History UsefulNotes / TheFrenchRevolutionMajorFigures

Those with their own page:

The actors, figures, leaders and thinkers who held the stage in the Revolution. Three of them - UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette, UsefulNotes/MaximilienRobespierre, UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte - have their own pages.

[[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution Back to main page]]

'''Georges Danton''' (1759-1794) is perhaps the most popular and well-liked of all the French Revolutionaries. Someone whom moderates and conservatives regard as a positive figure while at the same time being praised by UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin as "the greatest tactician of the French Revolution."[[note]]Lenin personally inaugrated a statue of Danton in Moscow. While he admired Robespierre, Danton was his favorite and the one who he repeatedly invoked in his popular exhortations.[[/note]] Paradoxically, for someone who is so popular, Danton is highly mysterious since he did not write any speeches, nor did work as a journalist or a writer. As such its very difficult to know what (if any) ideas, Danton really had for the Revolution. It also lends his life to a lot of {{Applicability}} and mystery. In other words, [[AllAccordingToPlan exactly]] as how [[MagnificentBastard Danton]] planned it. The little we know of Danton's life suggests a charismatic BoisterousBruiser, a man who was impeccable at cultivating a common touch despite living a lavish lifestyle, who publicly stated one thing while privately tried to negotiate alliances and compromises, in other words a pragmatist and peacemaker who was a median between revolutionary and peacetime politician.

In that he pointed out that the Third Estate was large enough to provide a government without the first two estates and yet had been consistently denied representation by an archaic political structure and obsolete form of government. Sieyès was among several delegates of the Third Estate who took the Tennis Court Oath. He played a major role in the National Assembly which framed the Constitution. Temperamentally, Sieyès was more of a statesman rather than a Revolutionary. He was not a good public speaker but as an intellectual he yielded considerable influence. He was excluded from the short-lived Legislative Assembly thanks to Robespierre's self-denying ordinance but returned during the National Convention. Alongside Condorcet, Thomas Paine and other Girondins, he was a member of a committee which drafted a "girondin" constitutional project. Sieyès voted for the Execution of the King but otherwise kept a low profile during the Reign of Terror, neither participating in the events or the Thermidorian Reaction. He regained his prominence in the Directory period. Sieyès disliked the Directory government, believing it was highly unstable though he played a major part in ousting the final remnants of the Jacobins in this period. He plotted to oust the government via a military coup, famously noting, "I need a sword" and he searched for sympathetic generals to enlist in this cause. The one who was, [[MagnificentBastard conveniently]], available, was none other than UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. Napoleon consented to Sieyès' plans but upon taking power on 18 Brumaire, remodelled Sieyès' plans for a new Constitution, pulling off a coup-within-a-coup and establishing his dictatorship.

[[Characters/TheFrenchRevolution Back to characters main index]]

In his youth, he didn't do especially well in school, largely because he had difficulty reading; had he been raised in the 20th century, he would almost certainly have been diagnosed with dyslexia (the description of his trouble reading is almost textbook), but as it was his teachers simply called him lazy. Nonetheless, when he left school, a Parisian law firm hired him to apprentice despite an atrocious writing sample, possibly seeing his natural gift for oratory. Recognizing that he was not going to be any good writing pleadings and briefs, his employers sent him to observe trials and arguments before the various law courts of Paris to educate himself on the finer points of oral presentation in the courts and to report back to the firm if anything interesting happened. Danton absorbed this education fully, and after passing the bar, he embarked on a successful practice focusing on trial and argument. His practice included Camille Desmoulins, Robespierre's childhood friend--who, conveniently enough, was an excellent writer but was kind of mediocre at getting up on his hind legs and talking at a judge.

Before the Revolution, Danton worked as a lawyer who was highly successful and well-paid. His practice included Camille Desmoulins, Robespierre's childhood friend. When the Revolution broke out, Danton began his political career forming the ''Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen'' or the Club des Cordeliers, which had a more populist base than the Jacobins. It was the Cordeliers who played key roles in the public events of the Revolution. Especially the protest at the Champs du Mars that led to the first massacre of French citizens by government troops. Danton found his fame with the events that led to the August 10 Insurrection - the Storming of the Tuileries, the birth of the First Republic. He became the central figure in the organization of events and the behind-the-scenes political manoeuverings. He also became Minister of Justice in the new government and arrested several royalist prisoners, and likewise proposed forming special tribunals to deal with them. Danton had initially supported Robespierre's protest against the Girondin's agitating for war. However, on seeing how unpopular this position was (and how unpopular Robespierre was at that time) he cautiously lent support to the war, insisting that France should claim its "natural boundaries". When the war after initial successes began its reversals, Danton in early September gave a speech that defiantly called for resistance to an Austrian invasion and a proud defense of the Republic:

Talleyrand's real political career began in the Directory Period, where he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. His return to France came about thanks to sympathetic contacts in Madame de Stael and Benjamin Constant. During this time, Talleyrand established a wide area of contacts and became renowned for his skill in diplomacy, for which his name became proverbial. He also built a friendship with Napoleon and played a role in securing the coup of 18 Brumaire. For most of his rule, Napoleon and Talleyrand complemented each other, but Talleyrand foresaw that Napoleon in posing an existential threat to the aristocratic order of Europe realized that he would keep France on a constant war footing. To this end, he began destabilizing his regime from within. He was even careless and obvious in his double dealing on a few occassions but proved too valuable for Napoleon to get rid off altogether. After Napoleon's first defeat, Talleyrand served as plenipotentiary at the Congress of Vienna and secured highly generous terms for a defeated France but this ended with the Hundred Days. After that Talleyrand retired from public affairs, since the returning Bourbon administration regarded him as "a revolutionary". In the July Monarchy, he served as ambassador to England between 1830-1834, dying [[LongRunners at the age of 84]]. His legacy lived on: In the leadup to the July Revolution, he and Lafayette (of all people) sponsored the rise to prominence of [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfFrance Adolphe Thiers]], who would lead the French center-left basically until the 1870s (by which point it had become the center-right, but now we're getting ahead of ourselves).

Talleyrand's real political career began in the Directory Period, where he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. His return to France came about thanks to sympathetic contacts in Madame de Stael and Benjamin Constant. During this time, Talleyrand established a wide area of contacts and became renowned for his skill in diplomacy, for which his name became proverbial. He also built a friendship with Napoleon and played a role in securing the coup of 18 Brumaire. For most of his rule, Napoleon and Talleyrand complemented each other, but Talleyrand foresaw that Napoleon in posing an existential threat to the aristocratic order of Europe realized that he would keep France on a constant war footing. To this end, he began destabilizing his regime from within. He was even careless and obvious in his double dealing on a few occassions but proved too valuable for Napoleon to get rid off altogether. After Napoleon's first defeat, Talleyrand served as plenipotentiary at the Congress of Vienna and secured highly generous terms for a defeated France but this ended with the Hundred Days. After that Talleyrand retired from public affairs, since the returning Bourbon administration regarded him as "a revolutionary". In the July Monarchy, he served as ambassador to England between 1830-1834, dying [[LongRunners at the age of 84]].

Politically, Carnot was not really a member of any faction. He was never a part of the Jacobin Club, and he was temperamentally closer to the Moderates. However, Carnot definitely shared the sympathies of several radicals who sat on la Montagne (the highest seats on the National Convention, where Jacobins, Cordeliers, Extremists and others formed a coalition). He was a regicide - he voted decisively for the Death of the King without public appeal. He also called for the insurrection and purge of the Girondins, regarding them as incompetent and incapable of organizing the military to meet the threat of invasion ("We must pulverize them or be crushed by them"). Carnot sat on the Committee of Public Safety and served as the main military charge d'affaires. His outstanding achievement was the ''Lévee en messe'', mass {{Conscription}} of civilian army for the defense of the nation. Carnot also served as a representative on mission, and even led a column in the Battle of Watignies. For his efforts in restructuring the army, Carnot was given the well-earned moniker, ''Organizer of Victory''.

Before the Revolution '''Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord''' was the son of one of France's oldest aristocratic families. A weak foot prevented him from participating in his hoped for military career. He then set out on a career in theology, the church was corrupt enough that his lack of religious belief was no real barrier for rise up the ladder, he ended up becoming Bishop of Autun around the time the Estates-General was convened. He made his only trip ever to his diocese in 1789, where he managed (barely) to convince the clergy of the diocese to elect him their representative to the Estates-General--and then promptly slipped out of town just before Easter so as to avoid having to celebrate Mass (which he had no idea how to do).

Before the Revolution '''Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord''' was the son of one of France's oldest aristocratic families. A weak foot prevented him from participating in his hoped for military career. He then set out on a career in theology, the church was corrupt enough that his lack of religious belief was no real barrier for rise up the ladder, he ended up becoming Bishop of Autun around the time the Estates-General was convened. In the National Assembly, Talleyrand played a major role in calling for the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Talleyrand welcomed state intervention of Church matters largely for the political opportunities it provided him. As Bishop, he officiated the first Anniversary of the Revolution at the Fête de la Fédération. When the Legislative Assembly declared war, Talleyrand was entrusted as a diplomat and ambassador to England in the hopes of securing neutrality. He largely failed in this, political events in France subsequently took a turn for the worse and by November 1792, Talleyrand was effectively exiled from France with a warrant from his arrest issued by the National Convention in November 1792. Talleyrand however did not defect like the other exiles and emigres and was essentially stateless in England until the Pitt government ordered him to leave. He travelled to America where he engaged in several businesses while befriending many of the founding fathers, including Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

----
%%!!Tropes as portrayed in fiction:

He gained prominence for the fact that several of his statements and wild harangues eventually came true - Mirabeau was corrupt, France's war with Austria proved self-destructive to the revolution, General Dumouriez eventually defected. He became a member of the National Convention when the First French Republic was formed but contributed little to the debate outside of voting for the King's execution. His constant criticisms of Girondins eventually led to him being the first person brought to the Revolutionary Tribunals. Marat coolly answered his questions and turned the trial against his accusers who carried him away out of Paris in triumph. His illnesses eventually led to him being confined after the insurrection against the Girondins. This led him to become vulnerable to Charlotte Corday's blade when she arrived with a list of purported counter-revolutionary agitators. Upon his death, Marat became the martyr of the Republic, celebrated in the most famous portrait of the Revolution, given an ornate funeral, his busts replacing Jesus in churches and even being interred into the Pantheon for a few months before being disinterred again.

As a figure, Marat is possibly, even more controversial than Robespierre. Where the latter endures as a self-righteous KnightTemplar fanatic, Marat is seen, perhaps unfairly, as the PsychoPartyMember of the Revolution.

--> '''Man in Crowd:''' It is Danton's blood that is choking you!

'''Jean-Paul Marat''' (1743-1793) was a doctor, a would-be scientist, a political thinker, a journalist and finally a RabbleRouser. Before the Revolution, Marat, born in Switzerland but settled in Paris, embarked on a career as a public intellectual and scientist. He briefly befriended UsefulNotes/BenjaminFranklin and courted the support of Voltaire to become a member of the Academy of Science but he was rejected. Thereupon, he travelled to England and Switzerland, serving as a wandering physician, becoming interested in political matters but generally unengaged. When the Revolution broke out, Marat became the most famous, notorious and controversial journalist of his day. His headlines, pamphlets and notices were often filled with wild passionate discourses. He famously called for the deaths of "500 aristocratic heads" noting that doing so would be more merciful than the deaths of millions.

--> '''Talleyrand'''

--> '''Napoleon'''

--> ''"Mirabeau had two lives, one under the Ancien Régime, the other with the French Revolution. The first was a failure, though it did show flashes of genius. The second covered him with glory, despite certain unmentionable episodes. Of the most despised offspring of the old nobility the Revolution made the most brilliant personage of the Constitutent Assembly."''

--> ''"Not a great man, not a good man, certainly no hero; but a man with great, good, and heroic moments."''

'''Georges Danton''' (1759-1794) is perhaps the most popular and well-liked of all the French Revolutionaries. Someone whom moderates and conservatives regard as a positive figure while at the same time being praised by UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin as "the greatest tactician of the French Revolution"[[note]]Lenin personally inaugrated a statue of Danton in Moscow. While he admired Robespierre, Danton was his favorite and the one who he repeatedly invoked in his popular exhortations.[[/note]]. Paradoxically, for someone who is so popular, Danton is highly mysterious since he did not write any speeches, nor did work as a journalist or a writer. As such its very difficult to know what (if any) ideas, Danton really had for the Revolution. It also lends his life to a lot of {{Applicability}} and mystery. In other words, [[AllAccordingToPlan exactly]] as how [[MagnificentBastard Danton]] planned it. The little we know of Danton's life suggests a charismatic BoisterousBruiser, a man who was impeccable at cultivating a common touch despite living a lavish lifestyle, who publicly stated one thing while privately tried to negotiate alliances and compromises, in other words a pragmatist and peacemaker who was a median between revolutionary and peacetime politician.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Danton and the circumstances of his death remains among the most enduring images of the Revolution. Famously chronicled in the play ''Danton's Death'' and the 1983 film ''Danton''[[note]]Ironically, enough an adaptation of a Polish play, ''The Danton Case'' which defended Robespierre's actions by casting him as a TragicHero. Wajda heavily modified the text to present a heroic Danton and a villainous, though still understandable, Robespierre.[[/note]].

--> '''Man in Crowd''': ''"It is Danton's blood that is choking you!"''
--> '''Robespierre''': ''"Danton! It is Danton then you regret? Cowards! Why did you not defend him?"''

[[caption-width-right:250: ''Marat(1793 Portrait by Joseph Boze)'']]

--> ''"Like Jesus, Marat loved ardently the people, and only them. Like Jesus, Marat hated kings, nobles, priests, rogues and, like Jesus, he never stopped fighting against these plagues of the people."''

--> ''"This young man is one of the mysteries of the Revolution. He shot briefly across it, his time of prominence lasting less than two years, a flaming personality whose youth had been anything but promising, but whose mature years had he lived to attain them, might concievably had rocked the world."''

'''Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès'''(1748-1836) was a clergyman and a political writer. He had initially planned to become a soldier, but his weak health consigned him to a career in the clergy. Sieyès was by most accounts not a believer, he saw the Church as a career and spent most of his years studying and perusing books of prominent authors of UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment, reading up on political theory and philosophy, becoming a brilliant scholar and intellectual. When Louis XVI planned to convoke a meeting of the Estates-General, he asked several writers for their opinion. Sieyès published a pamphlet that became the Manifesto of the Revolution: '''What is the Third Estate?'''

--> '''Talleyrand''':''"Regimes may fall and fail, but I do not."''

--> '''Napoleon''': ''"Shit in silk stockings."''

!! Tropes
* BigGood: Served as this for the Revolution in its earlier stages. He remains one of the few consensual figures of the Revolution uniting royalists, liberals and leftists among his supporters, as well as anti-revolutionary critics from abroad. Unlike the more divisive figures of the later stages.
* BrokenPedestal: The revelation of his corruption in 1792 was a huge shock for everyone. Consequently, his body was expelled out of the Pantheon.
* CainAndAbel: Mirabeau had a younger brother whose political ideas were diametrically opposed to his. The younger Mirabeau was also in the Estates General, but as a deputy of the nobility. A staunch absolutist, he fiercely opposed any reform, but didn't had the quarter of his brother's intelligence or eloquence. "[[TheAlcoholic Barrel]]" Mirabeau emigrated in 1790 to Germany and died one year later than ''The Orator of the People''.
* CorruptPolitician: Mirabeau had stacked up a lot of debts in his earlier career and at the time of the Revolution, the idea of payment for political service was not yet in force. As such, he became a secret minister of the King and received payment for his advice. He was also highly ambitious on a personal level and even his defenders admit that he wanted to be France's first Prime Minister which to be fair he was qualified for.
* DueToTheDead: Initially yes. When Mirabeau died in 1791, there was an unanimous vote to give a national funeral and have his remains brought to the newly inaugurated Pantheon, a Neo-Classical Building that would serve as the Hall of Fame for France's key scientists, philosophers and leaders. Mirabeau was the first to be buried there and even Robespierre, his erstwhile critic, voted for his placement. One year later, the revelation of his corruption completely tarnished his reputation even unto 1794, after Robespierre's downfall, where his remains were disinterred and scattered in unmarked graves. While he was symbolically placed again, his body and remains are LostForever.
* ImpoverishedPatrician: To the point of being a Third Estate deputy.
* KavorkaMan: Mirabeau was by his own account [[ScarsAreForever ugly]] but he never lacked of female partner. He was in fact a renowned ''libertin''.
* PlayingBothSides: Mirabeau was publicly a voice wanting to erode aristocratic privileges in the National Assembly but secretly a paid informant and advisor to the King. During the King's trial, the revelation of the ''armoire de fer'' (iron cabinet) documents providing damning evidence of collusion between Mirabeau and the King, tarnishing his reputation at the time and years later.
* PoorCommunicationKills: The main reason why the alliance between Mirabeau and the Royal Court failed was that Marie-Antoinette hated him (the feeling was mutual) and she repeatedly advised the King not to listen to him. Mirabeau was virtually the only major revolutionary who wanted the King to live. His death and the subsequent Flight to Varennes left no eloquent voices to argue for the Constitutional Monarchy.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: Mirabeau greatly feared this and was even skeptical of the Bastille revolt, believing that popular passions would thin down in due course while an InternalReformist could achieve more. To this end, he served as an advisor to the King and even suggested that he play a more active role to become a popular monarch, his letters even recommended shifting the capital way from the defiantly pro-revolutionary Paris (the people marched to Versailles and dragged the King to the Tuileries and kept him under virtual house arrest).
* RuleAbidingRebel: Despite being an EnfantTerrible and an all-around bad boy for most of his life, Mirabeau sought a moderate approach during the Revolution, seeking to clamp down on a potential CivilWar, provided the King a veto so that he can still play a role in government (this one ended up being a mistake). This did not endear him to the revolutionary left at all, even Camille Desmoullins who formerly worked as a journalist in his entourage.
* ScarsAreForever: Mirabeau survived the smallpox but it left very visible scars on his face, disfiguring him.
--> '''Mirabeau:''' ''One doesn't know the almightiness of my ugliness!''
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Mireabeau was a vocal abolitionist and critic of slavery, a cause which brought him common cause with Jacques-Pierre Brissot and Robespierre (who Mirabeau otherwise disliked). However, the Jacobin club was at the time reluctant or indifferent to the issue of slavery (they would reverse themselves in 1794 during the ReignOfTerror). Mirabeau warned the slave-owning lobby in France that the people in Haïti, "were sleeping on the slopes of Vesuvius" and predicted the revolution that broke out there.

!! Tropes
* BigGood: He was seen as this after Mirabeau's death, indeed one of his nicknames was "Mirabeau of the Masses". He was likewise friends with the great orator.
* BoisterousBruiser: He was famous for being the "Lion" whose voice roared out to the crowd.
* BourgeoisBohemian: Danton was a very rich man during the Revolution, living in a lavish apartment but he cultivated a common touch with great skill. Danton's Cordeliers Club had a more popular mix than the rather exclusively bourgeois Jacobin club. Depictions of Danton often tends to depict him as a Bohemian KavorkaMan who hangs out with prostitutes and lowlifes as opposed to the stuffed shirt Robespierre.
* CorruptPolitician: He was rather famous for this at the time of the Revolution. As noted by historian Robert Darnton:
--> ''"Most French historians today probably would concede that Danton's finances do not stand up to close scrutiny. In 1789 he was a not especially successful lawyer loaded down with at least 43,000 livres in debts. In 1791 he paid off his creditors and bought an estate worth 80,000 livres without an ostensible improvement in his practice or the acquisition of another legitimate source of income. He probably took money from the court. But a politician may fatten his purse without betraying his country, and Danton certainly led the resistance to the invading armies after the overthrow of themonarchy on August 10, 1792."''
* DyingCurse: Issued one from his tumbrel as he passed the Duplay house, where Robespierre had taken board:
--> ''"You will follow us soon! Your house will be beaten down and salt sown in the place where it stood!"'' [[note]]The source for this is the memoirs of [[UnreliableNarrator Paul Barras]], not very reliable himself, but it's taken a life of its own. Robespierre fell three months after Danton's death incidentally[[/note]]
* FacingTheBulletsOneLiner: Certainly the most {{Badass}} moment among guillotine executions:
--> ''"You will show my head to the people. It is well worth a look."''
* FamousLastWords: The above one-liner and his prophetic shout passing by Robespierre's house on the way to the guillotine [[DyingCurse "You're hiding, but you're following me, Robespierre! Your house will be beaten down and salt sown in the place where it stood!"]]

* KangarooCourt: He was the victim of one. While Danton was corrupt, he was definitely a patriot and the Committee of Public Safety had him brought to the tribunals on spurious charges since they saw him as a political threat to their actions and the indictment had no foundation at all.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Left-wing historians often used Danton as a popular and positive figure to contrast against the controversial Robespierre. His status as a victim of the Revolutionary Tribunals and the ReignOfTerror despite being a revolutionary himself helped separate the left from more extremist elements. What's ironic is that it was Danton who established the Revolutionary Tribunals, and imprisoned royalist prisoners after the Republic was established. He also provided the first justification for it, when he stated, "[[TerrorHero Let us be terrible so that the people don't have to be.]]"
* ScarsAreForever: Just like Mirabeau, Danton survived the smallpox in his youth and got bad scars from it. Before it, his lip and his nose were damaged by two different bulls when he was a child.
* SlaveLiberation: Danton was among the delegates who voted for the February 1794 abolition of slavery. Upon its abolition, he noted how it gave France the moral high ground in its conflict with England and other fence-setting coalition nations:
--> '''Danton''': ''"Representatives of the French people, until now our decrees of liberty have been selfish, and only for ourselves. But today we proclaim it to the universe, and generations to come will glory in this decree; we are proclaiming universal liberty...We are working for future generations; let us launch liberty into the colonies; the English are dead, today."''
* TerrorHero: His say of "Let us be terrible so that the people don't have to be" wonderfully sums up this trope.

!! Tropes
* ArchEnemy: The Girondins regarded him as this. Eventually one Girondin woman, Charlotte Corday, killed him.
* CassandraTruth: Marat's passionate accusations weren't believed by most of people when he wrote them, but ended up being bafflingly true.
* DeadlyBath: Jean-Paul Marat had a bad skin condition (augmented by the time he spent hiding in Paris sewers, escaping royalist persecution) which meant he had nearly constant fevers. The only way to solve that was regular hydrotherapy which is why he spent so much time his bath-tub with a table and writing material on top for him to work. This unfortunately meant he was especially vulnerable when Charlotte Corday went in to assassinate him. Jacques-Louis David immortalized him[[note]][[http://www.culture.gouv.fr/Wave/image/joconde/0356/m040004_0004541_p.jpg A more documentary account of the crime scene by J-J Hauer exists]][[/note]].
* HiddenDepths: Marat's extremist language in his newspapers often clashed with occassional moments of moderatism. This included the fact that he criticized anti-English xenophobia during the Revolution (he had spent several years in England and admired its civic institution and free public life), he also argued against the persecution of Malsherbes and rescued Theroigne de Mericourt from an angry mob. As per Aime Cesaire, the 20th Century poet, he was the only one of major Revolutionaries who acknowledged and supported Haitian Independence from France, which was something that even Robespierre (a strict centralist and Unionist) was reluctant about.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: In 1794, Mirabeau's body was disinterred from the Pantheon and Marat's was placed there instead. However a few months later, a campaign of denunciation began and Marat's busts were destroyed from churches while his body was removed again. Marat's subsequent reputation suffered for several years and he became even more controversial than Robespierre.
* IllBoy: Near the end of his life Marat had to spent the whole day in his bathtub.
* InspirationalMartyr: Marat along with Louis Michel lepeletier was one of two Jacobins assassinated in 1793. Marat's more lurid and theatrical assassination, as well as Jacques-Louis David's portrait immortalized him in death. Marat's funeral was famously elaborate and after his death, revolutionaries and dechristianizers put his bust in Churches instead of Crosses.
* RabbleRouser: Marat was popular among the sans-culottes and his newspapers called for radical action. This often led to suggestions that he provoked the September Massacres of which there is no real evidence. He ''did'' play a part however in the insurrection against the Girondins.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: Maybe. It's hard to tell if what he said came true because he was that well informed, or a case of "a stopped clock still gives the correct hour twice a day".
* WaifProphet: Even before his illness, Marat had an emaciated look which gave a feel of poor health. He ended up predicting several events that seemed highly improbable by then.

!! Tropes
* AscendedFanboy: Before his election, he exchanged several letters with Robespierre praising his committment to the nation. It would be two years later when they would meet and Saint-Just became his closest friend, collaborator and equal.
* BadassBureaucrat: He personally fought alongside soldiers despite being a representative on mission. Before his appointment as a delegate of the National Convention, Saint-Just served in the newly formed National Guard in his local province and became Lieutenant-Colonel.
--> '''Jules Michelet''': ''"Saint-Just appeared not as a representative, but as a king, as a God."''
* BeigeProse: While Robespierre was notorious for long-winded speeches that tended to digress, Saint-Just gained attention for very short, curt, oratory. His books and private diaries are also written in pithy comments and laconic statements.
* DefiantToTheEnd: During Thermidor, Saint-Just's friend Philip Lebas committed suicide, while Georges Couthon and Augustin Robespierre tried and failed. And Robespierre either got shot/or tried-and-failed as well [[ShroudedInMyth depending on the source]]. However Saint-Just was the only one to simply stand there and look at the Thermidorians with cool contempt and marched with his head held high to the gallows. On the formal identification before the execution, Saint-Just pointed to the Jacobin Constitution of 1793 and stated:
--> ''"[[FamousLastWords After all, I wrote that]]."''
* DracoInLeatherPants:[[invoked]] For his youth, good looks, and widely noted success as a military organizer, Saint-Just often gets better press from historians than Robespierre.
** Jules Michelet, a pro-Revolutionary historian who disliked Robespierre, praised Saint-Just as a "god of war" for his skill in battle [[TooCoolToLive and lamented how his brilliant career]] was cut down because of Robespierre's ToxicFriendInfluence. The novelist Marguerite Yourcenar also noted that young girls of her generation, tended to see Saint-Just as a brilliant young man who tragically became "Robespierre's cruel friend".
** Others however see Saint-Just as a cautionary tale. Creator/AlbertCamus in ''The Rebel'' wrote extensively on Saint-Just, but criticized his skilfull oratory put to the service of justifying executions. To Camus, Saint-Just is an example of [[HeWhoFightsMonsters a Rebel who having fought against a self-defined tyranny, ultimately becomes a mirror of his]] opponent and NotSoDifferent from what he opposed. He remarked how Saint-Just's dictum of "No one can reign innocently" is HarsherInHindsight after the ReignOfTerror.
* DrillSergeantNasty: He was quite legendary for his ability to ruthlessly discipline soldiers in Alsace. He was popular among the rank-and-file and was not about sending generals to the firing squad (or the Archbishop of Strasbourg to the guillotine).
--> ''"Soldiers, we have come to avenge you, and [[FieldPromotion to give you leaders who will marshal you to victory. We have resolved to seek out, to reward, and to promote the deserving]]; [[YouHaveFailedMe and to track down all the guilty, whoever they may be]].... All commanders, officers, and agents of the government are hereby ordered to satisfy within three days the just grievances of the soldiers. After that interval we will ourselves hear any complaints, and [[ToThePain we will offer such examples of justice and severity as the Army has not yet witnessed]]."''
* EnfantTerrible: Saint-Just was born to minor nobility but had a rebellious personality all his childhood, including a plan to start a fire in the school. He eventually stole money from home and ran away to the big city before being caught, and before the revolution he tried a career in poetry by writing a long erotic poem ''L'Organt''.
--> ''"I am not for any faction. I will fight them all."''
* FromNobodyToNightmare: This applies to everyone in the Revolution[[note]]with the possible exception of Desmoulins[[/note]], but Saint-Just is perhaps the most remarkable example. The revolution was reaching its three-year mark, with several figures gaining political experience, reputation and/or notoriety on the national stage. Out of nowhere, a 25 year old literary reject makes a major speech calling for the King's execution. Saint-Just was active [[ShortLivedBigImpact for only 18 months]] but he is still acknowledged as one of the most important revolutionaries overall. In his brief career, he worked on the 1793 Constitution (alongside Herault de Sechelles), served on the Committee of Public Safety as co-ruler of France, served as a highly successful and popular military organizer, and towards the end, started framing the Ventose Decrees which was aimed to provide wealth redistribution to the very poor (the most radical social legislation introduced in the Revolution). He was also quite intimidating as a personality, described by friends and enemies as the "Angel of Death".

* IcyBlueEyes: Famously so.
* SmugSnake: His aloofness and stoic demeanour was often seen as arrogant by his contemporaries who tended to see him as JustAKid. Camille Desmoullins mocked him because he "carried his head like a sacred host".
* TheStoic: While Roman Stoicism was seen as essential inspiration for Republican sentiment, Saint-Just took it UpToEleven and people noted that he was often emotionless with his voice lacking any trace of anger or hatred. Bertrand Barère famously stated:
--> ''"He has a brain of fire and a heart of ice."''
* UndyingLoyalty: Some of the Thermidorian faction had hoped to spare Saint-Just from the plot to finish Robespierre, however Saint-Just's loyalty to his friend and mentor made it impossible. Saint-Just had even tried to repair some of the damage Robespierre's reputation had with other members of the Committee but it had little effect. In his final speech, he even admitted that Robespierre had made mistakes but that he was still a worthy patriot but by then it was far too late.
* YouCannotKillAnIdea: One of his famous aphorisms:
--> ''"I condemn the dust of which I am made, this dust that speaks to you now. It can be persecuted, it can be brought to death. But I challenge the world to take from me that part of me which will live through the centuries and survive in the skies."''
* YoungAndInCharge: He was 23 when he joined the National Guard, 25 when he called for the King's Death in his first speech at the National Convention, at the age of 26 he became one of the writers of the 1793 Constitution and served in the Commmittee of Public Safety. He would not live to be 27.

!! Tropes
* BadassBureaucrat: They didn't call him Organizer of Victory for nothing. He also served as a soldier and took command of columns in field during the Revolutionary Wars. His activities as a military organizer inspired UsefulNotes/LeonTrotsky in forming the Red Army and would also be cited by UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle (who cited him as his favorite revolutionary) as a commendable example of civilian support of the army. De Gaulle noted that because of Carnot, despite trying conditions of winter and the troops being deeply ensconced in enemy territory, there were fewer sick sodliers in military hospitals during the Terror than there had been before the war.
* BadassFamily: Carnot had two sons Hippolyte Carnot and Sadi Carnot. Sadi Carnot (named after the Persian poet Sadi of Shiraz), like his father was an army engineer and physicist whose research paper, ''Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire'' made him the [[OurFounder Father of Thermodynamics]]. Carnot's grandson also named Sadi Carnot (though his father was Hippolyte) became President of France under the Third Republic serving between 1887-1894 until his assassination by an Italian anarchist.
* TheExile: Carnot was one of the many delegates at the convention who decisively voted for Louis XVI's execution. This action, along with Carnot's support of Napoleon during his Hundred Days, led the Bourbons to exile him from France. He spent his final years shifting from Warsaw to Prussia and finally became a teacher of mathematics in the city of Madgeburg where he died in 1823.
* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: Carnot firmly believed in democracy and a republican government. As such, he regularly clashed with Napoleon, opposing the expansion of his powers, and crowning him Emperor. He declined public office under his regime, though Napoleon made him a Count out of respect for his talent and contributions to France. However, during Napoleon's Hundred Days, Carnot supported him against the Bourbon Restoration.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Lazare Carnot was the only major politician of the Terror to be honoured in France's Pantheon. Though that's largely because at the time, most of them, saw him as apolitical and uninvolved in the Terror. Recent research into archives of the period shows that this is decidedly not true.
* ItRunsInTheFamily: Two of his descendents are famous.
** His first son, Sadi Carnot, was also in the military and was a great scientist, founded the science of thermodynamics, making much of the later Industrial Revolution possible by providing the framework for understanding heat engines.
** His grandson [[OneSteveLimit Sadi Carnot]] was President of the IIIrd French Republic between 1887 and 1894.
* NotSoAboveItAll: While later historians would try and separate Carnot from the Terror, he was deeply involved in its operations and regarded it as a NecessaryEvil. His signature is quite present on most official executions and he did not protest the execution of Danton (unlike Robert Lindet who refused to sign the document). He used the Terror to submit certain generals to Show Trials including General Custine, largely because [[YouHaveFailedMe they had failed]].

!! Tropes

* TheHeart: Well liked by everyone, Desmoulins publicly expressed his disagreement with Robespierre in his newspaper once he believed the Revolution had gone too ruthless. Despite being a school friend of Robespierre, his proximity with Danton was his doom. To this day, while not the most famous of the revolutionaries he's the certainly the one who retains the most sympathy between the French people.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He greatly regretted the facts that the information he used against Brissot and the Girondins were later used in the trial against them. He tried to argue for clemency for Brissot and was said to have fainted when the death sentence was given.
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Desmoulins was never a prominent legislator or influential in the Convention or the Streets, but he remains important since he was connected to virtually all the major figures. He worked alongside and knew personally, Mirabeau, Danton, Robespierre. His diaries and letters likewise feature highly personal portraits of that time. His newspaper also published some of Saint-Just's earlier writings, well before his political debut making him the linchpin to all the different stages of the events.
* WideEyedIdealist: He was the closest person to this out of all major and perhaps minor figures who were part of the Revolution, as shown by his increasing disappointment at the course of the Revolution. His death was also horrible, being a victim of the guillotine.

!! Tropes
* AristocratsAreEvil: Sieyès strongly believed this, as per Furet. He sought all his life to erode their influence and his most famous pamphlet is still quite venomous to read in that regard. However, Sieyès' ideas of democracy was [[NotSoDifferent still biased]] towards wealthy, property-owning intellectual elites. It was he who introduced suffrage censitaire, the divide between active and passive citizenship, an idea intended to restrict the vote to people who held property ([[FairForItsDay which was the standard of democratic government]] at the time as the vote was similarly restricted in 18th century England and America).
* {{Irony}}: The man who wrote the most powerful revolutionary pamphlet ended up paving the way for dictatorship, though the latter was not something [[DidntSeeThatComing he had planned for]].
* TheMentor: He set the tone and initial direction of the Revolution, by drafting ''What is the Third Estate ?'', expanding on the theories of national sovereignty, popular sovereignty, and representation, among other things. However, he lost political influence as things got more and more radical. He was nonetheless elected back in the National Convention and even had a hand in the constitutional project held up by the Girondins. Amazingly enough, he survived the Terror and lived long enough to see the July Revolution, although [[ObsoleteMentor he never recovered his former prominence]]. On a personal level, he served as a friend and mentor to intellectual and liberal theorist Benjamin Constant (who was [[WhatTheHellHero disappointed at Sieyès' participation in Napoleon's coup d'etat]]) and the young Alexis de Tocqueville.
* TheManBehindTheMan [=/=] NonActionGuy: It was his ambition to serve in this capacity, knowing that he lacked the charisma to be a popular leader. It never quite worked out. He initially allied himself to Mirabeau but found Mirabeau was smart, ambitious and independent. He was temperamentally opposed to the populist movement and its leaders. His coup of the corrupt and unstable Directory government was undertaken in the hope that he'd find a pliable general who would serve as a puppet (hence calling him a sword). [[OutGambitted Napoleon proved to be none of those things]] and considering that the Directory initially sent Napoleon to Egypt because of his popularity and poorly disguised ambition, he couldn't have picked [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter a worse possible candidate]].
* TropeNamer: He coined the word "sociologie" and his pamphlet, "What is the Third Estate?" along with other publications are considered early contributions in the field. He was an influence on Alexis de Tocqueville and Creator/KarlMarx.

!! Tropes
* CassandraTruth: Talleyrand constantly told Napoleon not to invade Russia, but he did so anyway. Talleyrand also claimed to have warned Napoleon against his campaign in Spain, however Napoleon called him out for this later, noting that it was he who first suggested it to him in private before singing a different song in front of others.
* TheChessmaster:
** Talleyrand is often exaggerated as this among popular historians and commentators. He was a highly shrewd diplomat and skillful at maintaining connections, however it's important to note that his actual record was fairly spotty. In the Directory Government, he was one of the instigators of the XYZ Affair, which sparked an undeclared naval war between America and France, spoiling relations between the two nations until Napoleon sold Louisiana to Jefferson. Talleyrand's intrigues against Napoleon while providing him good press were largely unsuccessful until Napoleon's Invasion to Russia, and even his successes in the Congress of Vienna were negated by the Hundred Days. As a diplomat, Talleyrand largely enriched himself but didn't really have much in the way of real achievements.
** Likewise many biographers describe Talleyrand almost as if he was Napoleon's NumberTwo, with a recent biography titled "Napoleon's Master". Talleyrand ''served'' Napoleon as an administrator and advisor but he was merely one of several in this capacities. He never had any real impact on the legislative aspect (the Napoleonic Code was authored by Cambaceres), while Joseph Fouche served as Napoleon's Chief of Police. Napoleon initially tolerated Talleyrand's intrigues largely because he didn't pose a threat to him and it was his own military defeats that cleared the way for Talleyrand's rise to prominence (which was again, brief).
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Talleyrand's long-life and capacity to sustain different regimes often leads him to be regarded as this. In truth, he only really betrayed Napoleon. The fluctuations in the Revolution happened while he was serving faithfully as a diplomat to England, and he served the Directory government loyally. He didn't play a role in the trial and execution of the King and sat out during the Terror. Joseph Fouche, Napoleon's Police Chief was in many ways an even more impressive survivor and backstabber than Talleyrand, since he got off lightly despite actually voting for the King's execution and committing war crimes in Lyon during the Revolution, (in addition to shifting sides from the Girondins to Jacobins and betraying both Robespierre and Napoleon).
* CorruptPolitician: Corruption was fairly common place by then but Talleyrand stands out as he was shameless about lining his pockets. His habit of asking for bribes clashed with the mindset of the visiting American diplomats in the XYZ affair (1797), [[NiceJobBreakingItHero which sparked the Quasi-War between America and France]]. Under Napoleon's rule, he immensely enriched himself through bribes and the principality of Benevento. His subterfuge and undermining of Napoleon, while politically motivated, was also driven by personal profit and gains. Napoleon had personal and legitimate reasons to call him, "shit in silk stockings".
* EndOfAnEra: Talleyrand provided the most eloquent phrase of this sentiment for those who underwent the Revolution. A much-quoted proverb:
--> ''"Those who have not lived in the eighteenth century, [[NostalgiaFilter in the years before the Revolution]] do not know the sweetness of living and cannot imagine what it was like to have happiness in life."''
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Despite being highly corrupt, almost entirely self-serving and a man of few scruples, Talleyrand is often seen favorably as a statesman who clearly saw the long-term problems of the NapoleonicWars and played a role in building lasting peace in Europe. This reputation largely comes from English historians (such as author-and-diplomat Duff Cooper) who also note Talleyrand's anglophilia and popularity in England. He's also respected in France for [[AuthorsOfQuote his wit]], being a MagnificentBastard and bon-vivant. Some Leftist historians like Georges Lefebvre regard him as one of the most despicable figures in French history, while center-right ones adore him, insisting that he was a great liberal[[note]]in the Old World sense[[/note]] politician [[RoseTintedNarrative working for the better future of France]].
* LoyalToThePosition: A more accurate description of the man, as per the philosopher Simone Weil. Despite being a leftist and pro-Revolutionary, she sees Talleyrand as a pragmatist in an age of divided loyalties where many people engaged in MovingTheGoalposts in a time of revolutionary upheaval which made it nearly impossible for anyone seeking careers or survival to remain consistent. According to her, Talleyrand "served, not as has been said, every regime, but France behind every regime."
* MayDecemberRomance: With the princess [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Dorothea_of_Courland Dorothea of Courland]], whom he liked for her brains and beauty.
* TurbulentPriest: As he didn't choose to be a priest, this is given. When he arrived in Autun, people discovered that he didn't know how to perform a mass. He was one of the proponents of the idea to sell the properties of the Church to pay for the French debts. And of course, he took bribes and didn't follow the chastity vow. Later, Napoleon who was tired of Talleyrand's fence-sitting ordered him to marry his long-term mistress, and managed to get the Pope to have Talleyrand laicized without being excommunicated (a rare process for a former Bishop).
* UngratefulBastard: Napoleon's personal opinion of Talleyrand, which is obviously, quite biased. In his eyes, Talleyrand profited shamelessly under his service, Napoleon even pardoned his intrigues and betrayal, and yet Talleyrand betrayed him. During the Hundred Days, Talleyrand personally visited Napoleon's troops and called him a Corsican and "un-French" to turn his soldiers' sympathies towards the Bourbons.
** Another one is the case of Aaron Burr. When Talleyrand was exiled and stateless, Burr provided him hospitality and let him stay in his house. When Burr became a pariah after the Burr-Hamilton duel (of which Hamilton wasn't entirely blameless), Talleyrand refused to provide the same in return, citing his admiration for UsefulNotes/AlexanderHamilton.

--> ''""A king should be tried not for the crimes of his administration, but for that of having been king, for nothing in the world can legitimize this usurpation, and whatever illusion, whatever conventions royalty surrounds itself in, it is an eternal crime against which every man has the right to rise up and arm himself... No one can reign innocently: the madness of this is too obvious. Every king is a rebel and a usurper. '''This man must reign or die'''."''

** His first son, Sadi Carnot, was also in the military and was a great scientist, founded Thermodynamics.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: This applies to everyone in the Revolution, but Saint-Just is perhaps the most remarkable example. The revolution was reaching its three-year mark, with several figures gaining political experience, reputation and/or notoriety on the national stage. Out of nowhere, a 25 year old literary reject makes a major speech calling for the King's execution. Saint-Just was active [[ShortLivedBigImpact for only 18 months]] but he is still acknowledged as one of the most important revolutionaries overall. In his brief career, he worked on the 1793 Constitution (alongside Herault de Sechelles), served on the Committee of Public Safety as co-ruler of France, served as a highly successful and popular military organizer, and towards the end, started framing the Ventose Decrees which was aimed to provide wealth redistribution to the very poor (the most radical social legislation introduced in the Revolution). He was also quite intimidating as a personality, described by friends and enemies as the "Angel of Death".

!! Tropes:
* TheMentor: He set the tone and initial direction of the Revolution, by drafting ''What is the Third Estate ?'', expanding on the theories of national sovereignty, popular sovereignty, and representation, among other things. However, he lost political influence as things got more and more radical. He was nonetheless elected back in the National Convention and even had a hand in the constitutional project held up by the Girondins. Amazingly enough, he survived the Terror and lived long enough to see the July Revolution, although [[ObsoleteMentor he never recovered his former prominence]].

Several members on hearing this, quickly rose and got out and made plans to attack the Bastille. Desmoulins subsequently became an active journalist and pamphleteer of the Revolution. He and Danton formed the Club des Cordeliers and played key roles in the Champs de Mars protest (which ended when soldiers led by La Fayette shot the protesters, killing dozens at least) and the Storming of the Tuilleries. In 1792, he entered the National Convention of the First French Republic and along with the rest of the Montagne, voted for the execution of the King. He did become increasingly upset at the course of events, especially the purge of the Girondins and the ReignOfTerror. This subsequently led to a falling out with Robespierre with whom he was friends with. He and Danton would later be sent to the guillotine. Camille's wife, Lucille was arrested during his trial and she would follow a week later, leaving Desmoullins son to be raised by his grandmother.

In that he pointed out that the Third Estate was large enough to provide a government without the first two estates and yet had been consistently denied representation by an archaic political structure and obsolete form of government. Sieyès was among several delegates of the Third Estate who took the Tennis Court Oath. He played a major role in the National Assembly which framed the Constitution. Temperamentally, Sieyès was more of a statesman rather than a Revolutionary. He was not a good public speaker but as an intellectual he yielded considerable influence. He was excluded from the short-lived Legislative Assembly thanks to Robespierre's self-denying ordinance but returned during the National Convention. Sieyès voted for the Execution of the King but otherwise kept a low profile during the Reign of Terror, neither participating in the events or the Thermidorian Reaction. He regained his prominence in the Directory period. Sieyès disliked the Directory government, believing it was highly unstable though he played a major part in ousting the final remnants of the Jacobins in this period. He plotted to oust the government via a military coup, famously noting, "I need a sword" and he searched for sympathetic generals to enlist in this cause. The one who was, [[MagnificentBastard conveniently]], available, was none other than UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. Napoleon consented to Sieyès' plans but upon taking power on 18 Brumaire, remodelled Sieyès' plans for a new Constitution, pulling off a coup-within-a-coup and establishing his dictatorship.

* TheMentor: He set the tone and initial direction of the Revolution, by drafting the ''Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen'', expanding on the theories of national sovereignty, popular sovereignty, and representation, among other things. However, he lost political influence as things got more and more violent and he became opposed to the abolition of the tithes and the confiscation of Church lands. Amazingly enough, he survived the Terror and ultimately saw the July Revolution in his final years, although [[ObsoleteMentor he never recovered his former prominence]].

* TheMentor: He set the tone and initial direction of the Revolution, by drafting the ''Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen'', expanding on the theories of national sovereignty, popular sovereignty, and representation, among other things. However, he lost political influence as things got more and more violent and he became opposed to the abolition of the tithes and he confiscation of Church lands. Amazingly enough, he survived the Terror and ultimately saw the July Revolution in his final years, although [[ObsoleteMentor he never recovered his former prominence]].

* WideEyedIdealist: He was the closest person to this out of all major and perhaps minor figures who were part of the Revolution, as shown by his increasing disappointment at the course of the Revolution. His death was also horrible, being a victim of the guillotin.

Several members on hearing this, quickly rose and got out and made plans to attack the Bastille. Desmoulins subsequently became an active journalist and pamphleteer of the Revolution. He and Danton formed the Club des Cordeliers and played key roles in the Champs de Mars protest (which ended when soldiers led by La Fayette shot the protesters, killind dozens at least) and the Storming of the Tuilleries. In 1792, he entered the National Convention of the First French Republic and along with the rest of the Montagne, voted for the execution of the King. He did become increasingly upset at the course of events, especially the purge of the Girondins and the ReignOfTerror. This subsequently led to a falling out with Robespierre with whom he was friends with. He and Danton would later be sent to the guillotine. Camille's wife, Lucille was arrested during his trial and she would follow a week later, leaving Desmoullins son to be raised by his grandmother.

* CassandraTruth: Marat passionate accusations weren't believed by most of people when he wrote them, but ended up being bafflingly true.

* HiddenDepths: Marat's extremist language in his newspapers often clashed with occassional moments of moderatism. This included the fact that he criticized anti-English xenophobia during the Revolution (he had spent several years in England and admired its civic institution and free public life), he also argued against the persecution of Malsherbes and rescued Theroigne de Mericourt from an angry mob. As per Aime Cesaire, the 20th Century poet, he was the only one of major Revolutionaries who acknowledged and supported Haitian Independence from France, which was something that even Robespierre(a strict centralist and Unionist) was reluctant about.