The Directory, 1795-1799 McKay 711-714, Palmer 9.45 The French Revolution The Directory, 1795-1799 McKay 711-714, Palmer 9.45

Crane Brinton & The Anatomy of Revolution Moderate Period 1789-1792 “Age of Montesquieu” Constitutional Monarchy Liberal moderates in control National Assembly/Legislative Assembly Limited Change Limited enfranchise-ment Radical Period 1792-1794 “Age of Rousseau” Republic Strong central government Radicals in control Convention Major Change Total enfranchise- ment Terror Command economy Utopian/ idealized vision Thermidorian Period 1794-1799 “Age of Smith” Oligarchy Moderates Bourgeoisie government Directory Reactionary stage Idealized visions of Rev forgotten Period of decadence Free Market economy High Inflation Reliance on Strong Man Restoration Period 1799-1804 “Age of Voltaire” Enlightened Despotism Consulate Government centralized with enlightened ideals Old Order returns to power

Thermidorian Reaction Robespierre Executed (7/28/94) -Thermidorian Reaction Begins Coup d’ etat of Brumaire (11/9/1799) -Consulate begins End of Revolution? Constitution of 1795 Rule of the Directory 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1804 Napoleon crowned Emperor -Restoration Begins White Terror attacks Jacobins Coup d ‘etat of Fructidor (September 4) 1797 Price Controls Abolished

The “Thermidorian Reaction” Named based on execution of Robespierre on the 9th of Thermidor (Revolutionary calendar) Curtailed the power of the Committee for Public Safety Closed the Jacobin Clubs Churches were reopened Freedom of religion granted Economic restrictions were lifted in favor of laissez-faire policies Constitution of 1795 more conservative republicanism

Characteristics of the Directory Paris Commune was outlawed Law of 22 Prairial was revoked Reign of Terror over “White” Terror People involved in the original Terror were now attacked Inflation skyrocketed Price of bread, shoes Rule by rich bourgeois liberals Period of Self-indulgence frivolous culture, salons reopen, wild fashions Political corruption/instability Catholicism Revived Jeunesse Doree (Gilded Youth) flaunted their wealth at the Bals des victimes, or victims' balls Madame Tallien (Notre Dame de Thermidor) came to opera wearing a semi see-through dress. Theresa Tallien- The “IT” girl of the Directory earned the moniker Notre-Dame de Thermidor ("Our Lady of Thermidor") as the person who was most likely to intervene in favor of the detained Her salon saw the Neo Grec fashion of the Directory Married to Jean Tallien, commisary of the Convention who got her release from Robbespierre’s prison during the Terror She was a very colorful figure; one story is that she was said to bathe in the juice of strawberries for their healing properties. She once arrived at the Tuileries Palace, the then chief residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, supported by a black page, with eight sapphire rings and six toe rings, a gold bracelet on each ankle and nine bracelets on each arm. To top the look off Theresa had a head band covered in rubies. On another occasion she appeared at the Paris Opera wearing a white silk dress without sleeves and not wearing any underwear.

The Directory Constitution of 1795 Supported mainly by wealthy (bourgeoisie) Restricted to the politically active class Universal male (over 21) suffrage selected electors Electors were usually wealthy Electors chose department officials and members of the Legislative Assembly Lower Chamber= Council of the 500 Initiate legislation Upper Chamber= Council of Ancients (250) married or widowed males over 40 years of age Chose the Directory (5 executives) Council of Ancients Council of 500

Enemies of the Directory Gracchus Babeuf & Conspiracy of Equals Jacobins Herbertists Sans Cullottes Royalists Count of Provence Peasants Spain, Austria, GB, Prussia Revolutionaries Moderates Reactionaries

Political Instability: 1795-1796 April, 1795  Inflation; bread riots Price of bread rose 13xs Fire wood went from 20 to 500 assignats October, 1795 : Vendée and Brittany revolted Royalist coup stopped by Napoleon Bonaparte 13 Vendémiaire Revolt by Royalist and Catholics against the Directory Napoleon stopped them “with a whiff of grapeshot” Directory relies of strongman to survive May, 1796  First “communist” revolt Gracchus Babeuf and the Conspiracy of Equals”

Directory’s Enemies on the Right Louis XVI’s son died in prison in 1795 Louis XVIII (16’s brother became heir) Count of Provence Directed royalists against Directory from Verona, Italy Not too politically bright Declaration of Verona announced his intention to restore Old Regime and punish revolutionaries since 1789 (duh) “Bourbons learned nothing and forgot nothing.” French don’t love Con of 1795 but Restoration to them means Return of privileged nobility Reimplementation of the manorial system

Directory’s Enemies on the Left Conspiracy of Equals (1796) Planned armed uprising on Floréal 22, year IV (11 May 1796) Gracchus Babeuf Led group of Jacobins and socialists radical journalist Father of anarchists, communists Wanted to abolish private property, install political & economic equality Tried to overthrow the Directory with a dictatorship Captured & guillotined in 1796 Yet Directory ignored hardships of lower classes Gracchus Babeuf

The aim of the French Revolution is to destroy inequality and the to reestablish the general welfare…The Revolution is not complete because the rich monopolize all the property and govern exclusively, while the poor toil like slaves, languish in misery, and count for nothing in the state. The Conspiracy of Equals (Circa 1795)

Fashion of the Directory Periods Directory period mores turned against values of Convention Phrygian cap became so yesterday Jeunesse doree (gilded youth) set cultural standards Square collars, fancy clothes Long flowing white robes with plunging necklines Familiar tu dropped in favor of vous (Old Regime) “Dance of the Victims” A ball in which relatives of those killed in the Terror partied Radical Period Thermidorian Period

Napoleon Background

Coup d’etat of Fructidor Directory seizure of power First free election was held in March 1797 Royalists won many seats and on verge of political control (Council of 500) Republicans, regicides, and Napoleon could not let royalists get control Nap never would have risen in Old Regime Coup d etat of Fructidor (September 4) 1797 Fructidorian government Directory annuled the elections of the spring to keep the royalists out Ironically violate their own Constitution of the year III Exiled 2 Directors To save the republic (they say) they had to violate their own constitution

Proclamation of the Directory to the French People 9 September 1797 (23 Fructidor Year V) The French people have entrusted the custody of their Constitution primarily to the fidelity of the Legislative Body and the executive power. A royalist plot, whose organization has been long in the making and which has been skillfully woven and patiently sustained, has threatened the integrity of this trust. The Executive Directory discovered the plan and arrested the guilty parties, while the Legislative Body immediately took the necessary measures. The Legislative Body and the Executive Directory have performed their duty.

Foreign Policy of Directory Expansion continues 10/1797 treaty of Campo Formio Austria recognized French annexation of Belgium (former Austrian Netherlands) & Northern Italy Pope deposed and Roman Republic declared First Coalition collapses Now only England is still at war with France

The Coup d’etat Brumaire After Fructidor coup constitutionalism is given up Directory becomes an ineffective dictatorship Repudiated debts guerrilla activity in Vendee flares up Religious schism became more acute as Directory persecuted refractory clergy Napoleon invades Egypt (indirect strike at British) Discovers Rosetta Stone British fleet cuts off French army in Egypt Napoleon abandons his army and returns to Paris British caricature of the 18th of Brumaire. “The Corsican Crocodile dissolving the Council of Frogs.” Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek. Because it presents essentially the same text in all three scripts (with some minor differences between them), it provided the key to the modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Egypt

The Coup d’etat Brumaire Napoleon’s seizure of power Directory needs a “strong man” Abbe Sieyes “confidence from below, authority from above” Selects popular general Napoleon Bonaparte Sieyes thinks he will be the real “power behind the throne” Coup d’ etat of Brumaire (11/9/1799) Napoleon seized power chosen as a member of the Consulate (3) and becomes first Consul 11/1799 France becomes an Enlightened Despotism

First Consul