Georges Jacques Danton

Fransk statsmand, chef for Komitéen for Offentlig Sikkerhed.

• Toulon III, 1793

Danton, George Jacques (1759-94), fransk revolutionsmand. Født i et middelstandshjem gik han som dreng i en jesuitterskole, hvor han viste både flid og dygtighed, men hverken lyst eller evne til at underordne sig disciplinen. Efter skolegangen studerede han jura, tog gode eksamener og fik tidlig en god stilling i Paris. Men jævnsides sine fagstudier læste han med iver tidens store forfattere, både digtere og videnskabsmænd (Montesquieu, Beccaria, Bayle, Helvétius, Rousseau, Voltaire, Adam Smith o.fl.; som rekoncalescent efter en sygdom skal hav havde løst »Encyclopædien« fra ende til anden), og var fuld af iver for demokratiske og humane reformer, fuld af vred ringeagt for kirke og adel. Han blev derfor revolutionens ivrigste og dygtigste agitator, en »folkets Mirabeau«, stiftede Cardelierklubben juni 1790 og organiserede Paris' bogerskab. Efter kongens flugt 1791 ivrede han for hans afsættelse og var natten 9-10. august 1792 den egentlige leder af bevægelsen. Blev straks efter justitsminister. Septembermyrderierne på de kongeligsindede fanger synes at være foregået både uden og mod hans vilje. September 1792 medlem af konventet; gik kort efter af som minister og blev formand for Jakobinerklubben. I konventet ivrede han for kongenshenrettelse, fik oprettet revolutionsdomstolen og velfærdsudvalget, dvs. en stærk provisorisk regering, der kunne bringe orden i forvirringen. Under et rekreationsophold på landet i sommeren 1792 benyttede hans mange fjender og misundere hans fraværelse fra parus til at gøre ham mistænkt for forræderi mod friheden, og hans stilling begyndte atsvækkes. Robespierreog Saint Just hadede og misundte ham. Han blev anklaget for at ville genoprettet kongedømmet og tilintetgøre konventet og den republikanske regering, anklager, der har vist sig aldeles grundløse. Han og hans venner (bl.a. Camille Desmoulins) dømtes til døden ogguillotineredes 5. april 1794. (HK3/1921)

One of the leading figures of the French Revolution. A Parisian lawyer, he became a leader of the Cordeliers early in the Revolution and gained popular favor through his powerful oratory. A member of the Commune of Paris, 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, and attacked the dictatorship of the committee. Soon after the committee had eliminated the extremists under Jacques René Hébert, 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, who defended him as a great patriot and statesman, and Albert Mathiez, who viewed him as a demagogue and a corrupt politician.