Maximilien Robespierre is a man not to be forgotten. It is undisputed that he played a vital role in the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. But were his efforts beneficial and necessary? What would have happened had the Jacobins and Robespierre not initiated the Reign of Terror? To some scholars Robespierre is cold-blooded, fanatical, and self-righteous. And yet to others he is "The Incorruptible," a dedicated patriot and democrat. Robespierre was or was not a great influence for France.
Robespierre is referred to as a democrat, prophet, and a puritan, by J.M. Thompson. In his book, Robespierre, Thompson stressed the idea that Robespierre sincerely believed that people were good and held wisdom. He believed in all that he did. Thompson emphasized that as long as the French Revolution is thought of as the birth of ideas that positively influenced the nineteenth century, Robespierre will hold strong to the title of a great historical figure. .
Robespierre had earned the name "Incorruptible- early in the revolution. On the last day of the existence of the Constituent Assembly, Robespierre went onto the Terrasse des Feuillants, where he was greeted as a king. He and Petion were adorned in oak leaves and carted through town on the shoulders of supporters. The Incorruptible was pure and lived modestly. He was loved among the people. .
Robespierre was a quiet, controlled, prim, and proper man. He is referred to as being honest with a passion for politics and philosophy. But by others he was cold-blooded and self-righteous. During his reign of terror, Maximilien Robespierre said himself, "terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible; it is therefore an emanation of virtue; it is not so much a special principle as it is a consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to our country's most urgent needs."" He himself fell to his own belief of the necessity of terror.
