The Convention Turns on Robespierre and the Terror Ends

On 26 July 1794, Maximilien Robespierre stood before the National Convention in Paris after weeks of voluntary absence and delivered an unyielding address. He asserted that a network of internal conspirators operated within the assembly and the governing committees, threatening the republic from within. Although he alleged a conspiracy, he declined to identify most of those he accused. For the assembly members, who had witnessed the rapid condemnations of rival political factions over the preceding months, this ambiguity provoked immediate dread. Convinced that another sweeping purge was underway and that anyone could be among the unnamed targets, deputies across different factions began coordinating their resistance.

Tensions within the revolutionary government had been intensifying since the previous spring. The Committee of Public Safety had consolidated executive authority during the Reign of Terror, eliminating both left-wing critics led by Jacques Hébert and moderate figures such as Georges Danton. Robespierre's authority was reinforced further by the Law of 22 Prairial, enacted in June 1794, which accelerated the pace of tribunal trials and broadened the definition of treason. However, these measures alienated the Committee of General Security, which resented overlapping police powers, while French military success at the Battle of Fleurus diminished the wartime justification for emergency rule. Accusations of personal dictatorship soon flared during closed committee meetings, prompting Robespierre to withdraw from regular deliberations.