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

Content: Within the Convention, Robespierre became a prolific leader of the Montagnard faction. His speeches, like much of his political career, divided opinion. Robespierre was undoubtedly eloquent and his speeches were rigorously prepared – but they did not please everyone. “ He is too verbose and does not know when to stop”, one observer noted. Robespierre himself was cold, humourless, single-minded and difficult to like. He had few friends and never married, despite constant offers from women he did not know. The historian Thomas Carlyle called him the “sea-green incorruptible”. Georges Danton ‘s coarse view of Robespierre was that he “can’t fuck and money scares the hide off him”. Disposing of the Girondons
Robespierre spent the first half of 1793 plotting against the Girondins, whose orators still dominated the National Convention. In the spring of 1793, Robespierre took this fight to the Jacobin club where he urged the people to take action against Jacques Brissot and his followers.