Robespierre

A detailed Summary of Robespierre

Maximillian Robespierre is a name that many associate with the terrible events that occurred in France during the revolution. According to historian J.M. Thompson, "He was led, not by cruel ambition but by common hopes and fears, into the bloodshed of the Reign of Terror" . He brought himself up, through political criticism, from a poor orphan to a leader of a revolution. Robespierre himself was the architect of his own rise and of his own demise.

The era in which Robespierre was born was a time of the enlightenment, but also in a time of chaos. Everyone was striving to achieve success through reason and logic.

The situation of France was chaotic. It was clear that King Louis XVI was incompetent to fulfill his duties as a king.

Some aspects of the situation would have been so familiar as to be taken for granted: the decline of the Monarchy during Louis XV's long reign; the weakening of the position of the Church; the transference of wealth and social consequence from the nobility and gentry to the commercial and professional middle class; or the continual rise in prices which prevented the workers from profiting by the increasing prosperity of the country.

The people of France were ready for a change t

When people started realizing that Robespierre was actually a tyrant who declared war on his own colleagues, his days were numbered. In July of 1794 he fell victim to the machine that he had made so popular. The events of the convention on July 27 led to Robespierre having more enemies than he could control. Robespierre was arrested and after a failed attempt to escape, he was put to death by the guillotine. The citizens of France convicted him of going against article seventeen of the constitution that he created. Robespierre's final counter-accusation led to his arrest. Hardman reports that, "His words were: so and so conspires against me; I am the friend par excellence of the Republic; therefore he conspires against the Republic. This logic is new."

Robespierre's sister once commented "her brother always championed the cause of the oppressed, whether against the school bully, or the injustice of the law, or the tyranny of the state." He worked his way into government and politics without anyone realizing exactly what was going on. He started as a lawyer with a strong opinion. His ideas were strongly based on the theories of Jean Jacques Rousseau. He was in growing up in a country that was filled with middle class people who were about to take charge of the revolution. He became the spokesman for the petite bourgeoisie, who were the lower middle classes. Lower classes and nobility divided France and he was the representative for this party. The nobility wanted to keep the role of government in their favor. They had control for so long and the sudden confusion was making it more difficult for the nobility to make money. The rising more intellectual lower classes clashed with the nobility and created tension.

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Approximate Word count = 1194
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History