Nasty subject, but...

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

I don't think any of the history books I've read have ever really gone into this, but - presumably, as originally intended, the Thermidor plot was to have Robespierre and co. arrested, imprisoned, and then, presumably, put on trial before the Tribunal. Could they have seriously been confident in a conviction? Some accounts of the day suggest that the Robespierristes were reluctant to be 'freed' because it appears they reckoned a trial was a better option for them, Marat style. It would also have given Robespierre's supporters more time to organise. So, what were the plotters thinking? Just 'it's now or never and we'll work the next bit out when we come to it'? Any thoughts on this?

Another bit of unpleasantness on the same subject - I recently came across an account that suggests there wasn't any lead in the wound in Robespierre's jaw, i.e., that it was a shot from a pistol charged with gunpowder but no lead bullet: that would still cause a fair bit of damage, specially if fired into your mouth, which is the suicide method, but wouldn't smash your skull...sorry, I've had toothache all week so that's the sort of thing I've been wondering about!

Comments

[livviebway.livejournal.com]

Re: Augustin. Probably would have escaped for a day or two, then gotten thrown into prison as an afterthought. Whether or not he would have gotten guillotined depending on when he went to trial. Probably would have though.

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

Skimming through a book on Napoleon in a bookshop recently, I read something that suggested that Carnot was pissed off that the Robespierres were giving young Bonaparte a long leash (the papers on which were tactfully destroyed after Thermidor), and, as with the CPS arguments with Saint-Just over military matters, this may have helped stir the anger up. I haven't come across this anywhere else, though (but I haven't done much reading on this - as a friend of mine said, "Napoleon doesn't really do it for me" - nice uniforms, though!) - if there's any truth in it, I suppose Carnot would have it in for Augustin, too.

[wolfshadow713.livejournal.com]

To my knowledge, Augustin didn't really do all that much, so part of me thinks they may have removed him from office, but they would have hesitated to kill him, if only because it would seem too much like the bad blood (guilt through blood relation) they criticized Robespierre of beginning to lean toward. Still, in a panicked situation, principles tend to go out the window, so they might have just seen something named "Robespierre" and viewed it as a danger.