July 27- Robespierre�s Arrest

An important day in French history:

The Committee of Public Safety of the French Republic met on the 27 July 1794 (or the 9th Thermidor of the Revolutionary calendar, which is the reason why this rebellien against R. is called the "Thermidor rebellion") to discuss new proposals that its leader Maximilien Robespierre had brought forward:
Last remaining rights of defendants were to be abolished, and the immunity of the members of the National Convent were to be restricted.
As Robespierre began to speak, members of the more moderate factions of the Committee interupted him and eventually prevented him from giving a statement. Robespierre could leave the meeting unharmed, but the Committee decided to have him and his closest ally and friend Saint-Just arrested.
Robespierre who refused to believe that the French people finally had enough of his dictatorial reign, hesitated to call for military support from the loyal parts of the Paris Commune, and he and Saint-Just were eventually arrested in the Hotel de Paris (the townhall) on the evening of the 27th and Robespierre was badly wounded through a gun shot.
Both men were guillotined without trial the following day.
With Robespierre�s arrest and execution, the most radical phase of the French Revolution came to an end and a period of restauration began.
Robespierre�s role during the French Revolution is a complex and ambiguous one.
Although Robespierre as the leader of the Committee of Public Safety inflicted a draconian reign onto France, through the brutal oppression of any Royalist, moderate opposition or enemies inside the Jacobins (Danton), through a system of indiscriminate imprisonment and executions, his dictatorial measures also secured the historically significant achievements of the French Revolutions against its numerous internal and external enemies.
There can be no doubt that Robespierre was not driven by personal ambitions, by lust for power, but by a fanatical pursuit of what regarded as the principles of the French Revoution.

There is an excellent article about Robespierre's fall by Quetzcoatl on AE's main page:

http://www.allempires.com/articles/text/robespierre.htm


What else happened on this day?
My personal highlights:

1214- Battle of Bouvines.King Phillip of France defeated the combined forces of King John of England and the HRE Otto IV, thus strengthening the French Crown.

1586 - Sir Walter Raleigh brings the first Tobacco to England from Virginia.

1953- The end of the Korean War: An Armistice is declared by the USA, PR of China and Kim-Ill-Sungs North-Korea, whilst the South-Koreans abstain.

Full list:

Wikipedia



Edited by Komnenos

 

 

 What a good idea this today in history. Good description of Robespierre also. well done. Did you know he lost his lower jaw in the arrest, a bullet.

Edited by Quetzalcoatl

Originally posted by Komnenos Originally posted by Quetzalcoatl  What a good idea this today in history. Good description of Robespierre also. well done. Did you know he lost his lower jaw in the arrest, a bullet. Thanks. Yes,I had heard that story. But his wound didn't have any long term effect on his health, in fact he was cured of his massive headache the very next day.

what!!!!he lost his jaw?I donb't think the french at that time had novacaine or morfine?

Poor chap.

 

 

 One strange proposal of Robespierre and the Jacobin was to introduced a new state religion known as the Cult of the Supreme Being. In an attempt to "de-Christianize" france. But that lead to a revolt and possibly one of the reason for the coup d'etat.  theyve formerly managed to impose a base ten calendar and the metric system. However the base ten calendar was abandonned after the revolution while the metric system gained world wide acceptance. You cannot say they weren't progressist.

Edited by Quetzalcoatl

Originally posted by Komnenos By a strange coincidence, I just read the review of a book that tries to evaluate Robespierre's "reign of terror" and to put it in historical context. Here is an excerpt of the review: David Andress, The Terror, Little&Brown "In some profound sense, idealism, paranoia and even a kind of innocence were the essence of the Terror. Its instigators believed utterly in their own virtue and in their cause: the cause of freedom that had to be defended at whatever cost. They believed passionately in the ideals for which they fought with such savagery. Andress gives a persuasive account of why a rather unremarkable man like Robespierre and idealistic youths like Saint-Just (or Marc-Antoine Jullien) acquired such power and pursued their cause with such ruthlessness. In his final chapter, he dismisses the idea that the Revolution was the start of a history that ended with the collapse of Soviet Communism. On the contrary, his final chapter sees us living now in an age when people can be imprisoned without trial, when freedoms are eroded and populations controlled by politicians convinced that such measures are necessary in the defence of liberty. To make a comparison between the Terror and the War on Terror, he argues, may not be just "a slippage of words". (The Independent,27/7/05)) The Independent

 

What a wonderful extract . Yes you could easily relate that to the actual situation. Bush must have been reading too much of Robespierre? Bush's wars are all centred around the cause of freedom, and he firmly believes that the cause of freedom should also be defended at all cost.  And it is not only Bush, it has become almost a tradition now in the west when you need an enemy, you can justify virtually anything by claiming that ones freedom is being threatened.  Very interesting how deeply rooted is that ill.

 

 

Edited by Quetzalcoatl