My Story

A lawyer like Robespierre, I rose to prominence after the fall of the Bastille in 1789. I quickly acquired both position and popularity because of my confident public-speaking. By 1790 I was a leading figure in the newly-formed Cordeliers Club; I also had a strong public following and worked alongside the likes of Marat and Camille Desmoulins. Despite my apparent popularity I also relied upon bribes to sustain my extravagant lifestyle - and most of these bribes came from the Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XVI. Perhaps because of this I showed no support for republicanism in 1791-2, calling for Louis' abdication after the flight to Varennes but suggesting that the throne could pass to the king's young son. I was also opposed to war, backing Robespierre's opposition to it, however once the war began I put much energy into recruiting troops and forming a military response.

Elected to the National Convention, I sat in the high benches of the Montagnards and was soon elected as first chairman of the Committee of Public Safety. This honour came largely because I had demonstrated obvious skill in managing the war effort. I voted for the execution of the king, gave tacit support to the massacres in Paris in 1792 and, in time, sought the suppression and removal of the Girondinists from the National Convention. If viewed at the end of 1792, I looked every bit the devout Jacobin, however my position changed in the course of the following year: I began to think that ending the war would be better policy, while I thought the Reign of Terror to be rather counter-productive. my popularity and oratory were my strengths, and could be powerful weapons inside the chamber of the National Convention. my colleagues on the Committee of Public Safety, particularly Robespierre, began to view me as a threat to the CPS's executive power. Documents appeared alleging me to be part of a royalist plot and in receipt of bribes and gratuities .