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Robespierre The Tyrant of The French Revolution

Jetson Villena 2-1 March 9 Mr Miles Socials 9

Maximilien Robespierre

The French revolution was one of the central events in the western civilization led by Maximilein Robespierre and his reign of terror that lasted from 1787-1799[rjgeib]. Even though Robespierre took out the monarchy, he wasn't a better ruler than Louis XVI; instead he became a dictator. Firstly, even though he was a villain he was a great man before he got too involved with the revolution. Secondly, he was unfair to his fellow Frenchman which resulted to his own downfall. Finally he had no mercy and he considered anyone an enemy whose ideals differ from his own. Maximilein Robespierre was considered as one of the worst rulers throughout history. Although Robespierre was known as a terminator in history, he was a talented and hard working. He was not born of the hierarchy, instead he was born as a middle class in the provincial city of Arras[Encyclopedia]. He studied with distinction and later on took his father's profession of law[Encyclopedia]. As the revolution began to emerge he Robespierre was elected as a member of the Third estate delegation and quickly became a patriot party member. "He demanded religious freedom and freedom of the press. He urged the Assembly not to forget the poor"[Robespierre pg49]. He was the speaker of the poor and was a heroic champion of the poor. In addition Robespierre argued that the rights of man should extend to all man including the poor and the slaves. He was also a well know member of the Committee of Public Safety and he made a solid commitment to transforming France into a republic of Virtue[mtholyoke]. As Robespierre gained more power and almost gained absolute power he was no longer the good man he once was. He became corrupted and was becoming too suspicious to those around him even his closest friend Danton. He considered anyone against the revolution his enemies. When the monarch had their powers stripped away from them Robespierre and his Jacobins became in power. He became the ruler, however he was unfair and unjust believing that anyone that were against him had to die because he was worried that they would overthrow him. Therefore, he passed a law that suspects could no longer have a lawyer or call witnesses and the judges would only choose between death or acquittal[Evil Masters pg115]. This new law that was designed to speed up the trials caused many innocent people to lose their life because the convicts were not allowed to have any witnesses or lawyers to defend them ,in addition the decision was made by the judges intuitions. "As the Sans-Culottes demanded more executions, Robespierre was happy to oblige"[Robespierre pg99]. He started with his political enemies, the Girondins. This was the start of Robespierre reign of terror.

With the mob in his side, his true colours finally showed, he was corrupted. He became a ruthless living madman who showed no compassion to anyone, and considered those that oppose his revolution an enemy including his best friend, Danton. As Robespierre and his revolution went on he became more suspicious and began to treat his friends like enemies [Robespierre pg63]. "We must exterminate those miserable villains who are against the rights of man, we must exterminate all our enemies"[Robespierre pg79]. He was worried that if he did not take out all the enemies, the revolution would not be successful; so he sent the monarch to the guillotine, and soon followed by thousands of men and women. With absolute power in his hands Robespierre could not think he was safe at all times, therefore he had bodyguards with him at all times. His paranoia led him into suspicions of his closest friend Dalton and when Dalton finally had enough with killing innocent people he challenged Robespierre[Robespierre pg107]. Robespierre had became blind and later on charged Dalton with conspiring to overthrew the government[Robespierre pg107]. Even with his friend's execution Robespierre showed little effect on his emotions, he showed no regret and Danton's trial convinced Robespierre that his suspicions were true. That the revolution was indeed in danger of getting overthrow. He created a terrifying law that when the suspects are found guilty, the only sentence was death. He also added crimes such as lying to the people, stealing public property and producing spoiled foods by accident[Robespierre pg112]. Many hundreds of people were taken, most of them were innocent of any crime and most were accused by neighbors who wanted their land or property and some turned in by personal enemies[Robespierre pg113]. "Terror is only justice"-Robespierre[Robespierre pg114] even though the killings were shocking and terrifying he was convinced they were necessary for a new France. The device was actually moved outside the center of Paris because there was too many people dying and the blood was polluting the city's drinking water[Robespierre pg114]. Robespierre was a murderer. Each day people died under the guillotine, the conditions were not improving. People still had no bread and they lived in poverty[Robespierre pg 115]. The mob was finally tired of the terror, Robespierre was losing his support with the sans-culottes, his power in the Committee of Public Safety was decreasing and some wanted to end the Terror. Supporters on Danton also wanted to avenge their leader and others only wanted to get rid of Robespierre[Robespierre pg116]. Robespierre was losing all his supporters and as a result he was sent to the guillotine on July 28, 1794[Robespierre pg119]. Overall, even if Robespierre did some great things he cannot be recognize as a hero, he is a villain because he was ruthless, unfair, and was blind to the truth.

Sources http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/historical/biography/maximilien_robespierre.html http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Maximilien_Marie_Isidore_Robespierre.aspx http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/french/french.html http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/kat_anna/robespierre.html http://www.historytoday.com/marisa-linton/robespierre-and-terror Books
Scandiffio, Laura. Evil Masters: The Frightening World of Tyrants. N.p.: Annick Press, May 12, 20. N. pag. Print.
Hook, Donald D. Madmen of History. New York: Jonathan,David Publishers, 1976. N. pag. Print.
Diconsiglio, John. Robespierre: Master of the Guillotine. Canada: Children's Press, March 2008. N. pag. Print.