The Terror: Killing God (Part 5)

Dominic Sandbrook (0:11)

Let us be grave and discreet in all our deliberations, as men who determine the interests of the world. Let us be ardent and tenacious in our anger towards the leagues of tyranny, imperturbable in danger, patient in labour, terrible in adversity, modest and vigilant in success.

Let us be generous towards the good, compassionate towards the unfortunate, inexorable toward the wicked, just towards all.

Let us not count on an unalloyed prosperity, nor on triumph without obstacles, nor on anything that depends on the fortune or perversity of others. We should rely solely on our own constancy and our own virtue alone. But infallible guaranteurs of our independence, let us crush the unholy league of kings, even more by our greatness of character than by the force of our arms. So that was a speech given by Maximilien Robespierre on the 8th of June 1794 in the Gardens of the Tuileries in the centre of Paris. Now some people might find that stirring. Others might think it's the kind of thing that the headmaster of a minor public school might say at the first assembly of term or that a particularly weedy Church of England bishop would say to his dwindling congregation. But actually in this case, the occasion was the strangest and most colourful public spectacle of the entire French Revolution. That is saying something. So Tom, when and where and why are we?

Tom Holland (1:54)

So Robespierre had announced this deeply eccentric public spectacle a month earlier on the 7th of May. And it was a great festival to which literally everyone was invited.

Robespierre wanted it to be an occasion so civic that basically every citizen could turn up and enjoy the fun, enjoy the stirring oratory.

And the whole occasion was very, very much his baby.

He had gone to inordinate efforts to make it a success. And he had invested a lot of his political capital in putting it on, because there's a fair degree of scepticism around it, it has to be said.

So not only had he had himself elected president of the National Convention, so basically the official government of France, four days before this festival is staged, so that he can play the kind of the constitutionally appointed central role in the whole proceedings. But he has also very thoughtfully had the guillotine moved from the Place de la Révolution, which is kind of just across the road, so that the sound of the blade slicing and the spurting of blood and the cheers of the crowd won't detract from the solemnity of this great event that he's planned. So very thoughtful.

Dominic Sandbrook (3:11)

That's nice.

Tom Holland (3:12)

And Robespierre has one of the great impresarios in all history at his side. And this is the painter Jacques-Louis David, who we did a bonus about with Laura Cumming.

Dominic Sandbrook (3:25)

Death of Mara.

Tom Holland (3:26)

Yeah, exactly. And he's prepared all kinds of extravaganza for it. So he has a massive choir, and when they're all put together, all these various choirs constitute 2,400 voices. So that's quite a volume. Incredible stage sets, brilliant special effects, and some dazzling pyrotechnics. And he's also designed the costumes. He's hired florists with baskets to hand out flowers, freshly cut flowers.

And he's got girls in white dresses to hand them out from these baskets. So they are very, very kind of attractive.

Dominic Sandbrook (4:06)

He's learned his lesson from Mara's funeral, which was the last great spectacle that he's staged. So he doesn't have any rotting bodies or severed arms falling off or anything like that.

Tom Holland (4:16)

No, but even so, even though he doesn't have any postural-ridden bodies, kind of threatening foul smells, he is nervous when the Great Day dawned, much like a Rest Is History host who is staging a festival at Hampton Court Palace.

Dominic Sandbrook (4:32)

Would such a person be nervous? I don't believe they would. Maybe one of us was a little bit.

Tom Holland (4:37)

But Robespierre, he's trying to get himself in the mood. He's trying to kind of pep himself up by looking at his absolute best. Of course, we've been talking throughout this series about how fastidious he is, how concerned about his appearance he is. So he has put on his very best Republican finery. So he has an exquisite blue coat, which we'll be featuring later in the series.

He's wearing a tricolor sash. He's got a plume hat. But unfortunately, he's so nervous that when he left the house of Maurice DuPle, his landlord, he left behind a large bouquet of flowers that had been made for him by one of the DuPle daughters. So that's very sad. And the other indication of how nervous he is, his stomach is clearly so knotted up that he doesn't have breakfast, and he has to be persuaded to go up and kind of pick at it.