Question

What types of policies were framed by robespierre

Answer 1

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794), known to his contemporaries as “the Incorruptible,” remains one of the most controversial figures of the French Revolution. To his enemies, he was viewed as the Devil incarnate; to the Parisian masses of 1793, he was seen as the unwavering champion of freedom and equality. Under his leadership, the French Revolution entered its radical phase (1792–1794), when as many as 40,000 people were guillotined in order to complete what he viewed as “the war of liberty against tyranny.” In early 1794, he arrested and executed some of his former political allies, but by midyear, his own position was growing precarious within a divided Committee of Public Safety. In July, his enemies issued an arrest warrant and Robespierre was tried and guillotined the following day.

Six months prior to his death, when he was at the height of his power, Robespierre gave a speech on “The Moral and Political Principles of Domestic Policy” (February 1794). His speech offers a fascinating insight into Robespierre’s vision of the revolution, as well as his justification for the use of terror. It also raises some interesting questions about the meaning of the French Revolution, the use of extremism in defense of liberty, and the relationship between democracy, nationalism, and “virtue.”

The Ninth of Thermidor, by Richard Bienvenu. Oxford University Press