Maximilien Robespierre and the Reign of Terror

Paper Summary:

This paper chronicles the life of Maximilien Robespierre. His birthplace, early childhood years, adolescence, and adult years are discussed. His initial political philosophy, which emphasized human rights, democracy, and patriotism is outlined. Robespierre's appointment to the "Committee of Public Safety" and his career as an appointee are also discussed. The paper also covers Robespierre's approach to handling his political opposition and explains how this was part of the "Reign of Terror" campaign. The paper continues by explaining that Robespierre's transformation from a man with just motives in the beginning to one intent on controlling any opposition to him with terror, eventually doomed him to failure.

From the Paper:

"Maximilien Robespierre was born in 1758 in the small town of Arras in France. According to Thompson (1952), the Robespierre family had lived in that part of the country for three hundred years, even though Maximilien was later to be accused of behaving as a foreigner. By 1789, at the age of thirty-one, he was almost a nobody: an orphan, for his mother was dead and his father had deserted the home; with a younger brother and sister upon his hands; with a brilliant school career behind him, a small and unsuccessful legal practice, and a reputation for forensic oratory and essay-writing, which was recognized as the readiest approach in those days to a public career (Thompson, 1952). Within time, Robespierre had developed an interest in democracy, human rights and virtue, in the form of civic responsibility and morality (Mathiez, 1927). His focus on civic morality would later lead to his recognition as "the Incorruptible"."

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