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Meaning of the word Lafayette

Lafayette in the crossword dictionary

Lafayette

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

Lafayette

LAFAYETTE Marie Joseph (1757-1834) marquis, French politician. Participant in the War of Independence in the North. America 1775-83 (with the rank of general in the American army). In the beginning. French Revolution commanded the National Guard. Being a supporter of the constitutional monarchy, after the uprising of August 10, 1792, he switched to the side of the counter-revolution. During the July Revolution of 1830 he commanded the National Guard; contributed to the accession of Louis Philippe to the throne.

Lafayette

LAFAYETTE Marie Madeleine (1634-93) French writer. The novel "The Princess of Cleves" (1678) and the book "Memoirs of the French Court for 1688-1689 (published 1731), marked by observation and subtle psychologism, are at the origins of the European psychological novel.

Lafayette (disambiguation)

Lafayette, Lafayette:

• Lafayette

Lafayette (squadron)

"Lafayette"- fighter squadron, a unit of the French air force during the First World War. Consisted mainly of American volunteer pilots. Named after the Marquis de Lafayette.

Lafayette (aircraft carrier)

"Lafayette" , R96- a light aircraft carrier of the Independence type, which was in service with the US Navy and the French Navy. She was laid down as a Cleveland-class light cruiser in 1942, reordered and completed as an aircraft carrier in 1942-1943.

Lafayette (surname)

Lafayette:

• Lafayette, Gilbert - (1757-1834) - French politician.
• Lafayette, Marie Madeleine de - (1634-1693) - French writer, famous for her novel “The Princess of Cleves” (1678).

Examples of the use of the word Lafayette in literature.

The young people, with the approving exclamations of the crowd, harnessed themselves to the funeral chariot and cab and dragged Lamarck across the Austerlitz Bridge, and Lafayette- along the Morland embankment.

But in the face of history they will not have to blush for this, because others, stronger ones, Robespierre and Carnot, Lafayette, Barras and Napoleon, the most powerful men of their era, will share their fate: in a moment of failure, he will betray them.

However,” added Pierre, “the Comte de Valence, a dragoon colonel in Chartres and a friend of the Duke of Orleans, started a rumor that Lafayette and other members of the National Assembly believe that it was the Duke who initiated the march to Versailles, that he was practically the author of all these disturbances, and that it would be desirable for all concerned if the Duke disappeared from view for a while.

Monsieur de Romef was sent by Monsieur de Lafayette on the Valenciennes road.

Lafayette, who was then trying to please everyone in everything, gave him a letter of recommendation to the Vendée liberals.

Lafayette He also waited without any fear: he had a national guard, still loyal to him, and in it a corps of nine thousand, made up of former military men, French guards and recruited volunteers.

Her rooms were filled with luminaries of the political and cultural Olympus of France: Lafayette, Condorcet, Narbonne, Talleyrand.

Lafayette, Condorcet, Desmoulins, Brissot, Danton, Sieyes, as well as the king's siblings, including the Duke of Orleans.

For heaven's sake, Leif, that is Lafayette, why didn’t you say earlier that you had money?

“You came up with this cleverly, Leif,” Swinehild said with admiration, involuntarily succumbing to the mood Lafayette.

Laud's huge hands shot up and grabbed Lafayette and lifted him up, leaving bruises on his ribs.

So, Orléanists and Feuians, Lafayette and Biron had to strike the first blow and sound the trumpets about the first victory.

After all, it was he who corrected all the errors that were contained in the book of the pamphleteer Gasien de Courtille, and found a lot of additional information from Madame de Lafayette, Talman de Reo and a dozen other authors.

Army soldiers Lafayette, like all soldiers, experience a vague feeling that they themselves are sans-culottes in leather belts, that the victory of August 10 is their victory.

Everyone listened with pleasure to Danton when he attacked Lafayette, but with no less pleasure they listened to Lameta, Sieyes and Barnave when they defended him, so that when leaving Lafayette and Danton from the Jacobin Club, the cheers were intended for Lafayette and he was escorted home with torches.

L., a young and wealthy nobleman, brought up on educational literature of the 18th century, equipped a ship at his own expense and, at the head of a detachment of volunteers, set off for America. Congress immediately promoted him to major general. Despite several failures, L., by all accounts, showed very serious military abilities. In February 1780, L. made a trip to his homeland to meet with his wife; served an 8-day arrest for unauthorized absence abroad, but nevertheless met a very good welcome on the part of Louis XVI, who by this time openly sided with the United States. Returning to America, L., at the head of a small detachment, managed to cut off the retreat of General Cornwallis. After the conclusion of peace, L., in 1784, made his third trip to America; this time it was a triumphal procession for him. In the meeting of notables in 1787, L. belonged to the opposition against Calonne. Elected in 1789 as a representative of the nobility in the assembly of the states general, he was among those few nobles who stood for joint meetings of the estates; On June 25 he joined the Third Estate. On July 12, he proposed the establishment. meeting the first draft of a “declaration of the rights of man and citizen,” drawn up by him on the model of the American declaration of 1776. After the storming of the Bastille, the king had to agree to the appointment of L. as head of the national guard. On October 5, L., contrary to his wishes, had to lead the National Guard to Versailles in order to force the king to move to Paris; when riots and murders began on the night of the 6th, he energetically stopped them. After the king moved to Paris, L., as the head of the main armed force of the capital, was one of the most influential people in France. A liberal who did not completely abandon the traditions of the nobility, he dreamed of combining monarchy and order with freedom and the triumph of democratic principles; the riots of the mob and the language of the Jacobin orators deeply outraged him, but he liked the behavior of the king and the courtiers even less. As a result of this, he aroused against himself the extreme hostility of the king and especially the queen - and at the same time the strong suspicions of the extreme parties; Marat repeatedly demanded his hanging. When the king fled from Paris on June 20, 1791, despite the measures taken by L. for his return, suspicion fell on him, completely unfounded, of facilitating the escape; Robespierre, in the Jacobin club, directly accused him of this. After he took part in the suppression of the uprising on July 17, 1791 on the Champs de Mars, his influence began to decline. In November 1791, when the post of Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard was abolished, L. put forward his candidacy for mayor of Paris, but was defeated by Petion. Following this, L. was sent to the north. border, the head of one of the three detachments of the northern army; From there he followed the events in Paris with increasing irritation. He sent letters to the legislature protesting against its decisions; but the letters had no effect. Then he left the camp and appeared at the meeting with an address to the officers, demanding the punishment of terrorist clubs, the restoration of the authority of laws and the constitution, and the salvation of royal dignity. Most of the meeting was extremely hostile towards the “new Cromwell”. At the palace he was also greeted dryly; “It’s better to die than to help L.”, said the queen. Under such conditions, he did not consider it possible to take any action. Pursued by the hatred of the Jacobins and the suspicions of the Girondins, he returned to the army; the proposal to bring him to trial did not pass. After the overthrow of the king, L. not only refused to accept the commissioners of the legislative assembly who came to swear the soldiers to the oath of allegiance to the newly proclaimed republic, but arrested them; then the meeting declared him a traitor and demanded to answer. L. escaped, but fell into the hands of the Austrians and was imprisoned in the Olmütz fortress, where he spent 6 years in the horrific conditions of an Austrian prison. In 1797 he was released and after the 18th Brumaire returned to France, where he lived as a private citizen until 1814; Only in 1802, during the plebiscite, did he turn to Napoleon with a letter in which he protested against the restoration of sole power. During the Hundred Days, Napoleon offered him a peerage, which L. rejected. In the Chamber of Deputies, to which he had meanwhile been elected, L. stood in strong opposition to the government; his desire even then was to call Louis-Philippe d'Orléans to the throne. During the second restoration, he belonged to the extreme left side of the Chamber of Deputies and took part in various societies that had the goal of fighting the existing order of things. The publicly established “society of friends of freedom of the press” (Tracy, C. Perrier, Lafitte, etc.) was closed 2 years after its founding (1821), but the “secret committee of action” behind it, in which L. participated with Arzhanson and others ., existed longer. Attempts by reactionaries to involve L. in the case of the murder of Hertz. Berrysky were unsuccessful. Having retired from the chamber (1823), together with the entire liberal party, as a result of the expulsion of Manuel, L. made a new triumphal trip to America. From 1826 he again sat in the Chamber of Deputies. On July 29, 1830, L., at the request of the people, took command of the national guard and, at the head of this quickly organized force, ended the street struggle. At the same time, he was a member of the municipal commission that performed the duties of the provisional government. At that moment he was the most popular man in Paris and the master of the moment. He spoke out against the republic and for it. Louis-Philippe of Orleans, since the latter “is the best of the republics.” The new king confirmed him in the rank of commander-in-chief of the national guard; but already in September of the same year L. , dissatisfied with the general direction of Louis-Philippe's policy, resigned. In 1833 he founded the opposition Union for the Defense of Human Rights. The monument to L. was erected in Puy (dpt. Upper Loire, the place of his homeland) in 1883. See RegnaultWarin, "Memoires pour servir a la vie du general L." (Paris, 1824); "Voyage du general L. aux Etats Unis en 1824 - 25" (Paris, 1826); Sarrans, "L. et la revolution ae 1830" (2nd ed. P. 1832); "Memoires, coirespondance et manuscripts du general L." (Paris, 1837 - 38); Budinger, "L., ein Lebensbild" (Lpc. 1870); Budinger, "L. in Oesterreich" (Vienna, 1879); Bayard Tuckermann, "Life of general L." (New York, 1889); Bardoux, "La jeunesse de L." (Paris, 1892); Bardoux, "Les dernieres annees de L." (Paris, 1892). L.'s sons: Georges (died 1849) and Oscar (died 1881) were members of the Chamber of Deputies, and the latter was a legislator. assemblies of the times of the second and third republics, later - senator for life.

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Lafayette I Lafayette

Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roque Gilbert Mothier, Marquis de (6/9/1757, Chavaniac - 20/5/1834, Paris), French politician. From a wealthy aristocratic family. Having come into contact with B. Franklin, L. in 1777 went to North America to participate in the war of the American colonies of Great Britain for independence. Received the rank of general in the American Army. He actively participated in military operations at Yorktown (October 1781). Soon after this he returned to France. He participated in the Assembly of Notables in 1787, where he joined the opponents of the project of Ch. Calonne (who intended to impose part of the taxes on the privileged classes). In 1789, L., elected as a deputy from the nobility to the Estates General, supported their transformation into the National Assembly. The day after the storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789), L. became commander of the National Guard. At the beginning of the revolution, L.'s popularity was very great. As the revolution deepened, L., who remained in the position of liberal constitutional monarchism, tried to slow down the further development of the revolution. He took an active part in the anti-democratic “Society of 1789”, then in the Feuillants Club (See Feuillants). He led the execution of an anti-monarchist demonstration on the Champ de Mars in Paris (July 17, 1791). Appointed after the start of the war with the anti-French coalition in 1792 as commander of one of the armies, he intended to use the army to suppress the revolution. In June 1792 he addressed the Legislative Assembly with a demand to “curb” the Jacobins. A few days after the overthrow of the monarchy as a result of a popular uprising on August 10, 1792, L. tried to move troops to revolutionary Paris. Having failed in this, he fled, leaving the army. L. hoped to get to the Netherlands, but was captured by the Austrians; was in their captivity until 1797. Returned to France in 1800. During the period of the consulate and the empire of Napoleon, he was away from active political activity. During the Restoration he acted as one of the leaders of the liberal-bourgeois opposition; regained great popularity. During the July Revolution of 1830, L., appointed commander of the National Guard, contributed to the preservation of the monarchy and the transfer of the crown to Louis Philippe d'Orléans.

Lit.: Latzkó A., Lafayette, Z., 1935; Loth D., Lafayette, L., 1952; Dousset E., La Fayette, P., 1955.

A. Z. Manfred.

Big Soviet encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what "Lafayette" is in other dictionaries:

Lafayette, Marie Madeleine de Madame de Lafayette This term has other meanings, see Lafayette (meanings). Marie Madeleine de Lafayette (born Marie Madeleine Pioch de La Vergne, French ... Wikipedia

Marie Madeleine de La Fayette, 1634 1693) French. writer, author of novels and memoirs. L.'s works reflected the ideology of the French landed nobility, associated with the court of the absolute monarch. An aristocrat by birth, L... Literary encyclopedia

- (La Fayette) Marie Joseph (1757 1834), marquis, participant (from 1777) in the War of Independence in North America 1775 83. As a general in the American army, he played an important role in the defeat of the British at the Battle of Yorktown (1781). Passionate champion of freedom,... ... Modern encyclopedia

- (Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves Gilbert Motier, Marquis deLafayette) famous Frenchman. politician (1757 1834). When the declaration of independence of the United States aroused general enthusiasm in France, L., a young and wealthy nobleman, ... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

LAFAYETTE- (Marie Joseph L. (1757 1834) French politician, marquis, who took part in the War of Independence in North America) A high-society whip Exploded to die for good. Lafayette flashed with an ornate sword across the ocean. (rfm.: color) Tsv918 (I,388.1) ... Proper name in Russian poetry of the 20th century: dictionary of personal names

- (La Fayette), Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roque Gilbert Motier de (6.IX.1757 20.V.1834), marquis, French. political activist Genus. in a rich aristocratic family. Fascinated by the ideas of the French. educators, L. in Aug. 1777 went to America to fight... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia

- (foreign) liberal (named after Maxime Lafayette (1757 1834), famous French political figure, author of the draft Declaration of Human and Citizen Rights) Wed. Nozdryov! is that you mon cher? If this is you, then why are you looking so Lafayette?...... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary

Lafayette- (La Fayette) Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roque Gilbert Motier de (1757 1834), French. watered military activist Gene. army, marquis. Genus. in a wealthy aristocrat. family. In 1777 he left for America, where he fought against the military. strength English crown, received the rank of general... ... Dictionary of generals

"LAFAYETTE"- type of nuclear missile. Submarine (SSBN) of the US Navy, armed strategist. ballistic rockets. They are part of the sea. strategist. US nuclear forces. Waterism. surface 7300 t, subsea 8300 t, length. 130 m, width 10.1 m, draft 9.6 m. Depth. diving up to 400 m. Power... ... Military encyclopedic dictionary

Lafayette M. J.- LAFAYETTE Marie Joseph (17571834), marquis, French. watered activist Participant in the War of Independence in the North. America 177583 (with the rank of General of the American Army). At the beginning, Franz. rev tions con. 18th century commands National guard. Supporter... ... Biographical Dictionary

Biography

Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (French Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette; September 6, 1757, Chavagnac Castle - May 20, 1834, Paris) - French politician. Participant in three revolutions: the American War of Independence, the French Revolution and the July Revolution of 1830.

Childhood and young years

On both his father and mother's side, the Marquis de La Fayette belonged to the so-called nobility of the sword (that is, acquired military service). Soon after birth, out of six inherited names, the boy was chosen one main one - Gilbert- in memory of the father and famous ancestor of the La Fayette family. It was named in memory of Gilbert de La Fayette, Marshal of France, comrade of the legendary Joan of Arc and closest advisor to King Charles VII. Gilbert's father, Grenadier Colonel, Knight of the Order of St. Louis Louis Christophe Roque Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette died during the Seven Years' War with the British at the Battle of Hastenbeck on July 26, 1757.

In 1768, Gilbert de La Fayette was enrolled in one of the most aristocratic educational institutions then France - College of Plessis (French) Russian, which he graduated in 1772. On April 3, 1770, at the age of 33, his mother (Marie Louise Julia, née Marquise de La Rivière, who belonged to the noble nobility of Brittany) suddenly died, and a week later his grandfather, the Marquis de La Rivière, who was once a captain of the royal musketeers, died and lieutenant general of the royal army and left Gilbert his entire fortune. “His death,” Lafayette later wrote in his memoirs, “turns me, born poor, into a rich man.”

In April 1771, the 13-year-old Marquis de La Fayette was enlisted in the second company of the Royal Musketeers - an elite guard unit known as the "black musketeers" (after the color of the horses) and eventually became its lieutenant.

In 1773, the Marquis de La Fayette was appointed to the post of squadron commander in the Noailles cavalry regiment. In 1775, he received a promotion and, with the rank of captain, was transferred to the garrison of the city of Metz to serve in a cavalry regiment.

United States Revolutionary War

On September 8, 1776, an event occurred that became a turning point in the fate of the Marquis de La Fayette. On this day the marshal de Broglie, commander of the military district of Metz, gave a dinner in honor of William Henry, who traveled through France and stopped in Metz, Duke of Gloucester and his wife. At a dinner at which, among other guests, the Marquis of La Fayette, Duke of Gloucester, who was openly at odds with his older brother, was present - English king George III, spoke about the “men from Boston” who put forward a demand for political independence for 13 British possessions in North America, about pamphlets Thomas Paine, calling the colonists to arms, about the unreasonableness of George III, who refused to make the slightest concessions to the North American colonies. The next day, during the Duke of Gloucester's inspection of fortifications together with French officers, among whom was La Fayette, the Duke received an urgent package from London, which he immediately opened and familiarized those present with the text of the letter, which announced the beginning of the uprising in North American colonies and the adoption of the US Declaration of Independence, as well as the text of the “Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America” attached to the letter, adopted on July 4, 1776 by the Continental Congress of the young republic. “At the first news of this war,” Lafayette later wrote, “my heart was recruited... Republican relations fascinated me and when my new parents [we are talking about the Marquis’s father-in-law and mother-in-law] secured a place for me at court, I did not hesitate in order to maintain my independence to cause anyone’s displeasure.”

In negotiations with B. Franklin and S. Dean about his participation in the American Revolution, the Marquis of La Fayette put forward 2 conditions: he would go to America on a ship he himself bought and was fully equipped; he refuses all salary and any other material compensation for his service. At the end of the negotiations, not wanting to be accused of desertion from the army, La Fayette submitted a request to be temporarily released from royal service to the reserve "for health reasons."

On April 26, 1777, the Marquis de La Fayette with other 15 French officers sailed on the ship Victoire from the port of Los Passajes to the shores of America. On June 15, 1777, together with his companions, he set foot on American soil in Georgetown Bay, near the town of Charleston, and on July 27, having covered 900 miles of travel, he arrived in Philadelphia. He writes an appeal to the US Congress: “After all the sacrifices I have made, I consider myself entitled to ask for the following: to be allowed to serve in your army, firstly, at my own expense and, secondly, as a simple volunteer.” On July 31, 1777, Congress decided to accept the services of the Marquis de La Fayette and, recognizing the energy and nobility of the family, appoint him chief of staff of the United States army and confer on him the rank of major general in the North American army. The post of chief of staff of the army, received by La Fayette from Congress, had practically no real significance and corresponded, rather, to the position of senior aide-de-camp to Commander-in-Chief George Washington, with whom La Fayette eventually established friendly relations.

La Fayette received its baptism of fire at the Battle of Brandywine (20 miles from Philadelphia), which took place on September 11 of the same year, 1777. The British managed to outflank the rebels, and the latter's position became hopeless: unable to withstand the blow of superior enemy forces, Washington's army began to retreat in disarray. Being in the midst of a battle in General Stirling's division, which occupied a position on the central sector of the front, and seeing a disorderly flight, La Fayette, trying to stop the retreating, rushed with a sword in his hand across the battlefield until he was wounded in the thigh by one of the enemy's bullets . Nevertheless, La Fayette remained on the battlefield until he lost consciousness. At this time, reinforcements led by Washington himself arrived at the central site of the battle. The soldiers carried La Fayette from the battlefield. By the end of the day, it became clear that the Americans had been defeated, and Washington hastily withdrew his army from the encirclement that was about to close. Among the wounded in the convoy was General La Fayette.

Without waiting for a final recovery, La Fayette returned to Washington's headquarters and received under his command a detachment of 350 people in the brigade of one of the most capable American generals - Nathaniel Greene, a former blacksmith. On November 25, 1777, La Fayette, sent with his detachment on reconnaissance, defeated a detachment of Hessian mercenaries numbering 400 people, moving from Canada to join the English army. On December 1, Congress adopted a resolution recommending the appointment of the Marquis de La Fayette as division commander. Moreover, Congress invited La Fayette to determine the part he would like to lead. The Marquis's choice fell on a division of militia from the state of Virginia, whose commander, General Stephen, was retiring. Without waiting for the commissariat to fork out the cash, La Fayette equipped and armed the division (1,200 people) at his own expense. Washington's army suffered deprivation in everything - there was no uniform and warm shoes, provisions and weapons. In one of his addresses to Congress, Washington wrote: “Unless a decisive change occurs, the army will suffer one of three evils: starvation, loss of internal communication and scattering.”

In December 1777, La Fayette took part in a successful operation against the British in the Schuylkill River area.

On January 22, 1778, by decision of Congress, La Fayette was appointed commander of the Northern Army, which was concentrated in the Albany area. Among the officers of his headquarters was Colonel of the Engineering Service T. Kosciuszko.

As commander of the Northern Army stationed near the Canadian border, La Fayette actively campaigned in favor of the American rebels among the Indian tribes, who, at the instigation of the British, attacked American settlements and even forts. On March 9, 1778, La Fayette took part in a meeting of Indian leaders of the Six Tribes alliance, which took place in British-occupied territory. The meeting was attended by 500 Indian leaders of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Tuscarora tribes. La Fayette made a speech to the Indian leaders in which he tried to present in an accessible form the basic principles and goals of the American Revolution. He presented a number of convincing arguments against the British and earned the unanimous approval of those present. In a solemn ceremony and in accordance with centuries-old Indian ritual, La Fayette was awarded the honorary name of Kayevla, which was borne by one of the most revered legendary military leaders of the Indians. The meeting ended with the signing of an agreement on the alliance of the “Six Tribes”, who pledged to fight all enemies of Kayevla on the side of the Americans, with songs, dances and the distribution of gifts to the leaders. La Fayette paid both valuable gifts to Indian leaders and the costs of maintaining the Northern Army out of his own pocket. Beaumarchais responded to the Marquis with the following words: “This young crazy Marquis de La Fayette, who, not content with opening his heart to America, also opened his wallet to her.”

With his own money, La Fayette, at the request of the leaders of the “Six Tribes,” built a fort on the American-Canadian border to protect against the “common enemy” and equipped it with cannons and other weapons.

On April 1, 1778, La Fayette joined Washington's main force at Valley Forge. On May 18, 1778, Washington entrusted him with the leadership of an operation aimed at conducting reconnaissance in force in the Philadelphia area. The American command decided to recapture this city. According to the plan developed by Washington, La Fayette was supposed to connect with large detachment General Potter in the Warren Hill area, but he was late for the appointed time, and La Fayette's division (2,500 men with 5 guns) found itself in a trap set by superior British forces under the command of General Howe (7,000 men with 14 guns). But thanks to a witty maneuver, La Fayette managed to escape from the trap without losses among personnel and weapons.

From November 1 to December 1, 1778, La Fayette suffered from a severe form of pneumonia. He agreed to take a vacation and go to France. Congress specially allocated the frigate Alliance for La Fayette, which on November 11, 1779, with La Fayette on board, left the shores of North America, and on February 6, 1780 dropped anchor in the port of Brest.

From the first minute of his appearance in Paris, La Fayette became the hero of the day. Queen Marie Antoinette herself obtained from the king consent to promote La Fayette to the rank of colonel of the royal grenadiers. At the same time, the popularity of the Marquis worried Versailles. In the fall of 1779, La Fayette turned to George Washington with a request to officially summon him to the United States. At the beginning of 1780, such a request came and was immediately satisfied by Versailles. La Fayette was authorized to officially notify Congress of the French government's decision to send Rochambeau's expeditionary force to North America in the very near future to participate in joint military actions against England. On March 13, 1780, the Marquis departed from Larochelle on the Royal Navy frigate Hermione, and on April 27, he entered Boston Harbor.

After his arrival in the United States, La Fayette participates both in military operations (as part of N. Greene's army) and in political and diplomatic negotiations. He saw his duty in not only being on the battlefield, but also strengthening Franco-American cooperation and expanding assistance to America from France.

Taking advantage of the break in hostilities that followed the Yorktown operation (September-October 1781), La Fayette decided to visit France, where peace negotiations between the United States and England were soon to begin. Having received permission for leave from Congress, Lafayette returned to France on December 18, 1781. At a reception with the king for his participation in the capture of Yorktown, Lafayette is promoted to the rank of field marshal.

After the conclusion of peace, La Fayette, in 1784, made a third trip to America; this time it was a triumphal procession for him.

French revolution

In the assembly of notables in 1787, La Fayette belonged to the opposition against Calonne. Elected in 1789 as a representative of the nobility in the assembly of the States General, he was among the few nobles who stood for joint meetings of the estates; On June 25, he ostentatiously joined the Third Estate. On July 12, he proposed to the Constituent Assembly the first draft of a “declaration of the rights of man and the citizen,” modeled on the American declaration of 1776.

After July 14, 1789 - the storming of the Bastille - the Marquis “democratized” his aristocratic surname, starting to write it together (Lafayette). Since then, according to established tradition, this surname has had this spelling.

After the storming of the Bastille, the king had to agree to the appointment of Lafayette as commander of the national guard. Lafayette was burdened by police duties and understood that their performance was detrimental to his popularity, but he considered it his duty to fulfill the duties that the nation would assign to him. For example, on October 5, Lafayette, against his wishes, was forced to lead the National Guard to Versailles in order to force the king to move to Paris. When the riots and murders began on the night of the 6th, he energetically stopped them.

After the king moved to Paris, Lafayette, as head of the main armed forces capital, was one of the most influential people in France. A liberal who did not completely abandon the traditions of the nobility, he dreamed of combining monarchy and order with freedom and the triumph of democratic principles; the riots of the mob and the language of the Jacobin orators deeply outraged him, but he liked the behavior of the king and the courtiers even less. As a result of this, he aroused against himself the extreme hostility of the king and especially the queen - and at the same time the strong suspicions of the Republicans; Marat repeatedly demanded his hanging. When the king fled from Paris on June 20, 1791, despite the measures taken by Lafayette for his return, a completely unfounded suspicion fell on him of facilitating the escape. Robespierre directly accused him of this in the Jacobin club.

After he took part in the suppression of the uprising on July 17, 1791 on the Champ de Mars, his popularity plummeted. In November 1791, when the post of Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard was abolished, Lafayette ran for mayor of Paris, but with the assistance of the royal court that hated him, he was defeated by Pétion.

Lafayette was sent to the northern border as the commander of one of the three detachments of the northern army. From there he followed the events in Paris with increasing irritation. He sent letters to the Legislative Assembly protesting against its decisions, but the letters had no effect. Then he left the camp and came to the Assembly with a petition from a number of officers demanding the banning of radical clubs, the restoration of the authority of laws and the constitution, and the salvation of royal dignity. Most of the Assembly reacted extremely hostilely to the “new Cromwell”. At the palace he was greeted just as dryly; “Better death than Lafayette’s help,” said the queen. Under such conditions, he did not consider it possible to take any action.

Pursued by the suspicions of the Girondins and the hatred of the Jacobins, he returned to the army; the proposal to bring him to trial did not pass. After the overthrow of the king, Lafayette not only refused to receive the commissioners of the Legislative Assembly who came to swear the soldiers to the oath of allegiance to the newly proclaimed republic, but arrested them; then the meeting declared him a traitor and demanded to answer. Lafayette fled to the Austrians, but was accused by the French royalists of duplicity and imprisoned in the Olmütz fortress, where he spent 5 years.

Oppositionist

In 1797 he was released and after the 18th Brumaire he returned to France, where he lived until 1814, without participating in politics. Only in 1802, during the plebiscite, did he turn to Napoleon with a letter in which he protested against the establishment of an authoritarian regime. During the Hundred Days, Napoleon offered him a peerage, which Lafayette rejected. In the Chamber of Deputies, to which he had meanwhile been elected, Lafayette stood in decisive opposition to the Napoleonic government; his desire even then was to call Louis-Philippe d'Orléans to the throne. During the second restoration, he belonged to the extreme left side of the Chamber of Deputies and took part in various societies aimed at fighting the return of absolutism. The publicly established “society of friends of freedom of the press” (Tracy, C. Perrier, Lafitte and others) was closed 2 years after its founding (1821), but the “secret committee of action” behind it, in which Lafayette participated with Argenson and others, existed longer. Attempts by the royalists to implicate Lafayette in the murder of the Duke of Berry failed.

Having retired from the chamber (1823), along with the entire liberal party, as a result of the expulsion of Manuel, Lafayette made a new triumphant trip to America. From 1825 he again sat in the Chamber of Deputies.

In Freemasonry

Lafayette underwent Masonic initiation, and like another participant in the war in the United States, Alexander de Grasse, was a member of the Parisian Masonic lodge “Saint Jean d'Écosse du Contrat social.”

July Revolution of 1830

On July 29, 1830, Lafayette, at the request of the people, took command of the National Guard and, at the head of this quickly organized force, ended the street struggle. At the same time, he was a member of the municipal commission that performed the duties of the provisional government. At that moment he was the most popular man in Paris and the master of the moment. He spoke out against the republic and for Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, since the latter “is the best of republics.” Lafayette was completely sure that France was not yet ripe for a republic.

The new king confirmed him in the rank of commander-in-chief of the national guard; but already in September of the same year, Lafayette, dissatisfied with the general direction of Louis-Philippe's policy, resigned. Since February 1831, the chairman of the “Polish Committee” (committee in support of the Polish uprising), passionately advocated for the armed action of France on the side of the rebel Poles against Nicholas I. In 1833 he founded the opposition “Union for the Defense of Human Rights”. The monument to Lafayette was erected in Puy (Haute-Loire department, the place of his birthplace) in 1883.

Family and descendants

On April 11, 1774, the 16-year-old Marquis de La Fayette married Adrienne, daughter of the Duke d'Ayen, who inherited the title of Duke de Noailles after the death of his father. On the groom's side, the witnesses were the Comte de Luzignac and La Fayette's cousin, the Marquis de Bouillet (later one of the main organizers of the unsuccessful escape of Louis XVI from revolutionary Paris on the night of June 19-20, 1791).

During the Jacobin dictatorship, Lafayette's wife was imprisoned and dragged around prisons for several years. Her mother, grandmother and one of her sisters were guillotined solely on the basis of their noble origin. They didn’t dare behead Lafayette’s wife. After leaving prison in 1795, she sent her son to study at Harvard, and together with her daughters went to Austria and asked the emperor to allow her to stay with her husband in the Olmütz fortress, which she was allowed to do. The family left there in 1797 and returned to France in 1799. After all the experiences, Adriene’s health deteriorated greatly, she was ill for a long time and in 1807 she died.

Lafayette had four children: 3 daughters and a son. Henrietta (1776-1778) lived only 2 years, Anastasia Louise Pauline (1777-1863) married Count Latour-Maubourg and lived to be 86 years old, and Marie Antoinette Virginia (1782-1849), married to the Marquis de Lasteyri, published maternal and their own memories of their family.

Son Georges Washington de Lafayette (1779-1849) studied at Harvard, served in the army during the Napoleonic wars, where he distinguished himself with courage, and after his discharge he entered politics and was elected to the deputies, also from the Liberal Party. During the July Revolution of 1830 he was far from Paris, but 16 years later he took an active part in the political campaign that led to the Revolution of 1848.

Georges Washington de Lafayette married Emilie de Tracy, daughter of the Comte de Tracy. They had 5 children: 3 daughters and 2 sons. The eldest of them, Oscar Thomas Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette (1815-1881), served 7 years in the army, retired and old tradition The family also entered politics, reaching the post of senator for life in 1875. Younger son, Edmond du Motier de Lafayette (1818-1890), was engaged only in politics. He rose to the post of secretary of the Legislative Assembly, and then he was elected to the senator (1876-1888).

In culture

Lafayette's activities during the American Revolutionary War are reflected in computer game Assassin's Creed III, where he is one of the characters.

He is also one of the main characters in the computer game. game The Order: 1886.