<em>During the time of a revolution, the best approach for the leader to use is "terror and virtue."</em>
According to the French Maximilien de Robespierre, the source of popular government during a rebellion or revolution times is terror and virtue at the same time. In times of peace, it must change into virtue. Robespierre thought that virtue without terror resulted in fatal consequences for the leader. And terror without virtue was powerless.
Robespierre (1758-1794) was a French was an important figure during the French Revolution. He was the leader of the Committee of Public Safety in 1793 and was the architect of the Reign of Terror in France. He was killed in the guillotine in 1794.
Shortly after, in the 1990s, a reunified Germany passed a law allowing anyone whose property was expropriated to reclaim it. Millions of ordinary families that had fled East Germany used the legislation to reclaim their homes.
