Robespierre's arrest and execution ended the Reign of Terror and triggered the Thermidorian Reaction, shifting the French Revolution toward more moderate governance.
Key Facts
- Speech to Convention
- 26 July 1794
- Date of arrest
- 27 July 1794
- Date of execution
- 28 July 1794
- Method of execution
- Guillotine
- Execution site
- Place de la Révolution, Paris
- Key conspirator against Robespierre
- Jean-Lambert Tallien
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
On 26 July 1794, Robespierre addressed the National Convention warning of internal enemies and conspirators within its ranks. His refusal to name them alarmed deputies, who feared he was preparing another purge similar to those carried out during the Reign of Terror, creating an atmosphere of acute political tension.
Jean-Lambert Tallien, one of those Robespierre had implicitly targeted, exploited the mounting fear in the Convention to rally deputies against Robespierre. On 27 July he was arrested, and by the close of 28 July 1794 he was executed by guillotine at the Place de la Révolution in Paris.
Robespierre's fall brought the Reign of Terror to an end and ushered in the Thermidorian Reaction, during which the Convention implemented considerably more moderate policies, reversing many of the radical and violent measures that had characterized the preceding period of revolutionary government.