Imperialism 3 Essay, Research Paper

Robespierre stated that the main objective of achieving peace and liberty, is through people s hearts. Peace and liberty can t be achieved by forcing people to do things they don t want to do. In the heart of every man, they strive for glory in their nation. Robespierre states this concept in the last paragraph of his Republic of Virtue . It explains how virtue ties into terror and how having a powerful nation must have both to survive. The key idea, is that a nation can t be perfect. There are ways to deal with people in good times and in bad. Robespierre also states that the only way for a nation to succeed is either through a democracy or a republic, which are governments built around the voices of the people. After all, people have a better idea of the nation, than does one sole ruler. An example, is the colonies in America. Did it fail them to have a democracy as a government? Or if is a mere coincidence that the same type of government is the same today?

Robespierre understood that a nation can t be perfect. He realized that popular governments go through stages during peace and during a revolution. The main idea of a popular government during peace was good citizenship. This meant that people had to have good values in their heart in order to achieve liberty and equality. ;where the patrie assures the well-being of each individual, and where each individual shares with pride the prosperity and glory of the patrie . A nation should make sure each individual is satisfied; however, the people must share their glory with the nation. Good citizenship is at the heart of the republic. In a revolution, terror is displayed throughout a nation. In most cases, lives are lost and blood is shed. Revolutions can be a good thing, if the nation is moving towards a common and illustrious goal. Terror also ties into virtue. Without having good citizenship(virtue), terror can be harmful. People won t understand how to deal with problems. The people of each nation are working for a common goal, and they need to keep sight of that at all times. Likewise, without having some sort of terror, there would be no discipline or guidelines. That would just cause chaos. To an extent, discipline is vital. This was described by Robespierre as justice that is prompt, severe, and inflexible; .

Robespierre said that only a democracy and a republic could attain the goals of humanity. In a democracy, every man can enjoy the full rights of citizenship. Each person is aiming for a goal in their own life, and they have nothing to distract them. We wish to substitute in out country all the virtues and miracles of the republic for all the vices and absurdities of the monarchy . Robespierre is saying that he wants to rid France of a monarchy, and change it to a democracy. His idea of a democracy was a type of government where people could make their own laws, follow them, do everything that they want to do, and get help from delegates when they need too. This is why Robespierre was so interested in having a democracy for the nation.

The sentence of the last paragraph of Robespierre s Republic of Virtue is a simple concept. Terror, isn t wrong, it is a part of having good citizenship. This idea of terror and virtue is just a small idea of the main principles of democracy. Democracy, described by Robespierre, is one of the most pressing needs of the patrie . This was an identical idea of the colonists ideas in America, and look how far it got them. After all, America is one of the most powerful and successful countries in the world.