The Thermidorian Reaction Flashcards
what happened 31st of ….
Vacancies on the CPS and CGS, created by the latest round of guillotines, were mostly filled by moderate Dantonists and members of the Plain. This indicated the future of the government however some like Tallien were the opposite as he was a former Jacobin who supported the Coup and helped lead the reaction.
what happened 1st …
Law of 22 Prairial was repealed and many held under its terms were released from the goals.
what happened …….
10 August- The Revolutionary Tribunal was reorganized, the number of guillotines reduced and exile to Guyana saw an increase
what happened…
24 August- The Law of Revolutionary Government provided for the complete reorganisation of government and administration away from the highly centralized structure of the terror
- the revolutionary committees were reduced to one per department. there were 12 in Paris, this broke the power of the sans-culottes in the sections and laid the basis for the structuring of Paris by 12 arrondissements
- central government was in the hands of 16 committees, responsible to the convention. provision was made for regular changes of membership, 25% of members changed each month. this reduced the power of the CPS and CGS and the CPS was limited to issues of diplomacy, military operations and war materials
- new representants-en-mission were dispatched to the provinces to oversee these changes and ensure Jacobins were removed from positions of authority
what happened
31 August- the powers of the Paris Commune were reduced as part of the changes to the government and completely abolished in 1795
what was the white terror
a series of purges and campaigns by which the Thermidorians took action against the former proponents of the Terror
who was involved in the terror
supported in this by the Muscadins (mobs of well-off bourgeoisie young men who sought to fight with Jacobins) and Jeunesse doree (gilded youth)
they were armed with canes and wooden clubs, attacked sans-culottes and Jacobin, felled Trees of Liberty, forced the closure of pro-Jacobin newspaper
who encouraged them
encouraged by Freron, helped in the destruction of the Jacobin Club, led the campaign to ‘de-martyrise’ Marat and helped defend the convention in May 1795
why did they do this
those who were victims of the Terror such as the Chouans formed gangs and militia to drive out, or sometimes murder, local Jacobin
some like the Compagnies de Jehu in Lyons were royalists but others simply sought vengeance and much of the violence was spontaneous
what was the conventions response
the convention tried to mediate (offering amnesties to anyone who handed in arms in the Vendee) but there were several instances of extreme behaviour and a particularly violent massacre in Lyons in May 1795, when Jacobin prisoners were hauled from cells and slaughtered
the White Terror was never as bloody and indiscriminate as the Great Terror
how were Jacobins targeted
The Revolutionary Tribulanl’s continuation until the end of May 1795 was largely to permit legal action against Jacobins.
a number of R-E-Ps such as Carrier were condemned and executed
however, some Jacobins such as Herboius all of whom had turned against Robespierre and supported the Thermidor Coup were given lesser sentences and sent to the French colony
how did the royalists react
numbers of returning emigres, royalists, and those who wanted to see the Catholic Church restored to its former position
the emigre’s desire to regain their property was threat enough but some went far further and sought the restoration of the monarchy LXVI brother, Comte de Provence encouraged this in his Verona Declaration of June 1795 when he promised to restore French glory and take revenge on all regicide
Comte Artois made a bid for power liking up with royalist Chouan rebels in Brittany and supporting a British-led invasion
what happened from Feb to July
Feb 1795- the Republicans concluded the Treaty of La Juanaye with royalist rebels in the west
April- a peace was agreed with the Chouans at la Prevelaye
July- General Hoche defeated a rising at Quiberon Bay in southern Brittany, resulting in the execution of 700 emigres
what was the termodorian’s view of church
the Thermidorian tried to crush the hopes of seeking to reinstate the Catholic church by maintaining bans on religious dress, symbols, processions and bell ringing despite its broad policy of toleration
decreed that all religious gatherings were subject to the surveillance of the authorities
restrictions were widely ignored by Catholic clergymen which forced the convention to reintroduce an oath of loyalty in Feb 1795
what was happening in war
victory of Fleurus of June 1794 led to the re-capture of the Austrian Netherlands
french success against the United Provinces led to the proclamation of the Batavian Republic in Jan 1795. The Prussians opted to leave the coalition signing the Peace of Basel in April and ceding the West Bank of the Rhine to France
the success of the French army in Spain forced the Spanish to make peace in July and the pre-war borders were re-established. this allowed the French army of the Pyrenees to March eat and reinforce the armies of the Alps which faced Austria’s ally, Piedmont—Sardinia which left only Britain and Austria at war and allowed the Thermidoriuans to concentrate on internal matters
why did 1795 Paris Risings start
- monarchists believed that a plebiscite held in September to win support for a new, non-monarchical, Constitution had been rigged
- bourgeoisie Thermidorians favoured economic freedom for business and commerce so they ended price control, deregulated trade and restored paper currency
- the ending of the maximum and increased printing of paper assignat proved disastrous as the poor harvest of 1794 followed by a freezing winter in 1794
- April 1795- the real value of the assignments was only a tenth of its original value and continued to fall, forcing factories to close
- farmers refused to sell grain to supply the capital for paper money on 10 May the bread ration for Parisians fell to 60g per day. hundreds starved, froze to death or committed suicide
Rising of germinal what and outcome
1 April 1795
- 10,000 invaded the convention demanding Bread and the Constitution of 1793.
- the demonstrators were not armed or organised
- contingents of the NG came and they withdrew without resistance and leading agitators were arrested
- convention placed Paris under martial law, gave command for the city to Pichergru and sought out and arrested some whom it believed to be agitators
- sped up deportations of former Jacobins and ordered the disarming in Paris and the provinces
rising of Prairal
20/21 May 1795)
- more than 10,000 S-Cs women and some armed men invaded the Convention
- murdered a deputy, Feraud who tried to stop them and paraded his head on a pike
- demanded the release of Jacobin prisoners, the reinstatement of the Constitution of 1793 and new controls to ensure a better supply of food in the capital
- the convention agreed to establish a food commission
- as the rebels failed to disperse it called in troops to drive them out. Muscadins helped in defence of the convention hurling insults at the mobs
- the next day 20,000 sans-culottes and NG-trained loaded canon on the convention
- 40,000 regular soldiers were called in to dispel the crowds as the largest display of military force in Paris since the revolution began
- no shots were fired, the two sides negotiated, petitions were presented and lulled by further promises the SCs withdrew
- Convention marched troops to the Saint-Antion, the insurgent’s home territory and forced the surrender of weapons. leaders were rounded up the murdered of Feraud tracked dome and who had defected to the rioters sought out and all those found bearing arms or rebel emblems
- 6000 were cross-examined and 42 NG were executed
rising of vendemaire
5 October)
- this was a royalist rising
- anger was further excited by reports that the Comte Artois had landed at the Ile d’Yeu and produced pro-royalist demonstrations led by Muscadines, factory and property owners who despaired of a Republican government that had failed to protect their interests
- But economic motivations such as high inflation
- the convention assembled three battalions by calling on unemployed Jacobin army officers who had been dismissed after 9 Thermidor
- 25,000 armed Parisians (artisans and skilled workers) marching on the convention Napoleon who was permitted to take command of the republic 5000-6000 troops
- 13 Venedemaire (5 October) armed royalist groups surrounded the convention outnumbering the republicans by 6 to 1
- Bonaparte with Murat found 40 cannon which he fired into their ranks the royalists were repulsed and around 300 killed
what were wider implications of the 1795 Paris risings
Willing to use the army to suppress all the uprisings
Stamp out all radicalism through the past influence of the Jacobins
Make sure that moderate republicanism set the scene for the France’s governance
