The aftermath of the Terror and the Directory Flashcards
How did the Thermidorean Reaction end the Terror?
Vacancies on the CPS and CGS filled by moderates
Law of 22 Prairial repealed
Jacobin Club closed down
The Law of the General Maximum repealed
Revolutionary Tribunal abolished
Law of Suspects repealed, with all suspects released from prison
Prominent Thermidoreans
Fouche
Barras
What was the “White Terror”?
A series of purges and campaigns by which the Thermidoreans took action against the former proponents of the Terror.
Who conducted the White Terror?
Muscadins
Peasants
Royalists (Companies of Jesus / the Sun)
Thermidorean economic policies
Ended price controls
Deregulated trade
Restored paper currency
Failures of Thermidorean economic policy
Created inflation, which compounded economic hardship
Assignat 1/10 of its original value by April 1795
Factories forced to close down
Bread ration for Parisians fell to 60g per day in May 1795
When was the rising of Germinal?
April 1795
What was the rising of Germinal?
10,000 of the sans-culottes invaded the Convention demanding bread and the constitution of 1793.
Rising of Prairial?
May 1795
An even larger number of the sans-culottes than in the rising of Germinal invaded the Convention
Marked the end of the sans-culottes
Reasons for the failure of the rising of Prairial?
Sans-culottes divided - some loyal to the Convention
No institute like the Paris Commune in 1792 to coordinate their activities
Politically inexperienced - failed to capitalise when they had surrounded the Convention
Regular army used against Parisian citizens for the first time since the Revolution
Vendemiaire Rising
October 1795
Royalist rising, not sans-culottes.
Showed how much royalism had grown since the Terror
25,000 royalists vs 7,800 government troops
Ended by Napoleon fired a canon at royalist protestors
What caused the rising of Vendemiaire?
Monarchist belief that a plebiscite held in September 1795 to ratify the non-monarchial constitution Constitution of Year III, which would form the Directory, had been rigged.
When was the Directory formed, and what by?
November 1795
Constitution of the Year III
What was the highest ranking part of the Directory, and what were its key features?
Directory of Five
Executive branch of government
One member randomly chosen to step down each year
Could not sit on the councils
Difference between Council of Five Hundred and Council of Ancients?
Council of Five Hundred proposed and drew up all legislation, but could not vote on it.
Council of Ancients examined and approved/rejected legislation, but did not propose it.
Any overlap between the Councils and the Convention?
2/3 of the places on the Councils went to existing deputies from the Convention.
Notable Directors
Carnot
Sieyes
Ducos
Barras
Financial and economic problems of the Directory
Acute inflation left over from the Thermidoreans
Inherited an unbalanced budget
Food shortages
Financial policies of the Directory
Switched from paper to metal currency
Taxation system reorganised by Ramel (Finance Minister), who introduced direct taxation and central control over tax collection
What was the Coup of Fructidor?
September 1797
Fearing a royalist majority in the chambers, the Directors arrested the President of the Council of Five Hundred (Pichegru) for engaging with monarchist emigres.
177 Royalist deputies arrested
Undermined constitution of Year III, which separated the Directors from the legislative chambers
What vindictive legislation followed the Coup of Fructidor?
Former members of the 2nd estate declared foreigners.
Emigres given two weeks to leave France or face prosecution.
Refractory priests persecuted.
When was the coup of Floreal?
May 1798
What was the coup of Floreal?
Non-violent
Law of 22 Floreal purged 106 left-wing deputies from the Council of Five Hundred.
Political issues facing the Directory
Coup of Fructidor
Coup of Floreal
Coup of Prairial
When was the coup of Prairial?
June 1799
What was the coup of Prairial?
The councils forced a purge of the Directors, with Sieyes (continuing Director) helping to enforce the councils’ demands that the Directors Lepeaux and de Douai stand down.
Law of Hostages
12th July 1799
Created out of fear of growing Jacobin sentiment in the Councils
Allowed local authorities to take action against the potential radical Jacobins
Failures of the Directory
Destroyed by inward corruption
Lacked a clear vision for the future
Strengths of the Directory
Represented an attempt to return to the “moderate” revolution, attempting to forestall extremism at a time when political processes were underdeveloped and mobs were easily influenced.
Supported by the bourgeoise and the Army
Forward looking economic-measures
Presided over years of success in the war
Was committed to restoring the rule of law
Political issues of the Directory
Coups of:
Fructidor
Floreal
Prairial
Events during the aftermath of the Terror, 1794 - 1795
Thermidorean reaction
The White Terror
The Paris risings - Germinal / Prairial / Vendemiaire
The establishment of the Directory by the Constitution of Year III
Significance of the Coup of Prairial
Left Sieyes as the dominant figure in the government
Risings
Germinal (April 1795)
Prairial (May 1795)
Vendemiare (October 1795)
Jourdan’s Law
September 1798
Proposed that conscription be re-introduced for men aged between 20-25
Provoked widespread resistance - rising in Belgium
Constitution of the Year III
August 1795
Allowed all males over the age of 21 who paid direct taxation to vote in the primary assemblies to choose electors, who chose the deputies
Elections held annually
Separated the legislature from the executive to prevent another dictatorship arising
Sign of the unpopularity of the Directory
1799 elections
Only 66/187 government candidates elected
The Babeuf Plot
March - May 1796
Attempt by Gracchus Baebeuf to overthrow the Directory
Disliked the Constitution of Year III beacause it gave power to the wealthy
Arrested and executed the following year
