Robespierres Goals example essay topic

ROBESPIERRE Thesis: Political leaders committed to radical or extremist goals often exert authoritarian control in the name of higher values. This statement is very much true in most cases. A perfect example of the validity of this statement is Maxi million Robespierre who himself said, Terror without virtue is bloody, virtue without terror is impossible". TS: Robespierres goals, though well-meaning, were considered revolutionary and fanatical. SAS: He actually was originally quite conservative. CD: Robespierre, because he was against capitol punishment, resigned from a judgeship rather than sentence death.

CDx: This is quite a contrast to his later life as a member of the Committee of Public Safety. CD: Robespierre was known as the Incorruptible due to his immunity to bribes and graft within his office. CDx: He wanted the rest of the republic to be just as virtuous. SAS: Robespierre was a great believer in virtue, and he wished to incorporate it into the forming of a democratic nation.

CD: His dream was to bring about a democratic republic made up of good citizens and honest men. CDx: The idea of a democratic republic was extremely revolutionary to a country that had been ruled by sovereigns since its beginning. Robespierres goals were extremist and revolutionary for the times he was living in, and since man is naturally resistant to the extreme, the Committee of Public Safety was set up by the convention to help convince the masses towards his way of thinking. TS: Robespierre was a member of the Convention and then the Committee of Public Safety, furthering his goals for a virtuous republic. SAS: During this time, Robespierre began to turn to more authoritarian practices to get things done CD: The goal of the Convention was to prepare a democratic constitution and to initiate legislation for the lower classes. CDx: This seems like a good idea, but many were opposed to any idea of a republic.

CD: The Convention set up the Committee of Public Safety to repress anarchy, civil strife, and counterrevolution at home. CDx: To have the idea of a constitution accepted by the general populace, the constitutionalists had to be rid of those who would try to undermine it. SAS: Robespierre would do anything to realize his dream of a virtuous republic, even go against his own values. CD: During the Reign of Terror, which Robespierre was a leading figure in, 40,000 people in league against the Republic, or just merely suspected of hostile activities were guillotined, including Marie Antoinette, Girondin leaders, and many other members of the common public. CDx: The man who once gave up a judgeship rather than sentence death now sanctioned terror as the order of the day.

TS: Robespierres higher ideals drove him to the extremes and eventually led to his own death. SAS: Robespierre believed in what he did and did not consider it as revolutionary as others. CD: An Herbert ist was responsible for the drowning of 2000 people at Nantes. Robespierre called such people ultra revolutionaries. CDx: Though Robespierre headed the Reign of Terror, he considered it all in the name of justice, and so it was not as gruesome as the other terrors of the revolution. SAS: Due to the many people and groups he had antagonized in trying to realize his dream of a virtuous republic, Robespierre brought about his own downfall.

CD: After the death of Danton, the Convention became fearful of its own ruling committee and obtained the outlawing of Robespierre. CDx: The Convention feared that Robespierre might find something wrong with them next. CD: Robespierre was sent to the guillotine July 28, 1794, and became a victim of his own terror. CDx: The Conventions decision was based on a kind of guillotine them before they can guillotine you principle.

CD: Those who turned against Robespierre absolved themselves of any guilt for the terror by heaping the blame on him. CDx: He was an easy scapegoat, not being alive to defend himself Con. : Robespierre started out with high ideals and principles, but lost his principles when he didnt get his way fast enough. He ran over anyone who got in his way, and so brought about his own downfall. Though what he wanted was a republic of good citizens and honest men, he created The Reign of Terror, a bloody time in French history that will never be forgotten..