HW- Robespierre: Hero or Tyrant?



The Estates-General was divided into three parts. First Estate, clergy, Second Estate, Nobility, Third Estate, the commons. Robespierre served in the Third Estate. From the beginning he made his mark, speaking articulately over 500 times in the National Assembly in behalf of the lower classes, defending the rights of Jews, black slaves, actors, opposing the royal veto and religious discrimination. In 1790 he became closely identified with a left-wing political club, the Jacobins, named for their meeting place, a ancient Catholic monastery. The Jacobins acted something like a political party or radical pressure group within the National Assembly and along with their confederates sat high on the left side of the Chamber. In 1791 King Louis and his family tried to flee the country and then was proven to be plotting with the foreign enemies of France. After the outbreak of war with Austria and the so-called Second Revolution in 1792, Robespierre successfully argued for the King's execution.

In the Spring of 1793, France faced a series of problems that would have broken any other power. A coalition of European armies threatening the border, food riots in Paris, a peasant revolt in the southwest, the City of Lyon in rebellion and the Mediterranean naval base at Toulon surrendered to the British. A Committee of Safety was formed and by summer it was led by Robespierre, but for the first time since Louis XIV, France had a government determined to rule.

Leading the Committee was Maximilien Robespierre, a north country lawyer turned radical politician. He faced a set of daunting challenges. A coalition of European armies were massed on the border determined to crush the Revolution. Peasants were in revolt, the City of Lyon had rebelled and the Mediterranean naval base at Toulon had been surrendered to the British. To deal with the external threat, the Committee called the entire nation to arms, the so-called levee en masse. By 1794 850,000 men were under arms, dwarfing and defeating enemy armies. The peasants were suppressed and Lyon retaken with brutal tactics. In the south, a young artillery officer, Napoleon Bonaparte, recaptured the Toulon naval base and at 23 was promoted to brigadier general and his first taste of national acclaim.

To rid the country of internal dissent the Committee instituted the Reign of Terror. Aristocrats, uncooperative priests, monarchist politicians, unsuccessful generals, anyone too moderate or not extreme enough had their necks shaved by the guillotine. Robespierre's journalist friend Desmoulins, wrote of this period, "the gods are thirsty." By the summer of 1794 an estimated 40,000 had died. Robespierre was elected President of the National Convention on June 4th, but his overweening power made enemies and allies very nervous. A plot emerged and he was arrested on July 27th. Revolutionary justice is swift and the next day the heads of he and 22 of his followers rolled into the bloody baskets on the Place de la Revolution. Caught in the death machine of his own creation, Robespierre would in the early years be condemned as a bloodthirsty tyrant, but later historical reflection softened this analysis and he is also remembered as a champion of the poor, destitute and politically oppressed.


Should Maximillien Robespierre be considered a hero or tyrant? Explain.

Your response must be at least 2 paragraphs.

26 comments:

  1. Maximillien Robespierre be considered a tyrant. He was a vicious, blood thirsty, almost evil, person. He utterly destroyed everything that stood in his path, reducing it to rubble, and blood. He killed nearly forty thousand innocent people! Forty Thousand, take a minute to think about that; That's nearly enough people to completely fill Citi Field! And not only that, he personally sentenced to death many people he once held as dear allies, feeling that they were not "dedicated" enough. Rash decisions like his most definitely tainted his short rule, ultimately transpiring in his death. Justice, as they say, was rightfully served.

    However, despite his tyrannical ways, he did have some.... Redeeming, qualities. He did try and champion his cause, something very few people were willing to risk. He valued what he believed in above all else, which is a very commendable position. Few are willing to defend a cause, and fewer still to give their lives to it. He stood up for the oppressed, the poor, those without a voice. He made it so they, at some time, could stand up to the totalitarian rule of the all-powerful king. While these things were all very nice, it didn't take long for him to be corrupted, almost to the same point of which he so desperately sought to destroy. His death was rightfully deserved, in the name of France's continued prosperity, after he had quashed revolutions threatening it.

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  2. Maximillien Robespiere was a radical reformer. He was an enlightened thinker, and used his intelligence to lead the French Revolution. He contributed and led the French during a difficult period of time, and that was probably a difficult thing to do. However, I think that the way that he carried out his ideas were wrong. Therefore, I believe that Robespierre is a tyrant.

    The reason I believe that Robespierre is a tyrant is because he sent thousands of people to death. That is totally unfair, because he shouldn’t have the right to kill people. Isn’t that a power that a tyrant should have? In recent terms, that is definitely something that a hero wouldn’t do, so I don’t call him one. This kind of power should not lie in the hands of someone wacky like Robespierre. I feel that he doesn’t deserve the title of a hero, if he has the powers of a tyrant.
    E.L.

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  3. maximillien robespierre is a tryant in my opinion he went too far with his revolutionary ideas. He killed thousands of people, sending them to the guillotine, just because they still believed in the monarchial system Maximilien Robespierre wanted to get rid of so desperately.
    He killed everybody that thought differently than him. He was the creator of the reign of terror and was eventually sent to the guillotine himself in 1794 after the French turned against him when their eyes opened and say what he had done.
    Robespierre's journalist friend Desmoulins, wrote of this period, "the gods are thirsty." By the summer of 1794 an estimated 40,000 had died. Robespierre was elected President of the National Convention on June 4th, but his overweening power made enemies and allies very nervous. A plot emerged and he was arrested on July 27th.
    M.I

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  4. Maximillen Robespierre was a noble who later became in rule over France. At first he told the people he would help them. They were desperate for someone to be in charge since they had no food, and that what he promised. he also won people over my defending a lot of people facing problems, like jews, and slaves, and opposed discrimination against them. This made people think he would be a good ruler over them. He later became the dictator over France, but things only got worse.
    Anyone thought to be a threat to him or France had their heads chopped off by a guillotine. This was happening to thousands of people every day. This is what caused the time period to be called the Reign of Terror. He should be considered a tyrant, because no hero would kill thousands of people without even thinking whether or not they were any actual harm. No hero would be so cruel and be responsible for and sort of reign of terror. He even beheaded his own men that were working on his side for him. He was responsible for 4,000 deaths. I consider him to be a tyrant even if he did help people for a short while in the beginning of his rule. -A.S

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  5. CE
    Robespierre: Hero or Tyrant?
    Robespierre should be called a tyrant because he basically wanted everyone to be equal, and whoever opposed to that would die. Robespierre sent people such as kids, woman and fathers to the guillotine to decapitate them. Whoever was to think different of him was killed as soon as possible. Robespierre opinion was fair but he went overboard with the fact that he almost committed a little genocide by killing people who opposed him right away. Robespierre was a murder and killed non reformatory people, in which he also opposed to King Louis XIV ideas also.
    Robespierre may have killed all of the people but his opinions weren’t that bad. He wanted everyone to stay equal towards each other, but people just didn’t understand. During the 1700’s, that was the time when people own slaves and saw them differently. Robespierre just wanted everyone to stay equal to each other. But by what he did he still had no rights to go ahead in behead people, which caused him to be an imprisoned. Robespierre argued to the king about what was going on that he didn’t want a change. He’s a hero for wanting everyone to be equal, but more of a tyrant for the killing of those people.

    Robespierre: A Hero or a Tyrant

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  6. For most, having too much power would spell your end. In history, leaders have been corrupted by their power and influence, and Robespierre was one of them. In my opinion, Robespierre began as a hero, but ended as a tyrant due to his overcoming paranoia of France being a monarchy again. His main supporters- David, Morat, and Danton, had the same paranoia, but Robespierre's was the over-matching one. As a supporter of the poor and oppressed, the people followed him, but it soon became clear that something wasn't right.

    After successfully executing King Louis, the people were not satisfied because they were still hungry. As more problems arose, a government was finally made called the Committee of Safety lead by Robespierre and his main supporters: David, Morat, and Danton. Solving the problems, Robespierre turned to getting rid of all the King's 'supposed' supporters and ordered uncooperative and suspicious people to be beheaded. This killed about 40,000 people, and Robespierre's power grew more frightening after being elected president. When the people had enough, they killed him and his followers. The beginning of his power was the reason for improving France, and he did that, however, thousands have died because of his personal fear of a monarchy. With his power, he killed as many as he could- innocent or not innocent without thinking, and that soon lead to his downfall. Almost all of his main supporters: Morat died with the same fear, as Danton died by his criticism of Robespierre's killings. So, with that, Maximillien Robespierre should be considered a tyrant who had a good cause, but made the wrong actions.

    H.Y.

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  7. In my mind, I think Maximillien Robespierre is considered a Tyrant, here’s the reason for it.
    Maximillien Robespierre was a very radical politician. There were too many innocence people, like uncooperative priests, monarchist politicians, and unsuccessful generals, anyone too moderate or not extreme enough all dead in his hand. That makes me feel he is a violent, cold-blood and non-humanity person, why did he do that such a terrible thing? I think he just wanted to solve the series of problems and steadied his political power in that difficult time in France, but I don’t think that’s a good way.
    That’s the reason why I think he is a tyrant


    ------ZhaoJi Wu

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  8. (P1) I believe that Maximilien Robespierre should be considered as a tyrant. Robespierre started off as a hero by speaking on behalf of social groups such as the the lower class, Jews, black slaves, and actors. He had ideas and intentions to initiate equality, however he acted in a very wrong way. In 1790, Robespierre joined the Jacobins, a radical group within the National Assembly. After King Louis was proven to be plotting with the enemies of France in 1792, Robespierre argued for the king’s death which eventually did happen. Later in 1793, France began to experience many continuous problems. European armies threatened the border, food riots in Paris, and peasant revolts in the southwest. The Committee was then formed and lead by Robespierre himself. This was the first time France had government since King Louis was executed. Now that Robespierre was in charge of France, he faced all the problems that was occurring the country.
    (P2)To deal with all the problems, the Committee placed 850,000 under arms to defeat and defend enemy armies. The Committee also created the Reign of Terror. Robespierre was the leader and he had ideas for everyone to be equal. Those who did not agree with his ideas were sent to the guillotine, which makes him a tyrant. He sent all the people thought differently from him to their deaths including men, women, children, King Louis, and Marie Antoinette. Desmoulins, a friend and journalist of Robespierre wrote “the gods are thirsty,” referring to all the deaths from the guillotine. There was an estimated 40,000 people killed within the spring of 1794. Until July 27th, Robespierre and his 22 followers were arrested and had their heads cut off.

    S.L.

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  9. Maximillien Robespierre was a tyrant. He was in the third estate and he joins the National Assembly. The National Assembly is like the government of France. During the time there was a king and France became a constitutional monarchy. And Maximillien Robespierre became in power.
    Even though he defend the lower class he is still a tyrant. He became a radical politician. Anyone who did not follow his order he will have their head cut off by the guillotine. Soon his rain of terror was about to be over,later on July 25 he was arrested. He and 22 of his follower's head were cut off.

    -EP

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  10. Maxmillien Robespierre served in the Third Estate by speaking out in the National Assembly. He gave a voice to the commons. He also stood up for the people who were treated unfairly. Robespierre also fought for the King’s exaction. France was going through a lot of chaos. Since there was no more of the king, a government was formed called Committee of Safety which was led by Robespierre. The committee tried to make things better by sending people to the guillotine. Robespierre was then elected president of the national convention on June 4th, but his power made people nervous so he was then arrested.
    I believe that Maximillien should be considered a tyrant because of his contradicting ways. In the beginning he seemed like a hero for defending the people who had less rights. Once he got more power though, he abused it. He sentenced many people to death for seeming a tad bit suspicious. People probably became frightened because if he continued like this will all that power, he may turn into another king. That is why I believe he was then sentenced to death.
    -A.S

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  11. Maximillien Robespierre should be considered a hero at first when he was only in the 3rd Estate because he spoke up for different raise, and slaves and any entertainment . But Then after he became very known for his speeches and how he looked like a hero , he became a tyrant. Maximillien Robespierre is a tyrant because anybody that was not wealth or successful nobles had there heads shaved by the guillotine.

    Another reason why Maximillien Robespierre was a tyrant because he was hurting all this innocent people that didn't do anything to him. He cut of 40,000 nobles heads in 1794. Also all the people who were against all his decisions , were scared if they were next to die. The people also got away from Maximillien Robespierre and didn't listen to him and rules after he became president. On July 27th Maximillien Robespierre got arrested and all his 22 people who agreed with his ideas , all of them and Maximillien got there heads cut off the next day of there arrest. That is good that he and his followers got arrested nd killed because they all deserved that for killing 40,000 people. This is why i believe that Maximillien Robespierre was a tyrant a cruel ruler . -E.M (period9)

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  12. There is great debate that many people are considering that if Maximillien Robespierre is a hero or a tyrant, but he was more considered as a tyrant because he was a person that believed that strongly in that everyone is equal and that all people that were against everyone being equal had to die and also he created a reign of terror sending thousands of men, women and children and even King Louis XVI and his wife to the guillotine and he killed everyone that thought differently than him and he didn’t believe in forgiving the rioters in the French Revolution.

    Overall, some might debate that Robespierre was considered a hero or in the he was considered both a hero and a tyrant, but in my opinion I see him more as a tyrant due to the fact that he was more like a dictator and also that he didn’t agree with most people opinions and also that he killed so many people and even the King and Queen and didn’t believe in forgiving the rioters and also believe that one day Christianity should be canceled and also being so out of control and was against Capital Punishment and many people are seeing him as a Villain due to the many things that he did.
    -O.N.

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  13. I believe Maximillien Robespieree is an hero. Even though his methods were unjust he fought for what was right. He wanted to see equality in France, and understanding King and happy commoners but sadly things did not quite turn out as he wanted them to be. For a commoner he was very articulate,, and he fought for the rights of Jews and Blacks. He joined the Jacobins in an attempt to set a new governing body in France.
    He and is team attacked the King beheaded he and his wife and set up the new governing body in France. He killed anybody who wasn't all for the revolution and in all about 40,000 died. In closing I believe he should be seen as an hero and not just a tyrant.
    -JR

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  14. I believe Maximillien Robespieree is an hero. Even though his methods were unjust he fought for what was right. He wanted to see equality in France, and understanding King and happy commoners but sadly things did not quite turn out as he wanted them to be. For a commoner he was very articulate,, and he fought for the rights of Jews and Blacks. He joined the Jacobins in an attempt to set a new governing body in France.
    He and is team attacked the King beheaded he and his wife and set up the new governing body in France. He killed anybody who wasn't all for the revolution and in all about 40,000 died. In closing I believe he should be seen as an hero and not just a tyrant.
    -JR

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  15. Maximillien Robespierre should be considered a tyrant for all the deaths he caused while he was a leader of France. The fact of matter is that he wasn’t always tyrant who was blood thirsty, but more of a political leader wanted to fight for the poor and change France for the good of the people. His intentions in the beginning of the Revolution were heroic and admirable. He even is one of the main reasons of King Louis XIV’ execution since he argued for it to occur. Louis XIV’ execution was one of the best things that happened to France, but the aftermath may not have been. France was chaotic, people were hungry and had no food or order, and that’s when Robespierre came in and took charge and became a leader. The aftermath of that didn’t go as planned either.
    Robespierre became bloodthirsty and a cold-blooded killer. He was killing off people and executing them in which the people didn’t deserve. He even killed his own friend Georges Danton who talked out against him. Robespierre’s power was getting to his head to the point where instead of fighting for good, which he once did, he was fighting for the bad. He was becoming a tyrant just like Louis XIV once was. Because Robespierre became a tyrant like Louis XIV, he died just like he did, and was executed the same way he killed 40,000 people. Robespierre shouldn’t be thought of as a hero for the good impacts, but as a murderer and tyrant for the impacts that caused so many to die for his own selfish reasons.
    - NQ

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  16. Maximillien Robespierre should be considered a tyrant for all the deaths he caused while he was a leader of France. The fact of matter is that he wasn’t always tyrant who was blood thirsty, but more of a political leader wanted to fight for the poor and change France for the good of the people. His intentions in the beginning of the Revolution were heroic and admirable. He even is one of the main reasons of King Louis XIV’ execution since he argued for it to occur. Louis XIV’ execution was one of the best things that happened to France, but the aftermath may not have been. France was chaotic, people were hungry and had no food or order, and that’s when Robespierre came in and took charge and became a leader. The aftermath of that didn’t go as planned either.
    Robespierre became bloodthirsty and a cold-blooded killer. He was killing off people and executing them in which the people didn’t deserve. He even killed his own friend Georges Danton who talked out against him. Robespierre’s power was getting to his head to the point where instead of fighting for good, which he once did, he was fighting for the bad. He was becoming a tyrant just like Louis XIV once was. Because Robespierre became a tyrant like Louis XIV, he died just like he did, and was executed the same way he killed 40,000 people. Robespierre shouldn’t be thought of as a hero for the good impacts, but as a murderer and tyrant for the impacts that caused so many to die for his own selfish reasons.
    - NQ

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  17. Maximilian Robespierre was no hero. He was rather one of those psychopaths who were at the forefront of the French Revolution. He was instrumental in starting the reign of terror. Eventually his equally psychopathic and traitorous colleagues turned against him. He was executed on the very guillotine that he had sent many innocents to die on. In his time Maximilien Robespierre was a very successful and popular lawyer who was a advocate of democratic reforms. And to many he was considered a hero. He was an enemy of the Monarchy.
    A radical supporter of the Revolution amongst others. He was elected a member of the chief executive body for the Committee of Public Safety. During this time he was ruthlessly eliminating those he considered enemies of the Revolution. And many extremists where sent to the guillotine because of him. And although he and other supporters of his where sent to the guillotine as well, Robespierre was able to tolerate human suffering if it was necessary to the defense of society.

    A.M. 9/30/13

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  18. Maxmilillen Robespeierre, one of the greatest man toward the French revolution who push forward the people of France to escape absolute monarch Louis 16's hand. During the French revolution many people have died in great hunger because of depravity of the king and his apathy of the people of France, but meanly is the extreme high tax burden he have given to the third estate, people became extremely poor because of this such madness, and so the revolution have began, and the leader over this revolution is by maximillien Robespoerre.
    Even he gave the people rights with the hands of revolution, but after the revolutionary war people are still starving to death, so they rather give up their rights in order to exchange for food, so Robesperre became a dictator, because of the absolute powers he have, he have became craze and abuse this power to kill the people who he think is the one who wants to bring back the monarch, and executed thousands of people, he is a hero but by another hand he is also a tyrant.
    Z.L
    J.L

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  19. Maximillien Robespierre should be considered a tyrant. Although, he believed that everybody should be considered equal, whatever he thought, was what went. He didn't care about anybody else's opinions except his own. He killed anybody who disagreed with his opinions. He refused to listen to anybody. His ideas about equality were rather nice, but the way that he went about his actions were not for the better of the people. He sent a lot of people, including Louix XVI and Marie Antoinette to the guillotine, which was a machine to behead people. He was considered very corrupt due to all the power he got. He went too far by trying to kill all those people who dared to speak out in favor of the monarchy. - TY

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  20. Robespierre was part of the third estate which was the poorest of the three estates. He spoke for the third estate for the rights of the lower classes, Jews, slaves and more. However, he was part of the Jacobins which was like a political party within the National Assembly that opposed King Louis. Robespierre was also the man who argued and got King Louis executed in 1792. Later on he was promoted to a general and gained a lot of power.
    I think Robespierre was more of a tyrant then a hero because no matter what the outcome is you shouldn’t kill innocent people. Robespierre had anyone who was uncooperative or too moderate dead. He used something called a guillotine to cut off the necks of about 40,000 people. This is more than enough evidence to say he was a very violent tyrant. However, later on he had his head cut off by the death machine that he created.
    -P.K.

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  21. In my opinion, I feel that Maximilien Robespierre was more of a tyrant during the French Revolution than a figure of a hero. This is because during the Reign of Terror, I felt that he overused his power as a ruler. Even though he was part of the radical society during the French Revolution, his thirst for change lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths during this time period. Although he felt all this was right, that was understandable but to trust one of his radical friends to determine all the people who he felt was a threat to the Revolution was wrong; especially when his friend, Jean-Paul Marat, was known as one the most paranoid men during the French Revolution.

    Jean-Paul Marat was the person who handled and sent the names of the people who he felt was a threat to the Revolution as well as the people who wanted to bring the King of France back. Ever since the beginning, Robespierre had wanted to bring down the King of France from his position because he didn’t like the way the government was ruled and acted. With his evil thoughts and mind, he deceived everyone into one of his lies that made King Louis XVI look like a criminal and caused him to be thrown in jail. Along with this, Robespierre had used the famous death machine, the Guillotine, to chop off the heads of the suspected. He used this machine to chop the head off of the King of France as well as the hundreds of thousands of people during the Reign of Terror. With this information, I feel that he can be known as a tyrant more than a hero.
    ~CT

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  22. I believe that Robespierre was a tyrant. He was a man with strong beliefs in equality and justice. However, ironically at the same time, he initiated the Reign of Terror, sending thousands of men, women, and even children to the guillotine. He was a very influential man during the French revolution, and had led people out of the absolute monarchy. Moreover, his beliefs on equality were very well thought-out and had good intentions. However, the way he acted was very wrong.
    He contradicted his own beliefs and killed many innocent people. Not accepting criticism of any kind, he thought that whoever disagreed with him should be killed. Perhaps the power got to him, or perhaps he really thought it was necessary to kill those who "opposed." In the end, he was a radical that sparked much of the violence during the revolution, believing that he was the center of the revolution, and that he was on top.
    - J.L

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  23. -KZ
    Maximillien Robespierre was being a hero while he was being a tyrant. Before Maximillien Robespierre becomes the leader of Committee of Safety, he opposed the rights of Jews, black slaves, actors, the royal veto and religious discrimination, and of course, he was pretty wrong with his opinions at that time. And in 1793, he formed the Committee of Safety, the first government to rule France since Louis XIV, but France faced lots of serious external and internal problems during that time.
    I know that to defend the enemies, Maximillien Robespierre forced people to join the armies, lots of men were killed because of him. Maximillien Robespierre himself, were over powered, so he was arrested and lost his head the next day. I think that Maximillien Robespierre had no choice because at that time, France needs someone to rule and Maximillien Robespierre did his best to protect his country. He was being a hero while being a tyrant.

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  24. In my opinion, I believe that Maximillien Robespierre is a tyrant. He was a person that believed strongly in the everyone being equal and believed that people that wanted King Louie back had to die. At the same time he started the Reign of Terror sending thousands of men, woman and children to the guillotine, even the King and Queen of France. He killed everyone that thought differently than him.

    I honestly think that Robespierre's ideas were okay but the way he acted was out of hand. Anyone who didn't agree with him would have their names written in the newspaper by Jean Paul Marat and then Robespierre would send them to the guillotine. Eventually the French turned against him and sent him to the guillotine himself, without a trial. He was sent to the machine that he send thousands to go to be executed. Although he was a bloodthirsty tyrant, I believe that the things he's done during the Revolution would have people remember him as the champion of the poor. This is the reason why I believe Maximillien Robespiere should be considered a tyrant.

    -SLi

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  25. I think Robespierre is a tyrant.
    He was a person that believed strongly in the everyone being equal and believed that people that were against everyone being equal had to die. At the same time he created the reign of terror sending thousands of men, woman en children (and even the King and Queen of France) to the guillotine. He killed everyone that thought differently than him.
    I personally think that Robespierre's ideas about equality were rather okay, but the way he acted because of them is very wrong. He send everybody that did not agree with his ideas to the guillotine. He went too far in acting out his ideas. Even though he has the power but he cannot kill the innocent people.
    _FC

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  26. He contradicted his own beliefs and killed many innocent people. Not accepting criticism of any kind, he thought that whoever disagreed with him should be killed. Perhaps the power got to him, or perhaps he really thought it was necessary to kill those who "opposed." In the end, he was a radical that sparked much of the violence during the revolution, believing that he was the center of the revolution, and that he was on top.
    I believe that Maximillien should be considered a tyrant because of his contradicting ways. In the beginning he seemed like a hero for defending the people who had less rights. Once he got more power though, he abused it. He sentenced many people to death for seeming a tad bit suspicious. People probably became frightened because if he continued like this will all that power, he may turn into another king. That is why I believe he was then sentenced to death.
    KPO

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