Prcis on Justification of the Use of Terror

Maximilien Robespierre was born in the north of France in a town called Arras in 1758.1 Being
the eldest child and having lost his mother at a young age, Robespierre assumed responsibility for the
welfare of his family and the welfare of others in need. He became a lawyer in his small town, defending
the impoverished and allying himself with the working class (despite his bourgeoisie upbringing). He
was witness to the disparity of wealth within France and was aware of how it hindered much of the
population. This early alliance later allowed him to identify with the working class and radical sans
culottes during the French Revolution. In 1793, in response to both foreign and civil wars, the National
Convention created the Committee of Public Safety, a political body that could exercise executive and
legislative power in order to defend France, and Robespierre was at the head. 2 An influential member of
the Committee, Robespierre believed in a republic of virtue3, and thought himself a protector and
defender of the revolution. His involvement with the sans culottes allowed Robespierre to keep his
power for a little over a year, until his execution on 28 July 1794.
In his speech to the National Convention on 5 February 1794, Robespierre speaks of his
republic of virtue and the duality of virtue and terror. Much like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Robespierre
believed that all people were naturally virtuous, and that a republic should consist of those who wanted
nothing more than to see the peoples happiness and success rather than material gains. True virtue,
according to Robespierre, can only be obtained when all other worries have disappeared. Robespierre
draws attention to the virtue that exists as the basis for popular government during times of peace,
however, he makes a distinction between times of peace and the current time of revolution, stressing the
need for a new method terror to exercise control in a turbulent time when the nation is vulnerable.

Linton, Marisa. "Robespierre and the Terror." History Today. August 1, 2006. Accessed November 13, 2014.
http://www.historytoday.com/marisa-linton/robespierre-and-terror.
2
Linton
3
Robespierre, Maximilien. "Justification of the Use of Terror." Speech, National Convention, Paris, February 5, 1794.

Robespierre presents virtue and terror as two ideas that are intimately connected. According to
him, virtue and terror support one another, particularly in times of revolution. Robespierre insists that
anything relating to the Old Regime or anyone who speaks ill of the revolution is an enemy of the
Republic and of France, for without virtue, one can only be corrupt. And if virtue were to be spoilt,
corruption would permeate through government, and thus those in power are at fault for allowing it to do
so. Robespierre believed that it was not only the peoples responsibility but the governments
responsibility to defend virtue by any means necessary. In his speech, Robespierre equates terror with
justice prompt, severe, inflexible4 and proposes the implementation of terror as policy, using it as a
creative force not just for policing the people but for politics as well in order to defend the creation of
the new Republican government.
There is irony within Robespierres duality of terror and virtue. His dedication to preserving the
revolution and beating down any dissent from counterrevolutionaries at any cost obscured his natural
virtue and morals, causing him to execute his friends Danton and Desmoulins. The Terror, meant to be
a form of temporary protection until the radical Republican government was fully formed, became a
symbol of Robespierre and the regime itself.

Robespierre