Thermidorian reaction / Directory Flashcards
(24 cards)
Who were the thermadorians
Those who helped overthrow Robespierre- mixed - CPS/CGS terrorists - plain etc
What was the conventions goal at the end of the terror
Abolish Rev tribunal
Release suspects in prison
Closed the Jacobin club and repeal the law of prarial (10 June)
Abandoning centralising
25% of member of 2 comi tees had to be changed each month
16 new committees of convention set up
When/ what was the separation of the church from the state
21ST FEB 1795 freedom of worship- the government was religiously neutral
What did thermadorians want to do with price controls and what happened
Get rid of price controls because Wanted a free market Abolish maximum aug 1794 Price controls dec 1794 Printed more assignats Price of bread high and bad harvests and assignat value at 4%
What/ when was Germinal
1st April 1795
Popular demonstration
10.000 unarmed demanded bread and constitution of 1793
Stopped by nat guard w out resistance
What / when was prarial
20th may 1795 Serious armed rebellion demanding bread Army stopped the uprising but could have been very serious with out Failed for sc because Workers were divided No institution eg commune to stop Politically inexperienced Lost support from Radical bourgeoisie Army used first time since 1789
What did the thermadorians want?
End of terror
Price controls abolished - free market favoured
Abandon CPS centralisation
Dismantle machinery of terror eg Rev tribunal local power
Cut all ties with religion eg freedom or worship Feb 21st 1795
What did the thermadorians want?
Self preservation
CGSmembers who resented loss of power to CSP
Terrorists who feared for their lives eg fouche
Just to stay alive eg surviving dantonists eg legendre
CPS members who felt threatened eg barere
Members of the plain
What did the thermadorians want?
Revenge
White terror
Violence in France - NWSE and guerilla in vedee
CHOUAN- cotterau leader- Brittany - in control from 1794-6 with English help - royalist activity - Quiberon bay June 1795 3000 emigrees land and thousands of chouans help. Hoche defeated them. 6000 arrests including 1000 emigrees.
Jeunesse doree- reactionary movement - gangs of youth
What did the thermadorians want?
Primacy of the bougeiosie
New constitution guarantee principles of 1789
All males 21+ can vote if pay taxes vote for electors - electors choose deputies- electors 30.000 of them, had to pay taxes for 150 days of labour so had to be rich to be one
Separated executive and legaslative power
Ensure no return to Monarch, dictator or sc rule
What was the legaslative power
2 chambers
Council of 500- 500 men over the age of 30 initiate legislation and pass to ancients
Council of ancients - 250 men- 40 years and above approve or object bills
Annual elections - 1/3rd of men retire
What was executive power
Directory of 5
Chosen by ancients from a list drawn up by the 500
5 directs hold office for 5 years
Could not initiate or veto laws
In charge of military. Diplomacy . Law enforcement
What were the weakness in the constitution
Annual elections = instability
No way to resolve conflict between the 2 councils
Councils could paralyse the directory
What was the 2/3rd decree
A decree by the gment stating that 2/3rds of the new councils must be chosen from the convention deputies to prevent royalist majority
When was the new constitution agreed to and what did it show
22nd August 1795
4 million didn’t vote - showed public apathy
What was the Verona declaration
After Louis XV1 son killed in prison in June 1795 the Kings bother immediately announced himself king of France and said he was going to restore the anciem regieme - he was in exile in Italy
It was a very reactionary document
What affects did the Verona declaration have
Turned some constitutional monarchists away from that idea and more towards a republic - exact opposite to what it intended to do
What and when was the vendiemiare uprising ?
5TH OCTOBER 1795
Large crowd 25.000 gathered outside convention to sieze power triggered by the 2/3rd decree- but also due to economic problems
Napoleon crush the uprising with a ‘whiff of grapeshoot’
300 killed in journee
What was the directory
The new 1/3 of the council or 500 after vendiemiare and the dissolution of the convention
Stable and liberal gment
Survived because Commited to restoring rule of law Opponents eg jacobin terror defeated Royalists divided Public apathy Army supported them
What and when was the babeuf plot
1796 MARCH Radical pamphleteer in tribun de ppl First communists- no private land Disliked the new constitution Overthrow directory by coup Arrested and killed in May 1796
What was the coup de fructidor
September 3/4 1797- 17-18 fructidor
Stopped a royalist majority by cancelling elections in most the sections and deporting deputies to guina. Used troops
Ended parliament government and a victory for the executive over legislative
What happened to emigrees and refractory persist after the coup
Royalists had 2 weeks to leave or they were executed and priests had to take an oath rejecting royalty of they were to be deported- many didn’t - created an enemy for the directory in Catholics
What did the directors do with financial reform
Feb 1796- new currency Mondat terratoux introduced- due to falling assignat- these failed and were worthless within a year too - coins only money - deflation
2/3rd of the national debt was wiped out by ramel ‘bankruptcy of 2/3rd’ helped to stabilise the French currency - only 80 million debt
Increasing government revenue
Direct and indirect taxes were introduced eg on widows and doors
New methods of collection of tax put in place
Plunder of other countries
October 1797- balance the budget for the first time since the revolution began
The war ?
Austria - the defeat
Napoleon defeated piedmont then Vienna in Feb 1797
Armistice with Austria in April
Campo formio 18th October 1797 - napoleon ignored directors instruction and gave Austria Venice - directors do nltbing cos they knew they may need him
May 1798 Nap goes to Egypt to attack Brits empire but was defeated by nelson in the battle on Egypt in 1798- this defeat encouraged other countries to take up arms against France again - lead to a second co aliton
