DiScOvErInG HiStOrY l


The Jacobins and Maximilien Robespierre


A group of radical politicians was supported by the sans-culottes. These people were known as the Jacobins after the church where their first meeting took place. The Jacobins believed that their new freedoms could only be ensured by the killing of all people who were opposed to the revolution, inside and outside France. They were led by a lawyer from Arras in northern France. His name was Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794). He became president of the Parisian Jacobin club in April 1790 and was strongly opposed to the war with Austria. He believed the French army was not adequately prepared and that the revolution was not yet strong enough to be at war. He had been elected as a delegate for the Third Estate in 1789 and was very active in all political affairs. His honesty and dedication to the cause of the revolution earned him the nickname ‘The Incorruptible’. His opposition to the king, the nobles and the clergy and his attempts to get lower food prices meant he was very popular with the sans-culottes: thus he had great power. In April 1793 the National Convention voted to create a 12-man group called the Committee of Public Safety to remove all counter- revolutionaries (i.e. those who opposed the revolution). Robespierre became its most influential member.


The Reign of Terror


The Committee of Public Safety immediately introduced laws to ensure the safety of the revolution.


They passed the Law of Maximum which placed strict controls on the price of bread. This law was very popular with the sans-culottes and the poor of France. They then passed the Law of Suspects which allowed them to arrest and even execute anyone believed to be a counter-revolutionary. The number of prisoners was huge, totalling more than 4,500 by the end of 1793. The Committee also executed over 3,000 people using a method called the guillotine (named after Dr Joseph Guillotine) which cut off the prisoner’s head. It was thought that this method was the most efficient and humane method of execution. In October 1793 Marie-Antoinette was one of the people sent to the guillotine.


Over the next year it is estimated that over 40,000 people were executed. This period became known as the Reign of Terror. Some of those executed were against the revolution but many others supported its ideals. For example, some were revolutionary leaders who simply believed the numbers being killed were too high. After a particularly


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Fig 9.12 Maximilien Robespierre, nicknamed ‘The Incorruptible’.


Fig 9.13 The guillotine was widely used by Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety.


✣ By the way


Sometimes killing people with the guillotine was too slow, so barges (boats) full of prisoners were sunk on the River Loire, drowning all on board.


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THE JACOBINS


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