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Robespierre

Original nameMaximilien Robespierre

Leader of the French Revolution, driver of the "Reign of Terror"

Those Who Gave Power Back to the People · Revolution & Rights
French RevolutionRepublicReign of TerrorVirtue

Who they are

The most famous and most contested leader of the French Revolution. Styling himself a disciple of Rousseau and full of the ideal of a "republic of virtue," he was for a time the most radical and purest embodiment of the revolution. But when the revolution fell into crisis at home and abroad, the Committee of Public Safety he led sent tens of thousands to the guillotine in the name of "enemies of the republic," opening the bloody "Reign of Terror" — and in the end, he too was swallowed by the same guillotine. He is a profound political parable: in the name of the loftiest ideal, one can likewise forge the most extreme tyranny.

Primary sourcesRobespierre’s speechessources on the French Revolution

Key stories

Swallowed by His Own Guillotine

Robespierre firmly believed that to defend the revolution and build a "republic of virtue," terror was a necessary means. Under him the guillotine ran day and night, and even former comrades of the revolution lost their heads one after another. But when everyone began to fear whether they would be next, the backlash came — in 1794, in the Thermidorian coup, he was arrested and the next day sent to the very guillotine on which he had executed countless others. He failed to hold the line between ideal and tyranny.

Version differences

Whether Robespierre was a pure idealist or a bloodthirsty tyrant has been polarized for two centuries; this site states the facts and the dispute of "terror in the name of virtue" without deciding.

Relationships

Mentor
🔥Rousseau　styled himself a disciple of Rousseau’s "popular sovereignty"

Echoes today

Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.

The eternal warning of the "Reign of Terror"Robespierre "forging the most extreme tyranny in the name of the loftiest ideal," and being swallowed in the end by his own guillotine, is the most-cited historical case when discussing "how a revolution devours itself" and "the boundary between ideal and tyranny."

Appears in

The Age of RevolutionsThe French Revolution: From Ideal to Terror, then to Code
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