Battle for Direction in the Revolution

Lafayette was born in France to a noble family. He was educated at the Versailles Academy for Military Training and joined the army in 1771. He was inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment and, in 1777, he secretly traveled to America to help fight in the American Revolution. He became a general in the Continental Army and a close friend to George Washington. Lafayette played an important role in convincing France to support the American Revolution. If France hadn't helped the Americans, the Americans probably would have lost to Britain.

After the American Revolution, Lafayette returned to France and was welcomed as a hero by Louis XVI (16). However, he supported the Enlightenment ideas of the French Revolution and was part of the group that helped to write the Declaration of the Rights of Man. He then became the commander of the National Guard, the army of the Revolutionary government. When a mob of Parisian women marched to Versailles, Lafayette rescued the royal family and protected them as they were brought back to Paris. This put Lafayette into a difficult situation of being both a supporter of the revolution, while at the same time being a noble who wanted to protect the royal family. After the royal family’s failed escape from France, many revolutionaries turned against Lafayette, calling him a traitor.

In 1792 when Robespierre came to power, Lafayette fled France before he could be arrested and executed. However, he was captured by the Austrians, who accused him of being a radical (extreme) revolutionary. The Austrians held him in prison for five years. At that point, the Austrians were defeated by Napoleon Bonaparte and Lafayette was freed and returned to France. In 1830, Lafayette supported Louis Philippe as the new King of France. In the last years of his life, Lafayette was the first person given honorary citizenship to United States.

Maximilian Robespierre, Leader of the Reign of Terror

Robespierre was born in France in 1758. By age 21, he was an outstanding student and lawyer. In his work as a lawyer, he was inspired by the Enlightenment thinkers and worked to defend the rights of poor people. He was elected to be a representative of the Third Estate at the meeting of the Estates General, where he participated in writing the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. He was given the nickname “the incorruptible” because people believed he was so moral he could never be corrupted.

Robespierre joined a group of radical revolutionaries called the Jacobins, who wanted to get rid of the king and turn France into a republic. He quickly became a leader of the Jacobins. Robespierre was opposed to France's war against Austria because he believed it was more important to deal with all of the problems within France. When Austria started to win the war and invade France, Robespierre and the other Jacobins took control of the government and had their opponents in the government arrested and executed, including the King Louis XVI.

At this point, France was being invaded and many parts of the country were rebelling. Robespierre decided to form a new government called the Committee for Public Safety. The Committee for Public Safety was a small group of leaders who wanted to save the revolution from being destroyed. Robespierre believed it was necessary to use the death penalty to force people to obey the government and to save the revolution. As leader of the Committee for Public Safety, Robespierre lead the Reign of Terror, in which people were arrested and executed without trial if they were accused of being enemies of the revolution. It is estimated that about 40,000 people died during this 15-month period. Robespierre even ordered the execution of his fellow Jacobins because they were not radical enough.

At this point, Robespierre became a dictator who ruled France through fear. Robespierre tried to use the Reign of Terror to rebuild France into a country where everybody was free and considered equal, which he called the “republic of virtue”. However, the remaining members of the government turned against Robespierre and he was arrested and sentenced to death, without a chance to defend himself. He was then executed in the center of Paris by guillotine.

Source # 1 - Video on the Fall of Louis XVI, the war with Austria and rise of Jacobins - click here