View source for Georges Danton

{{Short description|French revolutionary (1759–1794)}}
{{Redirect|Danton}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Georges Danton
| image               = Georges Danton.jpg
| caption             = Georges Jacques Danton. ''[[Musée Carnavalet]]'', Paris
| office              = [[Committee of Public Safety|Member of the Committee of Public Safety]]
| term_start          = 6 April 1793
| term_end            = 10 July 1793
| predecessor         = ''Office created''
| successor           =
| office1             = [[Ministry of Justice (France)|Minister of Justice]]
| term_start1         = 10 August 1792
| term_end1           = 9 October 1792
| predecessor1        = [[Étienne Dejoly]]
| successor1          = [[Dominique Joseph Garat]]
| office2             = 23rd [[List of Presidents of the National Convention|President of the National Convention]]
| term_start2         = 25 July 1793
| term_end2           = 8 August 1793
| predecessor2        = [[Jean Bon Saint-André]]
| successor2          = [[Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles]]
| office3             = Deputy in the [[National Convention]]
| term_start3         = 20 September 1792
| term_end3           = 5 April 1794
| constituency3       = [[Seine (department)|Seine]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1759|10|26|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Arcis-sur-Aube]], [[Kingdom of France]]
| death_date          = 5 April 1794 (aged 34)
| death_place         = [[Paris]], [[First French Republic]]
| death_cause         = [[Guillotine|Execution by guillotine]]
| nationality         = [[French people|French]]
| party               = [[The Mountain]] (1792–1794)
| otherparty          = [[Jacobin Club]]<ref name=encybrit/> (1789–1794)<br />[[Cordeliers Club]] (1790–1794)<br />[[Indulgents]] (1793–1794)
| occupation          = Lawyer, politician
| parents             = Jacques Danton<br />Mary Camus
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{Marriage|[[Antoinette Gabrielle Charpentier]]|1787|1793|reason=her death}}
* {{Marriage|Louise Sébastienne Gély|1793}}
}}
| children            = 3
| relatives           =
| signature           = GeorgesDantonSignature.jpg
}}

'''Georges Jacques Danton''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|æ|n|t|ən}};<ref>{{Cite Collins Dictionary|Danton}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|ʒɔʁʒ dɑ̃tɔ̃|lang}}; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French politician and leading figure of the [[French Revolution]]. A modest and unknown lawyer on the eve of the Revolution, Danton became a famous orator of the [[Cordeliers|Cordeliers Club]] and was raised to governmental responsibilities as the [[French Minister of Justice]] following the fall of the monarchy on [[Insurrection of 10 August 1792|the tenth of August 1792]], and was allegedly responsible for inciting the [[September Massacres]]. He was tasked by the National Convention to intervene in the military conquest of Belgium led by General [[Dumouriez]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Lawday |first=David |title=The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life |publisher=Grove Press |date=July 12, 2011 |isbn=978-0802145413 |pages=174–188}}</ref> and in the spring of 1793 supported the foundation of a [[Revolutionary Tribunal]], becoming the first president of the [[Committee of Public Safety]].

During the [[Insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793]], Danton changed his mind on the use of force and lost his seat in the committee afterwards, which solidified the rivalry between him and [[Maximilien Robespierre]]. In early October 1793, Danton left politics but was urged to return to Paris to plead, as a [[Modérantisme|moderate]], for an end to the Terror. His continual criticism of the Committee of Public Safety provoked further counter-attacks. Robespierre replied to Danton's plea for an end to the Terror on 25 December (5 Nivôse, year II). At the end of March 1794, Danton made another speech announcing the end of the Terror.{{sfn|Schama|1989|pp=816–817}} Within a week, Danton faced accusations of purported royalist inclinations, leading to his trial and subsequent guillotine execution on charges of [[conspiracy]] and [[venality]].

Danton's role in the onset of the Revolution has been disputed, especially during the era of the [[Third French Republic|Third Republic]] (1870–1940); many historians describe him as "the chief force in the overthrow of the [[Ancien régime|French monarchy]] and the establishment of the [[First French Republic|First Republic]]".<ref name=encybrit>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9028728/Georges-Danton|title=Georges Danton profile|publisher=Britannica.com|access-date=20 February 2009|archive-date=10 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610115814/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9028728/Georges-Danton|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:Antoinette_Gabrielle_Charpentier_Danton.jpg|thumb|left|[[Antoinette Gabrielle Charpentier]], wife of Danton]]

Danton was born in [[Arcis-sur-Aube]] ([[Champagne (province)|Champagne]] in northeastern France) to Jacques Danton, a respectable, but not wealthy lawyer, and Madeleine Camus. As a baby, he was attacked by a bull and a few years later, came down with a bout of smallpox which resulted in the disfigurement and scarring of his face.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hibbert |first1=Christopher |title=The French Revolution |publisher=Penguin UK |date=1980 |page=384 |isbn=978-0141927152}}</ref> He initially attended the school in [[Sézanne]], but at the age of thirteen he left his parents' home to enter the seminary in [[Troyes]] before making a transition to a boarding school in the same area.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawday |first=David |title=The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life |publisher=Grove Press |date=July 12, 2011 |isbn=978-0802145413 |pages=12–13}}</ref> While attending school, his classmate and friend [[Jules-François Paré]] was to have his hands rapped as punishment, but Danton defended his friend and spoke out against corporal punishment in class.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dwyer|first=Frank|url=http://archive.org/details/georgesjacquesda0000dwye|title=Georges Jacques Danton|date=1987|publisher=New York : Chelsea House|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-87754-519-4}}</ref> Danton spoke so persuasively that the head of the school decided to ban the practice. In 1780, he settled in Paris, where he became a clerk under the Barrister Maître Vinot.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawday |first=David |title=The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life |publisher=Grove Press |date=July 12, 2011 |isbn=978-0802145413 |pages=19}}</ref> In 1783, he passed the Barrister examination in Reims, and in 1787 he became a member of the [[Conseil du Roi]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawday |first=David |title=The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life |publisher=Grove Press |date=July 12, 2011 |isbn=978-0802145413 |pages=28}}</ref><ref>Hampson, Norman (1988). ''Danton''. New York: Basil Blackwell. pp. 19–25.{{ISBN?}}</ref> He began to frequent a cafe known as the Parnasse, which is where he met [[Antoinette Gabrielle Charpentier]], whom he would marry on 14 June 1787 at the church of [[Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawday |first=David |title=The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life |publisher=Grove Press |date=July 12, 2011 |isbn=978-0802145413 |pages=29}}</ref> The couple lived in a six-room apartment in the heart of the Left Bank (near the [[Café Procope]]), and had three sons:
* François, born in May 1788, died in infancy on 24 April 1789.<ref name="GDF">{{cite web|title=Family tree Claude Forma – Geneanet|url=http://gw.geneanet.org/domsyl?lang=en&p=georges%2Bjacques&n=danton&oc=0|website=gw.geneanet.org|access-date=4 February 2017|archive-date=5 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205013405/http://gw.geneanet.org/domsyl?lang=en&p=georges%2Bjacques&n=danton&oc=0|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Antoine, born on 18 June 1790, died on 14 June 1858.<!--with one child, Sophie Octavie Danton (born on 3 March 1828 to Sophie Riviere).<ref name="GDF" />-->
* François Georges, born on 2 February 1792, died on 18 June 1848.<ref name="GDF"/>

==Revolution==
[[File:2018 No. 1 Cours du Commerce Saint-Andre, residence of Danton.jpg|thumb|left|The historic Cour du Commerce Saint-Andre in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. The house at No. 1 was where Georges Danton lived when he was the District President.]] [[File:Couvent des Cordeliers - Paris - Front View.jpg|thumb|left|Cordeliers University Library – Paris – Front View (formerly Couvent des Cordeliers)]]

In the spring of 1789, Danton found his revolutionary beginnings as one of the many people giving speeches to the crowds gathered in the [[Palais-Royal|Palais Royal]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawday |first=David |title=The Giant of the French Revolution |publisher=Grove Press |date=July 12, 2011 |isbn=978-0802145413 |pages=37–38}}</ref> His demanding voice and rhetorical skill quickly gained him fame, as well as his nickname of "The Thunderer".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawday |first=David |title=The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life |publisher=Grove Press |date=July 12, 2011 |isbn=978-0802145413 |pages=45}}</ref> As the Cordeliers district Danton resided in grew more persistent in its revolutionary ideals, it eventually formed its own street militia that was involved in the [[storming of the Bastille]] on July 14, 1789.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawday |first=David |title=The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life |publisher=Grove Press |date=July 12, 2011 |isbn=978-0802145413 |pages=40, 48–49}}</ref> Danton himself was not present for the event, however, he soon after led the Cordeliers militia, as well as other revolutionaries, on a mission to retake the Bastille from its provisional governor, which gained him more popular support from the revolutionaries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawday |first=David |title=The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life |publisher=Grove Press |date=July 12, 2011 |isbn=978-0802145413 |pages=49–52}}</ref><ref>S. Schama (1989) ''Citizens'', p. 452</ref> He and his district opposed the [[Marquis de LaFayette]], the commander of the [[National Guard]], as well as [[Jean Sylvain Bailly]], the provisional mayor. In early October, he was elected president of his section (around the [[Cordeliers Convent]]) and deputy to the Commune and wrote the poster for the [[Cordeliers]] which called Parisians to arms.

His house in the Rue des Cordeliers was open to many people from the neighborhood. Danton, [[Camille Desmoulins|Desmoulins]], and [[Jean-Paul Marat|Marat]], who lived around the corner, all used the nearby [[Cafe Procope]] as a meeting place. Danton protected Marat from legal proceedings, and in March 1790, LaFayette ordered Danton detained. Paris Commune was divided up into 48 sections and allowed to gather separately. Danton was removed from office by a redistricting of Paris, for which he was compensated.<ref>Hibbert, C. (1980) ''The French Revolution'', p. 167</ref><ref>N. Hampson (1978) ''Danton'', p. 58</ref>

On 27 April 1790, he became president of the [[Cordeliers|Club de Cordeliers]]. On 2 August, Bailly became Paris' first elected mayor; Danton had 49 votes, Marat and Louis XVI only one each.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TU1gDwAAQBAJ&dq=jacobin+club+%C3%A9lection+maire+1790+Bailly&pg=PA181|title=Petites et Grandes Révolutions de la Famille de Milly: Recherches sur et autour de Louis-Lézin de Milly de la Croix (1752–1804), Homme de Loi et Franc-Maçon|first=Alexandre|last=B|year=2018|publisher=Alexandre B.|isbn=9782956328100|via=Google Books|access-date=13 March 2023|archive-date=18 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318180225/https://books.google.com/books?id=TU1gDwAAQBAJ&dq=jacobin+club+%C3%A9lection+maire+1790+Bailly&pg=PA181|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e9EaAAAAYAAJ&dq=jacobin+club+%C3%A9lection+maire+1790+Bailly&pg=PA250|title=Les lundis révolutionnaires: 1790|date=24 May 1790|publisher=Lib. française|via=Google Books|access-date=13 March 2023|archive-date=18 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318180220/https://books.google.com/books?id=e9EaAAAAYAAJ&dq=jacobin+club+%C3%A9lection+maire+1790+Bailly&pg=PA250|url-status=live}}</ref> In spring 1791, Danton suddenly began investing in property, in or near his birthplace, on a large scale.<ref>N. Hampson (1978) Danton, p. 57</ref>

[[Maximilien Robespierre|Robespierre]], Pétion, Danton, and Brissot dominated the Jacobin Club. On 17 July 1791, Danton initiated a petition. Robespierre went to the Jacobin club to cancel the draft of the petition, according to [[Albert Mathiez]]. Robespierre persuaded the Jacobin clubs not to support the petition by Danton and Brissot.{{sfn|Schama|1989|p=567}} After the [[Champ de Mars massacre]], a series of repressive measures against the heads of popular societies forced him to take refuge in London for a few weeks.<ref>Andress, David. ''The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France'' (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2005), p. 51.{{ISBN?}}</ref> Since Jean-Paul Marat, Danton, and Robespierre were no longer delegates of the Assembly, politics often took place outside the meeting hall.

After the amnesty voted in the Assembly on 13 September 1791, Danton returned to Paris. He sought election to the new [[Legislative Assembly (France)|Legislative Assembly]], but the opposition of the [[Modérantisme|moderates]] in the electoral assembly of Paris led to his defeat. In December 1791, during the partial renewal of the municipality, there was significant abstention. This led to the defeat of LaFayette and the resignation of Bailly, which revealed the decline of the "constitutional" party which had until then dominated the Hôtel de Ville. Danton was elected second deputy ''procureur'' ''public'' of the Commune. The debate at the beginning of December 1791 on whether to go to war with neighboring powers opposing the Revolution, triggered conflict between Jacobins  and led to the birth of the opposition between [[The Mountain|Montagnards]] and [[Girondins]]. Danton hesitated on the need for war. He leaned more towards Robespierre than the pro-war [[Jacques Pierre Brissot|Brissot]], but, overall, limited his participation in the dispute.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Soboul |first=Albert |title=Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution |publisher=PUF |year=1989 |location=Paris |pages=322}}</ref>

===1792===
On 9 August 1792, Danton returned from Arcis. In the evening before the [[storming of the Tuileries]], he was visited by Desmoulins, his wife, and Fréron. After dinner, he went to the Cordeliers and preferred to go to bed early. It seems he went to the [[Hôtel de Ville, Paris|Maison-Commune]] after midnight.<ref>N. Hampson (1978) Danton, pp. 72–73</ref> Faced with the [[Paris Commune (1789–1795)|insurrectionary Commune]] which relied on the insurgent sections and which held Paris, the Legislative Assembly had no choice but to suspend [[Louis XVI]] and replace him with a provisional Executive Council of six members composed of former Girondin ministers ([[Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière|Roland]] in the Interior, [[Joseph Marie Servan de Gerbey|Servan]] in the War, [[Étienne Clavière|Clavière]] in Finance, [[Gaspard Monge|Monge]] in the Navy and [[Pierre Henri Hélène Marie Lebrun-Tondu|Lebrun]] in Foreign Affairs). The Girondins, hostile to revolutionary Paris, needed a popular man committed to the insurgents to liaise with the insurrectional Commune and had Danton appointed to Minister of Justice the next day; he appointed [[Fabre d'Églantine|Fabre]] and Desmoulins as his secretaries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chisholm |first=Hugh |title=Fabre d'Églantine, Philippe François Nazaire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1911 |edition=10th |pages=118}}</ref> More than a hundred decisions left the department within eight days. On 14 August, Danton invited Robespierre to join the Council of Justice, which Robespierre declined to do. <!--He appointed [[Pierre-Guillaume Seron]] as his secretary.-->

Danton seems to have dined almost every day at the Rolands'.<ref>N. Hampson (1978) Danton, p. 76</ref> On 28 August, the Assembly ordered a curfew for the next two days.<ref>[[Jean Massin]] (1959) Robespierre, pp. 133–134</ref> At the behest of Danton, thirty commissioners from the sections were ordered to search in every suspect house for weapons, munition, swords, carriages and horses.<ref>S. Schama, p. 626</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QTg_AAAAcAAJ&q=28+AOUT&pg=PA417|title=Collection Complète des Lois, Décrets, Ordonnances, Réglements, et Avis du Conseil-d'État|date=24 May 1824|publisher=A. Guyot|via=Google Books|access-date=13 March 2023|archive-date=28 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928235204/https://books.google.com/books?id=QTg_AAAAcAAJ&q=28+AOUT&pg=PA417|url-status=live}}</ref> By 2 September, between 520 and 1,000 people were taken into custody on the flimsiest of warrants. The exact number of those arrested will never be known.<ref>S. Loomis, p. 77</ref>

On Sunday 2 September, at about 13:00, Danton, as a member of the provisional government, delivered a speech in the assembly: "We ask that anyone refusing to give personal service or to furnish arms shall be punished with death".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/decouvrir-l-assemblee/histoire/grands-discours-parlementaires/danton-2-septembre-1792|title=Danton (2 septembre 1792) – Histoire – Grands discours parlementaires – Assemblée nationale|website=www2.assemblee-nationale.fr|access-date=24 May 2023|archive-date=12 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312155705/https://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/decouvrir-l-assemblee/histoire/grands-discours-parlementaires/danton-2-septembre-1792|url-status=live}}</ref> "The [[wikt:tocsin|tocsin]] we are about to ring is not an alarm signal; it sounds the charge on the enemies of our country." He continued after the applause: "To conquer them we must dare, dare again, always dare, and France is saved!".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/hc/continental-europe-380-1906/georges-jacques-danton|title=Georges Jacques Danton|date=10 October 2022|website=Collection at Bartleby.com|access-date=24 May 2023|archive-date=24 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524191325/https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/hc/continental-europe-380-1906/georges-jacques-danton|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k54946638|title=Discours de Danton / édition critique par André Fribourg|first=Georges-Jacques (1759–1794) Auteur du texte|last=Danton|date=24 May 1910|via=gallica.bnf.fr|access-date=4 February 2020|archive-date=5 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105214810/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k54946638|url-status=live}}</ref> His speech acted as a call for direct action among the citizens, as well as a strike against the external enemy.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v31/n15/hilary-mantel/he-roared |first=Hillary |last=Mantel |author-link=Hillary Mantel |magazine=[[London Review of Books]] |volume=31 |issue=15 |date=6 August 2009 |title=He Roared |access-date=4 February 2020 |archive-date=22 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522002318/https://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n15/hilary-mantel/he-roared |url-status=live }}</ref> <!--In reality, Danton was probably speaking of boldness needed in fighting the war but some French citizens took it as boldness needed in fighting within France to those who were viewed as "traitors" and killing occurred all over the streets.<ref>http://westerncivguides.umwblogs.org/2011/09/25/jacobins-vs-girondins-during-the-french-revolution/ {{Bare URL inline|date=May 2022}}</ref>  --> Many believe this speech was responsible for inciting the [[September Massacres]]. It is estimated that around 1,100–1,600 people were murdered. [[Madame Roland]] held Danton responsible for their deaths.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PaN4DwAAQBAJ&dq=charlotte+corday+marat+responsible+september+massacre&pg=PA97|title=Tracing the Heroic Through Gender|first1=Carolin|last1=Hauck|first2=Monika|last2=Mommertz|first3=Andreas|last3=Schlüter|first4=Thomas|last4=Seedorf|date=9 October 2018|publisher=Ergon Verlag|isbn=9783956504037|via=Google Books|access-date=13 March 2023|archive-date=28 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928235208/https://books.google.com/books?id=PaN4DwAAQBAJ&dq=charlotte+corday+marat+responsible+september+massacre&pg=PA97|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fIZBE5JmbJUC&q=Massacre+poisened&pg=PT98|title=The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life|first=David|last=Lawday|date=6 July 2010|publisher=Open Road + Grove/Atlantic|isbn=9780802197023|via=Google Books|access-date=13 March 2023|archive-date=28 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928235201/https://books.google.com/books?id=fIZBE5JmbJUC&q=Massacre+poisened&pg=PT98|url-status=live}}</ref> Danton was also accused by the [[French historians]] [[Adolphe Thiers]], [[Alphonse de Lamartine]], [[Jules Michelet]], [[Louis Blanc]] and [[Edgar Quinet]]. However, according to [[Albert Soboul]], there is no proof that the massacres were organized by Danton or by anyone else, though it is certain that he did nothing to stop them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Georges-Danton/Dantons-Committee-of-Public-Safety|title=Georges Danton – Committee of Public Safety, Indulgents, and Terror &#124; Britannica|website=www.britannica.com|access-date=4 February 2020|archive-date=4 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204104915/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Georges-Danton/Dantons-Committee-of-Public-Safety|url-status=live}}</ref>

He did intervene, however, in protecting Roland and Brissot from an arrest warrant from the Supervisory Committee of the Commune on 4 September, opposing Marat by having the mandates removed, and was complicit in the escape of [[Adrien Duport]], [[Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord|Talleyrand]], and [[Charles Malo François Lameth|Charles de Lameth]]. On 6 September, he was elected by his section, "[[Théâtre Français]]", to be a deputy for the convention, gathering on 22 September. Danton remained a member of the ministry, although holding both positions simultaneously was illegal. Danton, Robespierre, and Marat were accused of forming a [[triumvirate]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robespierre |first1=Maximilien |last2=Laponneraye |first2=Albert |last3=Carrel |first3=Armand |title=Oeuvres |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iSMVAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA98 |publisher=Worms |year=1840 |page=98 |access-date=4 February 2020 |archive-date=7 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107223241/https://books.google.com/books?id=iSMVAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA98#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> On 26 September, Danton was forced to give up his position in the government; he stepped down on 9 October.

At the new [[National Convention]] on 4 October 1792, Danton proposed to declare that the fatherland was no longer in danger, asking only to renounce extreme measures. He measured the risks posed to the Revolution by fratricidal quarrels between Republicans. He preached conciliation and calls the Assembly several times to "holy harmony". “It was in vain that we complained to Danton about the Girondine faction", wrote Robespierre, "he maintained that there was no faction there and that everything was the result of vanity and personal animosities". But the attacks from the Girondins concentrated on him, Marat and Robespierre—the “triumvirs”—accused of aspiring to dictatorship. Danton defends Robespierre at the end of October by declaring that "all those who talk about the Robespierre faction are, in my eyes, either prejudiced men or bad citizens", but dissociates himself from Marat by pronouncing "I don't like the individual Marat. I say frankly that I have experiences his temperament: he is volcanic, cantankerous and unsociable." The Girondins attacked Danton for his management of the secret funds of the Ministry of Justice. Roland, Minister of the Interior, scrupulously gave his accounts but Danton would not. Harassed by Brissot, he only escaped through weariness of the Convention and for months the Girondins shouted “And the accounts?" to interrupt him at the podium. Meanwhile, his influence began to decline in favor of Robespierre as the real leader of the Mountain.

[[File:Alfred Loudet - Marat.jpg|thumb|Imaginary meeting between Robespierre, Danton and Marat (illustrating [[Victor Hugo]]'s novel ''[[Ninety-Three]]'' ) by Alfred Loudet]]

===1793===
On 10 February 1793, while Danton was on a mission in [[Austrian Netherlands|Belgium]], his wife died while giving birth to their fourth child, who also died. Robespierre sent Danton a message.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/14191081 | title=Letter from Robespierre to Danton (15 February 1793) | last1=Kappelsberger | first1=Florian }}</ref> Danton was so affected by their deaths that he recruited the sculptor [[Claude André Deseine]] and, a week after Charpentier's death, brought him to Sainte-Catherine cemetery to exhume her body and execute a [[Plaster cast|plaster bust]] of her appearance.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionnaire des sculpteurs de l'école française au dix-huitième siècle. Tome 1|author=Lami, Stanislas|author-link=Stanislas Lami|date=1910–1911|language=fr|page=275|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k61251531|access-date=14 December 2020|archive-date=18 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118093945/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k61251531|url-status=live}}</ref><!--His wife, Gabrielle, had died during his absence on his expedition to Belgium; he had her body exhumed so as to see her again.--><ref>{{cite book |last=Beesly |first=A.H. |title=Life of Danton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uwzdA9vq0v8C&q=danton+exhumed&pg=PA172 |access-date=25 February 2009 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |year=2005 |page=172 |isbn=978-1-4179-5724-8 |archive-date=5 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105214809/https://books.google.com/books?id=uwzdA9vq0v8C&q=danton+exhumed&pg=PA172 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 10 March, Danton supported the foundation of a [[Revolutionary Tribunal]]. He proposed the release of all imprisoned debtors as conscripts in the army. On 6 April, the [[Committee of Public Safety]], which was then composed of only nine members, was installed on the proposal of [[Maximin Isnard]], who was supported by Georges Danton. Danton was appointed a member of the committee. He and other members of the committee, despite its primary charge of defeating invasion and internal rebellions, were advocates of the moderation necessary to minimize popular resistance to military requisitions. Due to military reversals in 1793, many{{snd}}especially among the ''sans-culottes''{{snd}}criticized its conduct, and subsequent committee membership included more radical thinkers who pressed for more extreme measures to ensure victory over enemies of the Revolution internal and external.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.coreknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/CKHG_G6_U4_French-Revolution-and-Romanticism_WTNK_C10_ReignOfTerror.pdf |title=The Reign of Terror |website=www.coreknowledge.org |access-date=20 May 2021 |archive-date=20 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520040329/https://www.coreknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/CKHG_G6_U4_French-Revolution-and-Romanticism_WTNK_C10_ReignOfTerror.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=December 2024}} On 20 March 1793 the National Convention send Danton and [[Charles-François Delacroix|Delacroix]] to Leuven to investigate [[Charles François Dumouriez|Dumouriez]] and his generals. On 27 April, the Convention decreed (on the proposal of Danton) to send additional military forces to the departments in revolt.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XkIUAAAAYAAJ&dq=27+avril+1793+Convention+National+lois+decrets+additionnel&pg=PA325|title=Collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, réglemens et avis du Conseil d'état: publiée sur les éditions officielles du Louvre, de l'Imprimerie nationale par Baudouin et du Bulletin des lois, de 1788 à 1824 inclusivement. [Suivie d'une table analytique et raisonnée des matières.]|date=24 May 1825|publisher=A. Guyot et Scribe|via=Google Books|access-date=13 March 2023|archive-date=8 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408013257/https://books.google.com/books?id=XkIUAAAAYAAJ&dq=27+avril+1793+Convention+National+lois+decrets+additionnel&pg=PA325|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 1 June [[François Hanriot|Hanriot]] was ordered to fire a cannon on the [[Pont-Neuf]] as a sign of alarm. When the Convention assembled Danton rushed to the tribune: "Break up the [[Commission of Twelve]]! You have heard the thunder of the cannon. Girondins protested against the closing of the city gates, against the tocsin and alarm-gun without the approval of the convention; Vergniaud suggested arresting Henriot. That night Paris changed into a military camp according to [[Otto Flake]]. On 2 June according to [[Louis Madelin]] and Mignet a large force of armed citizens, some estimated 80,000 or 100,000, but Danton spoke of only 30,000,<ref>Le Républicain français, 14 septembre 1793, p. 2</ref> surrounded the Convention with 48 pieces of artillery.<!--and being paid with an assignat worth five or six livres according to Michelet--> The next day the Interior minister [[Dominique Joseph Garat|Garat]] forced Danton to disavow the events from the evening before.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VES2yGHmEG0C&q=Marat|title=Mémoires de B. Barère ... publiés par MM. Hippolyte Carnot ... et David, d'Angers ... précédés d'une notice historique, par H. Carnot. [With a portrait.]|first=Bertrand BARÈRE DE|last=VIEUZAC|date=24 May 1842|via=Google Books|access-date=13 March 2023|archive-date=18 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718073322/https://books.google.com/books?id=VES2yGHmEG0C&q=Marat|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 1 July 1793, Danton married Louise Sébastienne Gély, aged 17, daughter of Marc-Antoine Gély, court usher (huissier-audiencier) at the [[Parlement of Paris]] and member of the Club des Cordeliers. He also married in a Catholic ceremony, confessing his sins first to the priest [[Pierre-Marie Grayo de Keravenan]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Belloc |first=Hilaire |url=https://archive.org/details/dantonstudy00belluoft/page/n341/mode/2up?q=gely |title=Danton; a study |date=1910 |publisher=London T. Nelson |pages=336}}</ref> On 10 July, he was not re-elected as a member of the Committee of Public Safety. Seventeen days later, Robespierre joined the Committee of Public Safety, nearly two years after Danton had extended an invitation to him to do so. On 5 September, Danton argued for a law to give the [[sans-culottes]] a small compensation for attending the twice-weekly section meetings, and to provide a gun to every citizen.<ref>Soboul, A. (1975) De Franse Revolutie dl I, 1789–1793, p. 283.</ref>

==Reign of Terror==
[[File:Georges-Jacques Danton.jpg|thumb|According to a biographer, "Danton's height was colossal, his make athletic, his features strongly marked, coarse, and displeasing; his voice shook the domes of the halls".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/monthlyreview24grifgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/monthlyreview24grifgoog/page/n398 386]|quote=danton height looks.|title=The Monthly Review|publisher=Printed for R. Griffiths|year=1814|access-date=25 February 2009}}</ref>]]
[[File:DantonSpeaking.jpg|thumb|Danton addressing the Convention]]

On 6 September, Danton refused to take a seat in the Committee of Public Safety, declaring that he would join no committee, but would be a spur to them all.<ref name="R.R. Palmer 1970 p. 256">R.R. Palmer (1970) The Twelve who ruled, p. 256</ref> He believed a stable government was needed which could resist the orders of the Committee of Public Safety.<ref>''Histoire de la revolution Française'', Volume 8, by Jules Michelet, pp. 33–34, 53</ref> On 10 October, Danton, who had been dangerously ill for a few weeks,<ref>Feuille du salut public 4 octobre 1793, p.</ref> quit politics, and set off to [[Arcis-sur-Aube]] with his 17-year-old wife, who had pitied Marie Antoinette since her trial began.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Georges-Danton |title=Georges Danton &#124; French revolutionary leader |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=23 October 2023 |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=15 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615022050/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Georges-Danton |url-status=live }}</ref>  On 18 November, after the arrest of [[François Chabot]], [[Edme-Bonaventure Courtois]] urged Danton to come back to Paris to again play a role in politics.

On 22 November, Danton attacked religious persecution and demanded frugality with human lives. He tried to weaken the Terror by attacking [[Jacques René Hébert]]. On 3 December, Robespierre accused Danton of feigning an illness with the intention to emigrate to Switzerland, declaring that Danton showed too often his vices and not his virtue. Robespierre was stopped in his attack. The gathering was closed after thunderous applause for Danton.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb34452336z/date1793|title=Gazette nationale ou le Moniteur universel – Year available1793 – Gallica|website=gallica.bnf.fr|access-date=27 February 2020|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803192002/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb34452336z/date1793|url-status=live}}</ref> Danton maintained that he had absolutely no intention of breaking the revolutionary impulse.<ref>Soboul, A. (1975) De Franse Revolutie dl I, 1789-1793, p. 308.</ref>

On 9 December, Danton became embroiled in a scandal concerning the bankruptcy proceedings of the [[Louis XIV's East India Company|French East India Company]], when it was discovered that directors of the company had bribed certain government officials to allow the company to liquidate its own assets, rather than the government controlling the process.<ref>Soboul, A. (1975) De Franse Revolutie dl I, 1789–1793, p. 310.</ref> By December, a Dantonist party had been formed in support of Danton's more moderate views and his insistence on clemency for those who had violated the Committee for Public Safety's increasingly arbitrary and draconian "counter-revolutionary" measures.<ref name="R.R. Palmer 1970 p. 256"/> On 25 December (5 [[Nivôse]], year II) Robespierre replied to Danton's plea for an end to the Terror.

The [[French National Convention]] during the autumn of 1793 began to assert its authority further throughout France, creating the bloodiest period of the French Revolution, during which some historians assert approximately 40,000 people were killed in France.<ref>{{cite book |last=Greer |first=Donald |title=The Incidence of the Terror During the French Revolution: A Statistical Interpretation |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |location=Cambridge, MA |year=1935 |isbn=978-0-8446-1211-9}}</ref> Following the fall of the [[Girondins]], a group known as the [[Indulgents]] would emerge from amongst the [[The Mountain|Montagnards]] as the legislative right within the convention, with Danton as their most vocal leader. Having long supported the progressive acts of the [[Committee of Public Safety]], Danton would begin to propose that the Committee retract legislation instituting terror as "the order of the day."<ref>{{cite web |last=French National Convention |title=Terror is the Order of the Day |date=5 September 1793 |url=http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/416/ |access-date=22 January 2012 |archive-date=3 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203165347/http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/416/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 26 February 1794, Saint-Just delivered a speech before the Convention in which he directed the assault against Danton, claiming that the Dantonists wanted to slow down the Terror and the Revolution. It seems Danton became exasperated by Robespierre's repeated references to virtue. On 6 March, [[Barère]] attacked the [[Hébertists]] and Dantonists.

While the Committee of Public Safety was concerned with strengthening the centralist policies of the convention and its own grip over that body, Danton was in the process of devising a plan that would effectively move popular sentiment among delegates towards a more moderate stance.<ref>{{cite book |last=Andress |first=David |title=The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France |url=https://archive.org/details/terror00andr |url-access=registration |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |location=New York |year=2005 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/terror00andr/page/256 256] |isbn=978-0-374-53073-0}}</ref> This meant adopting values popular among the [[sans-culottes]], notably the control of bread prices that had seen drastic increase with the famine that was being experienced throughout France. Danton also proposed that the Convention begin taking actions towards peace with foreign powers, as the committee had declared war on the majority of European powers, such as Britain, Spain, and Portugal.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} Danton made a triumphant speech announcing the end of the Terror.{{sfn|Schama|1989|p=816-817}} As Robespierre listened, he was convinced that Danton was pushing for leadership in a post-Terror government. If Robespierre did not counter-attack quickly, the Dantonists could seize control of the National Convention and bring an end to his Republic of Virtue.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

The [[Reign of Terror]] was not a policy that could be easily transformed. Indeed, it would eventually continue past the [[Thermidorian Reaction]] (27 July 1794), when some members of the Convention rose against the committee, executed its leaders, and placed power in the hands of new men with a new policy{{snd}}to dissolve Jacobinism (White Terror). However, in [[Germinal (French Republican Calendar)|Germinal]]{{snd}}that is, in March 1794{{snd}}the anti-Terror sentiment had not yet reached critical mass. The committees were still too strong to be overthrown, and Danton, heedless, instead of striking with vigor in the convention, waited to be struck. "In these latter days", wrote Morley in the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition]], "a certain discouragement seems to have come over his spirit".{{sfn|Morley|1911|p=819}} Danton remarried, and, Morley continues, "the rumour went that he was allowing domestic happiness to tempt him from the keen incessant vigilance proper to the politician in such a crisis."

Ultimately, Danton himself would become a victim of the Terror. In attempting to shift the direction of the revolution by collaborating with [[Camille Desmoulins]] on the production of ''[[Le Vieux Cordelier]]''{{snd}}a newspaper that called for the end of the official Terror and Dechristianization, as well as for launching new peace overtures to France's enemies{{snd}}Danton had placed himself in a precarious position. Those most closely associated with the Committee of Public Safety, among them key figures such as [[Maximilien Robespierre]] and [[Georges Couthon]], would eventually indict Danton for counter-revolutionary activities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Andress |first=David |title=The Terror: The Merciless Fight for Freedom in Revolutionary France |url=https://archive.org/details/terror00andr |url-access=registration |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |location=New York |year=2005 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/terror00andr/page/271 271] |isbn=978-0-374-53073-0}}</ref>

==Financial corruption and accusations==
[[File:Statue of Danton by Edmond Desca in Tarbes (01).jpg|thumb|Statue of Danton in [[Tarbes]].]][[File:Statue de Danton au carrefour de l'Odéon.JPG|thumb|Statue de Danton au carrefour de [[Odéon station|Odéon]] (place Henri-Mondor, Paris) ]]

Toward the end of the Reign of Terror, Danton was accused of various financial misdeeds, as well as using his position within the Revolution for personal gain. Many of his contemporaries commented on Danton's financial success during the Revolution, certain acquisitions of money that he could not adequately explain.<ref>Hampson, Norman, ''The Life and Opinions of Maximilien Robespierre'' (London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., 1974), p. 204</ref> Many of the specific accusations directed against him were based on insubstantial or ambiguous evidence. For the [[Revolutionary Tribunal]] legal evidence was unnecessary, moral conviction by jury was enough to speed up the proceedings.

Between 1791 and 1793, Danton faced many allegations, including taking bribes during the insurrection of August 1792, helping his secretaries to line their pockets, and forging assignats during his mission to Belgium.<ref name="autogenerated1974">Hampson, Norman, ''The Life and Opinions of Maximilien Robespierre'' (London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., 1974), p. 204.{{ISBN?}}</ref> Perhaps the most compelling evidence of financial corruption was a letter from Mirabeau to Danton in March 1791 that casually referred to 30,000 [[Livre tournois|livres]] that Danton had received in payment.<ref name="autogenerated1974"/>

During his tenure on the Committee of Public Safety, Danton organized a peace treaty agreement with Sweden. Although the Swedish government never ratified the treaty, on 28 June 1793, the convention voted to pay 4 million livres to the Swedish Regent for diplomatic negotiations. According to [[Bertrand Barère]], a journalist and member of the convention, Danton had taken a portion of this money which was intended for the Swedish Regent.<ref>Hampson, Norman, ''Danton'' (New York: Basil Blackwell Inc., 1988), 121</ref> Barère's accusation was never supported by any form of evidence.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

The most serious accusation, which haunted him during his arrest and formed a chief ground for his execution, was his alleged involvement with a scheme to appropriate the wealth of the [[Louis XIV's East India Company|French East India Company]]. During the reign of the Old Regime, the original French East India Company went bankrupt. It was later revived in 1785, backed by royal patronage.<ref>Scurr, Ruth, ''Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution'' (New York, NY: Holt Paperbacks, 2006), 301.</ref> The Company eventually fell under the notice of the National Convention for profiteering during the war. The company was soon liquidated while certain members of the Convention tried to push through a decree that would cause the share prices to rise before the liquidation.<ref>Scurr, Ruth,'' Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution'' (New York, NY: Holt Paperbacks, 2006), 301.</ref> Discovery of the profits from this insider trading led to the blackmailing of the directors of the company to turn over half a million livres to known associates of Danton.<ref>Andress, David, ''The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France'' (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005), 252.</ref> While there was no hard evidence that Danton was involved, he was vigorously denounced by [[François Chabot]], and implicated by the fact that [[Fabre d’Eglantine]], a Dantonist, was implicated in the scandal. After Chabot was arrested on 17 November, [[Edme-Bonaventure Courtois|Courtois]] urged Danton to return to Paris immediately.

In December 1793, the journalist [[Camille Desmoulins]] launched a new journal, ''[[Le Vieux Cordelier]]'', attacking [[François Chabot]] and defending Danton in the first issue. In the second, Desmoulins attacked the use of terror as a governing tactic, comparing Robespierre with [[Julius Caesar]] <!--as dictator--> and, in the following issue, arguing that the Revolution should return to its original ideas which were in vogue around 10 August 1792.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Funck |first1=F. |last2=Danton |first2=G.J. |last3=Châlier |first3=M.J. |title=1793: Beitrag zur geheimen Geschichte der französischen Revolution, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Danton's und Challier's, zugleich als Berichtigung der in den Werken von Thiers und Mignet enthaltenen Schilderungen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IsxBAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA52 |publisher=F. Bassermann |year=1843 |language=de |page=52 |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=7 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107230954/https://books.google.com/books?id=IsxBAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA52#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Robespierre replied to Danton's plea for an end to the Terror on 25 December (5 [[Nivôse]], year II). Danton continued to defend Fabre d'Eglantine even after the latter had been exposed and arrested.

By February 1794, Danton was exasperated by Robespierre's repeated references to virtue as the foundation of the revolutionary government. Danton's continual criticism of the Committee of Public Safety provoked further counter-attacks. On 26 February 1794, Saint-Just, the president of the Convention, delivered a speech in which he directed the assault against Danton.

At the end of March 1794, Danton made a triumphant speech announcing the end of the Terror.{{sfn|Schama|1989|p=816-817}} Some government members were convinced that Danton was pushing for leadership in a post-Terror government.  For several months, Robespierre had resisted arresting Danton.{{sfn|Linton|2013|p=219}} According to Linton, Robespierre had to choose between friendship and virtue. His aim was to sow enough doubt in the minds of the deputies regarding Danton's political integrity to make it possible to proceed against him. Robespierre refused to see Desmoulins and rejected a private appeal.{{sfn|Linton|2013|p=222}} Then Robespierre broke with Danton, who had angered many other members of the Committee of Public Safety with his more moderate views on the Terror, but whom Robespierre had, until this point, persisted in defending.

==Arrest, trial, and execution==
[[File:Procès de Danton, Desmoulins, Chabot.jpg|thumb|Danton, [[Camille Desmoulins|Desmoulins]] and their allies tried before the Revolutionary Tribunal]] [[File:Danton Wille.jpg|thumb|Danton on 5 April 1794 by [[Pierre-Alexandre Wille]] ]]  [[File:Danton-croquis.jpg|thumb|Danton by [[Jacques-Louis David]] ]]

On 30 March, the two committees reached a decision to apprehend Danton, Desmoulins, [[Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles]], and [[Pierre Philippeaux]]. The trial began on 2 April, accusing them of conspiracy with [[count Mirabeau]], [[Marquis de Lafayette]], the [[Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans|Duke of Orléans]] and [[Dumouriez]].<ref name="ReferenceA">Manuel général de l'instruction primaire, 1 janvier 1911</ref> In Robespierre's eyes, the Dantonists had ceased to be true patriots prioritizing personal and foreign interests over the nation's welfare.<ref name="Le Siècle, 5 février 1898, p. 5/6">Le Siècle, 5 février 1898, p. 5/6</ref> The accusations of theft, corruption, and the scandal involving the [[Louis XIV's East India Company#Liquidation Scandal|French East India Company]] conveniently paved the way for Danton's downfall.<ref>W. Doyle (1990) The Oxford History of the French Revolution, pp. 272–74.</ref>

Danton, Desmoulins, and several others faced trial from 3–5 April before the [[Revolutionary Tribunal]], presided over by [[Martial Joseph Armand Herman|Martial Herman]]. Described as more politically charged than criminally focused, the trial proceeded in an irregular manner.<ref name="Le Siècle, 5 février 1898, p. 5/6"/> The tribunal constituted a jury of five judges, including Souberbielle, and [[François Topino-Lebrun]] (who both hesitated to condemn Danton); the law required twelve [[jurors]] but only seven were present.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MB9LAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA203 |title=Paul Gaulot (1897) Les grandes journées révolutionnaires: histoire anecdotique de la convention, p. 204 |access-date=27 December 2023 |archive-date=27 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227065127/https://books.google.ru/books?id=MB9LAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA203&lr=&as_brr=4&hl=nl&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live |last1=Gaulot |first1=Paul |date=4 February 1897 }}</ref> Both [[Jean-François Delacroix|Delacroix]] and Danton requested the right to present about 15 witnesses in their defense, but President Herman denied their request.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="S. Schama 1989 Citizens, p. 820">S. Schama (1989) Citizens, p. 820</ref>

During the Convention, [[Louis Legendre]], who was also one of the witnesses, proposed hearing from Danton within the assembly, but Robespierre replied, "It would be violating the laws of impartiality to grant to Danton what was refused to others, who had an equal right to make the same demand." This answer silenced at once all solicitations in his favor.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dWxaDQaMcg4C&dq=Robespierre+National+Guard&pg=PA157 Annual Register, Band 36.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408013117/https://books.google.com/books?id=dWxaDQaMcg4C&dq=Robespierre+National+Guard&pg=PA157 |date=8 April 2023 }} Published by [[Edmund Burke]], p. 118</ref> No friend of the Dantonists dared speak up, in case he too should be accused of putting friendship before virtue.{{sfn|Linton|2013|p=225-226}} The death of Hébert had rendered Robespierre master of the Paris Commune; the death of Danton would make him master of the convention as well.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uekvAAAAMAAJ&q=Robespierre+master+of+the+convention&pg=PA418|title=History of the Girondists: Or, Personal Memoirs of the Patriots of the French Revolution|first=Alphonse de|last=Lamartine|date=9 September 1848|publisher=Henry G. Bohn|via=Google Books|access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=5 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105214809/https://books.google.com/books?id=uekvAAAAMAAJ&q=Robespierre+master+of+the+convention&pg=PA418#v=snippet&q=Robespierre%20master%20of%20the%20convention&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the trial, [[Jean-François Delacroix|Delacroix]] and Danton's disruptive behavior unsettled [[Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville|Fouquier-Tinville]]. Danton vigorously criticized the [[Committee of Public Safety]], causing concern among the jury that he might win favor with the crowd. Following Robespierre's advice, a decree was accepted to present [[Louis Antoine de Saint-Just|Saint-Just's]] account on Danton's [[alleged]] [[royalist]] tendencies at the tribunal, effectively ending further debates and restraining any further insults to justice by the accused.

The Convention, amidst what was described as one of its "worst fits of cowardice",{{sfn|Morley|1911|p=819}} approved Saint-Just's proposal during the trial. This proposal allowed the tribunal to exclude any prisoner displaying disrespect for justice from further proceedings, enabling the tribunal to pronounce a sentence in the absentia of the accused.<ref>{{cite book|first=Simon|last=Schama|title=Citizens|year=1990|page=820|publisher=Vintage Books|isbn=978-0679726104|url=https://archive.org/details/citizenschronicl00scha_0|url-access=registration}}</ref>

President Herman struggled to control the proceedings until the Convention enacted the aforementioned decree, limiting the accused from further self-defense.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> These events were compounded by confusing and often incidental accusations, such as a report suggesting that while engaged as a commissioner in Belgium, Danton had allegedly appropriated a carriage filled with table linen worth two or three hundred thousand [[Livre tournois|livres]] from the [[Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen|Archduchess of Austria]].<ref name="Le Siècle, 5 février 1898, p. 5/6"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Claretie|first=Jules|title=Camille Desmoulins and his wife|year=1876|publisher=Smith, Elder & Co.|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/camilledesmouli01clargoog/page/n338 313]|url=https://archive.org/details/camilledesmouli01clargoog|quote=Camille Desmoulins and his wife.}}</ref>  The ''[[Le Moniteur Universel|Moniteur]]'' published an account of the discussion in the Jacobin Club: Danton was accused of wanting to arrest [[Francois Henriot]] on 31 May 1793 and to become regent for [[Louis XVII]].<ref>Gazette nationale ou le Moniteur universel, 9 avril 1794</ref>

On the  last day Fouquier-Tinville asked the tribunal to order the defendants who "confused the hearing" and insulted "National Justice" to the guillotine. "I leave it all in a frightful welter", Danton said. "Not a man of them has an idea of government. Robespierre will follow me; he is dragged down by me. Ah, better to be a poor fisherman than to meddle with the government of men!".<ref>CARLYLE: French Revolution.[https://www.bartleby.com/344/130.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106061532/https://www.bartleby.com/344/130.html|date=6 January 2023}}</ref> Judge [[Joseph Souberbielle|Souberbielle]] asked himself: "Which of the two, Robespierre or Danton, is the more useful to the Republic?"{{sfn|Hampson|1974|pp=222–223, 258}}

Fouquier-Tinville resorted to his customary approach, "asking" the jury if they felt adequately "enlightened," ultimately leading to a verdict of guilty.<ref name="S. Schama 1989 Citizens, p. 820"/> The defendants, of whom nine were députés of the Convention, were removed from the room before the verdict was delivered and, by cutting their hair, prepared for the guillotine. Danton was  beheaded on 5 April 1794 at sunset, together with group of fifteen people which included Hérault de Séchelles, [[Francois Joseph Westermann|Westermann]] and Philippeaux among others. Hérault de Séchelle was first, Desmoulins died third and Danton last. It is said his last words, spoken to his executioner [[Charles-Henri Sanson|Sanson]] were "show the people my head. It is well worth seeing."

[[File:Exécution de Danton.jpg|thumb|Execution of Danton on 5 April 1794]]
[[Fabre d'Églantine]], [[Joseph Delaunay|Delaunay]], [[Moses Dobruška|Junius Frey]], [[Francois Chabot|Chabot]], [[Claude Basire|Bazire]]  were involved in the scandal around the French East India Company. Robespierre was sharply critical of <!--member of the Committee of of General Security--> [[Jean-Pierre-André Amar|Amar]]'s report, which presented the scandal as purely a matter of fraud. Robespierre insisted that it was a foreign plot, demanded that the report be re-written, and used the scandal as the basis for rhetorical attacks on [[William Pitt the Younger#French Revolution|William Pitt the Younger]] who he believed was involved.<ref>Matrat, J. ''Robespierre'', Angus & Robertson, 1971, p. 242</ref> The directors of the French East India Company were never interrogated at all.{{sfn|Hampson|1974|p=219}} Some scholars have supported this view, pointing to links between the Pitt government and the [[Jean, Baron de Batz|Baron de Batz]], who developed plans to use [[economic warfare]] to create discord among leaders of the Revolution.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=De Lestapis |first=Arnaud |date=1955 |title=Émigration Et Faux Assignats: Ii |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44595503 |journal=Revue des Deux Mondes (1829-1971) |pages=451–464 |jstor=44595503 |issn=0035-1962}}</ref><ref>*{{cite journal|last=Hampson |first=N. |year=1976 |title=Francois Chabot and His Plot |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |series=5th |volume=26 |pages=1–14|doi=10.2307/3679069 |jstor=3679069 |s2cid=159554090 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Fremont-Barnes |first=Gregory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MEbPEAAAQBAJ&dq=La+conspiration+de+Batz+1793-1794&pg=PA232 |title=Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Revolutions and New Ideologies, 1760-1815: [2 volumes] |date=2007-09-30 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0-313-04951-4 |language=en}}</ref>

Danton and his associates were buried in the [[Errancis Cemetery]], a common place of interment for those executed during the Revolution. In the mid-19th century, their skeletal remains were transferred to the [[Catacombs of Paris]].<ref>Beyern, B., ''Guide des tombes d'hommes célèbres'', Le Cherche Midi, 2008, 377p, {{ISBN|978-2-7491-1350-0}}</ref> Martial Herman resigned as president on 7 April.

On [[9 Thermidor]], when [[Antoine Marie Charles Garnier|Garnier de l’Aube]] witnessed Robespierre's inability to respond, he shouted, "The blood of Danton chokes him!"{{sfn|Schama|1989|pp=842–44}} Robespierre then finally regained his voice to reply with his one recorded statement of the morning, a demand to know why he was now being blamed for the other man's death: "Is it Danton you regret? ... Cowards! Why didn't you defend him?"<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=acBOAQAAIAAJ&q=%22+Cowards!+Why+didn%27t+you+defend+him Korngold, Ralph 1941, p. 365, ''Robespierre and the Fourth Estate''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318180222/https://books.google.com/books?id=acBOAQAAIAAJ&q=%22+Cowards%21+Why+didn%27t+you+defend+him |date=18 March 2023 }} Retrieved 27 July 2014</ref>

==Character disputes==
Danton's influence and character during the [[French Revolution]] were, and still are, widely disputed among many historians, with the varied perspectives on him ranging from corrupt and violent to generous and patriotic.<ref>Hampson, Norman, ''Danton'' (New York: Basil Blackwell), pp. 1–7.</ref> Danton did not leave very much in the way of written works, personal or political; therefore most information about his actions and personality has been derived from secondhand sources.<ref>F.C. Montague, reviewer of ''Discours de Danton'' by André Fribourg, ''The English Historical Review'' 26, No. 102 (1911), 396. {{JSTOR|550513}}.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref>

One view of Danton, presented by historians like [[Adolphe Thiers|Thiers]] and [[François Mignet|Mignet]],<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mFQPAAAAYAAJ&q=decree+proposed+by+Saint-Just&pg=RA1-PA426|title=History of the French Revolution|first=Adolphe|last=Thiers|date=24 May 1845|publisher=Vickers|via=Google Books|access-date=13 March 2023|archive-date=28 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928235202/https://books.google.com/books?id=mFQPAAAAYAAJ&q=decree+proposed+by+Saint-Just&pg=RA1-PA426|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Legrand, Jacques. ''Chronicle of the French Revolution 1788–1799,'' London: Longman, 1989.<!-- ISSN/ISBN, page(s) needed --></ref> suggested he was "a gigantic revolutionary" with extravagant passions, a high level of intelligence, and an eagerness for violence in the pursuit of his goals. Another portrait of Danton emerges from the work of [[Alphonse de Lamartine|Lamartine]], who called Danton a man "devoid of honor, principles, and morality" who found only excitement and a chance for distinction during the French Revolution. He was a mere "statesman of materialism" who was bought anew every day. Any revolutionary moments were staged for the prospect of glory and more wealth.<ref>Furet, François. ''La révolution en debat'', Paris: Gallimard, 1999.<!--ISSN/ISBN, page(s) needed--></ref>

A differing perspective on Danton is presented by [[Jean-François Eugène Robinet|Robinet]], whose assessment is more positive and portrays him as a figure worthy of admiration. According to Robinet, Danton was a committed, loving, generous citizen, son, father, and husband. He remained loyal to his friends and the country of France by avoiding "personal ambition" and gave himself wholly to the cause of keeping "the government consolidated" for the Republic. He always had a love for his country and the laboring masses, who he felt deserved "dignity, consolation, and happiness".<ref>Henri Béraud, ''Twelve Portraits of the French Revolution,'' (Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1968).<!-- ISSN/ISBN, page(s) needed --></ref>

{{harvp|Morley|1911}} wrote that Danton stands out as a master of commanding phrase. One of his fierce sayings has become a proverb. Against [[Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick|the Duke of Brunswick]] and the invaders, "''il nous faut de l'audace, et encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace''"{{snd}}"We need daring, and yet more daring, and always daring!".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.humanite.fr/de-laudace-encore-de-laudace-toujours-de-laudace-danton-nen-manqua-point-638926 |title=" De l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace ! " Danton n'en manqua point |date=10 July 2017 |last=Serres |first=Eric |publisher=[[L'Humanité]] |quote=''Nous demandons qu'il soit fait une instruction aux citoyens pour diriger leurs mouvements. Nous demandons qu’il soit envoyé des courriers dans tous les départements pour avertir des décrets que vous aurez rendus – le tocsin qu’on va sonner n'est point un signal d'alarme, c'est la charge sur les ennemis de la patrie. Pour les vaincre, il nous faut de l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace, et la France est sauvée. '' |access-date=10 March 2019 |archive-date=17 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717203410/http://www.humanite.fr/de-laudace-encore-de-laudace-toujours-de-laudace-danton-nen-manqua-point-638926 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to [[Georges Lefebvre]] he was nonchalant and lazy. He is seen as an optimist, a leader full of energy, who liked the pleasures of  life, carefree and [[indulgents|indulgent]].{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

==Fictionalized accounts==
[[File:Fréderic Cazenave - The Optical Viewer - 1939.171 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|thumb|A print of Danton's son, using an optical viewer, with his stepmother]]
* Danton's last days were made into a play, ''Dantons Tod'' (''[[Danton's Death]]''), by [[Georg Büchner]].
** The play formed the basis of the 1921 German film ''[[Danton (1921 film)|Danton]]''.
** On the basis of Büchner's play, [[Gottfried von Einem]] wrote an opera with the same title, on a libretto by himself and [[Boris Blacher]], which premiered on 6 August 1947 at the [[Salzburger Festspiele]].
* Danton, Robespierre, and Marat are characters in [[Victor Hugo]]'s novel ''[[Ninety-Three]]'' (Quatrevingt-treize), set during the [[French Revolution]].
* Danton is a central character in Romanian playwright [[Camil Petrescu]]'s play of the same name.
* Danton appears in the Hungarian play ''[[The Tragedy of Man]]'' and the animated movie of the same name as one of Adam's incarnations throughout Lucifer's illusion.
* Danton's and Robespierre's quarrels were turned into a 1983 film, ''[[Danton (1983 film)|Danton]]'', directed by [[Andrzej Wajda]]. The film itself is loosely based on [[Stanisława Przybyszewska]]'s 1929 play ''Sprawa Dantona'' ("[[The Danton Case]]").
* Danton's and Robespierre's relations were also the subject of an opera by American composer [[John Eaton (composer)|John Eaton]], ''Danton and Robespierre'' (1978).
* Danton is extensively featured in ''[[La Révolution française (film)|La Révolution française]]'' (1989).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098238/ |title=La révolution française |date=25 October 1989 |via=IMDb |access-date=29 June 2018 |archive-date=14 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214004633/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098238/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* In his novel ''Locus Solus'', [[Raymond Roussel]] tells a story in which Danton makes an arrangement with his executioner for his head to be smuggled into his friend's possession after his execution. The nerves and musculature of the head ultimately end up on display in the private collection of Martial Canterel, reanimated by special electrical currents and showing a deeply entrenched disposition toward oratory.
* The Revolution as experienced by Danton, Robespierre, and Desmoulins is the central focus of [[Hilary Mantel]]'s novel ''[[A Place of Greater Safety]]'' (1993).
* Danton and Desmoulins are the main characters of [[Tanith Lee]]'s ''The Gods Are Thirsty{{snd}}A Novel of the French Revolution'' (1996).
* Danton and Robespierre are briefly referred to in the book ''[[The Scarlet Pimpernel]]''. The two men both applaud a guard for his work in catching aristocrats.
* In ''The Tangled Thread'', Volume 10 of ''[[The Morland Dynasty]]'', a series of historical novels by author [[Cynthia Harrod-Eagles]], the character Henri-Marie Fitzjames Stuart, bastard offshoot of the fictional Morland family, allies himself with Danton in an attempt to protect his family as the storm clouds of revolution gather over France.
* Danton appears briefly in [[Rafael Sabatini]]'s adventure novel ''Scaramouche: A tale of romance in the French Revolution''.
* Danton appears in a series of comics entitled "The Last Days of Georges Danton" in ''Step Aside, Pops: A [[Hark! A Vagrant]] Collection'' by [[Kate Beaton]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Beaton|first=Kate|title=Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection|year=2013|publisher=Drawn and Quarterly|location=Canada|isbn=978-1-77046-208-3|pages=37–39}}</ref>
* Danton is one of six point-of-view characters in [[Marge Piercy]]'s novel ''City of Darkness, City of Light'' (1996).
* Danton, along with [[Jean-Paul Marat|Marat]] and Robespierre, is a secondary character in the 1927 epic ''[[Napoléon (1927 film)|Napoléon]]''. His portrayal in the film is somewhat cartoonish, as he is depicted as a decadent fop, albeit dedicated to republicanism and revolution, and it is he that allows [[Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle|Rouget de Lisle]] to premiere "[[La Marseillaise]]" at the [[Cordeliers|Club des Cordeliers]]. (In reality, no such performance by Rouget de Lisle is known to have taken place.)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018192/|title=Napoleon|date=1927|via=IMDb|access-date=31 August 2018|archive-date=22 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822013034/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018192/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Danton appears as a Jacobin Great Person in the 2025 video game ''[[Civilization VII]]''. He appears for the French Empire, when activated on a palace a celebration is triggered.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/game-guide/civilizations/french-empire/|title=FRENCH EMPIRE - MODERN AGE CIVILIZATION|access-date=July 13, 2025|publisher=[[2K Games]]|website=civilization.2k.com}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Danton, George Jacques|volume=7|pages=817–819|first=John|last=Morley|author-link=John Morley}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hampson |first1=Norman |title=The Life and Opinions of Maximilien Robespierre |date=1974 |publisher=Duckworth |isbn=978-0-7156-0741-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=edpnAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last=Linton |first=Marisa |title=Choosing Terror: Virtue, Friendship, and Authenticity in the French Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sh2vu4mIOh4C |year=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-957630-2 |oclc=854998068}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Simon Schama |last=Schama |first=Simon |title=Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution |location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-394-55948-3 |title-link=Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution}}

==Further reading==
<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed -->
* François Furet and Mona Ozouf (eds.), ''A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution''. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of [[Harvard University Press]], 1989; pp.&nbsp;213–223.
* Laurence Gronlund, [https://archive.org/details/cairaordantoninf00gron ''Ça Ira! or Danton in the French Revolution.''] Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1887.
* Norman Hampson, ''Danton.'' New York: Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1978.
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=VZHHmxsMJb4C&pg=PA41 David Lawday, ''Danton: The Giant of the French Revolution.''] London: Jonathan Cape, 2009.
* Marisa Linton, ''Choosing Terror: Virtue, Friendship and Authenticity in the French Revolution'' ([[Oxford University Press]], 2013).
* A Letter from Danton to Marie Antoinette by Carl Becker. In: The American Historical Review, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Oct. 1921), p.&nbsp;29 Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association {{JSTOR|1836918}}
* [https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/parties/cpusa/voices-of-revolt/05-George-Jacques-Danton-VOR-ocr.pdf ''Voices of Revolt Speeches of George Jacques Danton'' (1928) International Publishers Co., Inc.]
* [[Hilaire Belloc]], ''Danton: a study,'' Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1899.

==External links==
{{commons}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=2156| name=Georges Jacques Danton}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Georges Jacques Danton}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box|title=[[Minister of Justice (France)|Minister of Justice]]|before=[[Etienne Dejoly]]|after=[[Dominique Joseph Garat]]|years=1792}}
{{s-end}}
{{French Revolution navbox}}
{{Ministers of the French National Convention}}{{Minister of Justice (France)}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Danton, Georges-Jacques}}
[[Category:Georges Danton| ]]
[[Category:1759 births]]
[[Category:1794 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Aube]]
[[Category:Politicians from Grand Est]]
<!--[[Category:Jacobins]]
[[Category:Montagnards]]
[[Category:Cordeliers]]
[[Category:Indulgents]]-->
[[Category:People on the Committee of Public Safety]]
[[Category:Deputies to the French National Convention]]
[[Category:People of the Reign of Terror]]
[[Category:Executed deputies to the French National Convention]]
[[Category:18th-century French lawyers]]
[[Category:Executed revolutionaries]]
[[Category:French people executed by guillotine during the French Revolution]]