The
Fall of RobespierreThe
Fall of Robespierre "A
representative of the people cannot let himself renounce the obligation
to defend the interests of the people. No power can take it from
him. Only depriving him of life can silence him."
--Robespierre in his last speech on 8 Thermidor (Jordan, David. The
Revolutionary Career of Maximilien Robespierre. New York: The Free
Press, 1985.)
In the spring and summer of 1794, the revolutionary government became more
isolated and resented. As the French Revolution wore on, the revolutionary
government was losing touch with the masses and eventually it came to represent
no specific interest other than its own leaders and officials. Many
felt controlled under the personal dictatorship of Robespierre. By
1794, the sans
culottes activists, who had backed Robespierre and his Jacobin
Club a year ago, had become politically apathetic due to the execution
of the respected Jacques-René
Hébert. This execution caused them to lose interest in
the political process that they could no longer control. Therefore, they
no longer represented a powerful ally to the Jacobins and Robespierre.
The estrangement the sans culottes felt was shared by a large percentage
of the middle class as well.
The declining influence and authority of Robespierre occurred primarily
due to the mounting conflict between the Committee
of Public Safety and the Committee of General Security. Friction
grew among the committees with Robespierre's introduction of his Law of
22 Prairial on June 10, 1794. The Law of 22 Prairial deprived prisoners
of defending counsel and it also announced the start of the Great Terror.
The latter of the two was implemented by Robespierre partly in response
to the two assassination attempts made on him. Opposition against
Robespierre grew with his unleashing of the Great Terror in the summer
of 1794. Also, by the Law of 22 Prairial threatening deputy immunity,
the uneasiness and rivalry intensified between the Committee of Public
Safety and the Committee of General Security. After the Law of 22
Prairial reorganized the Revolutionary Tribunal, which had been formed
in March 1793 to condemn all enemies of the regime, opposition to
Robespierre grew. Tension within the government further escalated
by Robespierre's pushing the Law of 22 Prairial through the National
Convention without consulting those who considered themselves most
directly concerned with its operation.
Robespierre was at the center of growing divisions within the Committee
of Public Safety. Prior to 1794, Robespierre was sensitive to the
feelings of his colleagues and anxious to preserve government unity.
However, by the summer of 1794, he had become stubborn, distrustful and
convinced that he was surrounded by conspirators. Government unity
was further threatened when a violent argument broke out with Robespierre
and his colleagues, Billaud-Varenne and Collot, and became public.
Subsequently, Robespierre stopped attending Committee of Public Safety
meetings. More frequent absences from the Jacobin Club and Convention
meetings signaled his physical exhaustion and loss of resiliency.
But in his last speech on 8 Thermidor (July 26) to the Committee of Public
Safety and Committee of General Security Robespierre did not appear vulnerable.
He defended his conduct against his critics. He said the Revolution
could only be saved with the removal of a small group of "corrupt" men
which he did not name at that time. Robespierre called for a purge
of both committees because he felt there was a plot to destroy the Republic:
"to punish the traitors; to appoint new members to the Sub-Committees of
the Committee of General Security; to purge this Committee itself, and
put it under the Committee of Public Safety; to purge that Committee, too,
and re-establish a centralized government under the supreme authority of
the National Convention, its centre and its supreme court of appeal"
(Thompson, J.M. Robespierre and the French Revolution. London: English
Universities Press LTD, 1972.)
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