Danton, Georges Jacques definition of Danton, Georges Jacques in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Danton, Georges Jacques (zhōrzh zhäk däNtôN`), 1759–94, French statesman, one of the leading figures of the French Revolution French Revolution, political upheaval of world importance in France that began in 1789.

Origins of the Revolution

Historians disagree in evaluating the factors that brought about the Revolution.
..... Click the link for more information. . A Parisian lawyer, he became a leader of the Cordeliers Cordeliers (kôrdəlyā`), political club of the French Revolution.
..... Click the link for more information. early in the Revolution and gained popular favor through his powerful oratory. A member of the Commune of Paris Commune of Paris, insurrectionary governments in Paris formed during (1792) the French Revolution and at the end (1871) of the Franco-Prussian War . In the French Revolution, the Revolutionary commune, representing urban workers, tradespeople, and radical bourgeois,
..... Click the link for more information. , he helped set the stage for the Aug., 1792, attack on the Tuileries and the overthrow of the monarchy. In the new republic, he became minister of justice and virtual head of the Provisional Executive Council. A member of the Convention, the national assembly, he dominated the first Committee of Public Safety (Apr.–July, 1793), created by the Convention as the chief governing body of France. When France suffered military reverses, Danton began to advocate a conciliatory foreign policy. He was not included (July, 1793) in the new Committee of Public Safety, and he retired from the capital. He returned in November when financial scandals involving his friends were revealed. Perhaps to help them, he advocated relaxation of emergency measures, particularly the Reign of Terror Reign of Terror, 1793–94, period of the French Revolution characterized by a wave of executions of presumed enemies of the state. Directed by the Committee of Public Safety, the Revolutionary government's Terror was essentially a war dictatorship, instituted to
..... Click the link for more information. , and attacked the dictatorship of the committee. Soon after the committee had eliminated the extremists under Jacques René Hébert Hébert, Jacques René (zhäk rənā` ābĕr`), 1757–94, French journalist and revolutionary.
..... Click the link for more information. , it turned upon Danton and the "Indulgents" or moderates. On Mar. 30, 1794, Danton and his followers were charged with conspiracy to overthrow the government. The trial was a mockery, and Danton was guillotined. There has been much controversy as to his character, particularly between Alphonse Aulard Aulard, Alphonse (älfôNs` ōlär`), 1849–1928, French historian.
..... Click the link for more information. , who defended him as a great patriot and statesman, and Albert Mathiez Mathiez, Albert (älbĕr` mätyā`), 1874–1932, French historian, an authority on the French Revolution.
..... Click the link for more information. , who viewed him as a demagogue and a corrupt politician.

Bibliography

See his Speeches (tr. 1928); biographies by L. Madelin (1914, in French), H. Wendel (tr. 1935), and N. Hampson (1978).