Maximilian Robespierre was at one time a very famous ascetic of the Great French Revolution. From 1793 to 1794, he was a "gray cardinal" and practically the head of the republic, being one of the main ideologists and leaders of a tough revolutionary dictatorship.
Biography
Maximilian was born back in 1758 in the small town of Arras. His father François Robespierre was a lawyer, and his mother died when the boy was only six years old.
In addition to Maximilian, the family also had four children. After the death of his wife, Robespierre's father went abroad, leaving all his children in the care of his relatives. The boys were raised by their maternal grandfather, and the girls went to live with their aunts' families.
In 1765, Maximilian enrolled in college at Arras. Then, in 1769, thanks to the active intercession of Canon Aimé to His Holiness Bishop Konzi, Maximilian received a scholarship from the Abbey of Saint-Vaas and was assigned to study at the Lyceum of Louis the Great in Paris. The boy decided to follow in his father's footsteps and began to study law. He studied very successfully and several times became one of the best students.
After graduation, Robespierre returned to Arras in order to begin his law practice. In April 1789, he was elected to the States General of France as a deputy from the third estate. While serving in the National Assembly (1789-1791), Robespierre held an extreme leftist position.
Robespierre's political views
Robespierre was an active supporter of Rousseau's ideas. Maximilian fiercely criticized the liberal majority for the weak radicalism of the reforms being carried out. Then he became the leader of the Jacobin Club, in which he developed his position.
Passionate speeches, saturated with democratic ideas and slogans, brought Robespierre fame and admiration of the common people, as well as the nickname "Incorruptible".
After the National Assembly was dissolved in 1791, Robespierre became a public prosecutor at the Paris Criminal Court. He actively defended his political views and fought for the ideas of the revolution. In 1792, he wrote an article in the weekly Defender of the Constitution on the need to deepen the revolution.
In his appeals to the people, he acted as an adherent of equal political freedoms and rights for all categories of citizens:
- for men, regardless of their religion;
- for black people from French colonies;
- freedom of speech;
- free assembly rights;
- active state assistance to the elderly, the poor and the disabled.
Robespierre said that in order to achieve all these goals, it is necessary to organize resistance to the incompetent ruling king and select groups that impede innovation.
Girondins, terror and Robespierre
During the French Revolution, Robespierre was one of the most active participants in it. On August 10, 1792, as a result of the rebellion, he became a member of the Commune of Paris. In September, Maximilian was elected to the Convention, where he, along with Danton and Maratomi, became the head of the left wing and began to fight against the Girondins.
In December 1792, Robespierre proposed the immediate execution of Louis XVI. After the trial of the monarch, he voted for the death of the king and actively encouraged others to vote as well.
After the victory of the revolutionaries and the expulsion of the Girondins from power, Robespierre joined the Committee of Public Safety.
Together with his associates L. A. Saint-Just and J. Couton, he determined the general political line of the revolutionary government and practically led it.
Then he achieved a complete end to the "de-Christianization" carried out by the ultra-left (Ebertists), and harshly condemned the atheism promoted by them.
Robespierre also rejected the demands of Danton's associates to end the bloody revolutionary terror.
In his speech of February 5, 1794, and in several other speeches, he proclaimed the main goal of the revolution to build a completely new society on the basis of the well-known Rousseauist principles of "republican morality."
The main idea of the new system should, according to Robespierre, be an artificially created state religion, namely the cult of the Supreme Being.
Maximilian thought that thanks to the triumph of "republican virtue" all major social problems would be solved.
Robespierre's dream was:
- destruction of all the rules and values of the old system;
- denial of the privileges of the old regime;
- creation of a new democratic system.
But, surprisingly, the only true means of achieving his political ideals, Robespierre considered harsh terror.
The death of the main French revolutionary
Over time, Robespierre came to the conclusion that the allies who had previously supported him among the deputies and colleagues in the Committee, one way or another, hinder the implementation of his ideas.
He decided that only a dictatorship of "pure patriots" would help establish a clear "rule of law."
In 1794, Robespierre decided to crack down on his opposition. In the spring of 1794, on the personal initiative of Robespierre and Saint-Just, the Ebertists and Dantonists were executed. He sent to the block the followers of Jacques Hebert and like-minded people of Georges Danton, who wanted to put an end to the merciless terror.
After the elimination of political opponents, Robespierre established the cult of the Supreme Being as an alternative institution to Christianity and Eber's atheism.
He calmed down and believed that he would now be able to create an exemplary republic.
But Robespierre miscalculated, former enemies, extremists and people dissatisfied with the new state of affairs in the country united against him and his supporters. The "Great Terror", which Robespierre and his assistants staged, affected all segments of the population and greatly undermined the past popularity of "Incorruptible".
The illusory ideals of Maximilian did not meet with understanding and support in society, and the obvious dictatorial habits turned most of the members of the Convention against him.
As a result of a conspiracy and a coup in 1794, the Jacobin dictatorship was overthrown. On July 27, the Convention decided by a majority vote to bring Robespierre himself and his allies on trial. They made an attempt to organize resistance, but were captured by the troops of the Convention. And the very next day Robespierre and his associates were executed. It is noteworthy that the people, who used to love Robespierre so much, triumphed at his execution.
