Jacques-Nicolas Billaud-Varenne | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 26thPresident of the National Convention | |
| In office 5 September 1793 – 19 September 1793 | |
| Preceded by | Maximilien Robespierre |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Joseph Cambon |
| Member of the National Convention | |
| In office 7 September 1792 – 26 October 1795 | |
| Constituency | Seine |
| Member of the Committee of Public Safety | |
| In office 6 September 1793 – 1 September 1794 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jacques Nicolas Billaud (1756-04-23)23 April 1756 La Rochelle,Kingdom of France |
| Died | 3 June 1819(1819-06-03) (aged 63) Port-au-Prince,Republic of Haiti |
| Political party | The Mountain |
| Spouse(s) | Anne-Angélique Doye Brigitte Billaud-Varenne |
| Alma mater | University of Poitiers |
| Occupation | Lawyer,politician |
| Nickname | "The Tiger" |
Jacques-Nicolas Billaud-Varenne (French pronunciation:[ʒaknikɔlabijovaʁɛn]; 23 April 1756 – 3 June 1819), also known asJean Nicolas or by his nicknames, theRighteous Patriot[1][2] or theTiger,[2] was a French lawyer and a major figure in theFrench Revolution. A close associate ofGeorges Danton andMaximilien Robespierre, he was one of the most militant members of theCommittee of Public Safety, and is often considered a key architect of theReign of Terror.
Billaud-Varenne subsequently broke with Robespierre, partly due to their ideological conflicts relating to thecentralization of power. Ultimately he played a major role in Robespierre's downfall on9 Thermidor, an act for which he later expressed remorse.[3][4] After Thermidor, Billaud-Varenne was part of theCrêtois, the last group of deputies fromThe Mountain. He presided over the persecution ofLouis-Marie Turreau andJean-Baptiste Carrier for their massacres during theWar in the Vendée, which ended by their execution.[5][6][7]
Billaud-Varenne was later arrested during theThermidorian Reaction.[8] Deported toCayenne without trial, he married a black ex-slave namedBrigitte, refusedNapoleon's pardon there and finally died inPort-au-Prince in 1819.[9]
Billaud-Varenne was one of the central figures of the first part of theFrench Revolution, but he remains little studied or little understood.[10]
Billaud-Varenne was born inLa Rochelle as the son of alawyer to theparlement ofParis. Since both his grandfather and father were lawyers, and he was the first son in his direct family, Varenne was guaranteed a solid education and the same profession. Billaud-Varenne was educated at the college atNiort run by theFrench Oratorians, and tookPhilosophy at La Rochelle. His education at Niort was particularly important in shaping his character because its methods of teaching were uncommon to the revolution. At Niort, modernity and tolerance were emphasized, as opposed to most other schools of the time. Billaud-Varenne was also sent to anotherOratory of Jesus school, theCollege of Juilly, where he was Hallprefect of studies. Here he later became a professor when he felt dissatisfied with practicing law, remaining for a short while, until his writing of acomédie strained his relationship with those who ran the school and he was obliged to leave in 1785.[11]
He then went to Paris, married and bought a position as lawyer in theparlement. In early 1789 he published atAmsterdam a three-volume work on theDespotisme des ministres de la France, and a well-received anti-clerical text titled "The Last Blow Against Prejudice and Superstition."[12] As events moved closer toBastille Day, he adopted with enthusiasm the principles of theFrench Revolution.[13] An example of his beliefs regarding theChurch can be found in this text:[12]
However painful an amputation may be, when a member is gangrened it must be sacrificed if we wish to save the body.
Joining theJacobin Club, Billaud-Varenne became, from 1790, one of the most violent anti-Royalistorators, closely linked toJean-Marie Collot d'Herbois. After theflight to Varennes ofKingLouis XVI, he published apamphlet,L'Acéphocratie (from theGreek:ακεφοκρατια, meaning 'power without head), in which he demanded the establishment of afederal republic.[13]
On 1 July, in another speech at the Jacobin Club, he spoke of arepublic, arousing the derision of partisans of theconstitutional monarchy. But when he repeated his demand for a republic a fortnight later, the speech was printed and sent to the Jacobin branch societies throughout France.[13]
On the night of 10 August 1792 (duringthe attack on the Tuileries Palace) he met with Danton, Desmoulins, and other members of the Insurrectionary Commune during the critical hours before the overthrow of the monarchy. Later that day, he was elected one of thedeputy-commissioners of thesections who shortly afterwards became the general council of theParis Commune. He was accused of having been an accomplice in theSeptember Massacres in theAbbaye prison.[13]
Elected, likeMaximilien Robespierre,Georges Danton, and Collot d'Herbois, a deputy of Paris to theNational Convention, he spoke in favour of the immediate abolition of the Bourbon monarchy, and the next day demanded that all acts be dated from theYear I of theFrench Republic (a measure adopted a little over a year later in the form of theFrench Revolutionary Calendar).[13]
At the trial of Louis XVI he added new charges to the accusation, proposed to refuse counsel to the king, and voted for death "within 24 hours". On 2 June 1793, in the context ofJean-Paul Marat's anti-Girondist instigations, he proposed a decree of accusation against the Girondists; a week later, at the Jacobin Club, he outlined a programme which the convention was to fulfil soon after: the expulsion of foreigners, the establishment of atax on the rich, the deprivation of the rights of citizenship of all "anti-social" men, the creation of aFrench Revolutionary Army, the monitoring of all officers andci-devantnobles (i.e.: those of aristocratic families who no longer held status after theabolition of feudalism), and thedeath penalty for unsuccessful generals fighting in theFrench Revolutionary Wars.[13]
On 15 July he made a violent speech in the Convention in accusation of the Girondists. Sent in August asrepresentative on mission to thedépartements of theNord and ofPas-de-Calais, he showed himself inexorable to all suspects.[13]
On his return, the calamities of the summer of 1793 caused the Paris Commune to begin to organize an insurrection – an insurrection that would lead to Billaud-Varenne's ascension to the most powerful body in all of France. When the popular uprising did come on 5 September and the Commune marched on theNational Convention, Billaud-Varenne was one of the chief speakers agitating for change in leadership. He called for a new war plan from the Ministry of War and that a new Committee be created to oversee the whole government – thus superseding the existingCommittee of Public Safety.[14] To mollify the insurrectionists, that night Billaud-Varenne was named President of the National Convention for a special two week session, followed by him being named to the Committee of Public Safety the next day.[15] Along with Collot d'Herbois, who was named the same day, his addition was seen as a way to co-opt the Paris Commune.[16] Once added to Committee of Public Safety, he then played a major role in defending it – calling for unity instead of change – on 25 October when the National Convention complained about the committee and then officially sanctioned them. He was included in theReign of Terror's Committee of Public Safety, which had decreed themass arrest of all suspects and the establishment of a revolutionary army, caused the extraordinary criminal tribunal to be named officially "Revolutionary Tribunal" (on 29 October 1793), demanded the execution ofMarie Antoinette, and then attackedJacques René Hébert and Danton. Meanwhile, he publishedLes Éléments du républicanisme, in which he demanded adivision of property among the citizens.[13]
Once named to the committee, Billaud-Varenne became a vocal defender of that body. Based in Paris during much of this year, Billaud-Varenne andBarère worked to develop the administrative apparatus and consolidate the power of the committee. To that end, in early December he proposed a radical centralization of authority, a law that became known as theLaw of 14 Frimaire. This law brought surveillance, economic requisition, the dispatch of legislative news, local administrators, and representatives on mission under the control of the committee.[17] He was also instrumental in defending the Terror: when a measure was passed into law in mid November 1793 allowing the accused the right of defense, Billaud-Varenne uttered his famous words in defense of the Terror:[18]
No, we will not step backward, our zeal will only be smothered in the tomb; either the revolution will triumph or we will all die.
The law enabling right of defense was overturned the next day.
As 1794 progressed,Robespierre began to speak out against over zealous factions: he believed both pro-Terror and indulgent positions were dangerous to the well-being of the Revolution. Robespierre saw danger in members of the Revolution, like Billaud-Varenne,Collot d'Herbois, andMarc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier who had been too committed to attacks on Church property or had been too vigorous in their pursuit of revolutionary justice (such as Collot at Lyon). The dechristianization program was seen as divisive and unnecessary by some in the convention. Furthermore, thelaw of 22 Prairial had isolated the police wing of the convention: theCommittee of General Security, a body that was extremely anti-clerical, had seen their power severely diminished by the law.[19] The law of 22 Prairial reduced the right of defense to simply an appearance before court, while greatly expanding the list of crimes punishable by death. This is what led directly to the Great Terror, in which more were killed by theRevolutionary Tribunal in Paris in those seven weeks than in the preceding fourteen months. Though Billaud-Varenne publicly defended it in the convention, this law was a driving factor in the eventual reprisal against the committee.[20] Serious arguments began to fracture the committee, with Billaud-Varenne and Collot d'Herbois pitted against Robespierre andSaint-Just. On 26 June, they argued over the imposition of a new prosecutor to the Revolutionary Tribunal. On 29 June, an argument once again broke out between members of the Committee of Public Safety. Though it could have been about theCatherine Théot affair or the law of 22 Prairial, it led to Billaud-Varenne branding Robespierre a dictator and the latter storming out of the Committee headquarters and ceasing to attend meetings.[21] With tensions being heightened and more guillotined every day – the rate of executions per day in Paris rose from five a day in Germinal to twenty-six a day in Messidor – Billaud-Varenne and Collot d'Herbois began to fear for their safety.[22]
Throughout the early days of Thermidor,Bertrand Barère attempted to forge compromise between the splintering Committee.[23] However, Robespierre was still convinced that the Convention needed further purging, and on 8 Thermidor he rose before that body to give a speech that would spark theThermidorian Reaction.[24] Speaking of "monsters" that threatened the Republic with conspiracy, his speech was pointed enough to serve as a warning while being vague enough to worry many in the body.[25] When he was asked for the names of those in the conspiracy,Robespierre declined to provide them, and he was charged with indicting members of the Convention en masse without a hearing.[25]
That night, Robespierre retreated to theJacobin Club, where he gave the same speech to rousing applause. Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varenne, as members who the speech may have been aimed at, attempted to defend themselves but were shouted down and expelled from the club as cries for "la guillotine," rained down upon them.[26] They returned to the Committee of Public Safety where they found Saint-Just, the protege of Robespierre, working on a speech he intended to deliver the next day. As one of the chief messengers of the terror, Collot and Billaud-Varenne both assumed that Saint-Just was writing their denunciation. At this moment the last argument of the Committee erupted, with Collot, Billaud-Varenne, and Barère attacking Saint-Just for "dividing the nation." After sometime, they departed the committee and organized the last elements of the Thermidorian Reaction.[27]
The next day,9 Thermidor, Billaud-Varenne would play a critical role in the final stroke against Robespierre and his allies. As Saint-Just delivered his speech, he was interrupted near the beginning by another conspirator,Jean-Lambert Tallien. Billaud-Varenne was next to speak, with Collot d'Herbois controlling the debates from the President's Chair, and in an eloquent planned denunciation directly accused Robespierre of a conspiracy against the Republic.[28] This speech and others were warmly received, and after continued debate arrest warrants were issued for Robespierre, Saint-Just, and their allies. After a brief armed standoff, the conspirators would carry the day, and Robespierre and his allies would be executed the next day.[29]
However, after 9 Thermidor, Billaud-Varenne was soon enough to find himself in prison. Too closely associated with the excesses of the Reign of Terror, he was shortly attacked himself in the convention for his ruthlessness, and a commission was appointed to examine his conduct and that of some other members of the former Committee of Public Safety.[30] Billaud-Varenne was arrested, and as a result of the Jacobin-led insurrection of 12 Germinal of the Year III (1 April 1795), the Convention decreed his immediatedeportation toFrench Guiana, along with Collot d'Herbois and Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac, where he picked up farming and took as concubine a black slave girl calledBrigitte.[31] AfterNapoleon Bonaparte's18 Brumaire coup, he refused thepardon offered by theFrench Consulate. In 1816 he left Guiana, went toNew York City for a few months, and finally moved toPort-au-Prince (Haiti),[30] where he became advisor and counsellor to the high court.
President ofHaiti,Alexandre Pétion granted him a pension which he received until his death. Regarding the colonization ofHaiti by theKingdom of France and the attempts ofLouis XVIII to regain control of the island by diplomatic means, he announced to Pétion :[32]
The biggest fault you committed, in the course of therevolution of this country, is not having sacrificed all thesettlers, down to the last one. In France we made the same mistake, by not causing the last of theBourbons to perish.
He died inPort-au-Prince in 1819. Among his last words, he declared: "My bones, at least, will rest on a land that wants Liberty; but I hear the voice of posterity accusing me of having spared the blood of the tyrants of Europe too much."[33][34]
He bequeathed all his possessions to his wife, Brigitte, and expressed it as follows in his will: "I give this surplus, whatever its value may be, to this honest girl; as much to repay her for the immense services she has rendered me for over eighteen years as to acknowledge the new and most complete proof of her unwavering attachment, by consenting to follow me wherever I go."[31]
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Anchel, Robert (1911). "Billaud-Varenne, Jacques Nicolas". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 933–934. In turn, it gives the following references:| International | |
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