The 1789 French reign of terror has come to symbolize how a revolution can get out of control, turn on its leaders, and devour itself (along with lots of other people) . Robespierre is seen as a kind of parody of Hollywood kings constantly shouting “off with his head” to anyone who talked back or looked at him in a strange way .
Yet Robespierre was not really an evil guy. Throughout his short life he held ideals familiar and endorsed by most of us – the rights of citizens, abolition of slavery, women’s empowerment, rational society. He wanted a just society maintained by an uncorrupted government, where merit counted for more than class of birth .
What went wrong? Did power corrupt ?
No, not really. It seems to have been a sad, unintentional slide into hell. Things went wrong at home and abroad. Robespierre tried to deal with them. “Opponents” became “enemies”. Then “traitors” then “evil incarnate” which had to be eliminated for the glorious new world to arrive .
No matter how many went to the guillotine, troubles continued and multiplied. Finally Robespierre and the rest of the directorate fell, ending the senseless internal slaughter and opening the way for the senseless external slaughter of Napoleon .
We may rightly call Robespierre a fanatic, especially at the end of his life. There may be lessons there for many of us .
HuntingtonHarborThoughts 