Title: Maximilien Robespierre
Headings: Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
Background
At the Estates-General
Radical views and popularity
Disposing of the Girondons
Rapid fall

Content: Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
A portrait of the young Robespierre on entering practice as a lawyer
Maximilien François de Robespierr e (1758-1794) was the most significant leader of the French Revolution’s radical period. He has divided historians and modern thinkers, just as he divided opinion in his own time. Some consider Robespierre the revolution’s greatest dictator, the arch ‘sanguinocrat’, the driving force behind the Committee of Public Safety (CPS) and the Reign of Terror. Others have taken a more nuanced and measured view, believing his power and influence have been exaggerated and misrepresented. Whatever the extent of his power, Robespierre is a fascinating figure. Obsessed with virtue and incorruptibility, disinterested in material gain and distractions, Robespierre was a man entirely dedicated to the revolution. Background
Robespierre was born in Arras, about 115 miles (180 kilometres) north of Paris, in 1758. His mother died when Robespierre was an infant and his father abandoned the family shortly after, leaving Robespierre and his siblings to be raised by their grandparents. He attended a local school and proved an exceptional student, winning a scholarship to Paris. There he shared classes with Camille Desmoulins, who for much of the revolution was a political ally.