The Revolutionary Career of Maximilien Robespierre

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The French Revolution transformed the political landscape, driven by a new figure: the self-aware revolutionary, epitomized by Maximilien Robespierre. He inspired later figures like Lenin, who viewed him as a precursor to Bolshevism. Although Robespierre's influence peaked during his final year leading the Committee for Public Safety, he embodied the Revolution's ideological essence, extremes, and the virtues and vices of absolutism. Historian David P. Jordan notes that Robespierre remains an enigma; his revolutionary career spanned the crucial years from 1789 to 1794, yet his early life was unremarkable. The Jacobin leader, revered by the masses, is both mysterious and awe-inspiring, having sparked significant historical events. Historians often reduce him to caricatures—an antichrist, a manipulator, or a political tactician. Jordan seeks to understand Robespierre through his self-conception, as he frequently wrote about himself, influenced by Enlightenment rationalism and the emerging genre of autobiography. Robespierre's extensive speeches, articles, and pamphlets reveal his reflections on his destiny as a living martyr and revolutionary Everyman. Through these writings, Jordan endeavors to uncover the complexities of Robespierre, the unlikely figure who became pivotal in revolutionary France.