Maximilien Robespierre, the Incorruptible Leader

George Washington's chopping of the cherry tree to the Holocaust of Adolf Hitler, historical figures are remembered for their actions as heroic or demonic. Maximilien-Francois-Marie-Isidore de Robespierre, the chief architect of the Reign of Terror and a bloodthirsty revolutionary democrat, was one such man that is now known as the incorruptible leader. Robespierre played a vital role in the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. The Reign of Terror was a filtration to purge the streets of France of the enemies of the Republic, as Robespierre claimed. Instead, the Reign proved none other than a ruthless mass murder of the enemies of the Republic that was enjoyed as entertainment by the Republicans.

Maximilien Robespierre was born in Arras, a small provincial capital of Artois in France, on May 6, 1758. Jacqueline-Marguerite Carraut, daughter of a brewer and mother of Robespierre, died giving birth to her fifth child. Robespierre's father, Maximilien-Barthelemy Francois, then left his four children (one having died at child birth) under the care of relatives, leaving Robespierre almost an orphan at the age of eight.

Robespierre's talent of speech became evident in his youth when Robespierre was chosen to address King Louis XVI. It is said that when Robespierre finished his Latin oration, King Louis smiled at him. Robespierre would later make numerous speeches, supporting the equality of the people, claiming that "freedom of the press goes hand in hand with freedom of speech.(Rude 21)" Being popular among the commoners, Robespierre was one of the first to speak in favor of granting suffrage to all citizens. This shows that once Robespierre put his mind to something, he would remain dedicated to it and would stop at nothing to reach his goals. It is rumored that he also kept a copy of The Social Contract by his bedside, showing that Robespierre was as determined and faithful as those who keep a copy of the Bible by their bedside.

In 1765, Robespierre attended college at a local college in Arras, but was later transferred to the famous college of Louis-le Grand in Paris after people saw how intelligent he was. In Louis-le Grand College, Robespierre studied philosophy and law, coming under the influence of Jean Jaques Rousseau's theories of democracy and deism. This influence gave Robespierre his ways towards virtue and civic morality. When corruption spread throughout the French government, Robespierre refused to be affected by bribery or corruption. When he was elected deputy, he was exposed to millions of francs daily, yet he wasn't even tempted to take a single franc that he didn't work for. For Robespierre's honesty and trustworthiness, he earned the nickname "The Incorruptible."

After attending college, Robespierre joined the Breton Club, later the Jacobins, in May of 1789. Later, Robespierre became the head of the Jacobin Club and was appointed to the Committee of Public Safety, a committee that was created to spread the belief that the government is kind to the people, while, in truth, Robespierre was killing people by the thousands. During the Reign of Terror, Robespierre cared for no man. When the time arose, Robespierre condemned the once greatly respected King Louis XVI and his wife to the guillotine without hesitation. To Robespierre, "the right of punishing the tyrant and the right of dethroning him are the same things, (Rude 34)" in which Robespierre's statement justified the execution of Louis XVI as rightly done as overthrowing a tyrant.

With his ambition, Robespierre cared less for his friends and family, believing that he would always have the support of the people. Like Caesar, Robespierre tries to hide his ambition, as in his speech in the Jacobin club on April 10, 1791, "as if I were so foolish as to wish to destroy the type of government that best accords with the interests of a great people...jealous of the government of Poland. (Carr 156)" Robespierre wanted power and the support of the people; therefore he made numerous speeches about equality and freedom. As war broke out in France, Robespierre remains unconvinced that monarchy would be revived. Robespierre made a speech on May 17, declaring that war "was both an irrelevance and a diversion, and a course that had little hope of success. (Rude 158)" Robespierre's statement shows that he values the State more than he values the lives of the people.

Robespierre had always kept the belief that the Royals and the King were enemies of the revolution and people. In response to the war, Robespierre gave a speech as a warning, in which he sated "What does it avail us to conquer the kings if we are conquered by the vices that lead to tyranny?(Rude 163)" Robespierre argues that whether war leads to victory or defeat and its threat towards liberty. According to Robespierre's argument, victory in a war may present a greater danger than defeat.

Robespierre never changed his mind so drastically that he came to total rejection of a single idea. Robespierre revealed himself as a man of Enlightment in his speech on May 30, 1791, in which he sated that "the death penalty is fundamentally unjust...it is not the most effective penalties.(Loomis 246)" Robespierre stated that the death penalty would increase the amount of crimes instead of decreasing it. The guillotine was made to strike fear in the people, instead it cause revolts and unjust murders. As a prediction of the Reign of Terror, in which many were killed in public, Robespierre said that if people were tortured and murdered in public, "they will pervert in the citizens' minds all idea of what is just and unjust,(Loomis 246)" which would result in terrible prejudices and cause the people to turn against one another. The horror of a crime diminishes when its only punishment is another crime, daring others to commit more crimes. This results in a rise in the count of crimes. During the Reign of Terror, the only punishment for a crime again the revolutionaries was the loss of one's head, which caused the amount of people sent to the guillotine to increase.

Robespierre never despised the King nor had he loved the King. What Robespierre hated was the crime that Louis has committed. In Robespierre's speech on December 3, 1792, Robespierre stated that he abhors the law stating death penalties are legal as a punishment for a crime and that it is a crime to sentence a person to death. Robespierre then explains that death penalties "can be justified only in cases where it is necessary for the security of the person or the state.(Rude 165)" Robespierre saw the Kings as a threat to the State, so Robespierre declared that "Louis must die in order that our country may live.(Carr 137)" Robespierre stated that Louis was an exception that was allowed to be put to his death, but the Reign of Terror was more than just that.

Even the government was in danger of having its head chopped off if it showed any ill-will towards the Republic. In the summer of 1792, the enemies of the people were few, but during the Terror, assassins, intriguers, and traitors to the Republic's cause increased dramatically. Robespierre had believed that "to the enemies of the people it owes only death.(Carr 138)" The people are the Republicans, in which their safety are offered by society, and the remainder of the people are considered criminals and are sentenced to death. Though royalists and conspirators are not Republicans, they are considered strangers, rather than enemies, to the Republic. Robespierre tried to contain the thrist for blood of the Republicans in his statement, "cursed is the man who dares to inflict on the people the terror that is intended for the people's enemies!(Rude 167)" Unconsciously becoming a "cursed man" himself, Robespierre attempted to speed up the procedures of the Revolutionary Tribunal dealing with the enemies of the Republic; but for many of his colleagues, Robespierre showed mercy, believing that they were merely misled.

Robespierre had a sense of timing. He chose the right moments to carry out policies that had been agreed upon earlier by the State. Robespierre justified his means in his speech of February 5, 1794, that wisdom of the government is shown when "it should take careful note of circumstance, seize the right moment, and choose the means.(Rude 167)" Seizing the right moments is a type of tactical leadership, in which the timing is crucial for maintaining the support of the people.

Robespierre was a persistent watchdog of the revolution. He believed that once he lets down his guard, old ideas and habits would be revived and threaten the stop the Revolution and force it back to base one, the beginning. Robespierre warned the people in his speech on February 1794, "weakness, vice, prejudice are so many sign-posts leading back to monarchy,(Carr 201)" which states that old habit die hard. Unless these old habits are uprooted, they would cause chaos and destroy the Revolution from within. Robespierre sought to create an equal society, in which all Republicans had equal amount of both wealth and property to contain the new ideas. He suggested to "let the maximum of wealth be fixed...let no citizen own more than one workshop or...shop.(Loomis 189)" In addition to these restrictions, the limit to the amount of tools one can own was set too. This shows that Robespierre wanted a classless society in which all people were identical to one another, in terms of wealth and power.

Maximilien Robespierre is a memorable historical figure. His deceitful ways of killing many people, most of them which were probably innocent or didn't deserve the death that they received, ruined his good reputation. Robespierre is revealed as a potential tyrant seeking more power, though he hated other tyrants; but the fact that Robespierre was once an incorruptible leader proves Robespierre as strong willed and determined. By only remembering Robespierre's leadership skills and determination, not at the lives of the people that he destroyed, it shows that Robespierre knew what the people needed and how to keep his rule over the people. Many people after the French Revolution blame Robespierre for the lives lost during the Terror, but Robespierre is really a good man. Robespierre had spent most of his lifetime spreading the idea of revolution and equality for all, repaid only with death. It is said that people are remembered mostly for the bad things they do, not for their good qualities. Maximilien-Francois-Marie-Isidore de Robespierre is one such example.

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Carr, John Laurence. Robespierre the force of circumstance St. Martin's Press: New York, 1972

Loomis, Stanley. Paris in the Terror: June 1973- July 1794 J. B. Lippincott Company: Philadelphia and New York, 1964

Rude, George. Robespierre Protrait of a Revolutionary Democrat The Viking Press: New York, 1975

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