Merlin de Thionville
Antoine Christophe Merlin , called Merlin de Thionville (born September 13, 1762 in Thionville , † September 14, 1833 in Paris ) was an outstanding figure in the French Revolution .
At the outbreak of the revolution, whose principles he paid homage to with enthusiasm, Merlin was Huissier de justice in his hometown and was then parliamentary advocate at Metz and in 1791 a deputy of the Moselle department in the legislative assembly, where he was on the extreme left.
He applied for the confiscation of emigrant property and the deportation of the priests who refused to oath (oath on the civil constitution of the clergy ). He played an outstanding part in the events of August 10, 1792. Elected to the national convention by the city of Paris , he joined Danton's party, was also on the extreme left and voted for the king's death.
As a representative en mission in the army of General Custine , he showed a rare bravery in Mainz when it was besieged by the Prussians in 1793 . Together with Nicolas Haussmann and Jean François Reubell , he came to Mainz in late December 1792 or early January 1793 in order to enforce the formation of revolutionary-friendly administrations (municipalities) in the cities and a general administration for the entire occupied area. Georg Forster , then editor of “Die neue Mainzer Zeitung or Der Volksfreund” reported there on the festive reception of the three commissioners. Like Custine, the Représentant en Mission moved into the archbishop's residence, the Electoral Palace , where the “ Society of Friends of Freedom and Equality ” - the first Jacobin Club in Germany - was founded on October 23, 1792 . This club was the first democratic movement in Germany. On 9th Thermidor 1794 he supported the attacks against the Maximilien de Robespierre party and was one of the ten convention commissioners when the government of terror was overthrown.
Elected President of the Convention, he now persecuted the Jacobins just as he did the Feuillants before .
He then went to the Rhine Army as an adjutant to General Jean-Charles Pichegru . He took part in the siege of Mainz and had howitzers bombarded the city during one night, less for military reasons than for pleasure.
After the besieged Luxembourg fortress capitulated on June 6, 1795, he took possession of it in the name of the republic, but showed great sparing towards the captured emigrants.
When the Constitution of Year III was introduced on August 22, 1795, he was elected to the Council of Five Hundred , and he remained a moderate party. After resigning his mandate as a member of parliament, he became general administrator of the Post. Since he voted against the lifelong consulate of Napoléon I , he had to resign and retired to an estate in Picardy . He died in Paris on September 14, 1833.
Honors
In Thionville, a statue was erected at a crossroads showing him holding a sheathed sword over him.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b G.D. Homan: Jean-François Reubell: French Revolutionary, Patriot, and Director (1747–1807) Springer Science + Business Media , 2012, ISBN 9789401030427
- ↑ Gustav Seibt : With a kind of anger: Goethe in the Revolution CH Beck, 2014 ISBN 9783406670565
- ↑ Ehrhard Bahr, Thomas P. Saine: The Internalized Revolution Routledge 2016, ISBN 9781317203438
- ^ Karl Anton Schaab : The history of the federal fortress Mainz . Mainz 1835, p. 324 ( online ).
- ^ Ludwig Uhlig: Georg Forster. Life adventure of a learned world citizen (1754–1794). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2004, p. 315, ISBN 3-525-36731-7
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Merlin de Thionville |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Merlin, Antoine Christophe |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French revolutionary |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 13, 1762 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Thionville |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 14, 1833 |
| Place of death | Paris |