Robespierre's Legacy

Introduction: Robespierre
Controversy surrounds Maximilien Robespierre’s legacy, with historians split as to whether he was a hero or a villain. Robespierre is to many the embodiment of the French Revolution. In fact, he wielded immense power from 1793 to 1794 (Scurr, 2007). Despite his association with the Revolution, there isn’t a single statue in Paris to celebrate his legacy. Doing so would give the French Revolution an unacceptable dark side. Biographers interested in Robespierre’s life are plagued with constant problems. His pedantic, unforgiving and often cruel nature fueled the paranoia that characterized the revolution. He is described as incorruptible and brutally honest. He consequently killed thousands of people on a matter of …show more content…
The clubs initially debated simple societal issues but as they became popular they debated more radical ideas much in the same way political parties do today. Robespierre was largely influential over the Jacobin Club because he manipulated the people’s paranoia in his favor. Historians believe that he was in many ways a conspiracy theorist, unmasking purported plans and plots he claimed the political elite were responsible for. Scurr (2007) points out that Robespierre, unlike many politicians at the time, was against war. In 1792, he was one among the few leaders who were against France’s engagement in war (Goldstone, 1991). He believed that fighting and the killing of innocents was not the solution to France’s …show more content…
The club terrorized the country because it wielded immense counter-revolutionary opposition power which resulted from the Revolution. Additionally, the non-existent parliamentary tradition in the country required to give political entities the experience required to handle opposing political opinions served in the favor of the Jacobins. The country transitioned from a monarchy to a political system in the blink of an eye. According to Goldstone (1991), the people’s will suddenly became the supreme rule. Because no political tradition existed at the time, there was no room for a legitimate opposition. The Jacobins therefore soon ran amok with Robespierre at the helm. It should be noted that the war with foreign nations fueled Robespierre’s greed for power in the year 1792 (Scurr, 2007). The prevalent fear of invasion by countries like Austria, Spain and Britain only served to strengthen his tyrannical intensions. The polarization of political views was the inevitable result as Robespierre requisitioned supplies and recruited troops in preparation for invasion. The Jacobins intended to not only establish a revolution in France, but win the war. Mad with power, Robespierre progressively spiraled out of

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