Maximilian Robespierre is best-known for instigating the Terror, a short but dark period of the French Revolution under which thousands of people were killed by an increasingly overzealous revolutionary government. But that is not all he did in his life.
The reason he had enough power to do the Terror in the first place was that he played a vital role in the French Revolution, overthrowing the absolute monarchy and (eventually, after a long and tumultuous period including none other than Napoleon) establishing democracy. He led a group called the Jacobins who were vital to the success of the revolution. Without their help, the Revolution might have failed and France might have stayed under monarchy for generations to come.
He was a classic example of a Well-Intentioned Extremist; while his goals were good---he wanted freedom and democracy for all the people of France---he was willing to use extreme methods including torture and murder in order to get there. As he grew more extreme, he also became less popular, and was eventually overthrown in much the same way he had originally overthrown the king.
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