Chapter 14 - The Establishment Of The Directory Flashcards
How was the new constitution of 1795 formed?
Drawn up by Thermidorians
Made valid by plebiscite
What was the order of the new structure?
- Directory of Five
- Council of 500 + Council of Ancients
- Elections
- Electors
- Voters
Who were the voters?
Male taxpayers over 21
5.5/8 million males could vote
Who were the electors?
Those paying a certain sum in taxes could sit in the assemblies
What were the elections?
Took place annually
1/3 deputies stood down every year
What was the Council of Five Hundred?
Deputies over the age of 30
Wrote new laws but didn’t vote on it
What was the Council of Ancients?
250 married or widowed men over 40
Approved or rejected laws
What was the Directory of Five?
5 directors chosen by Ancients
They formed the executive and appointed ministers
1 member would retire each year
What percentage were deputies from the old convention?
2/3rds
How many men served as directors?
13
Who were the most memorable?
Carnot, Sieyès, Ducos, Barras
What was the problem with the aim of limiting power?
No prominent leader or directior
Directors had differing views and found it hard to work together
What was the schism between?
Moderate conservatives
(Carnot + Letourneur)
Republicans
(Barras + Rewbell)
What was another problem with the directors?
No mechanism to resolve disputes
Led to underhand practices
Why was there acute inflation?
There was a switch from a system of economic control to a more liberal environment
How much were the assignats in 1795 worth?
Worthless
What economic problems did the directory come into?
Badly unbalanced budget
Costs of war
Problems with tax collection
What stopped food supply?
Grain speculators
Poor harvest 1795
Why was the trading situation bad?
British naval efforts restricted French colonial trade + blockaded French ports
What effort was made to stabilise currency?
Switch from paper to metal currency
What did they make to replace the assignats?
Mandats
800 million francs worth issued
Why did they not work?
Rapidly counterfeited
Value depreciated - within a year worth nothing
What did lack of metal coinage cause?
Deflation
This hindered trade
When we’re weights and measures standardised?
1795
Why was the price of grain brought down?
Better harvests in 1796 + 1798
What taxes did the finance minister make/ restore?
New property taxes
Octois (goods entering towns)
What was the benefit of Mandats?
Write off 2/3rds of govt debt
What was a negative of this?
Creditors didn’t trust govt
(Held a lot of political influence)
When did the directory reach a balance of payments?
1797+1798
What were the threats from royalist for the directory?
The rising of Vendémaire
Sentiment in the Vendée + the west
Royalist André-Charles Brotier was arrested and deported for planning military rising in Paris to overthrow govt
How had the directory only been able to establish itself?
Through the army crushing Vendémaire
Shows how vulnerable it was
Who was a leading figure for the Jacobins?
Gracchus Babeuf
Campaigned for rights of the poor
But called for revival of the Terror
What was the event Babeuf planned?
‘Conspiracy of equals’ - armed uprising of the masses
What happened to those involved?
Babeuf + co-conspirator = guillotined
Other supporters = transported
What did directors sometimes resort to when dealing with these oppositions?
Corrupt practices
These undermined what they stood for
Who started to do well in elections 1797?
Constitutional monarchists
3rd deputies had royalist sympathies
What deputies planned the coup of Fructidor?
Barras, Rewbell + Lépeux
What was their plan?
Produced evidence that president of 500 (Pichegru) made contact with monarchist emigres 1795
Had him arrested
‘Acting against revolution’
What were military forces of Hoche + Augereau used to do?
Seize strong points of Paris
Arrested 177 royalist deputies
53 were exiled to French Guana
42 opposition newspapers forcibly shut
Who opted to serve?
2 new directors
But council positions vacant
What did this event do?
Undermined 1795 constitution
Added lack of confidence in electoral process
What legislation was created after Fructidor?
Former members of 2nd estate declared foreigners + had to apply for papers to regain rights as citizens
Returned emigres had 2 weeks to leave otherwise death sentence (160 awarded)
Refractory priests persecuted again
Why did the Directory pass a new electoral law in January 1798?
To minimise royalist gains before the next round of elections
What happened instead?
Jacobin support went ahead
What did the Law of 22 Floreal do?
Purged 127 deputies from the Cof500 before they took their seats
What was this whole coup called?
The coup of Floreal
What was the Coup of Prairial?
Cof500 + CofA questioned conduct of war and the directors positions
Replaced director
Sieyes took advantage of this and with support from Barras and asked 2 other directors to stand down
They refused
He asked General Joubert to have a troop to Paris
They resigned
What was this the first experience of?
The councils forced a purge of the directors
What did the directory do instead of healing divisions?
Increased them
Overturned electoral results
Grew increasingly reliant on army to defend itself
What did Sieyes introduce due to growing Jacobins in councils?
Law of Hostages
Allowed local authorities to take action against potential ‘radicals’
What was an explanation for the struggles of the Directory?
‘what is seen as corruption could be interpreted as the desperate attempt of the middle ground to forestall extremism at a time when political processes were under-developed and mobs were poorly educated and easily influenced’ - Waller
