FTE 8: The downfall of the Directory

Question 1

The Directory solved France’s financial problems.

Answer 1

• Two-thirds of State debt was abolished by paying off creditors with state bonds.
• A series of new taxes were created, enabling Ramel-Nogaret to balance the budget.

Question 2

The Directory alienated its most important supporters.

Answer 2

• The failure of the new paper currency (mandate) led to a return to metal currency in 1797, which caused deflation, harming the economic interests of producers and shopkeepers.
• State creditors were alienated by the use of state bonds, which rapidly lost value, as repayment.
• New indirect taxes on luxuries, and windows and doors, hit the bourgeoisie hardest.

Question 3

The Directory’s efforts to heal the divisions created by the Revolution failed.

Answer 3

• Following the growth in support for royalism in the lections of 1797, the government annulled the election results, expelled the émigrés and created a new oath of loyalty for priests.
• 10,000 priests were sentenced to the ‘dry guillotine’, and churches were attacked and closed.
• There was also shift towards Jacobinism in the 1798 elections, leading to the Coup of Floréal.

Question 4

The Directory was seen as corrupt.

Answer 4

• Directors such as Barras were accused of embezzling the money sent back from conquered states, and from the forced loan of 1799.
• This enabled Napoleon to present himself as someone who wanted to uphold France’s interests as a whole, rather than his personal wealth/prestige.

Question 5

Despite France’s military gains, the burdens war placed on the French population weakened popular support for the Directory.

Answer 5

• Credit for victories tended to go to generals such as Bonaparte and Augureau, whilst the blame for the domestic burdens war imposed fell on the government.
• At the 1797 elections, voters overwhelmingly backed royalist candidates, not because of enthusiasm for the monarchy but because they were committed to ending the war.
• There was widespread resitsance to conscription in 1798: of 230,000 men drafted, only 74,000 reached the armies.
• The forced loan and the Law of Hostages led to a virtual collapse in government administration in the provinces in 1799.

Question 6

The Directory relied on the army to overcome internal threats.

Answer 6

• Bonaparte led troops to crush the Rising of Vendémiaire in October 1795.
• General Augureau led the Coup of Fructidor in 1797.
• The army was increasingly used to declare martial law in areas affected by banditry.

Question 7

The royalists failed to present an organised challenge to the Directory.

Answer 7

• Louis XVIII’s Verona Declaration alienated many constitutional monarchists by calling for a complete return to the ancien regime
• At Quiberon Bay in 1795, a force of émigrés and British troops failed to link up with the Chouannerie, who were motivated more by economic and religious grievances

Question 8

The Coup of Floréal in 1798 was a missed opportunity for the Directory to return to normal constitutional government.

Answer 8

• The election of 86 Jacobin deputies did not pose a major threat to the constitution.
• The annulment of the election of 127 deputies, who were replaced with candidates nominated by the Directors, further eroded faith in the legitimacy of the political system.

Question 9

The Directory’s response to the war crisis of 1799 further weakened its reputation.

Answer 9

• The forced loan on the rich in 1799 led to widespread resistance, and less than one-tenth of the amount demanded was actually raised.
• The Law of Hostages were seen as a return to the Terror, due to the fact that it allowed for arbitrary arrest and the confiscation of property.

Question 10

The Coup of Brumaire was viewed as a necessary means of preventing revolutionary or counter-revolutionary change.

Answer 10

• Because the process for amending the constitution of 1795 took nine years, there was no legitimate means of amending the constitution to create stronger and more effective government.
• The widespread resistance to the government’s war legislation made the prospect of a royalist counter-revolution more likely.
• The Jacobins were also becoming more influential in the Councils, leading some to fear the prospect of a full return to the policies of the Terror.
• As a result, Sieyès persuaded his fellow Director, Ducos, to back his coup against the regime.
• As a popular military commander, Napoleon was viewed as having the required charisma to win support for the new regime, and to ensure that the army would provide support.