T4: Problems facing the Directory

Question 1

when did the new constitution come into effect?

Answer 1

22nd Aug 1795

Question 2

what did the new constitution do?

Answer 2

intended to be moderate. dissolved the Thermidorian gov and created the Directory

Question 3

what was the Directory?

Answer 3

new 5-man executive created 22nd Aug 1795

Question 4

when was the White Terror?

Answer 4

1794-5

Question 5

what was the White Terror?

Answer 5

anti-Jacobin backlash

Question 6

was politics did the propagators of the White Terror have?

Answer 6

NOT exclusively royalist - although some emigres and refractory priests, most not intent on restoring the monarchy

Question 7

what group carried out the White Terror in Paris?

Answer 7

Jeunesse doree aka gilded youth

Question 8

who were the jeunesse doree?

Answer 8

youths from bourgeois classes who attacked and intimidated Jacobins and SC in Paris

Question 9

who encouraged the jeunesse doree?

Answer 9

journalists such as Louis Fréron in L’Orateur du Peuple

Question 10

what was the subculture of the jeunesse doree?

Answer 10

style of dress and songs and ballads that starkly contrasted the SC

Question 11

what did the jeunesse doree represent?

Answer 11

shift of political balance away from radical politics of Jacobinism

Question 12

what reaction did the government have towards the White Terror? why?

Answer 12

didnt condemn the White Terror - keen to embrace the shift away from Jacobin politics that it represented

Question 13

where did the White Terror take place?

Answer 13

cities where the Jacobin Terror had been most extreme e.g. Paris, Lyon, Toulon, Marseilles

Question 14

what is the estimated number of deaths in 1795 from the White Terror?

Answer 14

2000

Question 15

Lyon stat for White Terror?

Answer 15

1795- prison murders in Lyon killed hundreds

Question 16

in which city did prison murders kill hundreds in 1795?

Answer 16

Lyon

Question 17

what happened to Jacobins after the Coup of Thermidor? example?

Answer 17

those who were not killed in the coup were prosecuted and punished e.g. Collot d’Herbiois was exiled to French Guyana

Question 18

where was Collot d’Herbois exiled to?

Answer 18

French Guyana

Question 19

who was exiled to French Guyana?

Answer 19

Collot d’Herbois

Question 20

was the extreme left completely broken in 1795?

Answer 20

no - Fouche still supported Jacobin ideas and led a new wave of Jacobinism/ neo-Jacobinism. Paris witnessed influx of Jacobins from provinces

Question 21

why did Paris witness an influx of Jacobins?

Answer 21

fled from provinces to anonymous big city to escape the White Terror

Question 22

what happened to royalism in 1795?

Answer 22

resurgence - were allowed to re-enter politics

Question 23

how did extremists compare to moderates in terms of numbers in 1795?

Answer 23

moderates greatly outnumbered extremists in the Directory

Question 24

why did many in the Directory greatly fear the restoration of the monarchy?

Answer 24

many of them were regicides (had voted for the execution of the king)

Question 25

when had the Thermidoreans abolished price controls?

Answer 25

Dec 1794

Question 26

what did the Thermidoreans abolish in Dec 1794?

Answer 26

price controls

Question 27

when were there bad winters?

Answer 27

winters of 1794 and 1795

Question 28

what was the result of bad winters 1794+5?

Answer 28

price of essential goods rocketed --> disease, famine and death

Question 29

stats for increase in prices?

Answer 29

a sack of firewood cost 20 livres in 1790, cost 500 livres in 1795

Question 30

what did the removal of price controls mean for the government

Answer 30

had to pay market price for arms for the revolutionary army

Question 31

how did the government handle paying increased prices for arms?

Answer 31

printed more assignats

Question 32

result of gov printing more assignats?

Answer 32

by 1796, assignat had lost 96% of original value

Question 33

by what year had the assignat lost 96% of original value?

Answer 33

1796

Question 34

what percentage of Parisians relied on urban officials for relief?

Answer 34

20%

Question 35

what did inflation mean for poor relief in Paris?

Answer 35

farmers would no longer accept paper currency for corn--> urban officials could not secure food for poor relief --> anger and starvation

Question 36

stat for result of economic issues?

Answer 36

Town of Rouen: death rate 3x higher than normal in 1795

Question 37

what crime did famine encourage?

Answer 37

gangs of violent bandits in the north known as chauffeurs who would rob travellers

Question 38

why could chauffeurs not be stopped?

Answer 38

National Guard insufficiently resourced to tackle

Question 39

what caused uprisings in Paris?

Answer 39

economic issues

Question 40

what 2 uprisings occurred in Paris in 1795?

Answer 40

- Rising of Germinal - Rising of Prairial

Question 41

when was the rising of Germinal?

Answer 41

1 April 1795

Question 42

when was the rising of Prairial?

Answer 42

20th May 1795

Question 43

details of the rising of Germinal

Answer 43

- peaceful protest - 10,000 marched on the Convention demanding bread - arrival of NG was enough to disperse the crowd

Question 44

details of the rising of Prairial?

Answer 44

- more serious threat to the Convention - large crowd of SC + some NG surrounded the assembly - demanded action on food shortages

Question 45

how did the Thermidorean Convention respond to the rising of Prairial?

Answer 45

small concession - set up a Food Commission to investigate the issue BUT no longer willing to be pushed into radical action so deployed 20,000 troops to crush the insurrection

Question 46

what was the significance of the risings of Germinal and Prairial?

Answer 46

- show the extent of dissatisfaction at economic situation - reveal how the power of the SC had been broken - showed that post-Thermidorean gov would not be dictated by popular protest and insurrection

Question 47

reasons why the problems of the Directory were not insurmountable

Answer 47

Many factors lay in their favour: - Power of the SC was broken- removed a significant power threat - Many wanted more moderate and balanced gov - if they could achieve this, could be successful