Maximilien Robespierre

Maximilien Robespierre
Member of the Committee of Public Safety
In office
27 July 1793 – 27 July 1794
Preceded byThomas-Augustin de Gasparin
Succeeded byJacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne
In office
25 March 1793 – 3 April 1793
Member of Committee of General Defence
24th President of the National Convention
In office
4 June 1794 – 19 June 1794
Preceded byClaude-Antoine Prieur-Duvernois
Succeeded byÉlie Lacoste
In office
22 August 1793 – 7 September 1793
Preceded byMarie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles
Succeeded byJacques-Nicolas Billaud-Varenne
Deputy of the National Convention
In office
20 September 1792 – 27 July 1794
ConstituencyParis
Deputy of the National Constituent Assembly
In office
9 July 1789 – 30 September 1791
ConstituencyArtois
Deputy of the National Assembly
In office
17 June 1789 – 9 July 1789
ConstituencyArtois
Deputy to the Estates General
for the Third Estate
In office
6 May 1789 – 16 June 1789
ConstituencyArtois
President of the Jacobin Club
In office
31 March – 3 June 1790
In office
7 August – 28 August 1793
Personal details
Born
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre

(1758-05-06)6 May 1758
Arras, Artois, Kingdom of France
Died10 Thermidor, Year II 28 July 1794(1794-07-28) (aged 36)
Place de la Révolution, Paris
Cause of deathExecution by guillotine
Political partyThe Mountain (1792–1794)
Other political
affiliations
Jacobin Club (1789–1794)
Domestic partnerÉléonore Duplay (rumored)
Alma materUniversity of Paris
ProfessionLawyer, politician
Signature

Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (French: [maksimiljɛ̃ ʁɔbɛspjɛʁ]; 6 May 1758 – 10 Thermidor, Year II 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognized as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre fervently campaigned for the voting rights of all men and their unimpeded admission to the National Guard.[1][2][3] Additionally he advocated for the right to petition, the right to bear arms in self-defence, and the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade.[4][5][6]

As one of the prominent members of the Paris Commune, Robespierre was elected as a deputy to the National Convention in early September 1792. He joined the radical Montagnards, a left-wing faction. However, he faced criticism for purportedly trying to establish either a triumvirate or a dictatorship.[7] In April 1793, Robespierre advocated the mobilization of a sans-culotte army aiming at enforcing revolutionary laws and eliminating any counter-revolutionary elements. This call led to the armed Insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793. On 27 July he was appointed a member of the Committee of Public Safety.

Robespierre faced growing disillusionment among others due in part to the politically motivated violence advocated by the Montagnards. Increasingly, members of the Convention turned against him, and accusations piled up on 9 Thermidor. Robespierre was arrested and taken to a prison. Approximately 90 individuals, including Robespierre, were executed without trial in the following days, marking the onset of the Thermidorian Reaction.[8]

A figure deeply divisive during his lifetime, Robespierre's views and policies continue to evoke controversy.[9][10][11] Academic and popular discourse persistently engage in debates surrounding his legacy and reputation.[12][13][14]

  1. ^ Moore 2007, pp. 24, 53, 217.
  2. ^ "Maximilien Robespierre | Biography, French Revolution, Reign of Terror, Facts, & Death | Britannica". 2 May 2023. Archived from the original on 28 November 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  3. ^ Bosc, Y. (2013). Robespierre libéral. Annales historiques de la Révolution française, 371, 95–114. https://doi.org/10.4000/ahrf.12688 Archived 30 December 2023 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ O'Brien, James Bronterre (1837). The Life and Character of Maximilian Robespierre. Proving ... thaourt that Much Calumniated Person was One of the Greatest Men ... pp. 415–421. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Maximilien Robespierre". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 May 2023. Archived from the original on 28 November 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  6. ^ Jordan 2013.
  7. ^ Doyle, William. The Oxford History of the French Revolution. Oxford University Press.
  8. ^ Serna 2005, p. 370.
  9. ^ Mylonas, Nikos A., Is revolutionary violence justified? A re-examination of the Robespierre case, archived from the original on 7 April 2023, retrieved 21 January 2021
  10. ^ "Maximilien Robespierre, Master of the Terror by Scott McLetchie". Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  11. ^ Gauchet, Marcel (2023). Robespierre – The man who divides us the most. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-23495-3. Archived from the original on 18 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  12. ^ Mathiez 1927, pp. 63, 70.
  13. ^ Martin 2006, p. 224.
  14. ^ Peter McPhee, "The Robespierre Problem: An Introduction," H-France Salon, Vol 7 no, 14, 2015, page 9. online Archived 24 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine

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