173-592: The Revolutionary Tribunal ( French : Tribunal révolutionnaire ; 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 period often called the Reign of Terror . Early 1791 freedom of defence became the standard; any citizen
346-699: A (constitutional) monarchy and reintroduce the French Constitution of 1791 . The provisional government responded by taking a number of measures to defend the integrity of the Republic. Even in these circumstances, the Convention was initially reluctant to restore the Revolutionary Tribunal. On 10 March, responding to serious disorder in the streets of Paris, Georges Danton , with Robespierre's support, proposed its revival, but
519-744: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
692-625: A cafe known as the Parnasse, which is where he met Antoinette Gabrielle Charpentier , who he would marry on 14 June 1787 at the church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois . The couple lived in a six-room apartment in the heart of the Left Bank (near the Café Procope ), and had three sons: In the Spring of 1789, Danton found his revolutionary beginnings as one of the many people giving speeches to
865-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
1038-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
1211-700: A hundred decisions left the department within eight days. On 14 August, Danton invited Robespierre to join the Council of Justice, which Robespierre declined to do. Danton seems to have dined almost every day at the Rolands. On 28 August, the Assembly ordered a curfew for the next two days. At the behest of Danton, thirty commissioners from the sections were ordered to search in every suspect house for weapons, munition, swords, carriages and horses. By 2 September, between 520 and 1,000 people were taken into custody on
1384-558: A journalist and member of the convention, Danton had taken a portion of this money which was intended for the Swedish Regent. Barère's accusation was never supported by any form of evidence. The most serious accusation, which haunted him during his arrest and formed a chief ground for his execution, was his alleged involvement with a scheme to appropriate the wealth of the French East India Company . During
1557-574: A large scale. Robespierre , Pétion, Danton, and Brissot dominated the Jacobin Club. On 17 July 1791, Danton initiated a petition. Robespierre went to the Jacobin club to cancel the draft of the petition, according to Albert Mathiez . Robespierre persuaded the Jacobin clubs not to support the petition by Danton and Brissot. After the Champ de Mars massacre , a series of repressive measures against
1730-455: A master of commanding phrase. One of his fierce sayings has become a proverb. Against the Duke of Brunswick and the invaders, " il nous faut de l'audace, et encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace " – "We need daring, and yet more daring, and always daring!". According to Georges Lefebvre he was nonchalant and lazy. He is seen as an optimist, a leader full of energy, who liked
1903-705: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
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#17327653126892076-647: A post-Terror government. If Robespierre did not counter-attack quickly, the Dantonists could seize control of the National Convention and bring an end to his Republic of Virtue. The Reign of Terror was not a policy that could be easily transformed. Indeed, it would eventually continue past the Thermidorian Reaction (27 July 1794), when some members of the Convention rose against the committee, executed its leaders, and placed power in
2249-752: A provisional Executive Council of six members composed of former Girondin ministers ( Roland in the Interior, Servan in the War, Clavière in Finance, Monge in the Navy and Lebrun in Foreign Affairs). The Girondins, hostile to revolutionary Paris, needed a popular man committed to the insurgents to liaise with the insurrectional Commune and had Danton appointed to Minister of Justice the next day; he appointed Fabre and Desmoulins as his secretaries. More than
2422-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
2595-485: A result of his criticisms he was expelled from the Jacobin Club. Later he was arrested, tried and executed together with Danton. On the eve of his execution, Danton expressed his regret for having advocated the Tribunal. "It was just a year ago that I was the means of instituting the Revolutionary Tribunal; may God and man forgive me for what I did then; but it was not that it might become the scourge of humanity." After
2768-469: A role in politics. On 22 November, Danton attacked religious persecution and demanded frugality with human lives. He tried to weaken the Terror by attacking Jacques René Hébert . On 3 December, Robespierre accused Danton of feigning an illness with the intention to emigrate to Switzerland, declaring that Danton showed too often his vices and not his virtue. Robespierre was stopped in his attack. The gathering
2941-587: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and
3114-526: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only
3287-941: A second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as
3460-516: A spur to them all. He believed a stable government was needed which could resist the orders of the Comité de Salut Public. On 10 October, Danton, who had been dangerously ill for a few weeks, quit politics, and set off to Arcis-sur-Aube with his 16-year-old wife, who had pitied Queen Marie Antoinette since her trial began. On 18 November, after the arrest of François Chabot , Edme-Bonaventure Courtois urged Danton to come back to Paris to again play
3633-547: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
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#17327653126893806-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
3979-779: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French
4152-472: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
4325-489: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
4498-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including
4671-462: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share
4844-420: Is dragged down by me. Ah, better to be a poor fisherman than to meddle with the government of men!". Judge Souberbielle asked himself: "Which of the two, Robespierre or Danton, is the more useful to the Republic?" Fouquier-Tinville resorted to his customary approach, "asking" the jury if they felt adequately "enlightened," ultimately leading to a verdict of guilty. The defendants, of whom nine were députés of
5017-652: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
5190-503: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
5363-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
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5536-525: Is more positive and portrays him as a figure worthy of admiration. According to Robinet, Danton was a committed, loving, generous citizen, son, father, and husband. He remained loyal to his friends and the country of France by avoiding "personal ambition" and gave himself wholly to the cause of keeping "the government consolidated" for the Republic. He always had a love for his country and the laboring masses, who he felt deserved "dignity, consolation, and happiness". Morley (1911) wrote that Danton stands out as
5709-469: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
5882-828: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
6055-576: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
6228-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
6401-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
6574-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
6747-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
6920-505: The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition , "a certain discouragement seems to have come over his spirit". Danton remarried, and, Morley continues, "the rumour went that he was allowing domestic happiness to tempt him from the keen incessant vigilance proper to the politician in such a crisis." Ultimately, Danton himself would become a victim of the Terror. In attempting to shift the direction of
7093-764: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
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7266-462: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as
7439-539: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
7612-646: 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 . Martial Herman resigned as president on 7 April. On 9 Thermidor , when Garnier de l’Aube witnessed Robespierre's inability to respond, he shouted, "The blood of Danton chokes him!" Robespierre then finally regained his voice to reply with his one recorded statement of
7785-485: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
7958-559: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
8131-567: The Hébertists and Dantonists. While the Committee of Public Safety was concerned with strengthening the centralist policies of the convention and its own grip over that body, Danton was in the process of devising a plan that would effectively move popular sentiment among delegates towards a more moderate stance. This meant adopting values popular among the sans-culotte , notably the control of bread prices that had seen drastic increase with
8304-877: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
8477-420: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
8650-461: The Place du Carrousel , was then moved to the Place de la Revolution , and then again to the Place St Antoine and later to the Place du Trône-Renversé . As the Revolutionary Tribunal accelerated the pace of executions in Paris, it became impractical to have it in the city. The powers of the Revolutionary Tribunal were granted by the Convention, and there was only limited criticism of it. Royalists, émigrés and federalists were clearly opposed to
8823-407: The Revolutionary Tribunal legal evidence was unnecessary, moral conviction by jury was enough to speed up the proceedings. Between 1791 and 1793, Danton faced many allegations, including taking bribes during the insurrection of August 1792, helping his secretaries to line their pockets, and forging assignats during his mission to Belgium. Perhaps the most compelling evidence of financial corruption
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#17327653126898996-407: The Thermidorian Reaction , around 17,000 people were sentenced and beheaded by some form of revolutionary court in France (in Paris or in the provinces), in addition to some 25,000 others who were summarily executed in the September Massacres, retributions in the War in the Vendée and elsewhere. The Paris Revolutionary Tribunal was responsible for 16% of all death sentences. Of all those accused by
9169-520: The United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , the World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
9342-434: The War in the Vendée and the War of the Pyrenees began; the population of the Austrian Netherlands were in insurrection against the French invasion. The situation was alarming. On the evening of 9 March, a crowd gathered outside the Convention, shouting threats and calling for the removal of all "traitorous" deputies who had failed to vote for the execution of the king. On 12 March 1793, a provisional Revolutionary Tribunal
9515-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
9688-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
9861-419: The Assembly several times to "holy harmony". “It was in vain that we complained to Danton about the Girondine faction", wrote Robespierre, "he maintained that there was no faction there and that everything was the result of vanity and personal animosities". But the attacks from the Girondins concentrated on him, Marat and Robespierre—the “triumvirs”—accused of aspiring to dictatorship. Danton defends Robespierre at
10034-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
10207-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
10380-399: The Committee of Public Safety or the Committee of General Security. This followed the news that rebels in Toulon had handed the city over to the British and several days of rioting in Paris. One of the earliest cases brought to the Tribunal led to its most famous acquittal. On 13 April 1793 Girondin deputés brought an accusation against Jean-Paul Marat . Crucially, this involved waiving
10553-445: The Committee of Public Safety provoked further counter-attacks. Robespierre replied to Danton's plea for an end to the Terror on 25 December (5 Nivôse, year II). At the end of March 1794, Danton made another speech announcing the end of the Terror. Within a week, Danton faced accusations of purported royalist inclinations, leading to his trial and subsequent guillotine execution on charges of conspiracy and venality . Danton's role in
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#173276531268910726-418: The Committee of Public Safety, nearly two years after Danton had extended an invitation to him to do so. On 5 September, Danton argued for a law to give the sans-culottes a small compensation for attending the twice-weekly section meetings, and to provide a gun to every citizen. On 6 September, Danton refused to take a seat in the Comité de Salut Public, declaring that he would join no committee, but would be
10899-444: The Convention enacted the aforementioned decree, limiting the accused from further self-defense. These events were compounded by confusing and often incidental accusations, such as a report suggesting that while engaged as a commissioner in Belgium, Danton had allegedly appropriated a carriage filled with table linen worth two or three hundred thousand livres from the Archduchess of Austria . The Moniteur published an account of
11072-469: The Convention with 48 pieces of artillery. The next day the Interior minister Garat forced Danton to disavow the events from the evening before. On 1 July 1793, Danton married Louise Sébastienne Gély, aged 17, daughter of Marc-Antoine Gély, court usher (huissier-audiencier) at the Parlement of Paris and member of the Club des Cordeliers. On 10 July, he was not re-elected as a member of the Committee of Public Safety. Seventeen days later, Robespierre joined
11245-441: The Convention, were removed from the room before the verdict was delivered and, by cutting their hair, prepared for the guillotine. Danton was beheaded on 5 April 1794 at sunset, together with group of fifteen people which included Hérault de Séchelles, Westermann and Philippeaux among others. Hérault de Séchelle was first, Desmoulins died third and Danton last. It is said his last words, spoken to his executioner Sanson were "show
11418-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
11591-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
11764-439: The Girondin leaders being tried and executed in October 1793. During the months when Montané served as its President, the Tribunal dealt with 178 accused. 53% of these were set free after initial examination by a judge, without a full trial, while a further 17% were tried and acquitted by a jury. 5% were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment or deportation, and 25% were sentenced to death. From its formation up to September 1793,
11937-411: The Ministry of Justice. Roland, Minister of the Interior, scrupulously gave his accounts but Danton would not. Harassed by Brissot, he only escaped through weariness of the Convention and for months the Girondins shouted “And the accounts?" to interrupt him at the podium. Meanwhile, his influence began to decline in favor of Robespierre as the real leader of the Mountain. On 10 February 1793, while Danton
12110-439: The National Convention send Danton and Delacroix to Leuven to investigate Dumouriez and his generals. On 27 April, the Convention decreed (on the proposal of Danton) to send additional military forces to the departments in revolt. On 1 June Hanriot was ordered to fire a cannon on the Pont-Neuf as a sign of alarm. When the Convention assembled Danton rushed to the tribune: "Break up the Commission of Twelve ! You have heard
12283-473: The Revolutionary Tribunal the jury was carefully selected from politically reliable activists). It had five judges, a public prosecutor, and two deputy prosecutors, all nominated by the Convention; and from its judgements, there was no appeal. Jacques-Bernard-Marie Montané became President of the Tribunal until he was replaced in his post on 23 August 1793 by M. J. A. Herman . Fouquier-Tinville served as public prosecutor. The lists of prisoners to be sent before
12456-597: The Revolutionary Tribunal, about half were acquitted (the number dropped to a quarter after the enactment of the Law of 22 Prairial Year II) (10 June 1794). Before 22 Prairial the Revolutionary Tribunal had pronounced 1,220 death sentences in thirteen months; during the forty-nine days between the passing of the law and the coup of Thermidor, 1,376 persons were condemned (an average of 28 per day). French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
12629-542: The Supervisory Committee of the Commune on 4 September, opposing Marat by having the mandates removed, and was complicit in the escape of Adrien Duport , Talleyrand , and Charles de Lameth . On 6 September, he was elected by his section, " Théâtre Français ", to be a deputy for the convention, gathering on 22 September. Danton remained a member of the ministry, although holding both positions simultaneously
12802-417: The Terror on 25 December (5 Nivôse , year II). Danton continued to defend Fabre d'Eglantine even after the latter had been exposed and arrested. By February 1794, Danton was exasperated by Robespierre's repeated references to virtue as the foundation of the revolutionary government. Danton's continual criticism of the Committee of Public Safety provoked further counter-attacks. On 26 February 1794, Saint-Just,
12975-504: The Tribunal and its workings, but since public criticism in support of the monarchy in Paris or in the press would be regarded as treasonable, it barely existed. At the same time, there were periodic demands from Enragés and Hébertists that the Tribunal accelerate its work and condemn more of the accused. Among the first to speak up publicly against the Tribunal was Camille Desmoulins in his short-lived journal, " Le Vieux Cordelier ". As
13148-407: The Tribunal heard 260 cases and handed down 66 death penalties. As a result, it was criticized as ineffective by some Jacobins . The Law of Suspects (17 September 1793) greatly increased the number of prisoners who were imprisoned and might be brought to trial. Between October and the end of 1793 the Tribunal issued 177 death sentences. Similar tribunaux révolutionnaires were also in operation in
13321-407: The accused. The Convention, amidst what was described as one of its "worst fits of cowardice", approved Saint-Just's proposal during the trial. This proposal allowed the tribunal to exclude any prisoner displaying disrespect for justice from further proceedings, enabling the tribunal to pronounce a sentence in the absentia of the accused. President Herman struggled to control the proceedings until
13494-687: The autumn of 1793 began to assert its authority further throughout France, creating the bloodiest period of the French Revolution, during which some historians assert approximately 40,000 people were killed in France. Following the fall of the Girondins , a group known as the Indulgents would emerge from amongst the Montagnards as the legislative right within the convention, with Danton as their most vocal leader. Having long supported
13667-663: The basis for rhetorical attacks on William Pitt the Younger who he believed was involved. The directors of the French East India Company were never interrogated at all. Some scholars have supported this view, pointing to links between the Pitt government and the Baron de Batz , who developed plans to use economic warfare to create discord among leaders of the Revolution. Danton and his associates were buried in
13840-427: The beginning of December 1791 on whether to go to war with neighboring powers opposing the Revolution, triggered conflict between Jacobins and led to the birth of the opposition between Montagnards and Girondins . Danton hesitated on the need for war. He leaned more towards Robespierre than the pro-war Brissot , but, overall, limited his participation in the dispute. On 9 August 1792, Danton returned from Arcis. In
14013-583: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Georges Danton Georges Jacques Danton ( French: [ʒɔʁʒ dɑ̃tɔ̃] ; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a leading figure in the French Revolution . A modest and unknown lawyer on the eve of the Revolution, Danton became a famous orator of the Cordeliers Club and
14186-585: The country, particularly in the South East, as anti-Jacobin mobs attacked and murdered people who had been associated with revolutionary tribunals in their area. On 14 February 1795 for example, Joseph Fernex , who had served as a judge on the Tribunal in Orange , was killed and thrown into the Rhône by a mob. On 27 June other members of the same tribunal received the same treatment. From the beginning of 1793 to
14359-618: The coup of Thermidor in July 1794, some people expected the Revolutionary Tribunal to be abolished, but this did not happen. In the five days after the Thermidorian Reaction, the Convention freed 478 political prisoners, but 8,000 still remained incarcerated, despite popular demands for a general amnesty. On 1 August 1794 (14 Thermidor Year II) the Prairial Laws were revoked, meaning that the burden of proof against suspects
14532-400: The court itself, but the Convention would control the caseload through deputies elected to a commission de six . Cases would then be presented to the court by an accusateur public (public prosecutor) helped in his work by two deputies, and jurors would decide on the guilt or innocence of defendants. The judges would then invoke punishments in accordance with the 1791 Penal Code... Early March
14705-460: The crisis around the same time included the formal establishment of a Revolutionary Watch Committee in every neighbourhood and the creation of the Committee of Public Safety on 6 April 1793. The court was to hear cases of alleged counter-revolutionary offences from across France. It was composed of a jury of twelve. This was an innovation in French justice, borrowed from English law (although for
14878-578: The crowds gathered in the Palais Royal . However, his demanding voice and rhetorical skill quickly gained him fame, as well as the nickname The Thunderer. As the Cordeliers district Danton resided in grew more persistent in its revolutionary ideals, it eventually formed its own street militia that was involved in the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. Danton himself was not present for
15051-519: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
15224-509: The discussion in the Jacobin Club: Danton was accused of wanting to arrest Francois Henriot on 31 May 1793 and to become regent for Louis XVII . On the last day Fouquier-Tinville asked the tribunal to order the defendants who "confused the hearing" and insulted "National Justice" to the guillotine. "I leave it all in a frightful welter", Danton said. "Not a man of them has an idea of government. Robespierre will follow me; he
15397-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
15570-461: The electoral assembly of Paris led to his defeat. In December 1791, during the partial renewal of the municipality, there was significant abstention. This led to the defeat of LaFayette and the resignation of Bailly, which revealed the decline of the "constitutional" party which had until then dominated the Hôtel de Ville. Danton was elected second deputy procureur public of the Commune. The debate at
15743-594: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
15916-462: The end of October by declaring that "all those who talk about the Robespierre faction are, in my eyes, either prejudiced men or bad citizens", but dissociates himself from Marat by pronouncing "I don't like the individual Marat. I say frankly that I have experiences his temperament: he is volcanic, cantankerous and unsociable." The Girondins attacked Danton for his management of the secret funds of
16089-472: The end of the Reign of Terror, Danton was accused of various financial misdeeds, as well as using his position within the Revolution for personal gain. Many of his contemporaries commented on Danton's financial success during the Revolution, certain acquisitions of money that he could not adequately explain. Many of the specific accusations directed against him were based on insubstantial or ambiguous evidence. For
16262-537: The enemies of our country." He continued after the applause: "To conquer them we must dare, dare again, always dare, and France is saved!". His speech acted as a call for direct action among the citizens, as well as a strike against the external enemy. Many believe this speech was responsible for inciting the September Massacres . It is estimated that around 1,100–1,600 people were murdered. Madame Roland held Danton responsible for their deaths. Danton
16435-616: The evening before the storming of the Tuileries , he was visited by Desmoulins, his wife, and Fréron. After dinner, he went to the Cordeliers and preferred to go to bed early. It seems he went to the Maison-Commune after midnight. Faced with the insurrectionary Commune which relied on the insurgent sections and which held Paris, the Legislative Assembly had no choice but to suspend Louis XVI and replace him with
16608-571: The event, however, he soon after led the Cordeliers militia, as well as other revolutionaries, on a mission to retake the Bastille from its provisional governor, which gained him more popular support from the revolutionaries. He and his district opposed the Marquis de LaFayette , the commander of the National Guard , as well as Jean Sylvain Bailly , the provisional mayor. In early October, he
16781-413: The famine that was being experienced throughout France. Danton also proposed that the Convention begin taking actions towards peace with foreign powers, as the committee had declared war on the majority of European powers, such as Britain, Spain, and Portugal. Danton made a triumphant speech announcing the end of the Terror. As Robespierre listened, he was convinced that Danton was pushing for leadership in
16954-516: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
17127-488: The first president of the Committee of Public Safety . During the Insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793 , Danton changed his mind on the use of force and lost his seat in the committee afterwards, which solidified the rivalry between him and Maximilien Robespierre . In early October 1793, Danton left politics but was urged to return to Paris to plead, as a moderate , for an end to the Terror. His continual criticism of
17300-399: The flimsiest of warrants. The exact number of those arrested will never be known. On Sunday 2 September, at about 13:00, Danton, as a member of the provisional government, delivered a speech in the assembly: "We ask that anyone refusing to give personal service or to furnish arms shall be punished with death". "The tocsin we are about to ring is not an alarm signal; it sounds the charge on
17473-504: The following day, guillotined. After most of those associated with the previous radical government had been eliminated, the Revolutionary Tribunal was finally discontinued on 31 May 1795 (12 Prairial Year III). While the Convention itself had most people associated with the Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris executed, no similar official process was followed in the provinces. In 1795, the First White Terror broke out in parts of
17646-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
17819-513: The former minister of war, but also Marat and Robespierre. Dumouriez had long been unable to agree with the course of the Convention. He was disenchanted with the radicalisation of the revolution and its politics and put an end to the annexation efforts. The Revolutionary Tribunal was re-established at a time of crisis in the new French Republic . The War of the First Coalition was going badly. An unsatisfied Dumouriez wanted to restore
17992-534: The foundation of a Revolutionary Tribunal . He proposed the release of all imprisoned debtors as conscripts in the army. On 6 April, the Committee of Public Safety , which was then composed of only nine members, was installed on the proposal of Maximin Isnard , who was supported by Georges Danton. Danton was appointed a member of the committee. He and other members of the committee, despite its primary charge of defeating invasion and internal rebellions, were advocates of
18165-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
18338-436: The government controlling the process. By December, a Dantonist party had been formed in support of Danton's more moderate views and his insistence on clemency for those who had violated the Committee for Public Safety's increasingly arbitrary and Draconian "counter-revolutionary" measures. On 25 December (5 Nivôse , year II) Robespierre replied to Danton's plea for an end to the Terror. The French National Convention during
18511-530: The hands of new men with a new policy – to dissolve Jacobinism (White Terror). However, in Germinal – that is, in March 1794 – the anti-Terror sentiment had not yet reached critical mass. The committees were still too strong to be overthrown, and Danton, heedless, instead of striking with vigor in the convention, waited to be struck. "In these latter days", wrote Morley in
18684-463: The heads of popular societies forced him to take refuge in London for a few weeks. Since Jean-Paul Marat, Danton, and Robespierre were no longer delegates of the Assembly, politics often took place outside the meeting hall. After the amnesty voted in the Assembly on 13 September 1791, Danton returned to Paris. He sought election to the new Legislative Assembly , but the opposition of the moderates in
18857-486: The immunity enjoyed until then by members of the Convention (Marat was himself a deputé). Not only did the case against Marat collapse, but two days after his case was brought, members of the Paris Commune responded by bringing a case to the Tribunal against 22 leading Girondins. This case was dismissed, but the principle that Convention members could be tried by the Tribunal was an important one, and ultimately led to
19030-460: The journalist Camille Desmoulins launched a new journal, Le Vieux Cordelier , attacking François Chabot and defending Danton in the first issue. In the second, Desmoulins attacked the use of terror as a governing tactic, comparing Robespierre with Julius Caesar and, in the following issue, arguing that the Revolution should return to its original ideas which were in vogue around 10 August 1792. Robespierre replied to Danton's plea for an end to
19203-454: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
19376-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
19549-612: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
19722-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
19895-455: The law cancelled all previous legislation on the same subject. Without being explicit, this removed the immunity of members of the Convention which up till then had protected them from summary arrest and required that the Convention itself vote to send any of its members to trial. Three days after the Prairial laws were passed, the guillotine was moved out of Paris. It had previously stood on
20068-428: The law required twelve jurors but only seven were present. Both Delacroix and Danton requested the right to present about 15 witnesses in their defense, but President Herman denied their request. During the Convention, Louis Legendre , who was also one of the witnesses, proposed hearing from Danton within the assembly, but Robespierre replied, "It would be violating the laws of impartiality to grant to Danton what
20241-416: The majority of deputés were not in favour. After a long debate, towards midnight, Danton was able to persuade a majority to vote for it only by raising the spectre of further uncontrolled massacres, as had taken place the previous September. If the Convention did not agree to create the Tribunal, he argued, the people would be compelled to make their own justice. "Let us be terrible," said Danton, "so that
20414-411: The moderation necessary to minimize popular resistance to military requisitions. Due to military reversals in 1793, many – especially among the sans-culottes – criticized its conduct, and subsequent committee membership included more radical thinkers who pressed for more extreme measures to ensure victory over enemies of the Revolution internal and external. On 20 March 1793
20587-409: The morning, a demand to know why he was now being blamed for the other man's death: "Is it Danton you regret? ... Cowards! Why didn't you defend him?" Danton's influence and character during the French Revolution were, and still are, widely disputed among many historians, with the varied perspectives on him ranging from corrupt and violent to generous and patriotic. Danton did not leave very much in
20760-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
20933-652: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;
21106-615: The onset of the Revolution has been disputed, especially during the French Third Republic ; many historians describe him as "the chief force in the overthrow of the French monarchy and the establishment of the First French Republic ". Danton was born in Arcis-sur-Aube ( Champagne in northeastern France) to Jacques Danton, a respectable, but not wealthy lawyer, and Madeleine Camus. As a baby, he
21279-534: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
21452-408: The people my head. It is well worth seeing." Fabre d'Églantine , Delaunay , Junius Frey , Chabot , Bazire were involved in the scandal around the French East India Company . Robespierre was sharply critical of Amar 's report, which presented the scandal as purely a matter of fraud. Robespierre insisted that it was a foreign plot, demanded that the report be re-written, and used the scandal as
21625-725: The people will not have to be." On this basis, the Convention finally agreed that there should be established in Paris the Extraordinary Criminal Tribunal ( Tribunal criminel extraordinaire ), which received the official name of the Revolutionary Tribunal by a decree of 29 October 1793. Robespierre became one members of the Committee of General Defence to coordinate the war effort. Danton, Charles-Francois Delacroix , Beurnonville and several other deputies were sent to Belgium to question and arrest Dumouriez. Other measures taken in response to
21798-443: The political leaders who had taken an active part in what was eventually called the Reign of Terror. On 16 December 1794 (26 Frimaire Year III) Jean-Baptiste Carrier was sentenced to death and executed. On 6 May 1795 (17 Floreal Year III), the former President of the Revolutionary Tribunal, Martial Herman , the former Chief Prosecutor Fouquier-Tinville and fourteen former jury members of the Revolutionary Tribunal were convicted, and
21971-471: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
22144-453: The president of the Convention, delivered a speech in which he directed the assault against Danton. At the end of March 1794, Danton made a triumphant speech announcing the end of the Terror. Some government members were convinced that Danton was pushing for leadership in a post-Terror government. For several months, Robespierre had resisted arresting Danton. According to Linton, Robespierre had to choose between friendship and virtue. His aim
22317-484: The profits from this insider trading led to the blackmailing of the directors of the company to turn over half a million livres to known associates of Danton. While there was no hard evidence that Danton was involved, he was vigorously denounced by François Chabot , and implicated by the fact that Fabre d’Eglantine , a Dantonist, was implicated in the scandal. After Chabot was arrested on 17 November, Courtois urged Danton to return to Paris immediately. In December 1793,
22490-490: The progressive acts of the Committee of Public Safety , Danton would begin to propose that the Committee retract legislation instituting terror as "the order of the day." On 26 February 1794, Saint-Just delivered a speech before the Convention in which he directed the assault against Danton, claiming that the Dantonists wanted to slow down the Terror and the Revolution. It seems Danton became exasperated by Robespierre's repeated references to virtue. On 6 March, Barère attacked
22663-487: The reign of the Old Regime, the original French East India Company went bankrupt. It was later revived in 1785, backed by royal patronage. The Company eventually fell under the notice of the National Convention for profiteering during the war. The company was soon liquidated while certain members of the Convention tried to push through a decree that would cause the share prices to rise before the liquidation. Discovery of
22836-471: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
23009-560: The revolution by collaborating with Camille Desmoulins on the production of Le Vieux Cordelier – a newspaper that called for the end of the official Terror and Dechristianization, as well as for launching new peace overtures to France's enemies – Danton had placed himself in a precarious position. Those most closely associated with the Committee of Public Safety, among them key figures such as Maximilien Robespierre and Georges Couthon , would eventually indict Danton for counter-revolutionary activities. Toward
23182-493: The scandal involving the French East India Company conveniently paved the way for Danton's downfall. Danton, Desmoulins, and several others faced trial from 3–5 April before the Revolutionary Tribunal , presided over by Martial Herman . Described as more politically charged than criminally focused, the trial proceeded in an irregular manner. The tribunal constituted a jury of five judges, including Souberbielle, and François Topino-Lebrun (who both hesitated to condemn Danton);
23355-484: The sections and educate the members in democratic principles; an idea promoted by Jean-Jacques Rousseau . The provisional Revolutionary Tribunal was established on 17 August 1792 in response to the Storming of the Tuileries , to ensure that there was some appropriate legal process for dealing with suspects accused of political crimes and treason, rather than arbitrary killing by local committees. The provisional Tribunal
23528-424: The so-called " Prairial Laws " were passed. These limited trials in the Revolutionary Tribunal to three days. They also prevented the Revolutionary Tribunal from calling witnesses, or from allowing defense counsel. Juries were to convict or acquit entirely on the basis of the accusation and the accused's own defense. Further, the new laws confined the Tribunal to only two possible verdicts – acquittal or death. Finally,
23701-432: The thunder of the cannon. Girondins protested against the closing of the city gates, against the tocsin and alarm-gun without the approval of the convention; Vergniaud suggested arresting Henriot. That night Paris changed into a military camp according to Otto Flake . On 2 June according to Louis Madelin and Mignet a large force of armed citizens, some estimated 80,000 or 100,000, but Danton spoke of only 30,000, surrounded
23874-414: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
24047-454: The trial, Delacroix and Danton's disruptive behavior unsettled Fouquier-Tinville . Danton vigorously criticized the Committee of Public Safety , causing concern among the jury that he might win favor with the crowd. Following Robespierre's advice, a decree was accepted to present Saint-Just's account on Danton's alleged royalist tendencies at the tribunal, effectively ending further debates and restraining any further insults to justice by
24220-415: The tribunal were prepared by a popular commission and signed, after revision, by the Committee of General Security and the Committee of Public Safety jointly. On 5 September 1793, the Convention split the Revolutionary Tribunal into four concurrent chambers so that the number of cases it dealt with could be greatly increased. It also decided that all jurors in the Tribunal should be directly appointed by
24393-410: The tribunals in the provinces closed and all the trials held in Paris. The provincial tribunals which were allowed to continue their work were Bordeaux, Arras, and Nîmes in the south, as well as Arras and Cambrai in the north. Following the attempted assassinations of Convention members Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois on 23 May and Maximilien Robespierre on 25 May 1794, on 10 June (22 Prairial Year II)
24566-507: The two committees reached a decision to apprehend Danton, Desmoulins, Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles , and Pierre Philippeaux . The trial began on 2 April, accusing them of conspiracy with count Mirabeau , Marquis de Lafayette , the Duke of Orléans and Dumouriez . In Robespierre's eyes, the Dantonists had ceased to be true patriots prioritizing personal and foreign interests over the nation's welfare. The accusations of theft, corruption, and
24739-679: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
24912-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
25085-485: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
25258-445: The various French departments. However, on 16 April 1794 (27 Germinal Year II) the Convention approved a report by Saint-Just proposing the abolition of the existing revolutionary tribunals in individual départements and requiring all suspects to be sent to the main tribunal in Paris, due to reports of corruption in the provincial tribunals. On 21 May 1794 the government decided that the judicial system would be centralized, with almost all
25431-428: The way of written works, personal or political; therefore most information about his actions and personality has been derived from secondhand sources. One view of Danton, presented by historians like Thiers and Mignet , suggested he was "a gigantic revolutionary" with extravagant passions, a high level of intelligence, and an eagerness for violence in the pursuit of his goals. Another portrait of Danton emerges from
25604-411: The work of Lamartine , who called Danton a man "devoid of honor, principles, and morality" who found only excitement and a chance for distinction during the French Revolution. He was a mere "statesman of materialism" who was bought anew every day. Any revolutionary moments were staged for the prospect of glory and more wealth. A differing perspective on Danton is presented by Robinet , whose assessment
25777-536: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
25950-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
26123-499: Was a letter from Mirabeau to Danton in March 1791 that casually referred to 30,000 livres that Danton had received in payment. During his tenure on the Committee of Public Safety, Danton organized a peace treaty agreement with Sweden. Although the Swedish government never ratified the treaty, on 28 June 1793, the convention voted to pay 4 million livres to the Swedish Regent for diplomatic negotiations. According to Bertrand Barère ,
26296-474: Was abolished in November 1792 at the start of the trial of Louis XVI , and during this time had sentenced twenty-eight people to death. Mostly these were ordinary criminals rather than political prisoners. It incorporated elements from the reformed criminal justice system of 1791 as well as features with a more 'extraordinary' or 'revolutionary' potential. A bench of five judges would be responsible for running
26469-483: Was allowed to defend another. From the beginning, the authorities were concerned about this experiment. Derasse suggests it was a "collective suicide" by the lawyers in the Assembly. In criminal cases, the expansion of the right ... gave priority to the spoken word. By December 1791 deputies voted themselves the power to select the judges, jury and accusateur public . On 15 February 1792 the Tribunal Criminel
26642-417: Was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French
26815-404: Was also accused by the French historians Adolphe Thiers , Alphonse de Lamartine , Jules Michelet , Louis Blanc and Edgar Quinet . However, according to Albert Soboul , there is no proof that the massacres were organized by Danton or by anyone else, though it is certain that he did nothing to stop them. He did intervene, however, in protecting Roland and Brissot from an arrest warrant from
26988-521: Was attacked by a bull and a few years later, came down with a bout of smallpox which resulted in the disfigurement and scarring of his face. He initially attended the school in Sézanne , but at the age of thirteen he left his parents' home to enter the seminary in Troyes before making a transitition to a boarding school in the same area. While attending school, his classmate and friend Jules-François Paré
27161-426: Was closed after thunderous applause for Danton. Danton maintained that he had absolutely no intention of breaking the revolutionary impulse. On 9 December, Danton became embroiled in a scandal concerning the bankruptcy proceedings of the French East India Company , when it was discovered that directors of the company had bribed certain government officials to allow the company to liquidate its own assets, rather than
27334-480: Was divided up into 48 sections and allowed to gather separately. Danton was removed from office by a redistricting of Paris, for which he was compensated. On 27 April 1790, he became president of the Club de Cordeliers . On 2 August, Bailly became Paris' first elected mayor; Danton had 49 votes, Marat and Louis XVI only one each. In spring 1791, Danton suddenly began investing in property, in or near his birthplace, on
27507-819: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
27680-664: Was elected president of his section (around the Cordeliers Convent ) and deputy to the Commune and wrote the poster for the Cordeliers which called Parisians to arms. His house in the Rue des Cordeliers was open to many people from the neighborhood. Danton, Desmoulins , and Marat , who lived around the corner, all used the nearby Cafe Procope as a meeting place. Danton protected Marat from legal proceedings, and in March 1790, LaFayette ordered Danton detained. Paris Commune
27853-535: Was established; three days later the Convention appointed Fouquier-Tinville as the " accusateur public " and Fleuriot-Lescot as his assistant. On 11 March, Dumouriez addressed the Brussels assembly, apologising for the actions of the French commissioners and soldiers. On 12 March Dumouriez criticised the interference of officials of the War Ministry which employed many Jacobins. He attacked not only Pache ,
28026-463: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
28199-487: Was illegal. Danton, Robespierre, and Marat were accused of forming a triumvirate . On 26 September, Danton was forced to give up his position in the government; he stepped down on 9 October. At the new National Convention on 4 October 1792, Danton proposed to declare that the fatherland was no longer in danger, asking only to renounce extreme measures. He measured the risks posed to the Revolution by fratricidal quarrels between Republicans. He preached conciliation and calls
28372-408: Was installed with Maximilien Robespierre as accusateur . On 10 April Robespierre decided to give up his position and became an ordinary citizen who published a magazine. Along with other Jacobins, he urged in the fifth issue of his magazine the creation of an " armée révolutionnaire " in Paris, consisting of at least 20 or 23,000 men, to defend the city, "liberty" (the revolution), maintain order in
28545-596: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
28718-411: Was on a mission in Belgium , his wife died while giving birth to their fourth child, who also died. Robespierre sent Danton a message. Danton was so affected by their deaths that he recruited the sculptor Claude André Deseine and, a week after Charpentier's death, brought him to Sainte-Catherine cemetery to exhume her body and execute a plaster bust of her appearance. On 10 March, Danton supported
28891-413: Was once again with the prosecution. Soon afterwards, all of the judges on the Revolutionary Tribunal were replaced, and the local surveillance committees were curtailed, so that there were henceforth to be only twelve in Paris and one per district outside the capital. The Law on Suspects however remained in force. The Revolutionary Tribunal was used by the Thermidorian Convention as an instrument to destroy
29064-425: Was raised to governmental responsibilities as the French Minister of Justice following the fall of the monarchy on the tenth of August 1792 , and was allegedly responsible for inciting the September Massacres . He was tasked by the National Convention to intervene in the military conquest of Belgium led by General Dumouriez , and in the spring of 1793 supported the foundation of a Revolutionary Tribunal , becoming
29237-401: Was refused to others, who had an equal right to make the same demand." This answer silenced at once all solicitations in his favor. No friend of the Dantonists dared speak up, in case he too should be accused of putting friendship before virtue. The death of Hébert had rendered Robespierre master of the Paris Commune; the death of Danton would make him master of the convention as well. During
29410-411: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
29583-437: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
29756-436: Was to have his hands rapped as punishment, but Danton defended his friend and spoke out against corporal punishment in class. Danton spoke so persuasively that the head of the school decided to ban the practice. In 1780, he settled in Paris, where he became a clerk under the Barrister Maître Vinot. In 1783, he passed the Barrister examination in Reims, and in 1787 he became a member of the Conseil du Roi . He began to frequent
29929-437: Was to sow enough doubt in the minds of the deputies regarding Danton's political integrity to make it possible to proceed against him. Robespierre refused to see Desmoulins and rejected a private appeal. Then Robespierre broke with Danton, who had angered many other members of the Committee of Public Safety with his more moderate views on the Terror, but whom Robespierre had, until this point, persisted in defending. On 30 March,
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