French revolutionary leader and architect of the Reign of Terror — 'the Incorruptible' who believed absolute virtue justified mass killing, and who was himself guillotined in Thermidor.
The Terror as ideological logic: Robespierre is the definitive case of revolutionary ideology consuming its own adherents. His argument that the Republic of Virtue required eliminating its enemies — and that the definition of 'enemy' must expand to include anyone insufficiently committed — led to 17,000 official executions and 23,000+ deaths in the Terror (1793-94). His own arrest and execution in Thermidor (July 1794) demonstrated the internal logic: the purity standard he applied to others was eventually applied to him. The paradigm case for studying how political idealism becomes political terror.
Discussing
Ask anything about Maximilien Robespierre — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.
Sign in to start a conversation.