Essay about Georges-Jacques Danton of France and Leadership

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Unfortunately for France and the cause of freedom, resistance from the Court and special interests proved too powerful, and Turgot was removed from office in 1776. "The dismissal of this great man," wrote Voltaire, "crushes me. . . . Since that fatal day, I have not followed anything . . . and am waiting patiently for someone to cut our throats.? Turgot's successors, following a mercantilist policy of government intervention, only made the French economy worse. In a desperate move to find money in the face of an uproar across the country and to re-establish harmony, Louis XVI agreed to convene the Estates-General for May 1789. Meanwhile, the king's new finance minister, Jacques Necker, a Swiss financial expert, delayed the effects of mercantilism by importing large amounts of grain. On May 5, the Estates-General convened at Versailles. By June 17, the Third Estate had proclaimed itself the National Assembly. Three days later, the delegates took the famous Tennis Court Oath, vowing not to disband until France had a new constitution. However, the real French Revolution began not

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The spark that set off the Reign of Terror can be attributed to the king’s attempted escape from France in 1791 (Document 6). It is impossible for people of the modern world to comprehend exactly what caused this mayhem simply because no one lived during that period. Regardless, the event left the nation in a state of shock and uncertainty. The National Convention was forced to make the difficult decision to place all of its power into an entirely new political branch, knowing that something different was needed to save France. Before he was chosen to run the Committee of Public Safety, Robespierre was revered for his courage and sheer determination. He ridiculed the notion that a monarchy could last and instead pushed for democratic reforms (Document 2). Robespierre spoke to the people of France with an air of confidence that quickly won them over. His morals were fundamentally based on the ideals of early enlightenment thinker Jean Jacques Rousseau. Both men asserted that man is good by nature but poisoned by society. Robespierre also believed that all men deserve to be treated as equals in the eyes of the law (Document 3). The central cause of the French Revolution was the nation’s lack of a strong military in the face of civil war and foreign invasion. Rebuilding the military was arguably the most significant advancement that occurred during the Reign of Terror. Robespierre created a law called the Law of Universal Conscription in an effort to propel the French military to a reasonable state. This law mandated all men between the ages of 18 and 40 to join the army. Additionally, women were called into service to make uniforms. Robespierre further ensured that his troops were well-fed and prepared to spring into combat at any moment by reserving the best bread for soldiers only. After decades of internal and external conflict,

The radical views of Robespierre cost thousands of people’s lives. He ordered the death of 45,000 to 50,000 throughout all of the Reign of Terror. Nothing compared to the levée en masse deaths by people just fighting for their right to worship God. In October 1793, Revolutionaries decided to reenact an example of counterrevolutionaries in Lyons. One day, revolutionaries destroyed 1600 homes and chopped off 12 heads just in 5 minutes. Robespierre is sending his revolutionary followers basically just to torture people and take away their rights. The people the revolutionaries were members of the aristocracy, priests, farmers, and townspeople especially. He killed them because he thought they weren’t in support of the French Revolution, they didn’t support him, or they supported the Catholic Church. By August of 1793, people were fed up of Robespierre and his radical ways so they started revolting against him. 3,000 national guardsman were sent to establish order and peace in Niort, France (Doc D). Even this wasn’t enough as a government official had to ask the National Convention for more troops and assistance in calming

For example, revolutionary figurehead Maximilien Robespierre can be seen holding the head of King Louis XIV next to the symbolic guillotine (Document F). The execution of a politician by another politician is highly unconscionable; revolutions can be successful without the death of one’s adversary. Other perceived “enemies” of the revolution were executed via guillotine, resulting in a total death count of over 16,000—all guillotine executions were public and normalized the butchering of political opponents. Moreover, Robespierre was a vehement opposer of the death penalty, but during the Reign of Terror, often used the guillotine to eliminate his rivals. This convenient change of morals within a revolutionary leader began the decadence of

The goal of the French Revolution was to change the governmental structure from a monarchy to a democracy and that government was to spread their democratic ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity (Doc B). However, people in the Vendée region were thrown off of boats and drowned for opposing the revolution (French Revolution - History Channel documentary). An important part of democracy is freedom of speech, the idea that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. With displays of violence, the government sent the message that only those in support of the revolution could speak their mind. Additionally, one major complaint of the people in France was that the King had too much power; yet, a court of justice called the revolutionary Tribunal was established to try all crimes against the state, and the members would not be elected. Instead they were “appointed by the National Convention (the revolutionary government) and their power would be absolute” (Doc E). So while the leaders ‘established’ a system in which the people could decide what they want and who they want in authority, only a small group of people decided the fate of thousands. Furthermore the very leader of the revolution claimed that in order to create a democracy, they had to act as a dictatorship. In a speech to the National Convention, Robespierre said, “We must finish the war of

The year was 1793 when the French began their journey through a dark time in their country’s history. After the National Convention established them as the French’s primary government, the National Convention once again tried to restore harmony within the peak of revolution and civil unrest. The French were faced with many difficult situations; the National Convention took upon a country trapped east and north of Prussian and Australian military presence, filled with economic chaos, and threatened by Navy of Great Britain. However, instead of uniting the people under times of terror, the French government executed a total number 14,000 people. The government's heartless behavior proved to be advantageous because the Revolutionary Army eliminated

Now in the revolution, the Reign of Terror was established as a governmental way to get rid of enemies of the revolution. The Terror established a revolutionary government, which was encouraged by two political groups: the Girondins and the Jacobins. The French government established the Committee of Public Safety to gain more military forces. Danton, a Girondin, ruled the committee until he was executed. Then Robespierre, a Jacobin, took over for Danton. In a speech given to the National Convention in 1794, Robespierre says, “To found and consolidate democracy…we must end the war of liberty against tyranny and pass safely across the storms of the revolution…what is the fundamental principle of the democratic or popular government…? It is virtue…virtue without terror is fatal; terror without virtue is powerless” (Speech by Robespierre in February 1794). Robespierre was trying to consolidate democracy by continuing the revolution through the Terror. Without the use of terror, we would not have virtue, which is what makes a government democratic. The terror was an effort to establish a democracy as we have in the modern era. As the revolution became more uncontrolled, revolutionaries who were not in support of the committee were executed by the guillotine, including Robespierre. After the Terror, a government known as the Directory

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.

The Royal Family of France’s attempted escape on June 20th, 1791 made many people very unhappy with the King. The mob, ever ready to exercise the uncontrolled Rights of Men, made a mock parade of the King’s Arms in the market places, and, dashing them and the figure of a crown to the ground, they trampled upon them, crying out, “Since the King has abandoned what he owed to his high situation, let us trample upon the ensigns of royalty” (Ascherson 48)! The Royal Family not only lost many of its followers through their attempted escape, but also because King Louis XVI kept making bad decisions, ones that had no benefit to France or its people. The people wanted someone who would lead them into a revolution and change France for the better, not because they wanted the power, but because they believed in France and wanted it to become a great nation. That man was Robespierre, who after the flight of the King followed the Jacobin club in its move toward republicanism. He called for universal male suffrage and the end of property qualifications for voting and office holding (Blumberg 290). Robespierre wanted to make France a republic, a government for the people and by the people, a country where everyone had the freedoms and rights they deserved. In January of 1793, Robespierre voted on whether or not he thought that King Louis should be executed for his actions. At the Convention on the trial

The French Revolution produced countless influential politicians throughout its tumultuous course. As a political figure in the French Revolution, Jean Paul Marat began as a nonentity and became a martyr to the revolutionary patriots of France. His influence is often misconstrued, and sometimes overlooked. Although he was not a political leader like Robespierre, his influence was substantial in that he motivated many people through his writings and powerful personality. Through his involvement with the Cordeliers’ Club and his journal Ami du peuple, started September 1789, Marat was able to express the indignation of the bourgeois class through his hopes for social revolution. His

If you could in your own words define a leader what would you say a leader was? A leader could be considered many different things depending on who you ask. According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary a leader is a person or thing who leads. That’s a pretty broad definition. Sanjiv Kumar defines leadership as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals (Kumar, 2014). BusinessDictionary.com defines a leader as a person or thing that holds a dominant or superior position within its field, and is able to exercise a high degree of control or influence over others. Leaders can be found in every setting. Examples of leaders include parents, teachers, religious leaders, managers, or even a band director.