Robespierre’s Terror

Maximilien Robespierre once said “Lead the people by reason and the people’s enemies by terror.(Halsall)” There is no one more well-known in the French Revolution than Maximilien Robespierre. His name symbolizes a period of time during the Revolution known as the Terror. As the Enlightenment ideas, like equal rights for all man, flows in the European countries, Maximilien Robespierre was influenced by theses new ideas and carry out these ideas during the French Revolution. He supports equal rights to all man and put an end to aristocratic privileges. One of the most controversial things that he did was the Terror. The idea of using Terror is to prevent counter-revolution. During the time of Terror, because the false believe he had, many innocent lives were taken. At the same time as Maximilien Robespierre grew in power and threads the National Convention(Halsall); as a result people begin to fear the absolute rule by Maximilien Robespierre. Maximilien Robespierre set off the Terror and the execution of many guiltless people, his ideals was cold-blooded, ruthless, and meaningless; and made him a more of a supreme leader.

The French Revolution, like any other revolutions, it did not happen over night; it starts with generations of bad policies and decisions made by the kings of France. Under the Old Regime in France, the king, Louis XIV, was an absolute monarchy. He had all the power in the government. The French society is divided in to three Estates, the clergy, the noble, and the peasantry. A group called the bourgeoisie is also considering in the peasantry, but they are more independent financially and well educated too. Maximilien Robespierre is also a bourgeoisie, worked as a lawyer, most of the bourgeoisie work as shopkeeper and professional job instead of farming. Eighty percent of the French population is consider of peasantry, they are the fundamental people that support the French society. The French King spent money collected from tax, which is mostly from the peasantry, carelessly on new palaces and luxuries goods; while the noble and clergy pay little or no tax at all.

As this trend continues, French’s debt builds up, and is digging itself deeper and deeper in to an irreversible financial crisis. As a result Louis XVI tried to raise tax form the noble to cover his expense, but it was voted down. As food prices skyrocketed, Louis XVI had no choice but to call the Estates-General to meet in Vercelli on May 5th, 1789(Duiker). This is the first time in more than one hundred and seventy-five years the Estates-General had meet. During the meeting, conflicts between the Third Estate and the other two Estates rise. The Third Estate wants a more fair voting system, voting by head, which means that each person in the Estates-General has one vote, rather than each Estate have one vote and a veto power over the other Estate. The Third Estate tries to push this idea so that their voice could be heard, but the other two Estates strongly opposes, fearing that their aristocratic privileges will be taking away by the rise of Third Estate.