revolution from 1789 to 1799 had a large influence on Karl Marx, and on the origins of communism. We’ve written previously about Gracchus Babeuf, regarded as the first revolutionary communist, and his direct influence on Marx; and we’ve also written about Maximilien Robespierre, whose violent Reign of Terror had a strong influence on both Babeuf and Vladimir Lenin.

But what were the ideas that incited Robespierre to start his Reign of Terror? What was the environment that would inspire the atheistic hatred behind the French Revolution’s dechristianization movement? And what was it that inspired the revolutionary revolts that would continue into the 19th and 20th centuries?