Maximilien Robespierre

I

Introduction

Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), French lawyer and political leader, who became one of the most influential figures of the French Revolution and the principal exponent of the Reign of Terror.

II

From Lawyer to Revolutionary

Born in Arras, in northern France, into a middle-class family (his father was a lawyer), Robespierre was brought up by his grandparents. In 1769 he received a scholarship to study at the Louis-le-Grand college in Paris. Reduced to poverty after his secondary studies, he entered the faculty of law while working in the chambers of a state prosecutor, Jacques Pierre Brissot (later, as leader of the Girondins, to be one of Robespierre’s political rivals). During this time Robespierre developed an enthusiasm for the ideas of Montesquieu and Rousseau, whom Robespierre visited at his home, Ermenonville.

On his return to Arras, Robespierre became a lawyer in Artois and, in 1781, a judge in the salle épiscopal (episcopal court). In 1783 he established his reputation when he defended an amateur scientist who had installed a lightning conductor outside his home against local opposition. Robespierre also defended the poor, bringing him into conflict with local councillors. In May 1789 he was elected to the Estates-General that Louis XVI had convened in Versailles, as a representative of the Third Estate (or commoners).

In July, Robespierre (and his brother Augustin) became members of the National Constituent Assembly, as the Estates-General designated itself. It was charged with the task of creating a constitution for France. Robespierre adopted a moderate position, arguing that a radical transformation in French politics was impossible because of the social and political heritage of the ancien régime and the resistance of the privileged sectors of society.

Robespierre, with his slight stature and lack of eloquence, was not initially a commanding figure in the Assembly. However, through persistence and determination he established himself: between 1789 and 1791 he made more than 120 speeches. Meticulous and patient, Robespierre was convinced that his moment would come. He sacrificed all personal interests to public service, waiting and cultivating his reputation for probity.

III

At the Heart of the Revolution

In March 1790, Robespierre became president of the Jacobins Club, representing the more radical wing of the Revolution. He became a potent critic of the monarchy and an advocate of democratic reforms. He spoke out for political liberties, such as freedom of the press and universal suffrage, establishing himself as the leader of the radical opposition to the more moderate Girondins, who formed the majority grouping in the Legislative Assembly, formed in October 1791 (Robespierre and the other members of the National Constituent Assembly were not permitted to join this successor body). Expressing the influence of Rousseau on his political ideas, Robespierre conflated his beliefs with those of the French people. He told his political rival Brissot: “I am not the defender of the people—I am the people.”

In the weeks after Louis XVI attempted to flee France in June 1792 (see the Flight to Varennes), Robespierre articulated the view that the Revolution was under attack from a conspiracy by its enemies, who intended to leave France and assist the counter-revolution from abroad. With his calls for the king to be put on trial and his support for the sans-culottes (the politicized workers and artisans of Paris and the other towns and cities of France), Robespierre became a hero to radical revolutionaries, earning a reputation as “l’incorruptible” (the incorruptible). He opposed the decision by the Girondin leaders to declare war on Austria in April 1792 (see French Revolutionary Wars), expressing his concern that the war would create a military dictatorship in France, and that the Revolution’s internal enemies should first be sought out. As he predicted, the war initially went very badly for France.

In September 1792, after the fall of the monarchy, Robespierre joined the National Convention and became the uncontested leader of the left-wing opposition (known as “la Montagne”, or “the Mountain”) to the Girondin government. He voted in favour of the execution of Louis XVI in January 1793, stating that it would be an “act of public safety”. “Louis must die so that the people may live,” he stated. For Robespierre the Revolution had not yet been established, and it was necessary to be constantly vigilant against its enemies.

IV

The Terror

In June 1793 Robespierre backed the overthrow of the Girondin government, aligning himself with the radical movement that emerged from the districts (known as “sections”) of Paris. The following month he became a member of the Committee for Public Safety. The Committee, dominated by Robespierre and his protégés Louis de Saint-Just and Georges Couthon, controlled the executive arm of the government.

Governing in the midst of a political and financial crisis, Robespierre had to respond to three immediate threats: the foreign coalition with which France was at war; the internal counter-revolution, particularly in the region on La Vendée; and the factions within the Revolution that could undermine Montagnard rule. With the support of the Committee Robespierre applied himself to eliminating all those he considered to be enemies of the Revolution, in particular the supporters of the radical journalist Jacques-René Hébert (the Hébertistes) and the more moderate supporters of Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins (called the “Indulgentes”). These challenges gave birth to the Terror—a policy Robespierre justified with the epigram “virtue without terror is powerless, terror without virtue is deadly.”

Numerous of Robespierre’s enemies fell victim to the Terror. Between March and April 1794 Danton, Hébert, Desmoulins, and several of their friends were tried then executed. For Robespierre terror in the name of the state was a strategic necessity; the objective—the creation of a strong and coercive state that could defend the Revolution—took precedence over the means by which this was achieved.