Maximilien Robespierre

Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (IPA /maksimiljε̃ fʁα̃swa maʁi izidɔʁ d? ʁɔbεspjεʁ/), (6 May 1758, Arras – 28 July 1794, Paris), known to his contemporaries also as "the Incorruptible", is one of the best known of the leaders of the French Revolution. He was an influential member of the Committee of Public Safety which oversaw the period of the French Revolution in which the revolutionaries consolidated their power, a period which is commonly known as the Reign of Terror. The myth that Robespierre himself became a virtual dictator in his final years is often repeated, but while the Committee of Public Safety was certainly a dictatorial committee, Robespierre was not in his own right a dictator. In Thermidor of the Revolutionary calendar's Year Two he was executed by his conspiring comrades.

Robespierre's downfall

At last, on July 26, Robespierre appeared, for the first time for more than four weeks, in the Convention and delivered a harangue, lasting more than four hours. He declared that the Terror ought to be ended, that certain deputies who had acted unjustly and exceeded their powers ought to be punished, and that the Committees of Public Safety and General Security should be renewed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This raised great excitement in the Convention. All wondered who were the deputies destined to be punished. All were surprised that the Terror should be imputed as a fault to the very Committee of which Robespierre had been a member.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The majority of the Committee of Public Safety determined to act promptly. The Convention, moved by Robespierre's eloquence, at first passed his motions; but he was replied to by Joseph Cambon the financier, Billaud-Varenne, Amar and Vadier, and the Convention rescinded their decrees and referred Robespierre's question to their committees. On the following day, July 27, or in the revolutionary calendar the 9 Thermidor, Saint-Just began to speak on behalf of the motions of Robespierre, when violent interruptions showed the temper of the Convention.

Related Topics:
Joseph Cambon - Billaud-Varenne - July 27 - 9 Thermidor

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jean Lambert, Tallien, Billaud-Varenne and Vadier again attacked Robespierre; cries of "Down with the tyrant!" were raised; and, when Robespierre hesitated in his speech in answer to these attacks, the words "C'est le sang de Danton qui t'étouffe" showed what was uppermost in the minds of the Montagnards. Robespierre tried in vain to get a hearing, the excitement increased and at five in the afternoon Robespierre, Couthon and Saint-Just, with two young deputies, Augustin Robespierre (younger brother of Maximilien) and Philippe François Joseph Lebas, the only men in all the Convention who supported them, were ordered to be arrested. He was rescued from his prison, with the other deputies, by the troops of the Commune and brought to the Hôtel de Ville. There he was surrounded by his faithful adherents, led by Payan and Coflinhal.

Related Topics:
Montagnards - Augustin Robespierre - Philippe François Joseph Lebas - Hôtel de Ville

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

But the days were long gone when the Commune could overawe the Convention. There was marked hostility on the part of the prime movers to the Commune. On the news of the release of Robespierre, the Convention again met, and declared the members of the Commune and the released deputies outlaw. The national guards under the command of Barras had little difficulty in making their way to the Hôtel de Ville; Robespierre was shot in the lower jaw—a young gendarme named Merda claimed to have shot him while Robespierre was signing an appeal to one of the sections of Paris to take up arms for him, though Thomas Carlyle discredits the story, believing the wound to have been self-inflicted —and all the released deputies were once again arrested.

Related Topics:
National guards - Gendarme - Thomas Carlyle

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Robespierre was the next day taken before the tribunal, and without further trial he was guillotined, face up according to legend, with Couthon and Saint-Just and nineteen others of his adherents on the Place de la Révolution on the 10th Thermidor An II (July 28 1794). His corpse and head both are buried in the common cemetery of Errancis, today Place de Goubeaux, and the spot is covered by an unmarked gravestone.

Related Topics:
Guillotine - Place de la Révolution - July 28 - 1794

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~