Robespierre Essay, Research Paper
ROBESPIERRE
Thesis: ?Political leaders committed to radical or
extremist goals often exert authoritarian control in the
name of higher values.? This statement is very much
true in most cases. A perfect example of the validity
of this statement is Maximillion Robespierre who himself
said, ?Terror without virtue is bloody, virtue without
terror is impossible.”
TS: Robespierre?s goals, though well-meaning, were
considered revolutionary and fanatical. SAS: He
actually was originally quite conservative.
CD: Robespierre, because he was against capitol
punishment, resigned from a judgeship rather than
sentence death. CDx: This is quite a contrast to his
later life as a member of the Committee of Public
Safety. CD: Robespierre was known as ?the
Incorruptible? due to his immunity to bribes and graft
within his office. CDx: He wanted the rest of the
republic to be just as virtuous. SAS: Robespierre was a
great believer in virtue, and he wished to incorporate
it into the forming of a democratic nation. CD: His
dream was to bring about a democratic republic made up
of good citizens and honest men. CDx: The idea of a
democratic republic was extremely revolutionary to a
country that had been ruled by sovereigns since its
beginning. Robespierre?s goals were extremist and
revolutionary for the times he was living in, and since
man is naturally resistant to the extreme, the Committee
of Public Safety was set up by the convention to help
convince the masses towards his way of thinking.
TS: Robespierre was a member of the Convention and
then the Committee of Public Safety, furthering his
goals for a virtuous republic. SAS: During this time,
Robespierre began to turn to more authoritarian
practices to get things done. CD: The goal of the
Convention was to prepare a democratic constitution and
to initiate legislation for the lower classes. CDx:
This seems like a good idea, but many were opposed to
any idea of a republic. CD: The Convention set up the
Committee of Public Safety to repress anarchy, civil
strife, and counterrevolution at home. CDx: To have the
idea of a constitution accepted by the general populace,
the constitu
try to undermine it. SAS: Robespierre would do anything
to realize his dream of a virtuous republic, even go
against his own values. CD: During the ?Reign of
Terror?, which Robespierre was a leading figure in,
40,000 people in league against the Republic, or just
merely suspected of hostile activities were guillotined,
including Marie Antoinette, Girondin leaders, and many
other members of the common public. CDx: The man who
once gave up a judgeship rather than sentence death now
sanctioned ?terror as the order of the day?.
TS: Robespierre?s higher ideals drove him to the
extremes and eventually led to his own death. SAS:
Robespierre believed in what he did and did not consider
it as revolutionary as others. CD: An Herbertist was
responsible for the drowning of 2000 people at Nantes.
Robespierre called such people ?ultra revolutionaries?.
CDx: Though Robespierre headed the Reign of Terror, he
considered it all in the name of justice, and so it was
not as gruesome as the other terrors of the revolution.
SAS: Due to the many people and groups he had
antagonized in trying to realize his dream of a virtuous
republic, Robespierre brought about his own downfall.
CD: After the death of Danton, the Convention became
fearful of its own ruling committee and obtained the
?outlawing? of Robespierre. CDx: The Convention feared
that Robespierre might find something wrong with them
next. CD: Robespierre was sent to the guillotine July
28, 1794, and became a victim of his own terror. CDx:
The Convention?s decision was based on a kind of
?guillotine them before they can guillotine you?
principle. CD: Those who turned against Robespierre
absolved themselves of any guilt for the terror by
heaping the blame on him. CDx: He was an easy
scapegoat, not being alive to defend himself
Con.: Robespierre started out with high ideals and
principles, but lost his principles when he didn?t get
his way fast enough. He ran over anyone who got in his
way, and so brought about his own downfall. Though what
he wanted was a republic of good citizens and honest
men, he created The Reign of Terror, a bloody time in
French history that will never be forgotten.