On The Transition Of Robespierre's Conception From The Legal System To The Terror

In 1789, the French Revolution broke out. Before this event, Robespierre had been elected to the Estates General. As a provincial lawyer, he admired the power of the law. So at that time, he advocated the ideals of new laws to protect the rights of the common people and was a supporter of constitutional monarchy. However, when he took power with the Jacobin party in 1793, he enforced the horrible reign of Terror that shook the world., and the law was completely forgotten. During the transition from the law to the Terror, the political conceptions of Robespierre, the political crises and the judicial background played very important role. This paper which consists of three chapters will focus on the transition to find its reason.Chapter one describes the political crises Robespierre faced when he took power as Jacobin leader. The Girondists, the Dantonists, the Hebertists and the Ultra-roylists threatened the political position of the Jacobin in different ways. What was worse, the Girondists and the Ultra-royalists were trying to take back the governing power through violent riots, which were direct threats to Robespierre. When he failed to restrict these groups by the law, it had become impossible to control the situation in legal way. The Jacobin needed to take immediate measures for the steady governing power. Based on this background, Robespierre decided to take use of Terror to protect power that can help him to realize his political ideals.Chapter two analyzes the contemporary political circumstances. Although France passed two constitution respectively in 1791 and 1793, the frequent altered political power made it impossible to carry out them. These two constitutions did not influence the French sociaty. The authority of the law in French society was very weak all the time. If the law affected the power of the rulers, it would be abolished, which leaded to the weak legal consciousness of the people. At the same time, France had long tradition of centralized system. The revolution destructed this system, but it did not establish separation of powers. So all the affairs of France were handled by the Committee of General Security. This system provided enough chances for Robespierre to carry out Terror. What's more, during the process of the French Revolution, violence and terror existed from the beginning to the end. They even played very effective role in several events, which influenced Robespierre deeply. The trial of the king gave him determination and confidence to realize his political ideal by the violence.Chapter three retrospects the political conceptions of Robespierre, including his ideals of the country and the social background. At that time, the social problems were very complicated and sharp. The Third Estate not only was in low political status, but some of them lived extremely miserable life. Besides, the conceptions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau pushed him to create a republic based on justice and equality. However, every social class had their unique desire. It is extremely difficult to conciliate between them, which is a huge obstacle to Robepierre's ideal. He finally resort to the centralized system and the terror to solve these problems in order to realize his political ideal of equality and freedom.Chapter four describes the transition of Robespierre's conception from the legal system to the terror. Actually law and terror had the same meaning to Robespierre. They were both measures of realizing his political ideals. When the law had lost its function little by little during the revolution, Robespierre turned to Terror under the centralized system to attain to a republic of virtue.