23 Prairial
An CCXXXIV
Jean-Baptiste Carrier
How do you eliminate enemies of the Republic when the guillotine is too slow? Jean-Baptiste Carrier, the representative on mission charged with suppressing the uprising in the Vendée, found a solution as cruel as it was effective: the republican marriages. Men and women were tied together in pairs and drowned in the Loire. The revolutionaries triumphed. The river was choked with corpses. On its banks, carrion birds gnawed at the remains of the murdered. In this way, thousands fell victim to the Butcher of Nantes. Later, the Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris sentenced Carrier to death for his excesses. But he died without remorse. To the end, Carrier was convinced that he was not a perpetrator, but a victim.
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1756 - 1794
- March 16, 1756 · Born in Yolet, near Aurillac, in Auvergne.
- 1784 · Public prosecutor in Aurillac.
- September 1792 · Elected as a deputy to the National Convention for the department of Cantal.
- January 1793 · In the National Convention, Carrier votes for the execution of Louis Capet without delay.
- September 1793 · Carrier is tasked by the Convention with fighting the uprisings against the Republic in the Vendée. He is sent to Nantes.
- December 11, 1793 · In a letter to the Committee of Public Safety, he announces a ruthless policy of extermination against the insurgents.
- December 1793 · In Nantes, Carrier cracks down mercilessly — with shootings, guillotinings and drownings in the Loire. Thousands of people are killed. Women and children are among the victims as well.
- February 8, 1794 · The Committee of Public Safety recalls Carrier from Nantes to Paris.
- February 21, 1794 · Carrier justifies his actions in Nantes before the National Convention.
- July 27, 1794 · He takes part in the fall of Robespierre.
- September 3, 1794 · Carrier is arrested in Paris.
- November 27, 1794 · Beginning of the trial of Carrier and other co-defendants for the crimes committed in Nantes.
- December 16, 1794 · Death sentence and execution in Paris.
Quotes
There is not a single one of them who has not taken up arms against the Republic; the land must be completely and utterly purged of them.
Carrier in a letter from Nantes to the Committee of Public Safety, 11 December 1793
You have been told about the women of the Vendée. These women, citizens, are all monsters.
Carrier before the National Convention, 21 February 1794
I die an innocent victim; my last wish is for the Republic and for the welfare of my fellow citizens.
Carrier after his condemnation, 16 December 1794
Le Moniteur
Mass drownings in the Loire
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