Maximilien+Robespierre

"The king must die so that the country can live."

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= Early Life =

Family
Maximilien Marie Isidore de Robespierre was born on May 6, 1758, in Arras, France. He was the oldest of four children. His father was a lawyer in Arras. When he was 6 years old, his mother died and his father left the family soon after. He and his siblings were raised by their maternal grandparents who constantly reminded them of their father's irresponsibility and of their dependent situation.

Education
From 1765 he attended the College of the Oratorians at Arras. In 1769 he was awarded a scholarship to the famous college of Louis-le-Grand in Paris, where he took philosophy and law. He received a law degree in 1781 and became a lawyer at Arras. He soon made his name known and was appointed as a judge at the Salle Episcopale, a court with jurisdiction over the provostship of the diocese. He was admitted to the Arras Academy in 1783 and soon became its chancellor and later its president. By 1788 Robespierre was already well known. As a lawyer representing the poor, he had alarmed the privileged classes by his protests in his "Memoire pour le Sieur Dupond" (Report for the Lord Dupond) against royal absolutism and arbitrary justice. When the Estates-General (which is a national assembly that had not been called since 1614) was called, Robespierre issued an appeal. In March 1789 the citizens of Arras chose him as one of their representatives and their Estate of the bailiwick elected him the fifth of the eight deputies from Artois. Then began his political career at age 30.

=Early Politics= What Robespierre didn't know when elected as the deputy for the Third Estate, is that this would transform his destiny and change the rest of his life forever. Two months prior to him being elected, Robespierre witnessed the onset of the Revolution that broke the power of the absolute monarchy. Meticulously, he worked to establish a reputation for himself as a public speaker in the Assembly. Robespierre quickly attracted attention in an assembly that had some very influential people. He spoke more than 500 times during the life of the National Assembly. Despite the lack of emphasis in his voice and the opposition he instigated he still managed to be heard, and his motions were usually applauded.

The Jacobin Club
Robespierre stayed away from committed and being the president of the National Assembly. Only once was he elected as the secretary of the National Assembly, June 1790. In April he had conducted over the Jacobin's, a political club promoting the ideas of the French Revolution. Officially called the Society of the French's of the Constitution, the Jacobin Club in the period of Robespierre's most radical ideas about the revolutionary crisis. Robespierre and the Jacobin's found it necessary to take radical measures.

=Rise to Power=

The National Convention
When Robespierre found out that the Legislative Assembly declared war against Austria in April 1792, he worked towards reducing the political influence of the officer class and the king. He also fought for the welfare of common soldiers, new promotions to reduce the control of the office class by the aristocratic military academy. French forces suffered tremendous defeats and a series of defections at the beginning of the war, Robespierre feared that the leader of the military coup d'etat would support the suppression of the Jacobins so Robespierre harshly attacked him publicly. Robespierre proposed to end the monarchy and have the people decide the members of the Assembly. Robespierre started a petition to the Legislative Assembly from the Paris Commune (the municipal government) to start a revolutionary tribunal and gather a convention picked by universal suffrage. In September Robespierre was elected the first deputy for Paris to the National Convention.

[[image:https://www.awesomestories.com/images/user/4f7be618e3.jpg width="253" height="181" align="left"]]Execution of Louis XVI
Now the Convention was divided into the Jacobins who were in favor of execution of Louis XVI and the Girondins who were opposed. Robespierre made a speech in December 1792 saying:

//“Louis cannot be judged, he has already been judged. He has been condemned, or else the republic is not blameless. To suggest putting Louis XVI on trial, in whatever way, is a step back towards royal and constitutional despotism; it is a counter-revolutionary idea; because it puts the Revolution itself in the dock. After all, if Louis can still be put on trial, Louis can be acquitted; he might be innocent. Or rather, he is presumed to be until found guilty. But if Louis is acquitted, if Louis can be presumed innocent, what becomes of the Revolution?"// (Doyle, p.195)

Louis was brought to trial despite Robespierre's best efforts and the Convention voted to execute Louis XVI and on January 21st, 1793 the king was executed at the guillotine.

=Reign of Terror= After Louis XVI went to the guillotine, the Reign of Terror began. Prominent members of the government and even not-so-prominent members were put to their death. The guillotine was the new way of quickly disposing of people who were against the revolution. Public execution was considered educational. Women were encouraged to sit and knit during the trials and executions. Robespierre was at the head of the Revolutionary Tribunal. He ordered the execution of 2,400 people in Paris and by July 1794 up to 30,000 people across France lost their lives.

Cult of the Supreme Being
Robespierre objected the power of the Catholic Church and the pope. On May 7th, 1794, Robespierre supported an order passed by the Convention that founded an official religion, known as the **Cult of the Supreme Being.** This concept was based on The Social Contract, an ideology that Jean-Jacques Rousseau configured. Robespierre held a nationwide "Festival of the Supreme Being" on June 8th, 1794. He spoke about topics he was passionate about like Virtue and Nature and his oppositions on atheism. This was Robespierre first appearance as a leader for the people in public also as the president of the Convention. Although many people were very excited to see him some said that Robespierre took some things a little too far. Robespierre came down a (parade float like) mountain to appear like Moses as the leader of the people. Many thought that he was attempting to create a new religion with himself as its god.

=Downfall= About a month later Robespierre's life was in danger. A woman named Cecile Renault tried to kill him with two small knives in his home; she was executed one month later. At this time, a law was passed which allowed the number of executions permitted by the Committee of Public Safety to double. this law allowed anyone who was thought to be counterrevolutionaries, even under simple suspicion and small trials. Once this law was passed the Convention began to question Robespierre and his allies out of fear, that they would come after members of the Convention. Robespierre went to the Convention on July 26th, 1794, and delivered a speech defending himself from controversy on his charges of dictatorship and tyranny. He implied that members of the Convention were part of a conspiracy. Members began to think that maybe he had gone sick with power and lost himself in the revolution, and this speech alarmed them. The next day, while Louis Antoine was giving a speech at the Convention protecting Robespierre the people who were opposed began to interrupt him as the accusations began to pile up, Robespierre found himself unable to defend himself.

Arrest
Robespierre's arrest was ordered by The Convention on July 27th, 1794. The Paris Commune arrived to free the prisoners. The Convention responded by ordering troops to be called out and go to the Hotel de Ville (headquarters of the Paris Commune). Robespierre and his supporters were gathered at the Hotel as well. The Convention declared Robespierre as an outlaw meaning that he could be executed within a 24 hour period without a trial. Forces of the Paris Commune deserted the Hotel and in the early hours of the night, the Convention under the comment of Barras arrived at the Hotel. Robespierre in a desperate attempt to avoid the guillotine tried to kill himself with a pistol but only managed to shatter his lower jaw. Some claim that he was shot by Charles-Andre Merda.

[[image:http://www.historytoday.com/sites/default/files/robe_execution.jpg width="312" height="213" align="right"]]Execution
For the rest of that night, Robespierre found himself laying on a table bleeding profusely awaiting his execution. Once the doctor arrived to stop the bleeding from his jaw, Robespierre was placed in the cell of Marie Antoinette and taken without trial to the guillotine. With a drop of the blade to his neck, Maximilien Robespierre died on July 28th, 1974.

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=Signature= ==

Additional Links:
Reign of Terror Fun Facts! media type="youtube" key="OglrzNohp3Q" height="297" width="518" align="right"media type="youtube" key="PBn7iWzrKoI" height="311" width="503"