Robespierre From Democracy to Totalitarianism Essay

Introduction

The French Revolution was an event in the 18th century that introduced a new approach to governing. A key player in the revolution was Maxminillian- Robespierre, a ruthless leader who was successful at disseminating the beliefs of the left-wing bourgeoisie. Robespierre was a middle-class lawyer, who was incredibly critical of the government and all those who opposed him. He was a walking paradox, as he simultaneously promoted the rights of slaves and poor people but later, also prosecuted all those who went against him. This clearly shows how inconsistent he was. It is quite intriguing to investigate the impetus behind his change of character and his development from being a simple bourgeois or in other words, one who belonged to the middle class. He strongly advocated for the less fortunate in the society but later became a despotic and ruthless dictator sanguinary. In this paper, I will demonstrate how the political deterioration in 1791 and the failed attempt at setting up a workable constitutional monarch under Louis XVI led Robespierre into radicalizing his political philosophies and ideals which were tremendously influenced by Rousseau’s idea of “rule by virtue” and the general will of the public.

The French Declaration of the Rights of Man

This declaration in 1789 stated that the rebellion was not against Louis XVI. Rather, it was against the tyrannical government, and not against the principles and the personality of the king. Although a constitution existed since 1783, it was never enforced by those in authority and its implementation was to a great extent hindered not only by those opposed to the king but also due to the presence of ignorant leaders in the system, who added to the confusion before the implementation of a new constitution in 1791. To exonerate these leaders, their lack of knowledge was seen to have been caused by the huge number of decrees presented to them that was quite complex.¹

The Abolishment of the Monarchy

The revolution in France was totally opposed to the monarchy and wanted a change. Immediately after the arrest and subsequent imprisonment of Louis and the queen, the monarchy was abolished. This took place on September 21^st, 1792 and brought in a new era in French history. Consequently, as a result of the failure of the constitutional monarch and the foreign wars that threatened the French Jacobins, the Committee of Public Safety was constituted in part of the new Republic, on April 6th, 1793. A key responsibility of this particular committee was to protect the French citizens against any internal rebellion as well as foreign attacks. Robespierre, however, was not added to the committee until July 27th, 1793².

Rousseau’s General Will

Rousseau’s General Will advocates for all citizens to take part in political affairs of the state. This is meant to discourage dictatorship. Considering the damage the oppression caused by the dictatorial leadership, Rousseau’s thoughts on freedom tremendously influenced Robespierre’s notion of the “general will” and this was seen as the main force behind Robespierre’s transformation from being a peaceful champion of the rights of the poor into a democratic-totalitarian tyrant. According to Rousseau, humans are compelled to lose their freedom in many ways. An oppressive regime for example will deny citizens the freedom to be involved in the affairs of the state. The instability of the political status quo that was present at the time and the totalitarian democracy ideal slowly helped create Robespierre’s new radical persona. Rousseau, however, exuded a pattern of contradictions and inconsistencies with regards to his thoughts on freedom and the general will. As a matter of fact, he was known for his indecisiveness and often contradicting ideas, which left a lot of room for interpretation with regards to his political ideals³. Even though on one hand, we could assert that Rousseau was a bit of an “anarchist”⁴, he also admired the likes of Sparta and Rome, who practiced the subordination and restraint of the individual who had no choice but to belong to the general, collective community⁵. This certainly changed the way citizens were treated in previous regime and made people realize that involving everyone in the country’s political affairs had lots of benefits.

Rousseau’s General Will and the Individual

With regards to his thoughts on freedom and liberty, the two concepts he heavily advocated for, Rousseau held that an individual should obey his own will while still coinciding to some “objective criterion” that were considered to be important.⁶ Rousseau believed, with vehemently, that for man to be free it is may be necessary that he be ruled by a strict and rigid government. This kind of government would create a population made up of individuals who would only do what will benefit the general public, as opposed to giving in to their animalistic instincts and doing whatever their egocentric desires led them to do⁷. Rousseau believed that when people give up their individual rights for the purpose of the general good, then it would be possible to create a society in which everyone was equal, since each person would gain all that was given up. This kind of a society would essentially help retain the natural equality with all other individuals. This is in line with Rousseau’s thoughts about the “general will”.

Rousseau advocated for collective efforts rather than individualism. These according to him would benefit everyone in the end. Learning institutions present at the time of the revolution appeared to be carrying forward the frightening characteristics of the previous dictatorial regime and therefore, according to him, they needed to be done away with so as to pave way for fresh ideas that would usher in a new brand of leadership⁸.

In Rousseau’s ideal world the notion of individuality did not exist at all and as such, there was no individual who held the role of a “sovereign” which consequently turned the individual rights of people into collective rights. Therefore, in order to profit the general public, Rousseau maintained that all citizens should exercise their right in being taking part in the politics of the day without exception. Lamentably though, he was completely unaware of the fact that extending the notion of the collective good would eventually lead to totalitarism⁹.

Robespierre and the General Will

Robespierre and some of those in the previous regime undertook to impose the General will on the people. They adopted Rousseau’s thoughts on the general will and the collective good and attempted to implement their own dogma and notion of what they thought the general will was. They were quite adamant about their strict world view and would not easily be coerced into letting individuals to get away with their thoughts, if these contradicted their opinions. In fact any such opinion that slightly differed from what they advocated for was considered a crime¹⁰.

From Democracy to Totalitarianism

With the anarchy like state in France and his radicalized ideas predominantly influenced by Rousseau, Robespierre officially turned himself into a totalitarian leader and in so doing, began a period which later became known as the “reign of terror”.

After the official establishment of the French Republic and the conclusions of war¹¹, the Jacobins who were now in charge could still not enjoy the fruits of their labor. Living in a unified way under the democratic republic established by the Constitution of 1783¹², posed a major challenge for them as well.

When the Jacobin party came to power, corruption within the party became quite rampant and this became so obvious to the extent that groups within the Jacobin party were reported to be misusing money and behaving in dishonest ways. With the increasing level of poverty, a lot of people became more suspicious of the Jacobins as a ruling party. These events were not acceptable to Robespierre’s and made him feel as though everyone was conspiring against him. He therefore deemed it necessary to make an announcement that rebellion against the government equaled death¹³.

Conclusion

Though with his supposedly good intentions, Robespierre attempted to obtain equal citizenship, his utopian, idealistic vision was vastly disillusioned¹⁴. His political motives and thoughts could be summarized best from a speech he gave on February 5th, 1793. The speech clearly confirmed his strong belief that in the chase of the liberty and equality virtue¹⁵during a time of instability and civil war, the government must do everything in its power to obtain the means¹⁶.

From this discussion, it can be seen that even though the events and thoughts of Rousseau contributed significantly in shaping Robespierre’s mindset, they were not understood well by Robespierre and these led to his reign of terror. His implementation of what he supposed was Rousseau’s idea of the general will of the public led to his transformation to totalitarian.

References

Talmon, J. L. The Rise of Totalitarian Democracy. Boston: Beacon Press, 1952.Print.

Thompson, J. M. Robespierre and the French Revolution. London: English Universities Press, 1952. Print.

Footnotes

1. Thomson 29
2. Thompson 72
3. Talmon 38
4. Talmon 38
5. Talmon 38
6. Talmon 40
7. Talmon 39
8. Talmon 44- 45
9. Talmon 47
10. Talmon 40
11. Thompson 98
12. Thompson 98
13. Thompson 29
14. Thompson 108
15. Thompson 105
16. Thompson 105