What was the role of Robespierre in the French Revolution?

Maximilien Robespierre was one of the primary architects of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. Once the Revolution had taken over France, its primary goal was to make sure it stayed in power. As the de facto leader of the Committee of Public Safety, Robespierre's job was to crush counterrevolutionaries and anyone else the Committee considered a threat to the Revolution (or the Committee). The "Reign of Terror," as this campaign came to be called, resulted in the ruthless executions of countless individuals, most famously on the guillotine. Robespierre was a Jacobin--the extreme wing of the French Revolutionary movement--and his radicalism coupled with his ruthlessness and lust for power caused many people to resent him. Eventually, the Revolution turned against Robespierre, and he was arrested and beheaded.