The 14th of July 1789 marked the beginning of the French Revolution. In England the impact was met with a great deal of paranoia against new revolutionary ideas. Pitt's so called reign of terror tried to deal with this believed threat through propaganda and censorship. However many historians believe there was no real threat of a revolution in England, and that at the time the country was at its most patriotic.

One of the French Revolution's largest impacts was on intellectual debate, and Pitt put forward many countermeasures against this and mostly it stopped. However there is talk of `underground' movements that threatened society. The largest change in England was brought by the introduction and increased popularity of `societies'. These were places where people met and talked about politics. These were seen as great threats to...