French Revolution

Robespierre Biography

Robespierre (1758-1794) was one of the most interesting people

of his time.

Robespierre early life

Robespierre was born at Arras, in the north of France and was
soon respected for his high academics rates. He studied the law and
became a lawyer at 21 years old. His main goal was to defend
people's rights, especially the more modest people's ones.
In 1783, Robespierre decided to go to Paris to defend his favorite
cause. He volunteered to represent the poorest congregation of the
"Third Estate" during the Estates General in March 1789.
One of his main requests was the right for everyone to vote. He was
in admiration before the big ideas of freedom and equality brought
by the "Lumieres" or enlightment, a movement of French
philosophers (Voltaire, Rousseau, etc) who wanted to change the
world. His virtues made him earn the nickname of the
incorruptible, as he never gave up against the huge task of
reforming France's policy.

The Estates General meeting and the

beginning of the French Revolution
Robespierre appearances in front of the court were numerous. He
began to be one of the most imminent speakers for the poorest
people. He had a real talent in debates and succeeded in
captivating his audience with a very elegant touch. He became very
popular and the mob considered him as one of its main power to
overcome the King's hegemony.
In 1791, he participated in the writing of the Declaration of the
rights of man and citizen, of the most important civil text never
wrote in France, a foundation of the French constitution. He was
opposed to the death penalty and to slavery, which he considered

French Revolution

barbaric. Pretty amazing knowing that death penalty was abolished

only in 1981.
He chose to be part of the Jacobins group, one of the more radical
movements of the new assembly, and beame rapidly one of their
most respected members. France was at the time a constitutional
monarchy, and the King was forced to agree with other parties,
especially the third estate and was forced to sign laws that diminish
his power consistently.
Few days after Louis XVI tried to escape and was arrested in
Varennes, Robespierre stood up in front of the Assembly and
declared that he opposed the death penalty against the traitor.
The day after, a huge mob rallied to the "Champ de Mars" to call for
the implementation of the "Republique". The martial law was on at
that time and La Fayatte ordonned the mob be torn apart by firing
at it. Robespierre was accused by La Fayette of organizing this riot.
He resigned from his position but gained a huge recognition from
the French population.
After few weeks, the Constituent Assembly was dissolute and he
was named Public Prosecutor of Paris. But a lot had changed
already. New deputies, the Girondists had joined the group and were
imposing their ideas. They were way more radical than Robespierre
and wanted to destroy any trace of the previous regime.
Robespierre opposed a lot of decisions, like the entry of France in
the war against Austria, that he considered being way too
expensive and out of focus at the time. France was a raging
country, in a terrible economic crisis and still shaking from the past
year's events. He thought the war was an excuse for La Fayette to
restore some kind of military power in his weak country.

Robespierre and the Commune de Paris

So, he decided to act strongly by resigning from his position and
joined the strongmen of the "Commune" in August 1792. He
presented the petition of the "Commune de Paris" where he
demanded that La Fayette should be dismissed and declared a
traitor, the people of France should come together and ask for a
collective convention. Robespierre joined Danton and Marat at the
national assembly or "Convention Nationale". Their political battle
turned quickly to a physical offensive against the Girondist. In
October 1792, rioters from the Commune de Paris arrested 32
Girondin deputies in the Convention and accused them of counter-

French Revolution

revolutionary activities.
The dark days of Robespierre started there. After the elimination
of the Girondists, new enemies were threatening Robespierre plans
of funding the free and equal nation he always dreamed of. The
Austrian monarchy was the border, ready to invade this weak
country with no king and then, no real army. In the Communes
itself, signs of discords were emerging. Danton was in favor of a war
when Robespierre opposed it.

Robespierre and the Terror

The Terror began in September 1793, a cruel period when France
was killing its people by hundreds in a frightening movement of
rage and decadence. People were arrested and executed without
trial if they were accused of being enemies of the revolution. It is
estimated that about 40,000 people died during this 15 months
period.
These events led to the termination of the newly build constitution.
Robespierre was then pictured by many as a despot who was
capable of the worst actions to support his ideas of the revolution.
He became a supporter of the death penalty even though he
fought against it during the early stage of the revolution.
Censorship was reinstalled in the press and Robespierre launched a
dechristianisation campaign all around the country. One of the
symbols of this act was the adoption of the Revolutionary Calendar
(also known as the Republican Calendar) with epoch starting on
September 22nd, 1792 the day the first Republic was proclaimed.
Danton himself was considered too moderate and then, was
arrested and executed.
After the terror and the elimination of the most radical members of
his group, Robespierre tried once again to impose his ideas of a
democracy, where all the people had a right to possess their land
and everybody was free and considered equal.

Robespierre death
In July 1794, Robespierre was evicted from the Convention and
accused of dictatorship and tyranny. The members voted his
eviction and his death at the same time, without allowing him to
defend himself. The same day, he was decapitated under the
ovation of the people of Paris. His death was the symbol of the end

French Revolution

of the Terror and the end of the democratic movement at the same
time.