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Maximilien Robespierre
Historical figureFrance1758-1794

Maximilien Robespierre

Member of the National Constituent Assembly · Jacobin leader

Leading Jacobin and member of the Committee of Public Safety who argued that virtue needed terror in revolution, presided over the Terror of 1793-1794 and was guillotined himself.

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Profile on 12 axes6 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Maximilien Robespierre, axis by axis

  1. 01OwnershipNo clear record
    PublicPrivate
  2. 02Markets-30
    PlannedFree

    Hoarding was made a capital offense on the day he joined the Committee, but sources do not tie that law to him. The score is light.

  3. 03Welfare-35
    SharedSelf-reliant

    He was known for defending the poor, which gives a mild shared-welfare lean.

  4. 04Authority+45
    DemocraticStrong leader

    He defended democracy in theory but led a committee with near-dictatorial control, so the score is toward a strong executive.

  5. 05Security+90
    LibertyOrder

    He called terror justice prompt, severe and inflexible, and the Law of 22 Prairial sped trials and executions.

  6. 06StructureNo clear record
    LocalCentral
  7. 07Morality+40
    ProgressiveTraditional
  8. 08Religion+10
    SecularReligious

    He replaced the Cult of Reason with a deist Cult of the Supreme Being meant to take Catholicism's place, so he is neither secular nor orthodox.

  9. 09TechnologyNo clear record
    EmbraceCaution
  10. 10CultureNo clear record
    MulticulturalNational identity
  11. 11TradeNo clear record
    GlobalProtected
  12. 12Foreign policyNo clear record
    CooperationStrength

6 axes have no clear record, so matching leaves them out.

Who was Maximilien Robespierre?

Maximilien Robespierre was born on 6 May 1758 in Arras and earned a law degree in 1781. He admired Rousseau, defended the poor and was nicknamed the incorruptible. Elected to the Estates General at thirty, he became a leading Jacobin. He opposed the death penalty and slavery, but in December 1792 he argued successfully for the execution of Louis XVI. He joined the Committee of Public Safety in July 1793 and helped drive the Reign of Terror. Arrested on 27 July 1794, he was guillotined on 28 July with 21 allies.

Political views

  • He admired Jean-Jacques Rousseau, became known for defending the poor, and was nicknamed the incorruptible.Source: biography.com
  • He opposed the death penalty and slavery in his early career.Source: biography.com
  • In December 1792 he argued successfully for the execution of Louis XVI.Source: biography.com
  • In his February 1794 speech he said that during a revolution the spring of popular government is virtue combined with terror.Source: sourcebooks.fordham.edu
  • He described terror as a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to the country's most pressing needs.Source: sourcebooks.fordham.edu
  • He introduced the Cult of the Supreme Being, a form of deism meant to replace Roman Catholicism and the Cult of Reason, and led its festival on 8 June 1794.Source: worldhistory.org
  • The Law of 22 Prairial, passed on 10 June 1794, sped up trials during the Terror and led to more executions.Source: worldhistory.org

Legacy

Admirers see Robespierre as an incorruptible defender of the poor and a principled republican who would not compromise. Critics charge that he used the Terror to destroy political opponents. In about eleven months, roughly 300,000 suspects were arrested and more than 17,000 were executed, mostly by guillotine, under the Committee he dominated. When he refused to name the traitors he accused in July 1794, moderates and revolutionaries joined to bring him down. After his fall the Revolution became less radical, and Napoleon took power in 1799.

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Maximilien Robespierre: questions

Was Robespierre responsible for the Reign of Terror?

He dominated the Committee of Public Safety that ran it and defended terror as justice. Over about eleven months more than 17,000 people were executed.

Did Robespierre oppose the death penalty?

Early in his career he opposed it, and he also opposed slavery. By December 1792 he argued for the execution of Louis XVI, and the Terror followed.

What was the Cult of the Supreme Being?

A deist state religion Robespierre introduced to replace Catholicism and the Cult of Reason. Its festival was held on 8 June 1794.

Sources