Role of Robespierre in Terror in Revolutionary France - Essay Example

The mass executions, violence, mob rule and injustice in the French revolution marked one of the most convulsive periods of time in the world’s history. The control of the government was seized by radicals, and thousands of innocent citizens lost their lives all on the basis of democracy. Maximilien Robespierre was the man at the head of this execution during the infamous “Reign of Terror”1. Robespierre was born in the city of Arras on 6th may, 1758 at the northernmost tip of France. He suffered loss in his early life. He lost his mother at six and later, his father abandoned them. As a result, his remaining family was brought up by their elderly relatives who consistently reminded Robespierre and his family about the irresponsibility behaviour of their father and their dependent situation. He was the eldest boy in the family and worked hard in order to carry the burden of his younger siblings. Although he had a poor background, he was able to attend the local college and his hard work made him successful over his peers2. As Scurr says, Robespierre transformed from an impoverished boy to a respected lawyer. As a lawyer, he led a leading and blameless life in his local town. He gained fame as a defender of the poor and for making lengthy speeches at the local academy. His life run from a troubled childhood, to a passionate idealist that fought for his people’s rights, to an implacable leader that was prepared to sign a death warrant even for his closest friends3. Robespierre had a significant role in launching and sustaining terror in revolutionary France. His role can be explained through his rise in political life, the ‘Reign of Terror’, and his fall in political life. Rise in political life In 1789 at his early thirties, his destiny was transformed by revolution. He got into the political maelstrom where he remained immersed for the rest of his life. He was heavily influenced by the Rousseau’s theories, a popular philosopher. The theories led to his belief in democracy, deism, and natural goodness in man. During that time, French kings of the previous century has elevate Roman Catholicism while persecuting other Protestants and Huguenots. With this history, his skills as an anti-monarchial and anti-Catholic elevated his popularity as he called for democracy4. Robespierre popularity increased as he identified sans-culottes, a group of urban workers that he became their spokesman. This position made him more popular and it is at this stage that he later dominated revolution in its most radical phase. At this period, the government of Jacobin was ruling and it lasted for one year from June 1793 to July 1794 when he was overthrown. At this time, the people who were previously referred as ‘common’ briefly became the masters of French republic that had been proclaimed in September 17925. The influence of Robespierre in politics gradually grew from 1789 in May when he was elected to authoritative positions. At this time, the French Revolution was at the brink of exploding due to the already disordered political scene. This is when he was elected as the deputy of the Estates General, a representatives’ body in the government of France6. He later rose and went to serve another new governing body known as the National Constituent Assembly. It is in this body that his oratory gift gained more recognition among the leaders. This accelerated his growth and influence and in 1790, he was elected the Jacobin political party’s president. In a fierce way, he used this position to advocate for radical social theories and a struggle for power with more moderately developed Girondins7. He rode the wave of popular opinion which he had mustered through famous speeches and emerged victorious. As a result, he managed to cast out the Girondins through leadership where power was solely left to the Jacobins. Previously, the Catholic Church had taken do much property from the protestants before revolution and as a result, a fifth of France belonged to Rome. Under his leadership, the estate took back the church property. As a result the Catholic clergy lost power after the Clergy’s Civil Constitution, backed by guillotine placed the power of papal into the assembly’s hands8. As a brilliant political leader as well as a tactician of the Jacobins and as the chair of the Public Safety Committee, he pursued a vigorous mobilization of war and a planned economy. In particular, he was growing increasingly paranoid in regard to the opposition to counter- revolutionary and attempted to silence all revolution enemies in order to save France from invasion. He had long warned the nation about the dangers of provoking counter-revolution as he believed that it could divide France and support counter-revolutionaries. He also did not believe that ordinary people of Europe would have welcomed a Franc army that was invading, even the army that claimed to deliver equality and liberty. He stuck to this position and he thought that it was deeply unpopular. As a result, he became politically isolated9. However, by 1792 during summer, everyone realized his fears. His influence increased because his words came true and to be believed. At this time, French army was at the verge of being defeated and suffered disorganization and inexperienced and raw troops. Without any reason, a lot of people thought that Louis, the then King of France was siding with Prussian and Australian armies secretly where these army were by that time a threat to Paris. This made a lot of people believe that Robespierre was speaking for them when he made a declaration that aristocrats were in the process of plotting a conspiracy for destroying revolution. In August 1792, the monarchy was overthrown in a battle. A new National Convention government was formed in September the same year and France was promptly declared a republic. At this point, the ascendancy of Robespierre in Jacobin club was unrivalled. The Jacobin later identified themselves with sans-culottes which was a popular movement that Robespierre was once a spokesperson. This in turn led to referring of popular violence as a political right10. According to Dwyer & McPhee, power as well as the unavoidable responsibility that came with power was now in the hands of Robespierre. At this time, the most chaotic and violent periods of time in the history of France began. The ‘Reign of Terror’ led to loss of thousands of people’s lives where many of them were innocent of the charges against them11. The reign of Terror The reign of terror began in September 1793 and ended in July 1794. This is a period of violence that occurred after the beginning of French revolution, and was mainly incited by the differences between political factions, that is, the Jacobins and Girondins. This period led to execution of innocent citizens who were referred to as ‘the enemies of revolution’. This led to the deaths of tens of thousands where most of them were executed using an instrument known as Guillotine12. According to Dwyer and McPhee (2002), the terror is regarded as the most radical phase on revolution of French where Robespierre was the mastermind. The design of Terror was meant for fighting the enemies of revolution in order to prevent counter-revolution13. Based on his philosophy, Robespierre believed that a person might face the guillotine if he or she said something that was critical to the revolutionary government. There were watch committees all over the nation that were directed to arrest any person who was suspected to be partisan of federalism and tyranny and enemies of liberty either by their relationships, conduct, by remarks or writing as per the law of suspects14. By use of Terror, Robespierre made the declaration of human rights forgotten and Terror became the order of the day. His justification of the terror was based on his remarks that ‘by being soft to the traitors, they would destroy the entire nation’15. In his argument, Robespierre believed that if the spring of a government that is popular during the time of peace is virtue, then the springs of a popular government during revolution are terror and virtue: terror without virtue becomes powerless and virtue without terror is fatal. Based on his speech on justification of terror, is justice, severe, prompt and inflexible. The Reign of Terror made the name of Robespierre one of the most notorious in the world. He demanded for beheading of the King for the benefit of the Republic of France in January 179316. Under his leadership, Robespierre led to systematic killing of the people who were suspected to be against Jacobin party during bloody public executions. He even created “The Cult of the Supreme Being”, a national religion that was based on deism. He used the cult as a tool for unifying the masses against the enemies of the Revolution17. Why the French reticently accepted the leadership of Robespierre Before revolution, French people Pope Clement had been denying them access to the Scripture, therefore they had no other option but to accept what the increasingly corrupt priesthood told them. The corruption posed by the clergy gave way to the Reign of terror by Robespierre which went for one year from mid- 1793 to 1794. Thus, French reticently accepted the leadership of Robespierre in order to escape from increased corruption from the clergy before revolution. However, his power base was dissolved18. End of the Reign of Terror The leadership of Robespierre became worse to a point that even the radical supporters of Robespierre felt that the Terror must be stopped. Dalton, one of his supporters in the convention called for ending of Terror but he became the next victim. By fearing the reputation of Dalton, the convention agreed and passed a decree which stated that anyone accused for insulting the court should be prohibited for defending himself19. Thus, Dalton was not allowed to speak for his own defense and after trial he was executed using the guillotine. In 1794 when he called for new purge, Robespierre seemed to threaten the other members of the Public Safety Committee. At this time, the Jacobins declared that they had had enough. Cambon, one of the members of the convention rose and said that it was the time to tell the whole truth that a single man was paralyzing the convention’s will. The said man was Robespierre20. This was quickly supported by other members. He was banned from the convention and on July 27, he was placed under house arrest. An attempt by his die-hard followers to free him was not successful and his suicide attempt did not succeed. On July 28 in 1974, Robespierre died on the same piece of equipment (guillotine) which would become a symbol of his bloody regime and for the “Reign of Terror”. The suspected followers of Robespierre were executed the following day which marked the end of the Reign of Terror21. Conclusion Looking back on the life of Robespierre, he played a significant role launching and sustaining the Terror in Revolutionary France. His from a troubled childhood life was a crucial determinant of launching and sustaining Terror. His philosophy and ideas that he employed in politics significantly contributed to Terror. His tactics led to his gradual acceptance in politics and being trusted to protect the people of France. His leadership and actions later makes him one of the most notorious in the world as he violated the rights of human by killing ten thousands of innocent people. He first opposed tyranny of monarchical governments but later become a tyrant himself, a person that greatly desired democracy later crushed all opposition. His life in France led to more deaths than liberty; he twisted the belief in God in order to satisfy his own goals. On the grounds of human nature, his regime as well as future visions crumbled to dust. His abuse of the power of state gave rise to destructive leaders. Bibliography Dwyer, Philip G., & McPhee, Peter. The French Revolution and Napoleon: A Sourcebook, Routledge, London, 2002. D. Andress. The Terror: Civil War in the French Revolution . Little, Brown, 2005 Eagan, J. M. Maximilien Robespierre: Nationalist Dictator. Octagon Books. 1978. P. 242. Hardman, John. Robespierre. Longman. 1999. P. 236. Haydon, C., & Doyle, W. Robespierre. Cambridge University Press. 1999. P. 292. Jordan, David P. The Revolutionary Career of Maximilien Robespierre. University of Chicago Press. 1989. P. 308. Korngold, Ralph. Robespierre: The First Modern Dictator. Macmillan. 1937. P. 400. Matrat, Jean. Robespierre: Or, The Tyranny of the Majority. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1971. P. 296. Popkin, J. D. A Short History of the French Revolution. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. Scurr, Ruth. Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution. Macmillan. 2007. P. 448. Somerset, Reginald W. Maximilien Robespierre: A Study in Deterioration. Macmillan. 1934. P. 359. Thompson, J. M. Leaders of the French revolution, English Universities Press, 1952, p. Read More