Page:Voices of Revolt - Volume 1.djvu/39

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INTRODUCTION
35

indictment, and only Maximilien's speech saved them from the voyage to the guillotine.

In the Committee of Public Safety, Maximilien had not only a Left opposition, but also a Right opposition. The surviving members of the Committee of Public Safety: Carnot, and particularly those who later, under the Empire, and even under the Bourbons, made a success of things for themselves, succeeded in blackguarding Robespierre; as Napoleon says, he is the scapegoat of the Revolution. Carnot particularly maintained that Robespierre had had no great influence on the course of military events. This is untrue; Robespierre received and promoted generals, gave daily directions, performed the same work as Carnot, besides supervising Carnot, and particularly was suspicious of the generals, being suspicious of military power in any case, and, as he declared almost daily, feeling that a victorious army might become a danger to the Republic. He delivered prophetic speeches in which he declared that the present struggle was a struggle of self-defense, and that the Republic as such would prefer peace. No military dictatorship would have been possible while Robespierre was alive. He worked eighteen hours daily; from eight to twelve in the morning there was the session of the Committee of Public Safety; from one to six in the afternoon, the session of the Convention; from seven to twelve in