The Thermidorian reaction and rise of Napoleon Flashcards
List key political developments July-August 1794
- On 31st July (13th Thermidor), four days after the ‘Coup of Thermidor’, vacancies on the CPS and CGS were mostly filled with moderate Dantonists and members of ‘the Plain’. Some vacancies were even filled by former Montagnards (i.e.., Jean-Lambert Tallien) who had conveniently forgot his own involvement in the Terror and supported the coup of Thermidor
- On 1st August, the Law of 22 Prairial was repealed and many held under its terms were released from the gaols. Fouquier-Tinville, the feared public prosecutor during the Terror, was arrested on the same day.
- On 10th August, the Revolutionary Tribunal was reorganised and it was decided that exile to Guiana, in South America, should be used more often as an alternative to guillotining (though people were still executed for their involvement in the Terror, like Fouquier-Tinville)
What happened on 24th August, and how did this strengthen/weaken government
- On 24th August, the Law on Revolutionary Government moved France completely away from the highly centralised structure of terror
a) Revolutionary committees were reduced to one per department, with 12 in Paris (one for every four sections) – significantly reduces the power of the sans-culottes whilst not overly aggravating Parisians (who have more political influence) through enabling slightly more representation in Paris
b) Central government was put in the hands of 16 committees responsible to the Convention. There are regular changes to membership, with 25% of members being changed each month – separation of powers and rotating membership frequently is good in preventing despotism, but possibly creates a less stable government as all deputies are making policies with a short-term mindset
c) New representatives-on-mission were sent out to the provinces, but this time to remove Jacobins from positions of authority rather than prop up their control – no reason this would be problematic
List key reforms September-December 1794
On 18th September, the church and state were formally separated, with the state no longer paying clerical salaries (ended the ‘Constitutional Church’ which had acted as a branch of government)
* On 12th November, the Jacobin club was closed, and all its affiliated societies were disbanded
* On 24th December, the Law of the Maximum was repealed
* In December, the 73 deputies who had signed a resolution in supported of the expelled Girondin deputies were readmitted to the Convention (the moderates basically have full control over both central and local government)
How did the political reforms of the Thermidorian government cause the Germinal rising?
- On 24th August 1794, the revolutionary committees were dramatically reduced in number, with only 12 in Paris (one for every four sections)
- In 1795 the Commune had been entirely abolished
- The power of the sections was further reduced as the assemblies were prohibited from meeting more than once every ten days
- There was also resistance to the closure of the Jacobin club, the abolition of the 40 sous, and the destruction of the busts of Marat
Combined with the continued Jacobin propaganda kept up by the L’ami du people, this political suppression of the sans-culottes’ power created a sense of political discontent which unleashed itself in the Germinal rising on 1st April
How did economic reforms cause the Germinal rising?
- On 24th December the Laws of the Maximum were abolished, perhaps seeing it as linked to the terror by association but forgetting that it was actually pretty successful in improving the economic situation.
- This economic decline is reflected in the steady decline of the value of the assignat from 36% in July, to 24% in November, to 17% in February, and then to 7.5% in May.
- The price of bread also increased from 25 sous on 28th March to 65 sous on 11 April to 16 livres (which each comprise 20 sous) to 16 livres on 18th May (two weeks before the 1st Prairial rising)
Describe events of the Germinal rising - what evidence indicates that the rising was a serious threat, and what evidence suggests the opposite?
- On 1st April, around 10,000 men and women of the sections burst in on the Convention in the middle of a speech, shouting for bread
- Some of them wore on their revolutionary caps the slogan ‘du pain et la Constitution de 1793’, showing how they were motivated by both economic suffering and a sense of having been ripped off ideologically/politically
- But some of the demonstrators were not that radical in their aims, and were even applauded by the Convention for their moderate speeches
- Two Montagnard deputies were the ones who told the demonstrators to discharge their business quickly (showing that support for the masses amongst the central government was basically entirely lost)
- The demonstrators dispersed without offering any resistance when the National Guard turned up to escort them out
How did the Thermidorian government respond to the Germinal rising? How did this create instability?
- Minor disturbances followed in the subsequent couple days, Paris was declared to be in a state of siege, and Barere, Billaud-Varenne and Collot d’Herbois (despite having led the coup of Thermidor), were now denounced as terrorists and sentenced to deportation – arguably was unnecessary violence and merely angering the people (of whom these deputies represented)
- The Convention failed to recognise the seriousness of the Parisians’ economic struggles, and didn’t respond to their crisis with enough energy – the convention decreed that the bread ration should be supplemented with rice and biscuits, but this didn’t address the heart of the issue (being inflation and the lack of any imposed maximum prices)
