Danton, Georges Jacques

The son of the prosecuting attorney Arcy-sur-Aux Jacques Danton (1722–1762) ^{[5] [6]} . He spent his childhood in a rural setting in a seminary and in a secular guesthouse in Troy, imbued with the worship of the ancient world . Preparing for the law profession in Paris , Danton got acquainted with the literature of the XVII and XVIII centuries. and took an active part in Freemasonry . In 1787, he bought a lawyer's seat at the advice of the king, considering then a possible coup from above; but in 1791 , with the liquidation of the old judicial posts, Danton did not accept any new in exchange in order to fully surrender to revolutionary activity.

Already in 1789, Danton actively conducted extreme revolutionary and republican ideas in various meetings and clubs, played a prominent role in the events of July 14 and October 5-6 and in the founding of the Cordeliers Club. Everywhere and always Danton was against the court, the ministry, the National Assembly ; On July 17, 1791, he urged people on the Field of Mars to sign a petition to overthrow the king. After the suppression of this movement, Danton disappeared for six weeks to England and returned only to the elections to the Legislative Assembly . He did not get to the deputies, but began in Paris to prepare the king's deposition, either as an administrator of the department, now as a fellow prosecutor of the Paris Commune , now in clubs, then among the people's troops - federal forces of Marseille and Brittany or Enfants-Rouges from Saint-Antoine suburb. He also participated in the collection of volunteers.

On the night of August 9 , 1792, Danton gave impetus to the formation of a new, more republican general council of the commune, arrested Manda, Lafayette's successor in command of the National Guard, and replaced him with Santerrom. After August 10, Danton was appointed Minister of Justice; relying on the Paris Commune, he became the leader in the fight against the royalists inside and in the defense of the frontiers against Austria and Prussia . Enemies of Danton accused him of venality, embezzlement, organizing the September murders . The first charges are not supported by any documents; to warn or stop the September killings Danton, by his own admission, did not feel strong and reacted to bloodshed with the same indifference as he later did to his own death. Danton was elected a deputy to the Convention of Paris and was attacked here by the Gironde for his previous work in the ministry. He stood at the press freedom convention, for laws against immigrants, for condemning the king; at one time he was the chairman of the Jacobins club and a member of the first Committee of Public Safety .

After the victory at Jemape, Danton was sent by the Convention to Belgium to organize the conquered area. Later, in view of the irritation that the policy of intervention caused in neighboring states, Danton insisted in the convention on the decision not to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations ( April 13, 1793 ), not to take offensive wars or conquests ( June 15, 1793 ). The purpose of further diplomatic relations and military weapons, he put the peace and recognition of the republic by other powers. Danton helped replace the parliamentary government of the Gironde with a temporary revolutionary dictatorship of the committee of public salvation and began to fight the opponents of the revolution inside and outside France through revolutionary tribunals and colossal sets. The period from April 1793 to September 1793 is the era of Danton's greatest influence. In foreign relations, he outlined a whole policy system for his successors: in England, support all opposition elements against Pitt , achieve the neutrality of small powers - Denmark , Sweden , etc. , try to separate Prussia and Bavaria from the coalition, tame Sardinia and Spain by force, fight irreconcilably against Austria , creating difficulties for her in the East by agitation in Poland and Turkey .

Since the establishment of the second Committee of Public Safety , the transition of power begins, on the one hand, to the Hebertists , on the other - to Robespierre . Danton weakly opposed this, often absent in Paris, relying too much on his popularity. He did not approve the continuation of executions, for which he began to receive charges of excessive leniency. Shortly before his arrest, Danton allegedly replied to friends who had offered him to flee from France: “Is it possible to carry off the homeland on the soles of his boots?”

After the fall of the Hebertists , when Robespierre’s influence reached its apogee, on March 31, 1794, Danton and his friends were arrested by order of the joint committees of public safety and general security ; this measure was approved by the convention on the Saint-Just report, drawn up according to the outline of Robespierre. The process was conducted from the very beginning in violation of all formalities; By the new ruling of the convention, on the proposal of Saint-Just, the defendants were directly outlawed. Dantonists ( Camille Desmoulins , Hérault de Séchelles , Fabre d'Eglantine and others) were accused of plotting to overthrow the national representation and the republic, were convicted and killed in the guillotine . On the way to the scaffold, Danton encouraged himself with the words: “Go ahead, Danton, you shouldn’t know weaknesses!” And passing by the house where Robespierre lived, Danton cried out the prophetic words: “Maximilian, I’m waiting for you, you will follow me!”

The testimony of executioner Charles Henri Sanson : “At first, Hérault de Séchelles ascended the scaffold, and with him Danton, not waiting to be called. The assistants already grabbed Herault and put a bag over his head when Danton came over to embrace him, since Heraud could not say goodbye to him. Then Danton exclaimed: “Fools! Would you stop your heads from kissing in a bag? .. “The guillotine's knife was not yet cleaned, as Danton had already approached; I restrained him, inviting him to turn away while the corpse was removed, but he only shrugged his shoulders contemptuously: “A little more or less blood on your car, what is the importance; do not forget just to show my head to the people; such heads aren't seen every day. ” These were his last words. ”

Present in computer game Assassin's Creed Unity .

The Beholder game has the character George Danton, who is also a revolutionary.

Like most other figures of the French Revolution, presented in the game We. The Revolution.

• "Orphans of the storm" (1921)
• " Marie-Antoinette (film, 1938) "
• " Marie Antoinette - Queen of France " (1956)
• Andrzej Waida shot the film “Danton” in France in 1982 , the main role in which was played by Gerard Depardieu .
• Romain Rolland dedicated to Danton the play of the same name.
• “French Revolution” (film, 1989). As Danton, Klaus Maria Brandauer

• In 1891, the Paris City Council decided to erect a monument to Danton.
• Drama George Buchner "Death of Danton."
• The name "Danton" was named the battleship of the French naval forces , sunk in 1917 by a German submarine in the Mediterranean .

• Danton J.-J. Selected speeches . - Kharkov, 1924.
• Levandovsky A. Danton. - M .: Young Guard, 1964. - ( Life of great people ).
• Friedland G. S. Danton . - M. , 1965. Archival copy of July 13, 2011 on the Wayback Machine
• Molchanov N. Montagnara. - M .: Young Guard, 1989. - ( Life of great people ).
• Gross D., Valovaya M., Lapshin G. Daring. - M .: Young Guard, 1989. - 320 p.
• Tolstoy A. N. Death of Danton
• Schepkin E. N. Danton, Georges-Jacques // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extras). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• Danton: between justice and revolution. The program "Echo of Moscow" from the series "Everything is so"
• The case of K. Demoulen and Danton (inaccessible link from 05/26/2013 [2258 days] - history , copy ) // LaRevolution.ru
• The summary page on the personalities of the Great French Revolution // Library Vive Liberta
• J. Danton (inaccessible link from 05/26/2013 [2258 days] - history , copy ) // aphorisms and sayings on www.afword.ru