Robespierre and the Reign of Terror Essay Example

leaders of the revolution declared they were no longer fit to rule. [Footnote] It wasn’t soon after this that King Louis XVI was executed by Guillotine (the main device used to carry out the executions during the reign). Months later, Marie Antoinette was tried and executed; this marked the beginning of the Reign of Terror (September 1793). [Footnote] During the Reign, anyone suspected of being opposed to the newly formed republic of France and the revolutions itself were, by the Law of Suspect, automatically executed. Those who, by their conduct, associations, comments, or writings have shown themselves partisans of tyranny or federalism and enemies of liberty” (Law of Suspect, 1793). [Footnote]The National Convention had appointed the Committee of Public Safety to pass and enforce the law, through their president, Leader of the National Convention and Jacobins club, Maximilien Robespierre. Robespierre was a cruel man who associated terror with virtue. He believed that regulating terror among the people of France would result in peace and stability throughout the nation.

Through these tactics, between eighty and ninety people were executed per/day. [Footnote] The National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety had supported Robespierre; they later turned on him towards the end of the revolution, otherwise known as the “Red Terror” (last six weeks of the terror). [Footnote] In the time the terror was begining there were three men who were known through all of France; Maximilien Robespierre, George Danton, and Jean-Paul Marat. [Footnote] These men were the three main leaders of the revolution.

They were all leaders of their own respective clubs, Robespierre of the Jacobins, Marat and Danton were leaders of the Cordeliers. As they became more

recognized, the Jacobins were coming to be more radical. They began to gain more support from groups such as the more moderate Sans Coulottes (a group of common people). [Footnote] The Jacobins took over most control of the National Convention, giving Robespierre more power. Robespierre seized even more power through the death of Jean-Paul Marat, which occurred a month before the Reign had begun.

He and Danton were now against one another, making them greater enemies than they were before. [Footnote] Robespierre had Danton arrested in March of 1794 due to an accusation that Danton had been embezzling money from the French public. It was also believed that Danton had turned against the revolution. Danton was tried and executed, leaving Robespierre with more power than ever before. He was now the sole leader of the Reign of Terror; it was blatantly obvious he was the most feared man in all of France. Robespierre was the main person to implement the laws he put forth. Footnote] He believed in solving all his problems through violence. Those who were born to a particular family, having certain opinions, or simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time, would fall victim to him. Although Robespierre was obsessed with violence, he never actually performed acts himself, unless assured he would succeed, he’d have other people to do his work for him. The most common device used to punish people was the guillotine. Robespierre used other methods at times; he’d burn, hack, stab, shoot, and even cannonade a person.

Those he objected, or had been his enemy would soon be imprisoned, and eventually executed. He was relentless and ordered people dead

with no trial, killing people without proving or even knowing if they were truly “guilty”. He believed the mass murders he was responsible for were justified. If the spring of popular government in time of peace is virtue, the springs of popular government in revolution are at once? virtue and terror:? virtue, without which terror is fatal; terror, without which virtue is powerless. Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible...

It has been said that terror is the principle of despotic government. Does your government therefore resembledespotism? Yes, as the sword that gleams in the hands of the heroes of liberty resembles that with which the henchmen of tyranny are armed. --Maximilien Robespierre[Footnote] Robespierre was becoming a household name throughout all of France. Everyone feared him. He was known as the “the incorruptible”. [Footnote] Those who worked alongside him were frightened by the thought that Robespierre would turn on them.

More and more people were dying, at the peak of the revolutions, during the “red terror,” approximately fourteen hundred were being killed a day thorugh the hands of Robespierre. [Footnote] The committee of public safety intervened (who had originally been supporting Robespierre). [Footnote] They came together and overthrew Robespierre once and for all. This event became known as the Thermidorian Reaction, it occurred in July 1794. As Robespierre was overthrown, he was sentenced to the guillotine, the device he relied on so heavily.

Along with his execution, eighty-two others were sentenced to death; they were all supporters of Robespierre. He was the last to be executed during the Reign of Terror. Pierre-Joseph Cambon has stated “It is time to tell the whole truth. One man alone

is paralyzing the will of the Convention.? And that man is Robespierre. ”[Footnote] By the end of the Reign, many had come to the realization that the one person responsible for the terror was Robespierre himself. [Footnote] He had started it, continued it, and used it to his advantage (numerous times).

He himself embodied the Reign of Terror. The people only thought it would be appropriate for him to be guillotined for all he had caused throughout France. There had to be an end, and the only way to do so was to obliterate Robespierre himself. It was because of him that thousands of lives were lost. He abolished the monarchy to create peace throughout France, through violence and dictatorship. He left France in the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte, who also became a dictator, and went on to cause continuous wars. [Footnote] Bibliography 728, hits amount. French Revolution : National Convention 1792-1795 (Part 7/11) | lazacode. com. " lazacode. com | Global News, Video Gallery, Education & Creative Reference. N. p. , n. d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. . Chavis, Jason. "About the National Convention. " SoYouWanna. com | Learn What You Wanna Do. N. p. , n. d. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. . Dumouriez, the middle of May 1793 Danton had made up his mind that the political suppression of the Girondins had become indispensable. The position of the country was most alarming. Charles FranA§ois. "George Danton - Discussion and Encyclopedia Article.

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