Lazare Carnot
Carnot was a member of the feared Committee of Public Safety during Year II. A brilliant strategist and gifted mathematician, he was responsible for the armies of the Revolution. He was the Organizer of Victory. Carnot supported the policy of Terror, as shown for example by his signature on Danton’s arrest warrant. On 9 Thermidor, he took part in the overthrow of Robespierre. Conservative by temperament, he was nevertheless a republican in heart and conviction. Forced into exile during the Restoration, he spent the rest of his life far from France. His name is now inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower.
JK
1753 - 1823
- May 13, 1753 · Born in Nolay, Burgundy.
- 1773 · Enters the engineering corps of the French army.
- 1783 · Carnot is promoted to captain.
- August 14, 1793 · Elected to the Committee of Public Safety.
- November 4, 1795 · Carnot becomes one of the five Directors of the Republic.
- September 4, 1797 · Coup of 18 Fructidor by the Directory. Carnot loses his position as Director. He avoids arrest by fleeing to Switzerland and returns to France only after Napoleon’s rise to power.
- 1800 · First Consul Napoleon appoints Carnot Minister of War.
- 1804 · After Napoleon’s coronation, Carnot resigns his office and withdraws from political life.
- 1816 · As a result of the Restoration, Carnot is forced to leave France. He settles in Magdeburg.
- August 2, 1823 · Dies in Magdeburg.
Quotes
Think carefully before acting, for a head like Danton’s will cause many others to fall.
Carnot to his colleagues in the Committees of Public Safety and General Security before signing the arrest warrant against Danton, 30 March 1794
You are ridiculous dictators.
Carnot to Robespierre, Saint-Just and Couthon, July 1794
v(GD) + v(HD) + v(FD) = R + r
Carnot's theorem
Talk to Carnot
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External links
Le Moniteur
Sextidi 26 prairial, l'an 2 de la République Française une et indivisible.
(June 14, 1794)
The soldiers of the Republic
