Robespierre
Guillotine's eventual victim
Maximilien Robespierre was a French revolutionary leader who dominated the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror (1793–94).
His name has become synonymous with revolutionary idealism turned murderous—the principled radical who sends former allies to the guillotine.
To call someone a Robespierre suggests zealotry and moral ruthlessness: Every revolution eventually produces its Robespierre.
Moral goodness or merit
- incorruptibleImpossible to morally compromise
- republicState with elected leaders
- egalitarianismPhilosophy of universal equality
- popular sovereigntyPopulace holds ultimate authority
Rousseau · social contract · civic virtue · public good · democracy · natural rights · Enlightenment · puritanism
Revolutionary mass execution period
- National ConventionRevolutionary France's governing body
- ThermidorRevolutionary calendar's eleventh month
- guillotineVertical beheading apparatus
- TerrorHistorical period designation
Marat · Estates-General · Ancien Régime · dechristianization · September Massacres
Authorized substitute or assistant
- oratorSkilled public speaker
- lawyerLicensed legal representative
- legislatorElected maker of laws
- demagogueManipulative populist leader
revolutionary · statesman · advocate · speechmaker · National Assembly · public prosecutor · faction · rhetoric
Historical period designation
- fanaticismObsessive, unreasoning dedication
- zealotryExcessive devotion to beliefs
- purgesForcible removals from power
- absolutismUnrestricted governmental authority
intransigence · doctrinaire · uncompromising · paranoia · conspiracy · enemies of the people · show trials · denunciation
virtue
Moral goodness or merit
- incorruptibleImpossible to morally compromise
- republicState with elected leaders
- egalitarianismPhilosophy of universal equality
popular sovereignty · Rousseau · social contract · civic virtue · public good · democracy · natural rights · Enlightenment · puritanism · idealism
Reign of Terror
Revolutionary mass execution period
- National ConventionRevolutionary France's governing body
- ThermidorRevolutionary calendar's eleventh month
- guillotineVertical beheading apparatus
Terror · Marat · Estates-General · Ancien Régime · dechristianization · September Massacres
deputy
Authorized substitute or assistant
- oratorSkilled public speaker
- lawyerLicensed legal representative
- legislatorElected maker of laws
demagogue · revolutionary · statesman · advocate · speechmaker · National Assembly · public prosecutor · faction · rhetoric · power
Terror
Historical period designation
- fanaticismObsessive, unreasoning dedication
- zealotryExcessive devotion to beliefs
- purgesForcible removals from power
absolutism · intransigence · doctrinaire · uncompromising · paranoia · conspiracy · enemies of the people · show trials · denunciation · surveillance
- Revolutionrevolt, uprising, insurrection, overthrow, revolutionaries
- 1700sMozart, Voltaire, colonial period, French Revolution, William III
- ParisEiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre-Dame, Seine, Montmartre
- French RevolutionBastille, guillotine, French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, Jacobins
- 1790sFrench Revolution, Reign of Terror, guillotine, Jacobins, sans-culottes
- 18th Century FiguresNapoleon, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, George Washington
RobespierreLafayette
moderate · Condorcet · constitutionalist · centrist · pragmatist
Robespierreclemency
Merciful treatment of offenders
mercy · forgiveness · leniency · moderation · humanitarian
Robespierrecounter-revolutionary
Opposes radical political upheaval
Louis XVI · royalist · monarchist · ancien régime · Marie Antoinette