Robespierre
(Maximilian Robespierre)
1758–1794
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Highly influenced by Rousseau’s notion of revolutionary virtue and participatory democracy, Robespierre believed that the French people were fundamentally good and needed only to speak up to improve the nation. He secured a position as a criminal judge but soon resigned to avoid pronouncing a death sentence. Still, he remained highly involved in politics, and in 1789 he was elected deputy to the meeting of the Estates-General. He joined the National Assembly—later the Constituent Assembly—and quickly rose in rank, soon becoming second-in-command. From there, he became involved with the highly influential Jacobin Club, where he found an audience sympathetic to his ideas of Revolution. After the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, Robespierre, admired for his modesty and pure principles, returned to Paris and took the position of Public Prosecutor. At this time, members of the Girondist party proposed a war against Austria, but Robespierre opposed them, as he was more concerned with the purging of enemies within the Revolution than the destruction of other nations. Later that same year, Robespierre was elected first deputy of Paris to the National Convention. He and his comrades sat on high benches the back of the meeting hall, which earned them the nickname of “the Mountain.” He was attacked by his political opponents, who accused him of wanting to form a dictatorship, but Robespierre, always a brilliant orator, eloquently defended himself.
Although originally opposed to the death penalty, Robespierre now insisted that King Louis XVI must die, as he currently posed a danger to the future of France. After the king’s execution, the Revolution’s influence increased, and Robespierre began to insist that Terror was necessary to achieve the country’s aims. His beautiful speeches led people to support his increasingly radical demands, and with their support he turned his attention to his original aim: weeding out enemies within Paris, who hid under the guise of Revolutionaries. In 1794, Robespierre helped pass the Law of 22 Prairial, which dictated that accused parties could be condemned without witness or evidence of wrongdoing. As a result, 1,285 victims, many of them innocent, were guillotined in Paris. Robespierre, meanwhile, even went so far as to establish a new higher entity, a Deist “Supreme Being” different from the Christian notion of God. The National Convention soon began to question Robespierre’s actions, and several months later his party was arrested. Robespierre tried to evade capture by killing himself but managed only to shatter his jaw. He was guillotined face-up, and his death effectively marked the end of the Reign of Terror
Key events during the life of Maximilian Robespierre:
| Born | |
| Mother died in childbirth | |
| Delivered a speech to Louis XVI | |
| Father died | |
| Appointed criminal judge | |
| Was elected a member of the academy of Arras | |
| Elected first deputy of Paris to the National Convention | |
| Execution of Louis XVI | |
| Elected to the Committee of Public Safety | |
| Passed Law of 22 Prairial | |
| Established a Supreme Being | |
| Executed |
Other Resources
| Reign of Terror and Rise of Napoleon in | France: Peeps at History by John Finnemore |
| Robespierre in | Famous Men of Modern Times by John H. Haaren |
| Marie Antoinette Is Executed in | The Story of France by Mary Macgregor |
| End of the Terror in | Historical Tales: French by Charles Morris |
| Reign of Terror in | The Struggle for Sea Power by M. B. Synge |
Image Links | ||
|---|---|---|
 The arrest of Robespierre, the French Revolutionary Leader in The Hanoverians |
Robespierre in Famous Men of Modern Times |
 Arrest of Robespierre in Famous Men of Modern Times |
Maximilien Robespierre in Back Matter |
Robespierre's Arrest in Back Matter |
 Robespierre trying to kill himself. in Stories of the French Revolution |
 The last victims of the Reign of Terror in Historical Tales: French |
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