Robert Lindet

Robert Lindet, portrait by Jacques-Louis David , around 1795

Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet (born May 2, 1746 in Bernay ( Département Eure ), † February 14, 1825 in Paris ) was a politician during the French Revolution . His older brother was the clergyman Robert Thomas Lindet (1743-1823), who was also politically active and was often confused with Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet.

Life

Robert Lindet was born the son of a businessman. He studied law and then worked as a lawyer and prosecutor at the tax court in his hometown.

In 1789 Lindet stood up for the convening of the Estates General . He was one of the authors of the book of complaints of the Third Estate of Bernay and was appointed mayor in February 1790. From July 1790 he officiated as syndic of the district and in August 1791 the department of Eure elected him to the legislature. Robert Lindet worked there in the committee for liquidation , he called for the introduction of universal suffrage and welcomed the assault on the Tuileries on August 10, 1792 .

In September 1792 Robert Lindet was elected to the National Convention by his home department . There he worked on the Legislative Committee and approached the Montagne . He wrote the indictment against Louis XVI. , whom he accused of high treason and voted for the king's death in January 1793 . A little later, Lindet formulated the tasks of the "representatives in mission" , on March 10, 1793 he participated in the establishment of the Revolutionary Tribunal and on April 7, 1793 he was accepted into the welfare committee .

Robert Lindet tolerated the introduction of minimum wages and maximum prices to guide the economy. In June 1793 he tried in vain to mediate between the disempowered Girondists and the Montagnarden. Only after the failure of his efforts did he vote for the imprisonment of the leading Girondins. A few days later Lindet hurried to rebellious Lyon, but was unable to subdue the rebels. From July to October 1793 he successfully put down the federalist revolt in the Eure and Calvados departments , but with the sparing use of coercive measures . He returned to Paris in November 1793 to secure supplies for the armies, to organize transport and to coordinate deliveries to the armaments factories. Due to his immense diligence and his rational way of working, Lindet contributed significantly to the supply of the armies, but also the starving Parisian population.

At the beginning of March 1794 Robert Lindet opposed the Ventôse decrees , which initiated an expropriation of political opponents and a reallocation of property in favor of the sans-culottes . A few days later, he was the only member of the welfare committee to refuse to consent to the arrest and execution of Danton , Desmoulins and other " indulgent " people ("I am here to feed the citizens, not to kill the patriots"). He chaired the National Convention from April 20 to May 5, 1794 and then approved the overthrow of Thermidor II (July 27, 1794).

Despite his personal dislike of Maximilien de Robespierre , Lindet , who was one of the left Thermidorians, continued to defend Jacobin politics. Because of this he lost his political influence and in October 1794 his seat on the welfare committee. After the Prairial Uprising of May 20-23, 1795, in which he did not participate, Lindet was imprisoned for two months. In spring 1796 he supported the " Amar Committee " and the failed " Conspiracy of Equals " around Babeuf . The Supreme Court in Vendôme , which sentenced Babeuf to death, acquitted Lindet in absentia in May 1797.

On July 23, 1799 Robert Lindet took over as a result of the coup d'état of the 30th Prairial VII (June 18, 1799), which made a neo-Jacobin policy possible for a short time, the line of the Ministry of Finance. Lindet's political career ended on the day of the coup d'état of 18th Brumaire VIII (November 9-10 , 1799). The new ruler Napoleon Bonaparte immediately dismissed the last finance minister of the board of directors and replaced him with the financial expert Michel Gaudin . Lindet worked again as a lawyer, withdrew disappointed from the public and was expelled in 1816, after the return of the Bourbons , as a "regicide" of the country. However, he stayed in France and died on February 14, 1825 in Paris.

literature

• Bernd Jeschonnek: Revolution in France 1789–1799. A lexicon. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-05-000801-6 .
• Walter Markov , Albert Soboul : 1789. The great French revolution. Urania-Verlag, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-332-00261-9 .
• Katharina Middell, Matthias Middell: François Noël Babeuf. Martyrs of equality. New Life, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-355-00604-1 .

Web links

Commons : Robert Lindet  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files