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Constitutional Republic: The Directory, 1795-1799. S T A R T E R. Wednesday, 12 November 2014. Why was the Directoire overthrown?. KI3: Radical Revolution 1793-1799. Wednesday, 12 November 2014. Session Aims. identify the reasons why the Directory was unable to continue
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Wednesday, 12 November 2014 Why was the Directoire overthrown? KI3: Radical Revolution 1793-1799.
Wednesday, 12 November 2014 Session Aims • identify the reasons why the Directory was unable to continue • assess the role of different groups in the downfall of the Directors Events of 1789.
Thermidorian Reaction • Coup d’etat of Brumaire (11/9/1799) • Consulate begins • End of Revolution? Robespierre Executed (7/28/94) -Thermidorian Reaction Begins Constitution of 1795 Rule of the Directory Consulate of NB 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 Weakness of the Directory Council of Ancients Council of 500 • Constitution of 1795 • Supported mainly 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)
Opposition to the Directory STRENGTHS FAILURES The Directory WEAKNESSES THREATS
Opposition to the Directory The Directory Gracchus Babeuf & Lower Class (hurt by Laissez Faire); Declaration of Verona and Conspiracy of Equals; the Count of Provence; Jacobins; Hebertists ; Royalists
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 (doh!) • “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 Gracchus Babeuf 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
Fashion: Convention v Directory Periods RadicalPeriod Thermidorian Period
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 unilaterally!
French royalists won elections Republicans worked a coup d’etat, with Napoleon's help, the “Coup d’etat of Fructidor” Directory annulled the 3/1797 elections and made peace with Austria France also annexed Belgium and the west bank of the Rhine The Political Crisis of 1797: Summary
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”)
Coup d’etat of Fructidor (September 4, 1797): • The 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, also Bathelemy. • To save the republic (they said), they had to violate their own constitution…
Foreign Policy of Directory Young Napoleon 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
The Coup d’Etat of 1799 Bonaparte • After Fructidor 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.
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
Steps to Brumaire… 1797 1798 1799 COUP OF BRUMAIRE