Camille Desmoulins
Camille Desmoulins (1760 – 1794) was a journalist and politician of the French Revolution. On 12 July 1789, in front of the Café de Foy at the Palais-Royal in Paris, he called the crowd to take up arms, lighting the uprising that led to the storming of the Bastille two days later; he made his name with his newspapers and became a deputy to the National Convention. In the winter of 1793 he appealed in his paper Le Vieux Cordelier for the Terror to be eased, and on 5 April 1794 he was guillotined together with Danton.
| Lived | 1760 – 1794 |
|---|---|
| Active in | Picardy (Guise) · Paris |
| Known for | The speech on the eve of the Bastille; Le Vieux Cordelier |
| Game start | 1789 · age 29 · Journalist and lawyer in Paris (commoner) — The Table at the Café de Foy |
Life at a glance
- 1760 Born on 2 March at Guise in Picardy, son of a bailliage magistrate. A scholarship pupil at the Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris, he is a schoolfellow of Robespierre.
- 1785 Becomes a lawyer at the Parlement of Paris, but because of his stammer he makes no name in court.
- 1789 On 12 July, at the news of Necker's dismissal, he stands on a table at the Palais-Royal and calls the crowd to arms. Two days later the Bastille falls, and that year his pamphlets and his paper Révolutions de France et de Brabant make his name.
- 1790 On 29 December he marries Lucile Duplessis at the church of Saint-Sulpice, with Robespierre as a witness.
- 1791 After the Champ de Mars massacre in July he goes into hiding for a time to avoid arrest.
- 1792 Takes part in the storming of the Tuileries on 10 August, serves as secretary to Danton, now Minister of Justice, and in September is elected to the National Convention. His son Horace is born in July.
- 1793 Attacks the Girondins in May with his History of the Brissotins, and in December launches Le Vieux Cordelier, calling for a Committee of Clemency.
- 1794 In January at the Jacobin Club he answers Robespierre's suggestion that his paper be burned with “Burning is not an answer”. Arrested on the night of 30 March, he is executed with Danton on 5 April, and Lucile goes to the guillotine on 13 April.
Family
The family members who appear with this character when you start the game. Years follow the historical record; where none survives, a ? is shown.
| Relation | Name | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Father | Jean-Benoît Desmoulins | Dates unknown | Magistrate of the bailliage of Guise |
| Mother | Marie-Madeleine Godart | Dates unknown | |
| Wife | Lucile Duplessis | 1770 – 1794 | Married 1790; guillotined eight days after her husband |
| Son | Horace | 1792 – 1825 | Born 1792; later went to Haiti and died there |
In the game
You begin on Sunday 12 July 1789 at the Palais-Royal in Paris as a journalist and lawyer of twenty-nine. News that the king has dismissed Necker, his finance minister, fills the gardens, and someone pushes you towards a table at the Café de Foy. There are two pistols in your pocket. You are not yet married; Robespierre, Danton and Lucile, daughter of a family that for years has refused you as a son-in-law, are the people of this life.
In the first event, “The Table at the Café de Foy”, shouting “To arms!” and pinning a chestnut leaf to your hat wins you great renown. In this life wit and renown are your weapons, and what you write, such as “The History of the Brissotins” and “The Old Cordelier”, decides your friends and enemies.
The turning point is “The fate of the Revolution”. In real history the story passes 14 July, the wedding at Saint-Sulpice, the Champ de Mars, 10 August, the king's trial and “The Old Cordelier”; if you do not survive the crisis on the night of 30 March 1794 it ends with the tumbril to the Place de la Révolution, and if you do, it goes on through Thermidor and Brumaire to the coronation year of 1804. If the Coalition enters Paris, another branch opens with a printing press in exile and a boy king at Reims.
- Scenario guide The Table at the Café de Foy
- Era guide Age of Revolution
- Related turning points What if the Coalition had crushed the French Revolution?
Frequently asked questions
Why was Camille Desmoulins executed?
Because in the winter of 1793, in his paper Le Vieux Cordelier, he called for the Terror to be slowed and for a Committee of Clemency to free imprisoned suspects, putting himself at odds with the Committee of Public Safety. Branded one of the “Indulgents” with Danton, he was arrested on the night of 30 March 1794, condemned to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal and executed on 5 April.
What is Desmoulins' connection with the storming of the Bastille?
His speech at the Palais-Royal on 12 July 1789, calling the crowd to take up arms, lit the Paris uprising that two days later led to the storming of the Bastille. He did not lead the storming himself, but he is remembered as the man who gave the Revolution's first cry.
What was the relationship between Desmoulins and Robespierre?
They were schoolfellows at the Collège Louis-le-Grand and old friends; Robespierre was a witness at Desmoulins' wedding and godfather to his son Horace. But when Desmoulins appealed for clemency and criticised the Committee of Public Safety in 1794 they fell out, and in the end Robespierre did nothing to stop his arrest.
Sources
Camille Desmoulins, Le Vieux Cordelier; general histories of the French Revolution.