Maximilien Robespierre And The Reign Of Terror Of The French Revolution

The initial impulse of the French revolution was destructive. For those who lived through all, or even part, of these vast upheavals, the shock was overwhelming. Maximilien Robespierre was a proud disciple of the enlightenment and declared that no political writer had foreseen this revolution. Robespierre (1758-1794) was one of the leaders of the Committee of Public Safety, the effective governing body of France during the most radical phase of the revolution. The leaders of this revolution attempted, perhaps more than any other revolutionary leaders before or since, to totally transform human society in every way. (Supreme Being) Although Robespierre began with patriotic intent he still was the face of the Reign of Terror and was viewed as being a radical person.

The French Revolution is arguably the bloodiest period in French history, with men such as Maximilien Robespierre leading the country into a situation of state sponsored terror. Originally being quite a liberal thinker inspired by the works of Rousseau, Robespierre quickly gained a reputation for being a radical throughout the course of the Revolution, especially during the Terror. Early on terror was justified as a means to root out foreign and domestic enemies of the Revolution, however; once the foreign threat had been taken care of it became increasingly difficult for Robespierre to rationalize his use of terror to bring about a supposed Republic of Virtue. In his speech, the “Justification of the use of Terror” which he presented to

     Maximillien Robespierre is commonly viewed as the symbol of the Reign of Terror, the short period in which thousands of people were executed because they were thought to be traitors. However, Maximillien was actually an idealistic reformer with an image of peace and equality driving him on, who is unfairly credited with the Terror, and assumed to be a power-hungry tyrant.

The topic that I will be writing about is the French Revolution and how it affected France as a nation. The book that I read was "The French Revolution, A tale of Terror and Hope for Our Times", by Harold Behr. This book gave a very large and broad overview of what transpired during the French Revolution, which occurred during the years of 1789-1799. Though the book covered a lot of material that happened throughout those years, I will be covering the main topics, such as what were the events leading up to the revolution, how the revolution affected the people of France, how the revolution affected the country as a whole, how the revolution affected the world, and whether or not the revolution in the end helped or was more detrimental to the country. All of the topics will be covered from my point of view and how I interpreted the author, there is another point of views on the revolution but this will be from what I felt the book meant to me.

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,

Maximilien Robespierre has always been known to be controversial and misunderstood. He was the face of the French Revolution. In accordance with the Jacobins, they controlled the time known as the Reign of Terror, due to their influence in the accumulation of murders of those opposed to the revolution. Reign of Terror was a symbolic time period within the French Revolution that involved corruption of power and influence and mass executions. With Robespierre at the forefront, he became one of the most important men in the Revolution. As soon as Maximilien Robespierre decided to react to enemies of the revolutions, mass execution being his choice of force; his implementation of the Reign of Terror was a villainous act striking those who

The Reign of Terror was a notorious event of the revolution, Led by Robespierre, where alleged enemies of the revolution were brought before Revolutionary Tribunals to be heard of for cases of treason in the name of radical liberalism. The Reign of Terror was not justified because their methods of terror took it a step too far and didn't work in some cases, external and internal threats impacted the perception and spread of revolutionary ideas, and the people and the government went too far in order to protect their ideals of the revolution.

The Reign of Terror was a very horrific event that took place; although, people made it out to be somewhat helpful and resolve multiple issues it resulted in making society very miserable and quite sad, This act that took place was most definitely not justified because the leader was self elected and not giving society the right to vote for its new leader. Another example of this was people's hopes were manipulates and misguided leading up to this horrific historical event.The Reign of Terror was the third estate also know as the bourgeoisie had started a war with the first class because they did not treat them well. The Bourgeoisie had killed many people from the first and second estate. The leader of this act was none other than Robespierre

Robespierre had intended to rid France of any people that were considered a threat to the revolution through the Reign of Terror, but his actions were not necessary for France to progress. His intentions to overthrow the monarchy under Louis XVI and replace it with a new utopian republic were reasonable because, with a reformed republic, he could establish the principle stating, “the ‘rights of man’ should extend to all men – including the poor, and the slaves in the colonies” (Linton). He relentlessly advocated for equality within the working class, also known as the sans culottes, and fought for the abolishment of rigid class systems between the three estates. This allowed for him to gain a positive reputation with civilians who were mistreated within the Third Estate and obtain reverence from the Jacobins. Robespierre’s first order of business to purify France and progress the revolution began with the trial of Louis XVI. Originally, it had been known that Robespierre “was for a long time a vehement opponent of the death penalty” (Linton), so it was unexpected when he began to advocate for the King’s death. His change of opinion occurred after witnessing how Louis had committed treason through attempting to escape an unstable France which branded him as a traitor to the revolution. In his speech arguing against allowing the King to be given a trial, Robespierre claimed “yes the penalty of death generally is a crime...it can be justified only in cases when it is necessary for the safety of individuals or the social body...Louis must die, because the country must live” (“Maximilien”). It was this trial that became the root to which Robespierre’s terror stemmed from. He speculated that “...in order to defend the Revolution against those who would destroy it, the shedding of blood was justified” (Linton). From here on out, his philosophy of the ends

The Reign of Terror began by the public beheading by guillotine of Louis XVI, This event took place on the 21st of January. As evidenced by Document F, An attendee says “The king’s blood flowed and cries of joy from eighty thousand armed men struck my ears. I saw people pass by arm in arm laughing and chatting familiarly as if they were at a festival.” (Document F.) This depicts the graphical display put on by the executioners. which is an example of the French government implementing fear tactics to rule over their people. Shortly after his wife Marie Antoinette was guillotined to death publicly. The Reign of Terror lasted 18 months. During this period a man named Maximilian Robespierre led the government. He executed a large number of people who he thought could be enemies or somewhat threats to his new fragile form of government. It was rumored that he had spies everywhere who would turn others in, just for not being enthusiastic about the revolutionaries form of government. also if an individual complained or made a comment pertaining negatively to life in France after the revolution they would be executed. His Reign of Terror not only focused upon the citizens of his country but it also focused upon specific groups. For example his Reign of Terror also focused upon the catholic church. The catholic church had been in power for a very long time, and had a very large influence on modern society and culture.

Reign of Terror lasted from September 1793 until the fall of Robespierre in 1794. Its purpose was to get rid of the enemies of France during the Revolution, and protect the country from foreign invaders. From January 1793-July 1794, France was governed by the Committee of Public Safety. This lead to many executions, and revolts. It ended up being a large conflict in France during this time. The Reign of Terror was not justified because the people were not treated with respect. Their rights were violated, didn’t have fair trials, and many of the people were killed.

What would start as an act to protect people from the abuses of the government, would turn into one of the most oppressive periods of French History, giving it the name: Reign of Terror. King Louis XIV’s expensive and unnecessary war debts and lavish expenditures left his citizens starving and without a platform. In order to solve this, Louis XIV raised taxes, making the very mistake of King George III that led to the American Revolution. The social classes were called to reach a solution, but as always reached a stalemate. Delegates of the Estates General then took for themselves their natural right to dissention, and created the National Assembly. Regarding the right to dissent, the right to one’s own religious views,

During the year of 1793, Maximilien Robespierre was appointed by the Committee of Public Safety (Document B) to bring all the chaos that the French Revolution caused to a close, but Robespierre had his own agenda. As of September 5, 1793 Robespierre did just that and declared “Terror the order of the day;” beginning of Reign of Terror. As stated in document G, Robespierre

Was the Terror of 1793/4 inherent from the revolutions outset or was it the product of exceptional circumstance?

Twenty thousand to forty thousand died; it is still unknown exactly how many people were lost through the blood drenching event of the Reign of Terror.[Footnote] Throughout the French revolution, specifically the eleven month, 1793-1794 Reign of Terror, revolutionary leaders, such as Maximilien Robespierre believed in enforcing fear to resolve the instability of France. “Terror is nothing else than swift, severe, indomitable justice; it flows, then, from virtue”-Maximilien Robespierre.[Footnote] This period in history signified great atrocities of massacres, and a time where fear was evoked within every French civilian. The National Convention of France was a great factor in encouraging the start of the Reign of Terror; they continued on