Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoît Desmoulins (; 2 March 17605 April 1794) was a
French journalist, politician and a prominent figure of the
French Revolution. He is best known for playing an instrumental role in the events that led to the
Storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille ( ), which occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, was an act of political violence by revolutionary insurgents who attempted to storm and seize control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison k ...
. Desmoulins was also noted for his radical criticism of the
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...
as the editor of the journal ''
Le Vieux Cordelier
''Le Vieux Cordelier'' () was a French journal published by Camille Desmoulins between 5 December 1793 and 3 February 1794 at the instigation of Georges Danton and warned not to exaggerate the revolution. Desmoulins argued that the French Revoluti ...
''. He was a schoolmate and close friend of
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre ferv ...
and a close friend and political ally of
Georges Danton
Georges Jacques Danton (; ; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a 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 Club and was raised to gove ...
, who were the leading figures in the French Revolution.
A lawyer by training, Desmoulins was enthralled by the Revolution from its outbreak. On 12 July 1789, shortly after
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
dismissed his popular finance minister
Jacques Necker
Jacques Necker (; 30 September 1732 – 9 April 1804) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan banker and statesman who served as List of Finance Ministers of France, finance minister for Louis XVI of France, Louis XVI. He was a reformer, but his innov ...
, Desmoulins delivered an impassioned call to arms to a crowd before the
Palais-Royal
The Palais-Royal () is a former French royal palace located on Rue Saint-Honoré in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre Palace, Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Ca ...
. His agitation sparked widespread unrest in Paris, which culminated in the Storming of the Bastille two days later. Through his newfound fame, Desmoulins quickly established himself as a prominent radical pamphleteer. He advocated explicitly in favour of
republicanism
Republicanism is a political ideology that encompasses a range of ideas from civic virtue, political participation, harms of corruption, positives of mixed constitution, rule of law, and others. Historically, it emphasizes the idea of self ...
and revolutionary violence, and mounted relentless attacks on not only the
Ancien Régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for " ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
{{disambig ...
, but also once-sympathetic revolutionary figures such as
Jacques Pierre Brissot
Jacques Pierre Brissot (, 15 January 1754 – 31 October 1793), also known as Brissot de Warville, was a French journalist, abolitionist, and revolutionary leading the political faction, faction of Girondins (initially called Brissotins) at the ...
. His campaigns ultimately contributed to the fall of the
Girondist
The Girondins (, ), also called Girondists, were a political group during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnards, they initiall ...
faction and the beginning of the
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...
.
During the Terror, Desmoulins and his close friend and political ally
Georges Danton
Georges Jacques Danton (; ; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a 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 Club and was raised to gove ...
distanced themselves from
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre ferv ...
's radical
Montagnards. Through his new journal ''Le Vieux Cordelier'', he criticized the excesses of the Revolutionary Government and made pleas for clemency, which enraged Robespierre and eventually led to his downfall. In April 1794, Desmoulins was sentenced to death by the
Revolutionary Tribunal
The Revolutionary Tribunal (; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. In October 1793, it became one of the most powerful engines of ...
and guillotined alongside Danton and other accused Dantonists.
Early life
Desmoulins was born at
Guise, in the province of
Picardy
Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...
, northern France. His father, Jean Benoît Nicolas Desmoulins, was a lieutenant-general of the
bailliage of Guise. His mother was Marie-Madeleine Godart, from
Wiège-Faty
Wiège-Faty is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
The castle from the 15th century was acquired, during the siege of Guise, from René de Bar by John II, Count of Ligny, supporter of the Burgundians, wh ...
.
Through the efforts of a friend, his father obtained a scholarship for the fourteen-year-old Camille to enter the
Collège Louis-le-Grand in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. Desmoulins proved an exceptional student even among such notable contemporaries as
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre ferv ...
and
Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron
Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron (; 17 August 1754 – 15 July 1802) was a French politician, journalist, representative to the National Assembly, and a representative on mission during the French Revolution.
Background
The son of Elie-Catherine ...
. He excelled in the study of Classical Literature and Politics, and gained a particular affinity for
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
,
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...
and
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...
.
Desmoulins initially pursued a career in law, and succeeded in gaining acceptance as an advocate in the
Parlement of Paris
The ''Parlement'' of Paris () was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. Parlements were judicial, rather than legislative, bodies and were composed of magistrates. Though not representative bodies in the p ...
in 1785; however, his
stammer[ and lack of connections to the Parisian legal community proved obstacles to success in this arena. Thus stymied, he turned towards writing as an alternative outlet for his talents; his interest in public affairs led him to a career as a political journalist.
In March 1789, Desmoulins senior was nominated as deputy to the Estates-General from the bailliage of Guise; however, due to illness, he failed to take his seat. Camille Desmoulins, himself limited to the role of spectator at the procession of the Estates-General on 5 May 1789, wrote a response to the event: ''Ode aux Etats Generaux.'' The Comte de Mirabeau, a powerful political figure within the Estates-General who positioned himself as a bridge between the aristocracy and the emerging reformist movement, briefly enlisted Desmoulins to write for his newspaper at this time, strengthening Desmoulins' reputation as a journalist .][Hartcup, 238.]
Outbreak of the Revolution
Owing to his difficulties in establishing a career as a lawyer, Desmoulins' position in Paris was a precarious one and he often lived in poverty. However, he was greatly inspired and enthused by the current of political reform that surrounded the summoning of the Estates-General.
In letters to his father at the time, he rhapsodized over the procession of deputies entering the Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
, and criticized the events surrounding the closing of the Salle des Menus Plaisirs to the deputies who had declared themselves the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
—events which led to the famous swearing of the Tennis Court Oath
The Tennis Court Oath (, ) was taken on 20 June 1789 by the members of the French Estates General (France), Third Estate in a real tennis court on the initiative of Jean Joseph Mounier. Their vow "not to separate and to reassemble wherever nece ...
.
The sudden dismissal of popular finance minister Jacques Necker
Jacques Necker (; 30 September 1732 – 9 April 1804) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan banker and statesman who served as List of Finance Ministers of France, finance minister for Louis XVI of France, Louis XVI. He was a reformer, but his innov ...
by King
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
on 11 July 1789 provided the spark that lit the fuse of Desmoulins' fame. On Sunday 12 July, spurred by the news of this politically unsettling dismissal, Desmoulins leapt onto a table outside the Cafe de Foy (one of many cafés in the garden of the Palais Royal frequented in large part by political dissidents) and delivered an impassioned call to arms. Shedding his customary stammer in the excitement, he urged the crowd to "take up arms and adopt cockades by which we may know each other", calling Necker's dismissal the tocsin
A Tocsin is an alarm or other signal sounded by a bell or bells. It may refer to:
Cold War
*TOCSIN, the codeword attached by the Royal Observer Corps to any reading on the Bomb Power Indicator after a nuclear strike on the United Kingdom during t ...
of the St. Bartholomew of the patriots. The stationing of a large number of troops in Paris, many foreign, had led Desmoulins and other revolutionaries to believe that a massacre of dissidents in the city was indeed imminent. This was an idea that his audience also found plausible and threatening, and they were quick to join Desmoulins and take up arms in riots that rapidly spread throughout Paris.
The "cockade
A cockade is a knot of ribbons, or other circular- or oval-shaped symbol of distinctive colours which is usually worn on a hat or cap. The word cockade derives from the French ''cocarde'', from Old French ''coquarde'', feminine of ''coquard'' (va ...
s" worn by the crowd were initially green, a color associated with hope, and made at first from the leaves of the trees that lined the Palais Royal.[ However, the color green was also associated with the Comte d'Artois, the reactionary and conservative brother of the King, and the cockades, therefore, were quickly replaced by others in the traditional colors of Paris: red and blue. On 14 July, the people of Paris attacked the ]Hôtel des Invalides
The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old soldi ...
to seize arms, with Desmoulins among them arming himself with a bayonet
A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...
rifle and two pistols, and embarked upon the Storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille ( ), which occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, was an act of political violence by revolutionary insurgents who attempted to storm and seize control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison k ...
.[
]
Journalism
In June 1789, Desmoulins had written a radical pamphlet entitled ''La France Libre'', which Parisian publishers at the time had refused to print.[ The rioting surrounding the ]storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille ( ), which occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, was an act of political violence by revolutionary insurgents who attempted to storm and seize control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison k ...
, however, and especially Desmoulins' personal and publicized involvement in it, altered the situation considerably. On 18 July, Desmoulins's work was finally issued. The politics of the pamphlet ran considerably in advance of public opinion;[ in it, Desmoulins called explicitly for a ]republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
, stating, "... popular and democratic government is the only constitution which suits France, and all those who are worthy of the name of men." ''La France Libre'' also examined and criticized in detail the role and rights of kings, of the nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...
, and of the Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
clergy
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
.
Desmoulins' renown as a radical pamphleteer was furthered by the publication, in September 1789, of his ''Discours de la lanterne aux Parisiens,'' which featured as its epigraph a quotation from the Gospel of John
The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...
: ''Qui male agit odit lucem'' ("He who does evil hates the light") This was understood to allude to the iron bracket of a lamppost at the corner of the Place de Grève and the Rue de la Vannerie, often used by rioters as a makeshift gallows for anti-revolutionaries and those accused of profiteering. A famous Revolutionary song, ''Ça ira'' ("It shall be"), also immortalizes this lantern, in the lines, "Les aristocrates à la lanterne... Les aristocrates, on les pendra!" ("To the lantern with the aristocrats... The aristocrats, we'll hang them!")
The ''Discours de la lanterne'', written from the perspective of the Place de Grève lamppost, was aggressive in its celebration of political violence, and attributed exalted qualities of loyalty and patriotism to the citizens who made up the Parisian mob. This hard-edged fervor found an appreciative audience in Paris, and Desmoulins, as a result of the pamphlet, became known as the "''Procureur-général de la lanterne''" ("the Lanterne Prosecutor
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
" or "Lanterne Attorney").
In September 1789, Desmoulins issued the first number of a weekly publication, ''Histoire des Révolutions de France et de Brabant'',[ which would run until the end of July 1791. This publication combined political reportage, revolutionary polemics, satire, and cultural commentary; "The universe and all its follies," Desmoulins had announced, "shall be included in the jurisdiction of this hypercritical journal."][Claretie, 77] The ''Révolutions de France et de Brabant'' proved extremely popular from its first to its last number. Desmoulins became notorious, and was able to leave behind the poverty that had marked his previous life in Paris.
The politics of the ''Révolutions de France et de Brabant'' were anti-royalist and pro-Revolutionary. The newspaper celebrated the Revolutionary zeal of "patriots" from the battlefields of Brabant to the Cordeliers district in Paris, home to the well-known and powerful revolutionary Club des Cordeliers, which Desmoulins joined in February 1790[ and soon became a prominent member, and also criticized the excesses and inequities of, among a wide range of targets, the aristocratic regime. The savagery with which Desmoulins attacked those with whom he disagreed drew lawsuits, criticism, and reciprocal attacks. His previous friendships with powerful figures such as the Comte de Mirabeau and Baron Malouet, suffered. Both men, angered by what they perceived as libellous statements, declared that Desmoulins should be denounced and Malouet "went so far as to ask that Camille be certified insane." The '' Actes des Apôtres'', the equally savage royalist newspaper that served as the ''Révolutions opposite number, engaged in a continual war of insults with the ''Révolutions,'' and particularly with Desmoulins, whom it dubbed, in a satirical poem, "''l'ânon des moulins''" (the little jackass of the windmills).][Claretie, 91]
Upon the death of the Comte de Mirabeau in April 1791, Desmoulins (to whom Mirabeau had, at one time, been a great patron and friend) countered the predominantly sentimental and forgiving eulogies that appeared in the Parisian press by publishing a brutal attack in which he declared the late Mirabeau to be the "god of orators, liars, and thieves."[Claretie, 104] This presaged later about-face attacks against prominent and once-sympathetic Revolutionary figures, such as Jean Pierre Brissot, by Desmoulins.
On 16 July 1791, Desmoulins appeared before the Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
as the head of a group petitioning for the deposition of Louis XVI, who had, in June of that year, briefly fled Paris with his family before being captured and escorted back to the city. The flight of the king had caused civil unrest, and the petition, presented a day before the anniversary of the Fête de la Fédération
The (; ) was a massive holiday festival held throughout Kingdom of France, France in 1790 in honour of the French Revolution, celebrating the Revolution itself, as well as national unity.
It commemorated the revolution and events of 1789 which ...
, contributed to this agitation. On July 17, a large crowd that had gathered at the Champs de Mars in support of the petition was fired upon by military forces under the command of the Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...
, an incident which became known as the Champs de Mars Massacre. Accounts differ as to whether or not Desmoulins was present at the Champs de Mars; in the subsequent upheaval, warrants for the arrest of himself and Georges Danton were issued. Danton fled Paris, and Desmoulins, though he remained in the city, and spoke on several occasions at the Jacobin Club
The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential List of polit ...
, decreased his journalistic activities for a time.
Early in 1792, following a bitter quarrel with Jean Pierre Brissot over a legal case which Desmoulins had taken up and discussed in several broadsheets, Desmoulins published a pamphlet, ''Jean Pierre Brissot démasqué'', which attacked Brissot savagely and personally. In it, Desmoulins claimed that the invented verb ''brissoter'' had taken on the meaning "to cheat," and accused Brissot of betraying republicanism. The case constructed against Brissot in this pamphlet was expanded and used to terrible and destructive effect in Desmoulins' later publication of 1793, ''Fragment de l'histoire secrète de la Révolution'' (also known as the ''Histoire des Brissotins''), in which the Girondist
The Girondins (, ), also called Girondists, were a political group during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnards, they initiall ...
political faction, of which Brissot was a prominent member, was accused of traitorous and counter-revolutionary activities. This "history," produced in response to calls by Brissot and his followers for the dissolution of the Paris Commune and of the Jacobins, contributed to the arrest and execution of many Girondist leaders, including Brissot himself, in October 1793. Desmoulins intensely regretted his role in the death of the Girondists; present at their trial, he was heard to lament, "O my God! my God! It is I who kill them!" He was seen to collapse in the courtroom when the public prosecutor pronounced the sentence of death.[Claretie, 248]
In the summer of 1793, General Arthur Dillon, a royalist and close friend of Desmoulins and his wife, was imprisoned. In an openly published ''Lettre au General Dillon'', Desmoulins went far beyond the politically delicate act of defending Dillon, and attacked powerful members of the Committee of Public Safety
The Committee of Public Safety () was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. Supplementing the Committee of General D ...
- notably Saint-Just and Billaud-Varenne.
Beginning 5 December 1793, Desmoulins published the journal for which he would be best known and most celebrated: ''Le Vieux Cordelier
''Le Vieux Cordelier'' () was a French journal published by Camille Desmoulins between 5 December 1793 and 3 February 1794 at the instigation of Georges Danton and warned not to exaggerate the revolution. Desmoulins argued that the French Revoluti ...
''. Even the title of this short-lived publication spoke of conflict with the current regime, implying that Desmoulins spoke on behalf of the "old" or original members of the Club des Cordeliers, in opposition to the more radical and extreme factions that had now come into power. In the seven issues that comprised the ''Vieux Cordelier'', Desmoulins condemned the suspicion, brutality, and fear that had come to characterize the Revolution, comparing the ongoing Revolutionary Terror
Revolutionary terror, also referred to as revolutionary terrorism or reign of terror, refers to the institutionalized application of force to counter-revolutionaries, particularly during the French Revolution from the years 1793 to 1795 (see t ...
to the oppressive reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...
and calling for the establishment of a "Committee of Clemency" to counter the climate of mercilessness fostered by the Committee of Public Safety. In the fourth number of the journal, Desmoulins addressed Robespierre directly, writing, "My dear Robespierre... my old school friend... Remember the lessons of history and philosophy: love is stronger, more lasting than fear."[Scurr, 298] The perceived counter-revolutionary tone in these calls for clemency led to Desmoulins' expulsion from the Club des Cordeliers and denunciation at the Jacobins, as well as, ultimately, to his arrest and execution.
Political career, ''Le Vieux Cordelier'', and downfall
Desmoulins took an active part in the 10 August 1792 attack on the Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...
. Despite his belief that the turmoil had concluded, Robespierre disagreed by asserting that it marked merely the beginning. Immediately afterwards, as the Legislative Assembly (France)
The Legislative Assembly () was the legislature of the Kingdom of France from 1 October 1791 to 20 September 1792 during the years of the French Revolution. It provided the focus of political debate and revolutionary law-making between the peri ...
crumbled and various factions contended for control of the country, he was appointed Secretary-General to Georges Danton, who had assumed the role of Justice Minister
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
. On 8 September 1792 he was elected as a deputy from Paris to the new National Convention
The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...
. He was affiliated with The Mountain
The Mountain () was a political group during the French Revolution. Its members, called the Montagnards (), sat on the highest benches in the National Convention. The term, first used during a session of the Legislative Assembly, came into ge ...
, and voted for the establishment of the Republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
and the execution of Louis XVI
Louis XVI, former Bourbon King of France since the Proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy, abolition of the monarchy, was publicly executed on 21 January 1793 during the French Revolution at the ''Place de la Révolution'' in Paris. At Tr ...
. His political views were closely aligned with those of Danton and, initially, Robespierre.
In autumn 1793, as terror became "the order of the day," Desmoulins began to speak less and less at the Convention. When he did speak, he was one of the few voices calling for clemency; on 16 October 1793 he was one of the rare voices to speak up after the Convention ordered the arrest of all citizens of governments the Republic was at war with, asking for an exception for Dutch who had been prescribed by their government. Desmoulins also assisted in creating the first draft of the Civil Code and pushed for its implementation.
Desmoulins also spoke in support of a measure proposed in August 1793 that would have given spouses an equal right to administer property. In opposition to Conventionnels who argued for the "natural superiority" of the male sex, Desmoulins condemned the puissance maritale, according to which women were legal nonentities under the guardianship of their husbands, calling it "the creation of despotic governments." Later that month, Desmoulins argued in favor of no-fault divorce, denouncing a draft article enumerating limited grounds for divorce on the ground that divorce should be freely available at the request of either spouse – a measure that would not be revived in France in full until 1985.
The first number of '' Vieux Cordelier'' appeared on 5 December 1793. Although it was dedicated to Robespierre along with Danton and called them both friends, it marked the start of a rift between Desmoulins and Robespierre. Initially directed, with Robespierre's approval, against the excesses of the ultra-radical Hébertist faction, the journal rapidly expanded and intensified its criticisms of the Committee of Public Safety and the Revolutionary Tribunal. Desmoulins appealed to Robespierre to help steer these institutions in a more moderate direction. On 20 December, Robespierre had proposed the formation of a commission "to examine all detentions promptly and to free the innocent," an idea shot down by Billaud-Varenne,[McPhee, 179] and Desmoulins "seized on this and called for something more dramatic: a committee of clemency" to put an end to the Terror.[Scurr, 298]
In the ''Vieux Cordelier'', especially the third and fourth numbers, Desmoulins criticized the Terror, argued in favor of clemency for prisoners, and demanded the return of freedom of the press:Certain people apparently believe that liberty, like children, needs to go through cries and tears to get to maturity; on the contrary, it is the nature of liberty that, to enjoy it, we need only desire it. A people is free as soon as it wishes to be, it entered upon its full rights on the 14th of July. Liberty has neither old age nor infancy; she has but one age, that of strength and vigour. ..No, this liberty which I worship is not an unknown deity. We are fighting in defense of the good things which she puts into the possession of those who invoke her: these good things are the Declaration of Rights, the sweetness of Republican maxims, fraternity, holy equality, and the inviolability of principles. These are the footprints of the goddess, these are the signs by which I distinguish the nations among whom she dwells.
And by what other sign would you wish that I recognize this divine liberty? This liberty, be it but an empty name? Is it only an actress of the Opera, la Candeille or la Maillard paraded about with a red cap on, or that statue, forty-six feet high, that David proposes? If by liberty you do not mean, as I do, principles, but only a bit of stone, then never has there been an idolatry more stupid and more costly than ours.
Oh my dear fellow citizens! Shall we so far debase ourselves as to fall at the feet of such divinities? No, this Liberty descended from Heaven is not a nymph of the Opera, not a red cap, a dirty shirt, or rags and tatters. Liberty is happiness, reason, equality; she is justice, she is embodied in the Declaration of Rights, in your sublime Constitution. Would you have me acknowledge her, fall at her feet, spill my blood for her? Open the prisons of those two hundred thousand citizens whom you call “suspects,” for in the Declaration of Rights there was no prison for suspected persons, but only for felons. Suspicion has no prison, it has the public prosecutor; there are no suspected persons but those who are accused of crime by the law. Do not believe that this measure would be fatal to the Republic, it would be the most revolutionary step you have ever taken.
Desmoulins used a variety of arguments to support his proposal, including pragmatic arguments and historical analysis, making especially heavy use of parallels to Ancient Rome: "You wish to exterminate all your enemies by the guillotine! But was there ever greater folly? Can you kill one person on the scaffold without making yourselves ten more enemies amongst his family and his friends? ..
I am of a very different opinion from those who claim that it is necessary to leave Terror on the order of the day. I am confident, on the contrary, that liberty will be assured and Europe conquered so soon as you have a Committee of Clemency. This committee will complete the Revolution, for clemency is itself a Revolutionary measure, the most effective of all when it is wisely dealt out.
Let imbeciles and rascals call me moderate, if they want. I am certainly not ashamed not to be more outraged than M. Brutus; yet this is what Brutus wrote: ''You would do better, my dear Cicero, to put more effort into cutting short the civil wars than in losing your temper and pursuing your personal resentments against the vanquished."''
Desmoulins also argued fervently in favor of renewed freedom of the press, stating that "if freedom of the press existed in a country where the most absolute despotism unites all powers in a single hand, it alone would suffice to act as a counterweight." He criticized the extreme repression of freedom of the press in revolutionary France:What journalist in France would dare point out the errors of our committees, our generals, the Jacobins, the ministers, or the Commune the way the opposition does to those of the British ministry? Am I, a Frenchman, I, Camille Desmoulins, not as free as an English journalist? The very idea makes me indignant. Let no one tell me that we are in a revolution and that freedom of the press must be suspended during a revolution. Isn’t England, isn’t all of Europe, also in a state of revolution? Are the principles of freedom of the press less sacred in Paris than in London? ..Can it be that when on one side servitude and venality hold the pen, and on the other freedom and virtue, that there is the least danger that the people, the judge of this combat, could pass to the side of slavery? To even fear such a thing is to insult human reason! Can reason fear a duel with stupidity? I repeat: Only counter-revolutionaries, only traitors, only Pitt, could have an interest in prohibiting unlimited freedom of the press in France; freedom and truth can never fear the pen of servitude and lies.
In his fourth number, Desmoulins addressed Robespierre directly: "O! my dear Robespierre! O my old school friend! you whose eloquent words posterity will reread! Remember the lessons of history of philosophy: that love is stronger, more enduring than fear; that admiration and religion were born of generosity; that acts of clemency are the ladder of myth, as was said by Tertullien, by which members of the Committee of Public Safety have risen to the skies; men never climb thither on stairs of blood."
Desmoulins made strong use of pragmatic arguments, arguing that the excessive use of terror would cause the people to detest the Revolution and lead to a counter-revolutionary backlash. He backed up his arguments with a variety of sources from history and political theory, including Machiavelli's ''The Prince
''The Prince'' ( ; ) is a 16th-century political treatise written by the Italian diplomat, philosopher, and Political philosophy, political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli in the form of a realistic instruction guide for new Prince#Prince as gener ...
,'' arguing that generosity and the distribution of favors help a sovereign gain and maintain popularity while the indiscriminate use of violence leads to the sovereign becoming detested and overthrown.
Although Desmoulins harshly criticized Hébert's demands for the increased use of terror, he explicitly opposed Hébert's arrest in his fifth number. In his seventh and final number, authored in March 1794, unpublished during his lifetime, he again implicitly sided with Hébert, stating that he preferred the incessant denunciations of the Hébertists over the icy silence and bourgeois politeness of the Jacobins:I would prefer that we denounce wrongly and indiscriminately, I would even say calumniate, like Père Duchesne, but with that vigour that characterises strong spirits and a republican temper, than to see, today, this bourgeois politeness, this puerile and honest civility, these pusillanimous considerations of the monarchy, this circumspection … for the strongest, for men of credibility or position, ministers or generals, representatives of the people or influential members of the Jacobins, while we melt with heavy stiffness into patriotism in disfavor and disgrace. ..
Better would be the intemperance of the language of democracy, the pessimism of these eternal detractors of the present, whose bile pours out on everything around them, than this cold poison of fear, which freezes thought to the bottom of the soul, and prevents it from springing up at the Tribune or in writings. Better would be the misanthropy of Timon, who can find nothing beautiful in Athens, than this general terror, like mountains of ice, which, from one end of France to the other, covers the sea of opinion and obstructs its ebb and flow.
The currency of Republics are the winds that blow over the waves of the sea, with this caption: ''Tollunt sed attollunt.'' They agitate but they elevate.
Otherwise, I no longer see in the Republic anything but the flat calm of despotism and the smooth surface of the stagnant waters of a swamp; I see in it only an equality of fear, the leveling of courage, and the most generous spirits as base as the most vulgar.
Desmoulins also reiterated his opposition to the war with Austria and its allies, stating that "war will always be the resource of despotism, which by its very nature has no power but that of arms and can gain nothing except at the point of a sword." He accused Robespierre of hypocrisy for entirely reversing his views on the war, which he had originally opposed.
On 7 January 1794, the Jacobin Club sought to expel Desmoulins from its number. Robespierre, initially seeking to protect Desmoulins, suggested as an alternative that the offending issues of the ''Vieux Cordelier'' be publicly burnt. Desmoulins' response,"''Brûler n'est pas répondre''" ("Burning is not answering"), echoed the cry of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...
, the influential philosopher whose work was central to Robespierre's own vision of the Republic.[Scurr, 299] Robespierre responded to this by calling Desmoulins a "spoilt child" and saying that: "Camille, that if you weren't Camille, we wouldn't have so much indulgence for you. We treat you like a lost child, and you dare to complain. ..Well, since he wishes it, let him be covered in ignominy." Despite this, Desmoulins refused to renounce the ''Vieux Cordelier''.
Also in the seventh number, Desmoulins expressed his view that it was freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...
and the form of government, rather than virtue, that was the essential basis of a republic. In this, he again directly countered the views of Robespierre.
Meanwhile, the participation of Danton's personal secretary, Fabre d'Églantine, in a financial scam with the East India Company became exposed and he was arrested for corruption and forgery.[Scurr, 301] This scandal cast doubt on Danton and his allies, and Robespierre now supported the expulsion of Desmoulins from the Jacobin club. After the condemnation and execution of the Hébertists in March 1794, the energies of the Montagnards (especially of Saint-Just) turned to the elimination of the ''indulgent'' faction headed by Danton and voiced by Desmoulins. They were accused of corruption, royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
tendencies, and counter-revolutionary conspiracy, charges were brought before the Committee of Public Safety, and arrest warrants including for Desmoulins were finally issued on 31 March.
Trial and execution
Danton, Desmoulins, and many other actual or accused Dantonist associates were tried from April 3 through 5th before the Revolutionary Tribunal
The Revolutionary Tribunal (; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. In October 1793, it became one of the most powerful engines of ...
. The trial was less criminal in nature than political, and as such unfolded in an irregular fashion. When asked his name and age, Desmoulins responded with: "Benoît Camille Desmoulins, age of thirty-three – the age of Jesus, a critical age for patriots." The accused were prevented from defending themselves by a decree of the National Convention. This fact, together with confusing and often incidental denunciations (for instance, a report that Danton, while engaged in political work in Brussels, had appropriated a carriage filled with several hundred thousand livres of table linen)[Claretie, 313] and threats made by prosecutor Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville (Desmoulins' cousin) towards members of the jury, helped to ensure a guilty verdict. Additionally, the accused were denied the right to have witnesses appear on their behalf, though they had submitted requests for several—including, in Desmoulins' case, Robespierre. The verdict was passed in the absence of the accused, who had been removed from the courtroom to prevent unrest among the trial's observers. Their execution was scheduled for the same day.
In a letter to his wife from the Luxembourg Prison, Desmoulins wrote, is marvellous that I have walked for five years along the precipices of the Revolution without falling over them, and that I am still living; and I rest my head calmly upon the pillow of my writings... I have dreamed of a Republic such as all the world would have adored. I could never have believed that men could be so ferocious and so unjust.[Claretie, 303]
As Desmoulins was taken to the scaffold, he was informed of his wife's arrest and went mad. It took several men to get him to the tumbril. He struggled and tried to plead with the mob, ripping his shirt in the process. Lucile, together with 27 others political detainees was hastily convicted for conspiracy, sentenced to death, and executed, eight days later. Of the group of fifteen who were guillotined together on 5 April 1794, including Marie Jean Hérault de Séchelles, Philippe Fabre d'Églantine and Pierre Philippeaux, Desmoulins died third, and Danton last. Desmoulins and his guillotined 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.
Family
On 29 December 1790 Desmoulins married Lucile Duplessis, whom he had known for many years. Lucile's father long denied permission for the marriage, believing that the life of a journalist could not support any sort of family. Among the witnesses to the marriage were Robespierre, Brissot, and Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve. The wedding took place at the Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris. The Desmoulins' only child, Horace Camille, was born on 6 July 1792.
Lucile Desmoulins was arrested mere days after her husband and condemned to the guillotine on charges of conspiring to free her husband from prison and plotting the "ruin of the Republic." She was executed on 13 April 1794, the same day as the widow of Jacques Hébert
Jacques René Hébert (; 15 November 1757 – 24 March 1794) was a French journalist and leader of the French Revolution. As the founder and editor of the radical newspaper ''Le Père Duchesne'', he had thousands of followers known as ''the ...
. In a last note to her mother she wrote, "A tear falls from my eyes for you. I shall go to sleep in the calm of innocence. Lucile."
Horace Camille Desmoulins was raised by Adèle and Annette Duplessis (the sister and mother of Lucile, respectively), who successfully petitioned the in February 1795 for the suspension of the sale of his father's belongings. He married Zoë Villefranche and they had four children. He was later pension
A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...
ed by the French government, and died in 1825 in Haiti
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
.
In popular culture
Camille Desmoulins is among the central characters in the following works of fiction:
* ''A Place of Greater Safety
''A Place of Greater Safety'' is a 1992 novel by Hilary Mantel. It concerns the events of the French Revolution, focusing on the lives of Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Maximilien Robespierre from their childhood through the executio ...
'' (1992) by Hilary Mantel
Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, ''Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was releas ...
* '' The Gods Are Thirsty'' (1996) by Tanith Lee
Tanith Lee (19 September 1947 – 24 May 2015) was a British science fiction and fantasy writer. She wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories, and was the winner of multiple World Fantasy Society Derleth Awards, the World Fantasy Lifetime ...
* '' Danton'' (film; 1982) dir. Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...
* '' The Danton Case'' (play; 1929) by Stanislawa Przybyszewska
* '' La Révolution française'' (film/miniseries; 1989)
* ''A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians'' (2020) by H. G. Parry
There is also a scene in '' Jefferson in Paris'' (film; 1995) where Camille Desmoulins makes his famous call to arms in the start of the French revolution.
Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor. He has earned a César Awards, César Award and a Canadian Screen Awards, Canadian Screen Award as well as nominations for a European Film Awards, European Film Award and a Screen Ac ...
plays the part of Desmoulins.
See also
* Félix Charpentier. Sculptor of bronze statue of Camille Desmoulins in the place d'Armes in Guise
Notes
References
* Andress, David. ''The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France.'' New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004.
* Claretie, Jules. ''Camille Desmoulins and His Wife: Passages from the History of the Dantonists.'' London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1876.
* Doyle, William. ''The Oxford History of the French Revolution''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.
* Gilchrist, J.T., and Murray, W.J. ''The Press in the French Revolution: Selection of Documents taken from the Press of the Reovolution for the years 1789–1794''. Melbourne: Cheshire, 1971.
* Hartcup, John. "Camille Desmoulins", ''History Today'' 25–4 (1975), pp. 238–245.
* Hammersley, Rachel. "Camille Desmoulin’s ‘Le Vieux Cordelier’. A Link Between English and French Republicanism" ''History of European Ideas'' 27 (2001).
* Linton, Marisa, ''Choosing Terror: Virtue, Friendship and Authenticity in the French Revolution''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
* Methley, Violet. ''Camille Desmoulins: A Biography.'' New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1915.
* Schama, Simon. '' Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution''. New York: Vintage Books, 1990.
* Scurr, Ruth. ''Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution''. New York: Owl Books, 2006.
* Whaley, Leigh. "Revolutionary Networking 1789–1791," pp. 41–51 in ''Revolutionary Culture, Politics and Science''. Belfast: Queen's University, 1996.
* McPhee, Peter. ''Robespierre: A Revolutionary Life''. Yale University Press, 2012.
* This gives the following references:
** J. Claretie, ''Œuvres de Camille Desmoulins avec une étude biographique ... etc.'' (Paris, 1874), and ''Camille Desmoulins, Lucile Desmoulins, étude sur les Dantonistes'' (Paris, 1875; Eng. trans., London, 1876)
** F. A. Aulard, ''Les Orateurs de la Législative et de la Convention'' (Paris, 1905, 2nd ed.)
** G. Lenôtre, "La Maison de Camille Desmoulins" (''Le Temps'', March 25, 1899).
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desmoulins, Camille
1760 births
1794 deaths
People from Aisne
Deputies to the French National Convention
18th-century French lawyers
18th-century French journalists
Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni
Newspaper editors of the French Revolution
French people executed by guillotine during the French Revolution
Executed revolutionaries
French revolutionaries
Executed regicides of Louis XVI
French pamphleteers
Executed journalists