About the Jacobins & Robespierre

Maximilien Robespierre was an important figure in the Jacobin Club and the French Revolution, and eventually grew to be the central figure for a short while. He was among the leaders of the radical Jacobins, and it was his combination of ruthlessness, paranoia, fanatical idealism and incorruptibility that gave his career the name "The Reign of Terror." As the French Revolution is one of the defining events of Western political history, and the Terror one of the defining events of the Revolution, Robespierre and the Jacobins are central to our larger political heritage.

Identification

The Jacobins were members of the Jacobin Club, the largest and most powerful of the political factions in the French Revolution. It later became synonymous with left-wing radicalism worldwide. They were an outgrowth of the Club Benthorn, formed by delegates from Brittany at the Estates General meeting of 1789. It soon evolved from an exclusively Breton group to a national organization. It eventually grew to a membership of 420,000 before its end, including even the anti-British Indian monarch Tipu Sultan. The Jacobins were radical revolutionaries, pushing for such things as universal suffrage, the separation of Church and State, and the abolition of the monarchy.

Features

The Montagnards, or "Mountain Men," were a faction within the Jacobins. They were dubbed "Mountain Men" because they sat on together as a group on the highest benches at the General Assembly meetings. The Montagnards were probably the most radical and certainly the most ruthless faction within the ranks of the Jacobins, and among there number was Maximilien Robespierre.

History

Prior to the Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre was a popular lawyer in Arras. He was elected to the Estates General, Constituent Assembly and later the General Assembly. During the early days of the Revolution, he took to the streets as a demagogue, and eventually established himself as the leading figure of a small group of extreme leftist delegates, even before the Jacobin Club became a larger, national body. In this period, Robespierre's objective successes were limited to making a name for himself and passing a bill that barred members of the Constitution-writing Constituent Assembly from being immediately elected and thereby succeeding into the General Assembly. This act, coupled with his modest lifestyle, created Robespierre's image as an incorruptible patriot.
In February 1792, Robespierre and fellow future Montagnard Marat stood against the declaration of war against Austria. They were more concerned with domestic counter-revolutionaries than the possibility of a reaction imposed from abroad. This was the formal beginning of the rivalry between the radical Montagnards and the increasingly conservative Girondin faction, but it is important to remember that both were, for the most part, members of the larger Jacobin Club. As the situation in France grew more tumultuous, Paris became increasingly radicalized, and the popularity of the extreme left grew. When the new government under the National Convention was formed, Robespierre was elected as a member. It was on the benches of the Convention that the extremist faction of the "Mountain" formed. Open mudslinging soon characterized the relations between the Girondists and the Montagnards at Convention meetings, with Robespierre in particular being repeatedly accused of plotting dictatorship.
By December 1792, what do do with King Louis XVI overshadowed all other political squabbles, and Robespierre was among the loudest voices calling for the execution of the King. The execution and ongoing troubles were a boon for the Montagnards, led by Robespierre, Marat and Danton, who soon were able to outflank the Girondists on the left. Soon they had provoked a popular uprising in Paris against the Girondists, leading to the intimidation of the government and the arrest of more than 30 prominent Girondist leaders, including the most prominent member, Jean Pierre Brissot. Many of the Girondists, both arrested and at liberty, escaped and fled Paris, where they tried to raise an uprising of their own in rural France.
The combination of food riots, perceived treason, paranoia and possible civil war led the Montagnards to create a Committee of Public Safety in April 1793. Robespierre was elected to the Committee, soon became its dominant member and by default the dictator of France.
As the leading member of the Committee of Public Safety and one of Paris's most popular orators, Robespierre was also a prominent figure in the Reign of Terror. Ever concerned with threats, real or imagined, to the Revolution within France, Robespierre his power and his rhetoric to round-up and execute not only real traitors and monarchists, but also moderates and even former allies who disagreed with his policies. During the winter and spring of 1793 and 1794, Robespierre directed the arrest and execution of Jacques Hebert, former ally Georges Danton and their followers. Most of these men were also Jacobins.
However, Robespierre had seriously overreached. His ruthlessness, bloodlust and paranoia caused members of the National Convention to fear for their own lives, and they ordered the arrest of Robespierre and his closest supporters in July 1794. Robespierre remained very popular on the Paris streets, however, and the Paris Commune moved to his support. The result was a confrontation between Commune troops and the national army. Cornered in the Hotel de Ville, the Commune troops rapidly deserted Robespierre, the army stormed the building and many of Robespierre's followers were either killed, wounded or committed suicide. Robespierre himself was shot in the jaw, and was sent to the guillotine without trial the next day.

Significance

Maximilien Robespierre is one of the central figures in the French Revolution. His combination of intellect, personal integrity, fanaticism, ruthlessness and paranoia drove the success of the radical left. While it is possible that the extremists, as represented by the Montagnards, could have defeated the Girondists without him, it is highly unlikely that the Terror would have taken on the severe and bloodthirsty character that it did without Robespierre leading it. Indeed, just as the Jacobins have become synonymous with radical leftists revolutionaries, Robespierre has become synonymous with turning a revolution against itself in an exercise of paranoia and judicial murder.

Expert Insight

In the long term, Robespierre and his policies were instrumental in the ultimate doom of the French Revolution. The descent of the country into continued civil strife, mob violence, the use of the guillotine as an instrument of politics, and foreign war all led to a succession of weak central governments and ultimately the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Robespierre encouraged or invented most of those considerations, being opposed only to the foreign wars. While Bonaparte retained some aspects and achievements of the Revolution, he abolished others. Bonaparte himself fell in 1815 to be replaced by the restored Bourbon monarchy, which ruled a reactionary France until 1848. By mounting a coup against the Girondists and then destroying his own allies within the Montagnards, Robespierre probably doomed the very Revolution and Jacobin ideals he was claiming to protect.

Considerations

Given his standing as one of the Revolution's leading radicals and his central role in the ultimate degeneration of the French Revolution into the Reign of Terror, Robespierre remains a controversial figure to this day. Leftists of all stripes seem to be unable to completely condemn the man, even when they regret his excesses (and not all his apologists do). His apologists portray him as being pressed to bloody ruthlessness by the trying conditions of the time, or of being inexperienced and misguided, and focus on his austere ways and personal rectitude.