Establishment of the Directory

Overview of the Directory

The constitution of year III was introduced in November 1795 to replace the Thermidorian Reaction. It created the Directory which only lasted for 4 years & was abolished by Napoleon in 1799. It was mainly a brief gap between the revolution & Napoleon & was plagued by incompetence & corruption, however it was an attempt to maintain/moderate the revolution & ensure radicals didn’t regain power.

Format of the new constitution & the Directory - voters & elections

Voters were classed as all male taxpayers over 21 and were called ‘citizens’ - encompassed 5.5 million out of 8 million. Electors were those who paid a certain sum in tax, making them eligible to sit in assemblies - there was an electorate of roughly a million with 30,000 who were eligible for the resulting assemblies. Elections would take place annually with a third of the deputies stepping down annually.

Format of the new constitution & the Directory - the councils

The Council of 5 Hundred & the Council of Ancients were the two committees in control of passing & proposing legislation. The Council of 5 Hundred was made up of deputies over 30 & proposed & drew up all legislation but didn’t vote on it. The Council of Ancients was made up of 250 married or widowed men over 40 & examined, approved & rejected the legislation.

Format of the new constitution & the Directory - the Directory of 5

Consisted of 5 directors chosen by the Ancients from a list provided by the 5 Hundred & was the executive power of the Directory. They appointed ministers & one member would retire each year

Negatives of the new constitution

The design of it with members constantly being replaced meant that decision making was inconsistent & incoherent & therefore little was achieved from the influence of the Directory. The people who made it up also had mediocre, centralised views meaning that they lacked real power or big influential figures to drive a movement forward.

Economic & financial issues faced by the Directory

Inflation had been caused by the attempts of the Thermidorian Reaction to switch from a system of economic control to a liberal environment - the few assignats still in circulation by 1795 were virtually worthless.

It also inherited a badly unbalanced budget which had been worsened by war & problems with tax collection.

Problems of food supply persisted & were hindered by grain speculators & a 1795 poor harvest.

The trading situation was also compromised by war & British naval efforts to restrict French colonial trade & block their ports.

Reforms implemented to combat economic issues - coinage

The switch from paper to metal currency that the Thermidorian government had begun continued & a last attempt at paper money was made by introducing mandats (land purchase bonds like assignats). 800 mil francs worth of mandats were issued in February 1796 to replace the 24 bil of assignats still circulating but they quickly became worthless within a year due to counterfeiting. Metal coins became the only legal currency but deflation was caused by a lack of them in circulation.

Reforms implemented to combat economic issues - standardisation

Weights & measures were standardised across the provinces in 1795 which long term positively affected harvests in 1796 & 1798 and brought the price of grain down

Reforms implemented to combat economic issues - taxation

The taxation system was reorganised by finance minister Vincent Ramel in 1798: assessment & collection of direct taxes became more efficient, new property taxes (like on windows & doors as the rich had more) were introduced to address the budgetary issues & cover the shortfall between expenditure & income, reviving the octrois to tax goods entering towns.

Reforms implemented to combat economic issues - the result of the mandats

The issuing of them wrote off two thirds of government debt & although their collapse destroyed the creditors (middle class) who bought them, the Directory was able to complain it had finally achieved a balance of payments surplus in 197 & 98 - however this was at the expense of alienating creditors & tax payers in the bourgeoisie (who the Directory relied on for support).

Political issues faced by the Directory - the rise of royalism

Many royalists viewed the Directory as a stepping stone to reinstating the monarchy. The rising of Vendemiaire had occurred just days before the new constitution which showed the extent royalism had grown since the Terror. General Hoche & the army were called upon in 1795 to deal with the remaining royalists in the Vendee & West after the army had already promptly attempted to crush royalism. The Directory was only able to establish itself due to the help of the army.

Political issues faced by the Directory - the rise of Jacobinism

Many Jacobins had aims of taking back their power which provided issues for the Directory. Jacobin Gracchun Babeuf campaigned for the rights of the poor & for the 1793 constitution. He was initially tolerated by the Directory however he began calling for a revival of the terror during the dire economic situation of 1796. The government took action upon hearing news that the soldiers were ready to join an uprising of the masses & Babeuf was guillotined in May 1797.

Causes of the coup of Fructidor & (4th September 1797)

The constitutional monarchists did well in the elections in April 1797 and managed to increase their seats to 182 which was over a third of the deputies. This created a fear among the Directors that the next year’s elections would bring more royalists & they became desperate to prevent this.

Events of the Coup of Fructidor (4th September 1797)

To prevent more royalists being elected, Directors Barras, Rewbell & Revelliere Lepeaux hatched a plot & produced evidence that General Pichegru (president of the 5 Hundred) had made contact with monarchist emigres in 1795. They arrested him & accused the Council of the 5 Hundred of ‘acting against the revolution’.

Outcomes of the Coup of Fructidor (4th September 1797)

177 royalist deputies were arrested using the joint military forces of General Hoche & General Augereau & 53 (including Pichegru) were exiled to French Guiana & 42 opposition newspapers were forcibly shut down. the actions of the Directory throughout the whole thing greatly undermined the constitution.

Measures taken following the Coup of Fructidor 

It was followed by vindictive legislation as former members of the 2nd estate were declared foreigners & had to apply for neutralisation papers to regain rights as ‘citizens’. Returned emigres were given 2 weeks to leave France - those who didn’t were prosecuted under the new military tribunals with their relatives. These awarded 160 death sentences. Hundreds of refractory priests were also deported & imprisoned.

The Coup of Floreal (11th May 1798)

A new electorial law was passed in January before the next round of elections in March to try & minimise royalist gains. However, the Jacobins ended up succeeding instead which alarmed the Directors & caused them to alter the results. They passed the law of 22 Floreal to purge 127 of the new deputies from the 5 Hundred & the results from 8 departments were quashed.

Causes of the Coup of Prarial (18th June 1798)

Confidence in the Directory & it’s Directors had massively began to decrease & both the 5 Hundred & the Ancients questioned the conduct of war and the recall of a Jacobin general from it. They also complained about the election of Director Jean-Baptiste Treillhard, calling it illegal, & he was replaced on the 27th June by former Jacobin minister Louis Gohier.

The Coup of Prarial (18th June 1799)

Sieyes was a Director & took advantage of the situation by proposing to enforce the council’s demands that Directors Revelliere-Lepeaux & Philippe de Douai should stand down. They refused on the 18th June so he called in General Joubert to organise troop movements into the capital. The resignation was received the same evening & Sieyes emerged triumphant. This was the 1st time the council had forced a purge of the Directors. 

The situation of the Directory by 1799

It seemed to have increased divisions rather than have healed them. It had become solely dependent on the army to maintain itself & had constantly overturned electoral results. In July 1799 Sieyes introduced the Law of Hostages due to a fear of Jacobinism in the councils - this allowed local authorities to take action against potential radicals but wasn’t greatly applied. Little was left to hold the government together by 1799. 

Effect of the Directory on different social groups

Jacobins/the workers - became frustrated at the suppression of Jacobinism in the councils & the blatant behaviour that went against the constitution - wouldn’t have viewed the Directory as successful.

The middle class - would have refused to help the Directory when it began to fall apart due to the resentment from the failed mandats scheme - no longer supported it.

Catholics - would have disliked the attacks on refractory priests carried out by the Directory.

Royalists - became frustrated by their exclusion from the Directory and a lack of a fair democracy that would have allowed them to hold power.