From clerk to deputy: the beginning of the political career of J.-L. Tallien
Zaytseva Daria
French Revolution of the 18th century brought to the fore many figures who in a short time managed to become influential politicians of their era. One of them was Jean-Lambert Tallien, who came from a poor family, who became a member of the National Convention and one of the initiators of the coup of 9 Thermidor, which turned the tide of the Revolution. In this article, the author examines the main milestones of the first stage of Tallien's political career, which covers the period from January 1791 to September 1792 – that is, from the moment when Tallien began an active social and political activity, organizing his own people's club and until his election. Deputy of the National Convention. Within less than two years, Tallien joined the Jacobin Club, became a journalist, starting to publish his own newspaper L’Ami des citoyens, took over as secretary of the Paris Commune during the events of August 10, 1792, and was elected a member of the Convention. The author also attempts to consider the evolution of Tallien's political career and to identify what reasons allowed him to rise from an ordinary clerk to one of the prominent members of the Convention in a relatively short period of time.
The study is sponsored by the Russian Science Foundation, grant 18-18-00226.