July 28, 1794: Robespierre meets his fate

On this day in 1794, Maximilien Robespierre, the architect of the Reign of Terror, met his end at the guillotine.

Was Robespierre as evil and blood-thirsty as he is often portrayed? Probably not; during his time, he was known as the Incorruptible, and was long an opponent of the death penalty.

He was a leading member of the Jacobins, who held to “the principles of extreme democracy and absolute equality.” Despite his record, he supported its use against Louis XVI – with no trial, because a trial would “place the revolution itself in ligitation.”

But Robespierre’s hunger for power – or perhaps some insinuations from political opponents – led to his downfall. For one, there was mention of the possibility of a triumvirate with Jean-Paul Marat and Georges Danton.

Marat and Danton would be dead by June 8, 1794, when Robespierre held a celebration for the “Cult of the Supreme Being”. He acted too much like a god himself – he allegedly descended from on high as Moses did from Mount Sinai – and when the body in charge of executions allowed for expedited processes, government members became wary.

On July 27, Marat holed up at the Hôtel de Ville to avoid arrest. When he was cornered the following morning, he jumped out the window, breaking both of his legs; he attempted to shoot himself in the head, and shattered his jaw. When the executioner took off the cloth holding his jaw in place, Robespierre let out a wailing scream, silenced only by the falling blade.

The Reign of Terror was over.

Image: Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761–1845), Portrait of Maximilien de Robespierre (c. 1791), Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille