The Thermidorean Reaction (1795-1799)
The New Government - The Directory
Before it dissolved itself in 1795, the Convention proclaimed still another Constitution, and
established a new political system known as the Directory, which governed France till 1799.
The new government was headed by an executive council of five members (directors)
appointed by the upper house of the bicameral legislature. Deputies were selected by
assemblies of electors in each department. Theses electors were chosen by adult male
taxpayers, but the electors themselves had to be substantial property owners. They numbered
only some 20,000 in a total population of more than 25 million. The new people in control
were again rich bourgeois liberals - chief aim was to perpetuate their own rule.
Government was securely controlled by the upper middle classes, as was also evident by
return to free trade. The Directory was conservative and antidemocratic, but it was also antiroyalist. A Bourbon restoration would have restored church and royalist land, which had
been acquired by wealthy capitalists during the Revolution. At a time when royalist
principles were regaining popularity, the government had turned to the recently developed
professional military establishment. The Directory encouraged further military expansion,
hoping to revive the patriotic revolutionary fervour.
The French Revolution was conditioned more directly by an expanding capitalist economy,
which gave it more of a middle-class orientation than in the case of the Glorious Revolution
in England.
It was more secular in tone. Its impact was naturally more forceful; it completely destroyed
the credibility of absolutism and aristocracy by popularising and applying the principles
of the Enlightenment.
The French revolution had broader economic, social, religious, and political results. It
brought the violent overthrow of a social order that had lasted for centuries.
It launched military conquests that brought the same general upheaval to the whole of
Western Europe.
Another long-range effect is worth noting. The Jacobin republic generated a fanatic and
infectious patriotism. When this was combined with the self- righteous idealism of the
Enlightenment and the Napoleonic zest for military power, it produced mass hysteria
common to most modern peoples as they become aware of their national identities.
It left the legacy of liberal and constitutional ideas for all peoples. This legacy has been
obscured by another legacy of nationalism and war.
Summing Up the French Revolution
A. Three Periods
1



Liberal Revolution 1789-1792
-Estates General - Nat. Assembly. - Nat. Const. Assembly - -Legislative Assembly
Radical Revolution 1792-1794
- The Convention - + Comm. Pub. Safety
Thermidorean Reaction 1794-1799
-The Directory
B. Achievements of French Revolution



Liberal Rev.
- end of Feudalism
- Made the people important in politics
- The old order was never re-established
Radical Rev.
- National army, Idea of a Nation at war
-Metric system (Convention) + Abolishes Slavery in Colonies (Nap. rescinds)
In General
- In idea of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,
Fraternity was new - leads to nationalism
C. Problems of French Revolution



-It did not produce a stable government
-The Reign of Terror
-Radical Rev - led to ideas of totalitarian democracy
I. Napoleon enters the scene


One of most successful Generals was Napoleon - he was in 1799 centre of a plot to overturn
the weak Directory.
He was named First Consul in 1799
III. Military Successes under the Directory



Under the Directory we see that the military expansion begun under the convention
continued - with help of Committee of Public Safety’s (CPS's) war economy - great new
generals had been brought to the fore - inc. 8 of Napoleons future marshals - as old officer
class went into exile.
-March 1795 - Peace concluded with Prussia and Spain but war continued with GB and
Austria. So Directory was dependent on the military for stability at home and success
abroad.
One of most successful Generals was Napoleon.
-First Triumph in defending Toulon in 1793
He appealed to many, disgusted with the Directory, who looked for authority from above. One
2
of these people was Abbe Sieyes (wrote What is the Third Estate in 1789), who concocted a
plan for a coup. Sieyes had idea of "Confidence from below, power from above"
IV. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
Napoleon's Life and Rise to Power


A. Origins - A Noble Corsican Family
-Trained in armies of Ancien Regime -commissioned 1785
-He was in favour of the Revolution.
B. Character - He saw himself as a man of Destiny
-A rationalist and an opportunist: a real man of his time.
-A Romantic Streak - he compared himself to Alexander the Great and Caesar.
-Was devoted to his family - he made them important all over Europe.
V. Coup of 18 Brumaire - Napoleon Named First Consul 1799



The Coup did not go well.
Napoleon Addressed the Assembly - he was shouted down and got apoplectic with anger
He was saved by his brother Lucien calling in the army, who shooed away the deputies.
Napoleon's account of this later was distorted - he failed to mention that Lucien saved him.
Napoleon becomes one of three consuls. -presents himself as saving the Republic
New Constitution of the Year VIII
-it appealed to republican theory (Checks and Balances)
-it included a Council of State (ref. Louis XIV)
-it actually made Napoleon ruler
-approved by plebiscite (3,011,077 to 1,567)
This may be regarded as then end of the French Revolution
- Declaration to that effect in 1799
-but in reality the rev. was over at Thermidor.
VI. Napoleon's Rule in France (1799-1814): The Consulate (1799-1804)


Napoleon maintained order in the state by his policies.
B. Liberal Policies - He worked out important compromises between competing groups
-a. He employed people from all political groups. (eg Talleyrand)
-b. The gains of the peasants were confirmed
-c. He granted an amnesty to nobles
-d. Decreed improved education.
-e. He signed the Concordat of 1801 with Pope Pius VII - gave Catholics freedom of worship.
It said Catholicism is Religion of most Frenchmen. State named bishops and paid priests. The
Church gave up its claims on property. Clergy swore loyalty to the state.
C. Conservative Order
-a. Central government control of the Provinces.
-b. He stopped the free press and free speech 1800
-c. Ruthless in crushing opposition secret police developed.
-d. He stopped free elections - especially when he declared himself emperor
3

D. CIVIL CODE 1804 = Napoleonic Code
-Granted the Middle class equality
-Safeguarded property rights
-Abolished all Privileges of birth
-Made state officials be chosen by merit
-Gave men control over their wives
-Labour unions forbidden
Set the tone of all later French life
-legally egalitarian, socially bourgeois, and administratively bureaucratic.
VII. Napoleon's Rule in France (1799-1814): The Empire (1804-1814)



Napoleon used fears of a Bourbon comeback to get him self crowned Emperor. Yet another
new constitution: also approved by plebiscite.
Pope came to do it but Napoleon crowned himself
-Story of Charlemagne in 800AD being crowned by pope and then having to support him.
Restoration of Quasi-nobility: Legion of Honour.
1809 Napoleon married Archduchess Marie Louise - as a more fitting wife for an emperor
than Josephine, (supposedly she was sexually too much for him).
VIII. Assessment Napoleon's Rule in France


-The Code was very worthwhile - applies French Roman Law throughout Europe.
-He is often seen as a sort of enlightened despot, rather than a successor of the Revolution.
-He was accepted and supported as he kept order for the propertied class - perhaps tired of
revolution.
IX. Military Conquests and Nemesis
Basic point is this - that the conditions that made his army fight well, when absent led to its
defeat



A. Italy 1797 - N. defeats Austrian and Sardinian Armies.
It was success here that made him popular at home. Despite the government by Directory already at this stage he was making his own treaties, eg with the Pope and with Austria.
B. Egypt - expansion to India envisaged - England seen as main foe. French here laid basis of
Egyptology with a mapping of Egypt. But the expedition was not successful - Napoleon left
for France in 1799 for the coup - and the army was not successful - the British controlled the
sea.
C. Military Methods
Napoleon was a military genius - but as he said after 60 battles he didn't know anything that he
had not known before. His great skill was in the execution of warfare.
He Built on
-Improvements in military theory made during the Ancien regime in response to France's
defeats in the Seven Years War - an emphasis on flexible formations in battle rather than fixed
ones.
-Forces were divided into moderate sized units -each unit lived off the land/travelled lightspeed and manoeuvre were used to bring hostile armies into battle - it was vital to time the
4






uniting of the various bits of his army just right.
-The great citizen army that was motivated to fight well, put together under the Comm. of Pub.
Safety, and kept going by the Directory.
-700,000 strong army
D. Conquest of Europe
1801 - Austria defeated
1802 - Peace with GB
1803 - William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806) decides Napoleon must be stopped -puts
together Third Coalition
E. War against Third Coalition (Aus. Russ. Sweden GB)
-Lost Naval dominance to Britain at Trafalgar 1805 (Lord Horatio Nelson killed)(21 Oct)
-Britain now had the dominance of the seas it was to keep for the next century.
F. Napoleon Dominant in Europe
1805 Austerlitz (Dec 2)(just after Trafalgar) -Napoleon gains Italy
1806 Jena defeats Prussia (supposedly best army in Europe).
1807 Treaty of Tilsit - Signed by Napoleon, by Alexander I of Russia (secretly) - who
becomes part of continental system. -French Territorial gains confirmed - and Russia reduced
in size.
G. The Grand Empire and the Continental System
French controlled all of Continental Europe (achievement shows unrealized possibilities of
France under the later Ancien Regime).
-a. -1806 The Holy Roman Empire dissolved. Germany re-organized July 1806 as The
Confederation of the Rhine.
-b. A French Empire set up including land up to the Rhine and beyond.
-c. New Kingdoms set up - Spain, Italy, Holland, Sweden - All with Napoleons family or
followers on the throne. One relative became a Cardinal.
-d. All the other state were, for the time being allies.
-e The Napoleonic Code was imposed everywhere. -end of Feudalism + Local town
oligarchies
H. Continental System
- Attempt to destroy GBs Trade dominance - Instituted in 1806 in the Berlin Decrees.
Napoleon claimed he was liberating Europe from the English (a Nation of Shop keepers)
-But GBs trade with America and The East meant it could survive. The system actually hurt
European countries.
[USA tries to take advantage in 1812 and take Canada - fails]
I. Problems Begin
-Spanish Revolt 1808 - over deposition of its Bourbon dynasty (still ruling in 1988) and
opposition to the Church - the Peninsular War was to sap Napoleon's strength.
-British Blockade
-March on Moscow
1810 Russians withdrew from the Continental system. and resume contact with GB.
1812 Napoleon Attempts to march on Moscow, as his major continental opponent. Defeated
by the Cold and snow and lack of supplies - part of his method had been for the army to live
off the land - here there was nothing to live off- Russians used scorched earth policy.
He was also defeated by the resistance put up by the entire Russian people - from the Tsar to
the serfs.
-also Tsar did not allow for any one decisive battle which was Napoleon's forte (Borodino
1812 not decisive)
5





J. The Retreat from Moscow - 1812/1813
Napoleon was unable to get together another army for six months. About 100,000 out of
600,000 survived. -still able to raise 350,000 in six months.
K. The Opposition Becomes Effective - 1813
-The Fourth Coalition, (Russia, Prussia, Austria, GB)
-Prussia after defeat at Jena reorganized and modernized - some land reform. end of serfdom,
calls to patriotism. 42,000 men trained each year - by 1813 it was strong again - army of
270,000.
-The war is seen as a German War of Liberation.
France defeated at the Battle of the Nations 1813 - at Leipzig in Germany
-Allies take Paris in March 1814
-Napoleon Abdicated 1814 - Exiled to Elba
L. Congress of Vienna 1814
- to redraw Europe - will return to it - as Napoleon disrupted it by escaping from Elba.
M. Elba, Waterloo
Napoleon escaped from Elba 1815
-Period known as the Hundred Days
Battle of Waterloo 1815
-Defeated by the Prussians and English
-Duke of Wellington leads English/Field Marshal von Blucher the Prussians
-Hardened the Peace Settlement for France
N. St. Helena
Napoleon sent to exile in St. Helena
-note how he was treated by British. -died 1821
X. Napoleons effect on his Contemporaries and on History



A. Personal Impact
A hero to half of Europe a traitor to the rest. (Old Boney)
Reaction of Beethoven - changes name of his 3rd Symphony to the Eroica
Bonapartism
-in Paris his campaigns are celebrated eg Gare d'Austerlitz, Avenue Wagram + His body is at
Les Invalides
Many people yearned for a leader - Why ?
B. Spread of French Revolutionary Ideals
-French Soldiers were committed - liberal and French Rev. ideals were adopted by many.
-Napoleon got rid of Feudalism in the countries he conquered. (But did not give the land to
the peasants)
-Abolished Established Churches + Monasteries.
-The Code carried many of these ideas on after Nap.
C. Nationalism
But there was also a reaction to French Dominance as it became clear Napoleon's policies
benefited France. There were also objections to his family becoming Kings and Queens all
over Europe.
-growth of Nationalism in other countries but based on French ideals (mention again idea
of Fraternity in French Rev).
-This was especially the case in Germany, where weakness was blamed on political division.
6

D. A Changed Political Map of Europe
-Holy Roman Empire Goes - Austria now its own thing 300 German States reduced to 39.
[More Catholic states than Protestant ones disappeared - no Habsburg would again be elected
emperor]
-France becomes less important for 30 years
-Britain's mastery of the seas now total - there is for first time no other maritime power for her
to compete with (no Spain, Netherlands, or France)
Biography
Napoleon Bonaparte




Born: August 15, 1769 at Ajaccio, Corsica, France
Died: May 5, 1821 at St. Helena, United Kingdom
Best known for: A brilliant military commander, conquered much of Europe
Nickname: Little Corporal
Biography:
Where did Napoleon grow up?
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. His
father was Carlo Buonaparte, an important attorney who represented Corsica at the court of the French
King. He had four brothers and three sisters including an older brother named Joseph.
Early Life
Coming from a fairly wealthy family, Napoleon was able to attend school and get a good education.
He went to a military academy in France and trained to become an officer in the army. When his
father died in 1785, Napoleon returned to Corsica to help handle the family's affairs.
While in Corsica, Napoleon became involved with a local revolutionary named Pasquale Paoli. For a
while he helped Paoli in fighting against the French occupation of Corsica. However, he later changed
sides and returned to France.
French Revolution
While Napoleon was in Corsica, the French Revolution occurred in Paris, France. The people revolted
against the King of France and took control of the country. The royal family and many aristocrats were
killed.
Upon Napoleon's return, he allied himself with a radical group of the revolutionaries called the
Jacobins. He received a position as the artillery commander at the Siege of Toulon in 1793. The city of
Toulon was occupied by British troops and the British navy had control over the port. Napoleon came
up with a strategy that helped to defeat the British and force them out of the port. His military
leadership in the battle was recognized by the leaders of France and, at the young age of 24, he was
promoted to the position of brigadier general.
Military Commander
In 1796, Napoleon was given command of the French army in Italy. When he arrived in Italy, he
7
found the army to be poorly organized and losing to the Austrians. Napoleon, however, was an
ambitious man and a brilliant general. He used superior organization in order to move troops rapidly
around the battlefield so they would always outnumber the enemy. He soon drove the Austrians out of
Italy and became a national hero.
Becoming Dictator
After leading a military expedition in Egypt, Napoleon returned to Paris in 1799. The political climate
in France was changing. The current government, called the Directory, was losing power. Together
with his allies, including his brother Lucien, Napoleon formed a new government called the Consulate.
Initially, there were to be three consuls at the head of the government, but Napoleon gave himself the
title of First Consul. His powers as First Consul essentially made him dictator of France.
Ruling France
As the dictator of France, Napoleon was able to institute a number of government reforms. One of
these reforms was the famous Napoleonic Code. This code said that government positions would not
be appointed based on a person's birth or religion, but on their qualifications and ability. This was a
big change in the French government. Before the Napoleonic Code, high positions were given to
aristocrats by the king in return for favours. This often led to incompetent people in important
positions.
Napoleon also helped to improve the French economy by building new roads and encouraging
business. He re-established the Catholic Church as the official state religion, but at the same time
allowed for freedom of religion to those who weren't Catholic. Napoleon also set up non-religious
schools, so anyone could get an education.
Napoleon's power and control continued to grow with his reforms. In 1804, he was crowned the first
Emperor France. At the coronation, he did not allow the Pope to place the crown on his head, but
instead crowned himself.
Conquering Europe
Initially, Napoleon maintained peace in Europe, however, soon France was at war with Britain,
Austria, and Russia. After losing a naval battle against Britain at the Battle of Trafalgar, Napoleon
decided to attack Austria. He soundly defeated the Austrian and Russian armies at the Battle of
Austerlitz in 1805. Over the next several years, Napoleon expanded the French Empire. At its greatest
extent in 1811, France controlled much of Europe from Spain to the borders of Russia (not including
Britain).
Invasion of Russia
In 1812, Napoleon made his first major mistake. He decided to invade Russia. Napoleon marched a
huge army to Russia. Many of them starved to death along the way. After a fierce battle with the
Russian army, Napoleon entered Moscow. However, he found the city deserted. Soon, the city was on
fire and many of the supplies were burned. As winter approached, Napoleon's army ran out of
supplies. He had to return to France. By the time he returned to France, most of what was left of his
army had died from the weather or starved to death.
Exile on Elba
With much of Napoleon's army decimated from the invasion in Russia, the rest of Europe now turned
on France. Despite winning a few victories, Napoleon had too small an army and soon was forced into
exile on the island of Elba in 1814.
8
Return and Waterloo
Napoleon escaped from Elba in 1815. The army quickly backed him and he took over control of Paris
for a period called the Hundred Days. The rest of Europe, however, would not stand for a return of
Napoleon. They gathered their armies and met him at Waterloo. Napoleon was defeated at the Battle
of Waterloo on June 18, 1815 and was once again forced into exile. This time on the island of Saint
Helena.
Death
Napoleon died after six years of exile on Saint Helena on May 5, 1821. It is likely that he died from
stomach cancer. His remains were moved to France in 1840 to Les Invalides in Paris.
Interesting Facts about Napoleon





Napoleon is famous for being fairly short, probably 5 feet 6 inches tall. However, he would
have been average height during the time period that he lived.
Today, when someone seems to be overcompensating for being short they are said to have a
"Napoleon complex."
His birth name was Napoleone di Buonaparte. He changed the name to be more French when
he moved to mainland France.
He married his first wife, Josephine, in 1796. She became the first Empress of France, but he
divorced her in 1810 and married Marie-Louise of Austria.
The famous composer Beethoven was going to dedicate his 3rd Symphony to Napoleon, but
changed his mind after Napoleon crowned himself emperor.
9