The Directory

Question 1

how were the vacancies within the CPS and CGS filled?

Answer 1

filled by moderate dantonists and the plain

Question 2

when was the law of 22 prairial repealed?

Answer 2

1 august 1794

Question 3

what was the alternative to guillotining?

Answer 3

exile to Guiana in South America

Question 4

what was The Law on Revolutionary Government? when?

Answer 4

24 august 1794

• revolutionary committees reduced to one per department
• central government was put in the hands of 16 committees with 25% of membership changed each month (reduced power of cps and cgs)
• new represents en mission dispatched

Question 5

what happened to the Paris commune?

Answer 5

abolished in 1795

Question 6

when was the Jacobin club closed down?

Answer 6

12 november 1794

Question 7

when was the law of general maximum repealed?

Answer 7

24 December 1794

Question 8

what happened to the revolutionary tribunal?

Answer 8

abolished in May 1795

Question 9

when was the law of suspects repealed?

Answer 9

October 1795

Question 10

what was the white terror?

Answer 10

the series of purges which the thermidorians took action against former proponents of the terror.

Question 11

who were the Muscadins?

Answer 11

the mobs of young bourgeois men armed with clubs who attacked sans culottes and Jacobins

Question 12

what did those who had been victims in the terror do?

Answer 12

those who had been persecuted such as the chouan and peasants in the vendee formed gangs and militias to drive out and murder local Jacobins

Question 13

what is an example of these gangs or militias?

Answer 13

may 1795- a violent massacre in Lyons where Jacobin prisoners were hauled from cells and slaughtered

Question 14

what were the threats to the stability of France in early 1795?

Answer 14

Jacobins

emigres and royalists who wanted to restore the Catholic Church

Question 15

what did the thermidorians do to crush the hopes of emigres?

Answer 15

maintained bans on religious dress, symbols and processions

Question 16

when was the victory at Fleurus?

Answer 16

June 1794 led to the recapture of Austrian Netherlands

Question 17

what caused the Paris risings of 1795?

Answer 17

the real value of the assignat was only a tenth of its original. in may the bread ration fell to 60g a day and people starved and froze to death

Question 18

what happened in the rising of germinal?

Answer 18

1 April 1795
10,000 invaded convention demanding bread and the constitution of 1793.
when national guard arrived they dispersed. But the convention still placed Paris under martial law

Question 19

what happened in the rising of prairial?

Answer 19

20/21 may 1795
large numbers of s-c women and some armed men invaded the convention and murdered deputy Feraud.
they demanded release of Jacobin prisoners and instalment of Constitution of 1793

Question 20

how did the convention react to the rising of prairial?

Answer 20

they instated a food commission however the rebels didn’t disperse, the following day 20,000 s-c and National guard trained loaded canon on convention.
40,000 troops called in to dispel crowds, no shots were fired. the leader were rounded up an arrested

Question 21

what happened in the rising of vendemiare?

Answer 21

5 October 1795
royalist uprising as they believed a plebiscite held had been rigged.
as news of an approaching army reached Paris, the convention assembled 3 battalions.
faced with a crowd of 25,000 armed, Napoleon was put in charge

Question 22

how did Napoleon deal with the rising of vendemiare?

Answer 22

the royalists outnumbered republicans six to one, Napoleon found 40 cannon which he fired into their ranks and around 300 killed

Question 23

what was the Constitution of the directory?

Answer 23

created the directory in November 1795

Question 24

how many directors were there in its 4 year life?

Answer 24

13 including Carnot, sieyes, Barras

Question 25

what was the structure of the directory?

Answer 25

The directory-(5 members chosen by ancients from a list provided by 500)
Council of 500-(proposed and drew up all legislation but did not vote on it)
Council of Ancients-(250 members, examined and approved legislation but did not propose it)

Question 26

what were the problems with the directory?

Answer 26

no prominent leader stood out which left directory without clear direction and directors with different political views did not work well together. There was no mechanism to solve disputes between directors

Question 27

what were the financial and economic problems faced?

Answer 27

• by 1795 assignats worthless and change of economic control caused inflation
• directory had badly unbalanced budget (made worse by war), and problems with tax collection
• problems of food supply persisted hindered poor harvest in 1795
• trading situation compromised by British naval blockade

Question 28

what efforts were made to address the economic problems?

Answer 28

*switch from paper currency to metal currency. directiry made one last attempt at paper money with mandats however value became worthless due to counterfeit
coins became only currency
*1795 weights and measures standardised
*taxation system reorganised, new property tax

Question 29

what were the political threats faced by the directory?

Answer 29

continuing jacobinism from Babeuf and royalists

Question 30

what did Babeuf campaign for?

Answer 30

campaigned for rights of the poor and for constitution of 1793. however in 1796 under economic circumstances he called for a revival of the Terror

Question 31

what happened to Babeuf?

Answer 31

Babeuf was guillotined in May 1797 for the plan known as ‘the conspiracy of equals’

Question 32

what led to the coup de Fructidor?

Answer 32

in April 1797 constitutional monarchists did well in elections and increased total number of seat to 1/3.
which feared the directors,

Question 33

what happened in the coup de Fructidor?

Answer 33

so to prevent this the directors produced evidence that Pichegru had made contact with monarchists emigres and had him arrested and accused council 500 of acting against the revolution

Question 34

what was the outcome of the coup de Fructidor?

Answer 34

in Paris 177 royalist deputies arrested, of these 53 exiled to french guiana including Pichegru

Question 35

what was the coup of Floreal?

Answer 35

11 may 1798- results of elections in march 1798 were alarming as Jacobins soared ahead. The results were altered by the Law of 22 Floreal which purged 127 deputies from council 500 before they could take their seats

Question 36

what was the Law of 22 Floreal?

Answer 36

1798- purged 127 deputies from their seats before they could take them

Question 37

when was the coup of prairial (1798)

Answer 37

18 June 1798

Question 38

what was the law of hostages?

Answer 38

introduced by sieyes in 1799 allowed local authorities to take action against potential radicals

Question 39

when was the coup of Brumaire?

Answer 39

October 1799- the downfall of the directory and sieyes Called for a new Constitution

Question 40

what was the constitution of Year VIII?

Answer 40

24 December 1799 created the French consulate with Napoleon as first counsul

Question 41

what ideas did the constitution of 1793 hold?

Answer 41

*all adult males could vote
*every man had the right to use direct political action
*everyone was entitled to public assistance: state provide work
*stressed the idea that society was more important thant the individual
it was never adopted

Question 42

what years did the directory last?

Answer 42

1795-1799