Robespierre Arrested: Reign of Terror Collapses
The National Convention arrested Maximilien Robespierre on July 27, 1794 (9 Thermidor in the revolutionary calendar), ending the Reign of Terror that had sent an estimated 17,000 people to the guillotine in twelve months. Robespierre had progressively expanded the definition of "enemy of the revolution" until even his colleagues on the Committee of Public Safety feared they would be next. Deputies who knew they were on his lists staged a parliamentary coup, shouting him down when he tried to speak. Robespierre attempted suicide with a pistol but only shattered his jaw. He was guillotined the following afternoon without trial, his broken jaw held together with a bandage. The blade that had been his instrument of power became his executioner.
July 27, 1794
232 years ago
Key Figures & Places
French Revolution
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Maximilien Robespierre
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9 Thermidor
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arrested
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French Revolution
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Maximilien Robespierre
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Thermidorian Reaction
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Caída de Robespierre
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Thermidor
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Montagne (Révolution française)
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Thermidorianer
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Reign of Terror
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Revolutionary Tribunal
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Committee of Public Safety
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Reichenbacher Konvention (1790)
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Prussia
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Frederick William II of Prussia
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Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
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