The Fall of Robespierre - July 28, 1794

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The Fall of Robespierre - July 28, 1794

Causes

  • The Fall of Robespierre began on March 30, 1794 when he sent his fellow politicians Danton and Desmoulins to the guillotine.
  • Danton was a staunch patriot, but also had qualities that Robespierre detested. Danton lived beyond his means consistently, and it was rumored that he had accepted bribes from aristocrats and the king. Robespierre's "Republic of Virtue" had no place for characters like Danton.
  • Desmoulins was also condemned because he eloquently sided with Danton in his journal "The Old Cordelier," a journal which Robespierre labeled "counter-revolutionary."
  • Robespierre used his power as a member of the Committee of Public Safety to have the two unfairly tried and guillotined.
  • After this event, members of the Convention and the Committee eyed Robespierre with suspicion. He had ordered the death of two of his close friends despite the fact that they had been popular among the people of Paris.
  • Robespierre was the sole person who decided between wrong and right. The Convention saw Robespierre as a tyrant and his Republic of Virtue as authoritarian.
  • A faction of the Convention banded together to destroy Robespierre before he destroyed the remaining members of the French government
  • especially, when Robespierre and two followers had walked into the Convention holding a piece of paper, claimbing that it was a list of traitors
  • when those in the comittee asked who was on the list Robespierre refused to answer and said all would be revealed the next day. This was the biggest, and last mistake of Robespierres life
  • Those in the comittee didnt know whether their name was on that list - even if they were not counter revolutionary they would have been executed without trial.
  • therefore, to save themselves they had to execute Robespierre and his followers.

Effects

  • The Journalist Charles de Lacretelle reported the reactions in Paris: "People were hugging each other in the streets and at places of entertainment and they were so surprised to find themselves still alive that their joy almost turned to frenzy"
  • those who helped overthrow Robespierre were known as the Thermidorians (after the month of Thermidor when the coup occured)
  • Robespierre was declared an outlaw, and condemned without judicial process. The following day, 10 Thermidor (28 July 1794), he was executed with 21 of his closest associates
  • The Thermidorian regime that followed was, at the very least, less rigid, ending the Reign of Terror and allowing for more individual liberty, especially in areas of religion.
  • At the same time, its economic policies paved the way for rampant inflation
  • Ultimately, power devolved to the hands of the Directory, an executive of five men who assumed power in France in year III of the French Revolution.
  • The Terror Ended
  • between the end of July 1794 and 31st May 1795, the convention:
  • abolished the revolutionary tribunal, following the execution of a further 63 people, including some who had been leading terrorists
  • released all aspects from prision
  • repealed the law of prairial and closed the jacobin club

Overall summary

Overall, Robespierre let power get to his head, he executed his close friends without trial and threatened the whole of the convention. This was bound to lead to his death. The reaction to Robespierre's death was a positive one. All those who still had their heads were surprised they had survived. The rest of the convention set about dismantling the terror immediately. this led to the directory and Napoleon taking over. 

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