1. Constitutional Republic: The Directory, 1795-1799
Section 9.45

2. 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
Napoleon crowned Emperor
-Restoration Begins
White Terror attacks Jacobins
Coup d etat of Fructidor (September 4) 1797
Price Controls Abolished

3. The Weakness of the Directory
Constitution of 1795
Supported manly by Wealthy
Restricted the politically active class
Universal male suffrage selected electors
Electors were usually wealthy
Electors chose department officials and members of the Legislative Assembly
Lower Chamber= Council of the 500
Upper Chamber= Council of Ancients (250)
Chose the Directory (5 executives)
Council of Ancients
Council of 500

4. Enemies of the Directory
Gracchus Babeuf & Lower Class
(hurt by Laissez Faire); Declaration of Verona
and Conspiracy of Equals; the Count of Provence;
Jacobins; Herbertists ; Royalists

5. Directory’s Enemies on the Right
Louis XVIII
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

6. Directory’s Enemies on the Left
Conspiracy of Equals (1796)
group led by Gracchus Babeuf
Wanted to overthrow the Directory with a dictatorship
called it democratic
Wanted to abolish private property, equality decreed
a precursor to communism
Babeuf is guillotined
Yet Directory ignored hardships of lower classes
Gracchus Babeuf

7. Fashion: Convention v Directory Periods
Radical Period
Thermidorian Period

8. Napoleon Educated in a French military school
Barras, head of state security, selected Napoleon to defend the Convention against
attacks by royalists
Married Josephine de
Beauharnais, a leader of society
In two years he defeated the
Austrians, won control of most of
Italy, and made the Peace of
Campo Formio

9. The Political Crisis of 1797: Summary
French royalists won elections
Republicans worked a coup d’etat, with Napoleon's help, the “Coup d’etat de Fructidor”
Directory annulled the 3/1797 elections and made peace with Austria
France also annexed
Belgium and the
west bank of the
Rhine

10. Coup d’etat of Fructidor: Details
3/1797- first free election is held:
Royalists win many seats and are gaining political control
Republicans, regicides, and Napoleon can not let royalists get control
(Napoleon, for one, never would have risen in “Old Regime”)

11. Coup d’etat of Fructidor (September 4, 1797):
The Fructidorian government, or
Directory, annuls the elections of the spring to keep the royalists out and Directors violate their own Constitution of the year III.
Directory first purges 2 Directors:
One, Lazare Carnot, driven into exile
To save the republic (they said), they had to violate their own constitution…

12. Foreign Policy of Directory
Expansion continues:
10/1797- Treaty of Campo Formio
Austria recognizes French annexation of Belgium (former Austrian Netherlands) & Northern Italy
Pope deposed and Roman Republic declared
Only England is still at war with France
Napoleon’s aggression is directed toward Egypt
Young Napoleon

13. The Coup d’Etat of 1799 Bonaparte
After Fructidor coup constitutionalism is given up
Directory becomes an ineffective dictatorship
They repudiate debts
Guerrilla activity in Vendee flares up
Religious schism becomes more acute as Directory persecutes refractory clergy
Napoleon feints toward India with the invasion of Egypt (indirect strike at British)
British fleet cuts off French army in Egypt
Napoleon abandons his army and returns to Paris on his own.

14. Egypt

15. The Coup d’Etat of 1799: Bonaparte
Directory is looking for a general to keep a lid on France
Abbe Sieyes says “confidence from below, authority from above”
Coup d’ etat of Brumaire (11/9/1799)
Napoleon is chosen as a member of the Consulate (3) and becomes first Consul 11/1799