M robespierre biography

He favored giving the vote to all men, not just property owners, and he opposed slavery in the colonies. Robespierre was more popular at meetings of a Paris club called the Jacobins, whose members admired him and referred to him as "the Incorruptible" because of his honesty and firm sense of right and wrong. When Robespierre's term as a legislator ended in SeptemberRobespierre remained in Paris, spending time at the Jacobins and publishing a weekly political journal.

During this period he was a critic of King Louis XVI — and those who supported a limited, constitutional monarchy rule by a single person. Robespierre, deeply suspicious of the king, spoke and wrote in opposition to the course of events until Augustwhen the monarchy was overthrown and the First French Republic was established.

M robespierre biography: Maximilien Robespierre was a.

Period in power A group of representatives was quickly elected to draft a constitution and to govern the country in the meantime, and Robespierre was elected to attend. As a spokesman for the Jacobins in the National Convention, he was a harsh critic of the king, who was finally placed on trial, convicted, and executed in January In the months that followed Robespierre turned his anger on a group of moderates those who prefer less abrupt change called the Girondins, leading the effort to have their members removed from the convention, arrested, and executed.

In July Robespierre was elected to the Committee of Public Safetywhich acted to protect the republic during the dual problems of foreign war most of Europe was fighting against the Revolutionary government in France and civil war which threatened to bring down that government. In the period after the king's execution, tensions in the convention resulted in a power struggle between the Jacobins and the more moderate Girondins.

The Jacobins used the power of the mob to take control and the Girondin leaders were arrested. Control of the country passed to the Committee of Public Safety, of which Robespierre was a member. He rapidly became the dominant force on the committee. In he earned the first prize for rhetoric. His appreciation for the classics inspired him to aspire to Roman virtues, particularly the embodiment of Rousseau 's citizen-soldier.

M robespierre biography: Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre

Aligning with Rousseau, he considered the general will of the people as the foundation of political legitimacy. However, Robespierre soon resigned, due to his ethical discomfort in adjudicating capital cases, stemming from his opposition to the death penalty. Robespierre was elected to the literary Academy of Arras in November On June 2, a large crowd of armed men from the Commune of Paris came to the Convention and arrested 32 Girondin deputies on charges of counter-revolutionary activities.

On July 27,the convention elected Robespierre to the committee, although he had not sought the position. The Committee of General Security began to manage of the country's internal police. Robespierre's role in the Terror Historians disagree on Robespierre's role in the Terror. Some say that he was a minor player in the Committee of Public Safety.

Babeuf and Philippe Buonarroti have tried to absolve him by saying he acted only for reasons of political expediency. However, Robespierre's role as a leader and mouthpiece of the Terror is relatively clear; Robespierre is generally regarded as the dominant force on the committee. However, after his death many of his colleagues tried to save themselves by blaming him.

M robespierre biography: Robespierre was a French lawyer

He was one of the most popular orators in the convention and his carefully prepared speeches often made a deep impression. His panegyrics on revolutionary government and his praise of virtue demonstrate his belief that the Terror was necessary, laudable and inevitable. It was Robespierre's belief that political terror and virtue were of necessity inseparable.

For example, in a speech he delivered to the convention in early FebruaryRobespierre stated, If virtue be the spring of a popular government in times of peace, the spring of that government during a revolution is virtue combined with terror: virtue, without which terror is destructive; terror, without which virtue is impotent. Terror is only justice prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue; it is less a distinct principle than a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing wants of the country.

On Danton's suggestion, Camille Desmoulins protested the Terror in his third issue of Le Vieux Cordelier Robespierre had m robespierre biography and approved of the first two issues. From February 13 to March 13,Robespierre withdrew from active business on the committee due to illness. During that time, he decided that the end of the Terror would mean the loss of political power he hoped to use to create the Republic of Virtue.

Robespierre charged his opponents with complicity with foreign powers. The charges against Danton—reaching from accusations of corruption to alleged spying for Pitt and plotting to restore monarchy—were "even by the standards of the Revolutionary Tribunal, an incredibly feeble document. After Danton's execution, Robespierre worked to develop his own policies.

He used his influence over the Jacobin Club to dominate the Commune of Paris through his followers. Robespierre tried to influence the army through his follower Saint-Just, whom he sent on a mission to the frontier. In Paris, Robespierre increased the activity of the Terror: no one could accuse him of being a moderate. He hoped that the convention would pass whatever measures he might dictate.

To secure his aims, another ally on the committee, Georges Couthon, introduced and carried on June 10 the drastic Law of 22 Prairial. Under this law, the Tribunal became a simple court of condemnation without need of witnesses.

M robespierre biography: For some historians and biographers,

The result of this was that until Robespierre's death, 1, people were guillotined in Paris. Robespierre's desire for revolutionary change was not limited to the political realm. He sought to instill a spiritual resurgence in the French nation based on Deist beliefs. Accordingly, on May 7,Robespierre had a decree passed by the convention that established a Supreme Being.

In honor of the Supreme Being, a great celebration was held on June 8. Robespierre, as President of the Convention, walked first in the festival procession and delivered a speech. In this speech, Robespierre made it clear that his concept of a Supreme Being was far different from the traditional God of Christianity.