Georges Danton - Financial Corruption and Accusations

Financial Corruption and Accusations

Towards the end of the Reign of Terror, Danton was accused of various financial misdeeds, as well as using his own position in the Revolution for personal gain. Many contemporaries commented on Danton's financial success during the Revolution, an acquisition of money that he could not adequately explain. Many of the specific accusations directed against him were based on insubstantial or ambiguous evidence.

During his tenure on the Committee of Public Safety, Danton was behind a peace treaty agreement with Sweden. Although the Swedish government did not ratify the treaty, on 28 June 1793 the convention voted to give 4 million livres for diplomatic negotiations. According to Bertrand Barère, a journalist and member of the Convention, Danton had taken a portion of this money that was shared with the Swedish Regent. Although Barere’s accusation was the only evidence against him, this was not the first time that Danton had been implicated in profiting from political service.

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 even forging assignats during his mission to Belgium. Perhaps the most compelling evidence of financial corruption was a letter from Mirabeau to Danton in March 1791 that casually referred to 30,000 livres that Danton had received in payment.

The final 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 the reign of the Old Regime the original French East India Company went bankrupt, but was brought back in 1785, backed by royal patronage. The Company eventually fell under the notice of the National Convention for profiteering during the war. Soon the Company was to be liquidated and certain members of the Convention tried to push through a decree that would cause the share prices to rise before the liquidation. Discovery of 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 member of the Dantonists, was implicated in the scandal.