The Robespierre family declined like the French at that time. His mother died early due to dystocia, and his father left home soon. This cast a lingering shadow on Maximilian's young mind and caused his lonely character throughout his life. Robespierre has always given people the impression that he is unwilling to lag behind, always competitive, likes to show off, speaks harsh words, is arrogant and pretentious. He is also very lucky. At the age of 11, he won a scholarship to study at the School Louis in Paris. He lives in poverty but studies hard. He obtained a master's degree in law from the University of Paris in 1781, and then returned to his hometown of Artois to work as a lawyer until 1788. It is undeniable that Robespierre hoped to change his destiny through his own efforts.
In 1770, a local priest in Arras awarded a scholarship, and Robespierre came to Paris to study at King Louis College. His friends at school included Camille Demoulain, who would become one of the most important figures in the French Revolution. Robespierre studied hard and excelled in Latin and Greek, earning him the nickname "The Roman". In 1775, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette passed the college after the coronation ceremony. Robespierre recited a Latin text written by the teacher to the king on behalf of the entire school. Graduated from law school in 1780 and received a bachelor's degree in law in 1781.
Studying in Paris had a great influence on Robespierre. It can be said that the active Paris brought him active thoughts and ignited his rebellious fire. Robespierre began receiving legal education at the age of 11 and was deeply influenced by Locke, Montesquieu and Rousseau, especially Rousseau. Rousseau yearned for a petty bourgeois democratic republic that maintained private ownership, had no distinction between rich and poor, had no hierarchy, and had full freedom. They may have all come from the lower classes of the bourgeoisie and have experienced hardships, which makes their ideas more accessible. Later, Robespierre wrote in "Dedicated to Rousseau": "I am willing to follow your awe-inspiring footsteps, even if I cannot live forever; if I can always be loyal to you in an unprecedented revolution created I will be happy with the revelations that work in dangerous undertakings has given me. "Judging from Robespierre's words and deeds during the French Revolution, one might think that he was fulfilling the average dream of two people. After graduating from university, Robespierre became a lawyer and actively helped helpless ordinary people. This gave Robespierre a special affection for "law". When he saw that the French king could use the "Beautiful Seat" to desecrate the sanctity of the law, and when he saw the third class being bullied by feudal privileges without legal protection, Robespierre deeply felt the need to establish a true Legal principles and the urgency of safeguarding the sanctity of the law. The bourgeoisie urgently demands the establishment of a fair and just competitive environment that can be protected, and small producers also urgently demand that the law can support the weak. The role of law should not only benefit the privileged class, but should also be social. France, like other Western societies, is dominated by Christianity and believes that human nature is inherently evil, so people do not trust human rule. Therefore, Westerners hope to establish a tool to restrain the evil of human nature, so they establish a universal norm to restrain people. Finally, this norm further formed "law", and Robespierre would not be separated from the influence of this traditional thought. In addition, Robespierre absorbed the spirit of natural law from the works of Enlightenment thinkers, so he determined that it was the spirit of law that stipulated that everyone is born free and equal, which is an inalienable inherent right, so he did not hesitate to serve France strive for the realization of freedom and equality.
In the summer of the same year, Robespierre returned to his hometown. At the end of the year he was admitted to Alastair Court and began practicing law. At the beginning of 1782, he was appointed one of the five judges of the Episcopal Court of Arras. He was deeply influenced by Rousseau and often defended people who were obviously being treated unfairly, with a high success rate.
In 1783, De Wiezell, who lived near Arras, caused protests from his neighbors when he installed a lightning rod invented by Franklin. Robespierre successfully defended him with the help of his friend and patron A-J Bessart, and the case attracted national attention.
Robespierre's life in Arras was relatively peaceful. He kept in touch with some local lawyers and scholars from time to time and participated in local cultural activities. He was admitted as a Fellow of the Alastair Academy of Sciences and was later elected President of the Alastair Academy of Sciences. During this time he met Joseph Fouche, who would play an important role in the French Revolution, and his future colleague on the Committee of Public Safety, Lazar Carnot.
In 1788, France faced an economic and political crisis, and there were constant calls for the convening of the Estates-General. Robespierre published "Letter to the People of Artois—On the Necessity of Reforming the Estates-General of Artois" (Artois belonged to Artois County according to the division at that time), describing the three local states since the Middle Ages. The history of the Superior Council strongly criticized the Artois nobles for seizing the power that should belong to the people, exploiting and oppressing ordinary people, and called for system reform. The article still mentions Louis XVI in respectful terms. After the royal family announced the convening of the Third Estate Conference, he actively participated in the election and was successfully elected as a representative of the Third Estate. He left Arras in May 1789. While at Versailles he gave a speech advising the faithful to unite with the Third Estate, and when a bishop persuaded the Third Estate to cooperate with the First and Second Estates on the pretext of famine relief, he spoke against the luxury of church life. Although his speeches were not as charismatic as Mirabeau and other delegates, he quickly improved his oratory skills and delivered 276 speeches during the Estates-General and the Constitutional Convention, ranking 20th among delegates. In his speeches, he supported universal male suffrage, opposed the king's veto, supported Jewish empowerment, called for the abolition of slavery and the death penalty, and opposed press censorship, but did not speak against bills prohibiting workers from forming unions and going on strike. His advice was rarely acted upon, but he soon gained a strong national reputation, earning him the nickname "Incorruptible."
His other main venue at the time was the Jacobin Club. His influence is even more evident here. On March 36, 1791 was elected president of the club, causing Lafayette to leave angrily. In June 1791, Louis XVI and members of the royal family attempted to abscond. Robespierre called for the deposing of the king at the Constituent Assembly but stated that he did not support the establishment of a republic. After the Constituent Assembly decided to acquit Louis XVI, he initially supported a protest petition at the training ground by the Club de Liers, but later persuaded the Jacobin Club to withdraw its support. After the massacre at the training ground in July 2017, the constitutional monarchy headed by Lafayette completely broke with the Jacobin club, and Robespierre became one of the leaders of the Jacobin group.
1791 The Constituent Assembly adopted the constitution on September 3, and the meeting was dissolved on the 30th. Due to Robespierre's proposal, former members of the Constituent Assembly, including himself, could not stand for election to the newly formed Legislative Assembly. After the Constituent Assembly, he returned to his hometown of Arras and did not return to Paris until June 11. During this period, Austria and Prussia formed the first anti-French alliance, and the clouds of war enveloped France. Brissot, one of the Gironde leaders in the Legislative Assembly, called for punishing the fleeing nobles and directly launching active attacks against foreign powers. The king and queen hope to rely on foreign forces to restore their former royal power, and they also actively support France and show a tough attitude.
After Robespierre returned to Paris, he initially supported Gironde's militant stance, but later he changed his mind and started a months-long dispute with Brissot starting in early February 65438+ fierce debate. In addition to speaking at the Jacobin Club, he founded the Guardian of the Constitution to express his views. He declared that he was not opposed to all wars, but pointed out that France was not ready for war, the people lacked weapons, the army was in the hands of the nobles, and the court was plotting to overthrow the revolution. The real enemy was actually within France. He refuted the idea that Brissot and others were exporting revolution to Europe, pointing out that foreign peoples would not warmly welcome invaders. He emphasized that war would greatly restrict freedom and democracy and could easily lead national power to military dictatorship.
Although Robespierre continued to receive support from the Jacobin Club, his anti-war remarks were not popular in Paris at the time, and his reputation was once reduced. France finally surrendered to the Jacobin Club on April 20, 1792. Austria declares war. At the beginning of the war, the French army suffered successive defeats, and the royal family also had fierce conflicts with Gironde.
At first, Robespierre still advocated maintaining the constitutional monarchy, opposed achieving peace through uprising, and hoped to strive for democracy through the Legislative Assembly. But in July, he gradually moved closer to the Diller Club, which was preparing for an uprising, and finally proposed to depose the king again on August 8.
In August 1792, the people of Paris revolted, stormed the palace, and overthrew the king. Robespierre took no direct part in the uprising and later refused to serve as president of the tribunal that tried the conspirators. But he exercised influence over the Legislative Assembly in the name of a representative of the Paris Commune. On September 2, after news of the siege of Verdun reached Paris, the Parisians, fearing reprisals from the royalists and priests who refused to take the oath in prison, broke into the prison and lynched more than 1,000 prisoners, known in history as the September Massacre . Robespierre does not appear to have instigated or attempted to prevent the massacre, but during this time he accused Brissot of conspiring with the royal family. Brissot survived under the protection of Danton and Pétion.
On September 21 of the same year, France established a new National Convention, and the next day announced the establishment of the Republic of China. Robespierre entered the National Assembly as the candidate with the most votes among the Paris delegates. In February 65438, the king was interrogated. He spoke 11 times, strongly calling for the execution of King Louis XVI. In May 1793, at the suggestion of Robespierre, the National Convention passed the Food Price Limitation Act, but the National Convention began to persecute the revolutionary Commune and arrested Marat. On May 26, he called on the people to revolt and expelled the Gironde from the National Convention. On June 4, he was elected president of the new National Convention and presided over the adoption of the new constitution, which guaranteed citizens' freedom of person, belief, publication, petition, association, rights to education and social relief, and stipulated that if the government violates people's rights, the people have the right to resist. On June 8, he was elected "Dictator of the First French Republic" (also commented by Didier Dict), and the next day he declared war on the royalists and European anti-French countries.
On July 13, 1793, Mara was assassinated by the royalists. On the 26th, the Citizens Association authorized the Public Security Committee to arrest the suspect. On the 27th, Robespierre joined the Public Security Committee, reorganized the Revolutionary Court, simplified trial procedures, implemented the Jacobin dictatorship, and punished criminals and revolutionary traitors with a policy of revolutionary terror, which was known in history as the "Reign of Terror." Many innocent people were falsely accused and killed, and thousands were sent to prison. Among them were the king's relatives and most of the nobles. Some people criticized this policy as "killing nine families" and going against human nature.
The revolutionary army newly formed by the Public Security Committee, on the one hand, suppressed the civil strife, and on the other hand, defeated the foreign intervention troops, successively repelling the Prussian, Austrian, British, and Dutch coalition forces. In February 1794, the "Yue Feng Decree" was promulgated, and the properties of "public enemies" were confiscated and distributed to patriots. The Committee of Public Security maintained a balance between the Hébert faction, which advocated radical policies and demanded the expansion of terror, and the Danton faction, which advocated tolerance and relaxed repression, and sent the leaders of the two factions to the guillotine.
While Robespierre criticized the Catholic Church, he also opposed the non-Christian movement and doubted the motives of atheists. On May 7, 1794, he submitted the "Draft Decree on the Worship of the Supreme Lord and National Festivals" to the National Assembly, which reflected the influence of Rousseau. The celebration of the Day of the Supremacy takes place on June 8 and was designed and arranged by the painter David. Robespierre, then president of the National Convention, gave a speech in which he burned idols symbolizing atheism and nothingness. Robespierre was a people's revolutionary in the French Revolution. His tragedy is that he believes in the power of the people but does not believe in the people. Robespierre realized in several armed uprisings of the people in Paris that to achieve complete victory, he must rely on the great power of the people. However, due to the low quality of ordinary French workers at that time, Robespierre believed that the broad masses of the people were unable to assume the leadership task of the French Revolution and were unable to understand the historical significance and fundamental purpose of this great revolution. Therefore, we should firmly grasp the leadership to avoid the blindness of the people and disrupt the normal process of the revolution. In the end, Robespierre fell into deep contradictions, and the people were led into hesitation and wait-and-see by Robespierre's seemingly dual personality!
Robespierre did not expect that he was also a transitional figure in the French Revolution. The plan during the Republic of China could not meet the requirements of France's social and economic development, nor did it conform to the laws of social development. The development of society will not discuss the issue of more equal distribution when the wealth pie is not large, and the middle and upper classes quickly abandoned Robespierre. He did not realize that Rousseau's ideas were not principles of the French Revolution. Rousseau's social contract and popular sovereignty were serious threats to the bourgeoisie.
Of course it is impossible for him to realize it, let alone voluntarily withdraw from the stage of history!
On the morning of July 28, 1794, that hot month of 2010, Robespierre, who had become lonely, and the main leaders of the Jacobins such as Sanjuste and Couthon, They were sent to the guillotine together. At the moment in front of the "National Razor", Robespierre once again felt the fragility of his personal life, and his life ended like this. Like Brissot, Danton, Hébert and thousands of other Frenchmen, Robespierre became a martyr of the French Revolution.
The majestic "La Marseillaise" has echoed in France for more than two centuries. This inspiring melody can easily bring people back to the memories of the vigorous Revolution. The Revolution is the most talked-about history of France. It made "Long Live France" a belief among the French, and this belief is truly based on what Leonardo da Vinci said: History is the daughter of truth. of the Jacobins. There is no doubt that the image of Robespierre should be ranked among the French national heroes. Together with other martyrs of the Revolution, he wrote the indelible slogan with blood: Long live France!