Robespierre's Tenure As Leader Of The French Revolution Can Be Seen As A

Robespierre's tenure as leader of the French Revolution can be seen as a continuation of the broader Jacobin policies of his predecessor, the Brissotins. Viewed in the context of the Brissotins' draconian interpretation of power, Robespierre does not appear to be a monster, rather a continuum of a core revolutionary ideology. As Bell (2001:1217) explains: the construction of the nation required a laborious process of national education.
At the behest of the Jacobin Left, the atmosphere within the Convention grew ever more volatile certainly before Robespierre's control of the political process. As Nigel Aston (2004:38) details the separation between supporters and opponents of the Revolution was carrying events along a previously untested path with unforeseen and bloody results.
In March 1793 a revolutionary tribunal was inaugurated to try what were loosely termed counterrevolutionary offences. Not to be proactive in the cause of the revolutionary state was becoming sufficient to propel any individual into that category.
Much of the criticism aimed at Robespierre is in light of the actions of the Revolutionary Tribunal and its role as a catalyst during the Terror. Yet, as Broers (1991:69) admits, blood and gore are important parts of the truth, but they are not the whole truth. Robespierre ought not to be singled out as the instigator of a republic that had long since divorced itself from reason and allied itself to terror, but merely one proponent of a powerful but ultimately directionless revolutionary zeal.
Even a cursory glance at the manifestation of Robespierre's power base reveals a radical split between ideology and practicality. Taken solely as a man of ideas, Robespierre can be viewed as a visionary, defender of justice and champion of meritocracy. His speech to the Convention on 5 February 1794 (1993:68) highlights his vision for the Republic.
We wish an order of things where all low and cruel passions are enchained by the law, all beneficent and generous feelings awakened where distinctions arise only from equality itself where the country secures the welfare of each individual we wish in a word to fulfil the course of nature, to accomplish the destiny of mankind.
Moreover, Robespierre lived his own life by this maxim. He never used the trappings of power for his own economic ends and was known in his lifetime as The Incorruptible. Robespierre lived a relatively moderate existence until his death as a lodger of fellow Jacobin, Maurice Duplay at no. 366 Rue SaintHonoré and surrounded himself with similarly fanatical yet austere political personnel. 'Patriots', as he termed them, were more important to Robespierre than men of administrative acumen. He believed that his will was the will of the Jacobins who represented the true desires of republican France.