Question about Robespierre and The Terror

[fromrequired.livejournal.com]

 I don't have much knowledge about the French Revolution (as you can tell by looking at my userpic, I'm more of a WWII fangirl) but I'm greatly interested in it. 

So in my AP Euro History class, we had to watch this documentary about the French Revolution. I'll post a part of it below:

I'm sort of lost because I thought Robespierre originally was for the rights of the poor and the ordinary people? It doesn't seem plausible to me that he can just turn into a sanguinary dictator overnight. Even in my textbook it says that Robespierre killed everyone whom he deemed unfit for his "Republic of Virtue," but history is never that simple. I know, I study WWII ;)

Anyways, can y'all people enlighten me about the cause of The Terror and Robespierre's role in it? Sorry if I'm asking too many questions.


EDIT: Here's the part that succeeds it. It basically describes the fall of Robespierre and says he inspired later dictatorships and revolutions. 

Comments

[zanyofsorrow.livejournal.com]

Well, Robespierre himself didn't like the de-christianization. As for the Cult of the supreme being: Robespierre was a deist, in other words he believed in the existence of a greater being/god, but he wasn't an adherent of any existing religion. He didn't like atheism, calling it aristocratic. The Cult of the Supreme Being was essential him trying to connect the ideals of the revolution with the believe in a deity.


(I find it funny that there seem to be a lot of people who think Robespierre was an atheist. I've seen him (or rather, the "bloodthirsty monster" version of him) being named as an example why atheism supposedly leads to mass murder.)