Charles-Louis-Victor, prince de Broglie, called Victor de Broglie (22 September 1756 – 27 June 1794) was a French soldier and politician.

Biography

Victor de Broglie was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, the eldest son of

Victor-François, 2nd duc de Broglie Victor François de Broglie, 2nd duc de Broglie (19 October 171830 March 1804) was a French aristocrat and soldier and a marshal of France. He served with his father, François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, at Parma and Guastalla, and in 1734 ob ...

, who had attained the rank of ''

maréchal de camp ''Maréchal de camp'' (sometimes incorrectly translated as field marshal) was a general officer rank used by the French Army until 1848. The rank originated from the older rank of sergeant major general ( French: ''sergent-major général''). Se ...

'' in the army. Victor adopted radical opinions and served with the

Marquis de La Fayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...

and the

Comte de Rochambeau Marshal Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, 1 July 1725 – 10 May 1807, was a French nobleman and general whose army played the decisive role in helping the United States defeat the British army at Yorktown in 1781 during the ...

in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The prince was a member of the

Jacobin Club , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = Pa ...

, and sat in the National Constituent Assembly after the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, constantly voting on the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

side. He served as chief of the staff to the First Republic's Army on the Rhine, but, during the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

, he was denounced, arrested, and

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

d in Paris. Since the old duc de Broglie survived him, the prince de Broglie's eldest son,

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

, eventually became the third

duc de Broglie The House of Broglie (, also ; french: Maison de Broglie, or ) is a French noble family, originally Piedmontese, who migrated to France in the year 1643. History () was the name of an old Piedmontese noble family, from which were descended t ...

. The prince's dying admonition to his little son was to remain faithful to the principles of the Revolution, however unjust and ungrateful it seemed then to be.

Family

The prince's wife shared her husband's imprisonment, but managed to escape to Switzerland, where she remained till the fall of

Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

. She then returned to Paris with her children and lived there quietly until 1796, when she married Marc-René de Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson, grandson of the

Comte d'Argenson Marc-Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d'Argenson (16 August 1696, Paris22 August 1764, Paris) was a French politician. Biography D'Argenson, a younger son of Marc-René de Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson (1652–1721), was born on 16 August 1696. ...

(minister of war during the reign of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

). Under the care of his step-father, Victor de Broglie received a careful and liberal education and made his entrée into the aristocratic and literary society of Paris under the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Broglie, Charles-Louis-Victor, prince de 1756 births 1794 deaths French generals 18th-century French politicians Charles-Louis-Victor, prince de Charles-Louis-Victor, prince de Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Politicians from Paris French people executed by guillotine during the French Revolution French people of the American Revolution