Directory (in France). Directory Directory in France briefly

§ 4. The Period of the Directory and the Consulate of the War of the DirectorySuccesses on the battlefields accompanied the French in the beginning of the reign of the Directory. In April 1795 peace was concluded with Prussia, in May with the Netherlands, in July with Spain. France annexed Belgium and

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Directory(French Directoire) - the government of the first French Republic under the constitution of the III year, adopted by the National Convention in 1795 during the last stage of the French Revolution from October 26, 1795 (4 Brumaire of the IV year) to November 9, 1799 (18 Brumaire of the VIII year). The executive power of the Directory consisted of five directors of the Executive Directory (French Directoire exécutif) and the legislative power (French Corps Législatif) of two chambers - the Council of Elders (French Conseil des Anciens) and the Council of Five Hundred (French Conseil des Cinq-Cents).

• 1 Constitution Year III
• 2 Failure of stabilization (1795-1797)
  • 2.1 First Directory
  • 2.2 Conspiracy of Equals
  • 2.3 Conquests
  • 2.4 18 fructidora
• 3 Fall of the Republic (1797-1799)
  • 3.1 Second Directory
  • 3.2 Expansion
  • 3.3 Last effort
  • 3.4 18 Brumaire
• 4 Composition and competence
  • 4.1 Qualification
  • 4.2 Competence
  • 4.3 Directory members
• 5 Sources
• 6 Literature
• 7 Links

Year III Constitution

The new Constitution of Year III created the Directory (French Directoire) and the first bicameral legislature in the history of France. The constitution returned to the distinction between "active" and "passive" citizens. Universal suffrage in 1793 was replaced by limited suffrage. The new constitution returned to the principles of the 1791 constitution. The principle of equality was confirmed, but within the limits of civil equality. Numerous democratic rights of the 1793 constitution - the right to work, social insurance, universal education - were excluded. The convention defined the rights of citizens of the republic and at the same time rejected both the privileges of the old order and social equality. Only citizens over twenty-five years of age, who paid tax on income from two hundred days of work, were eligible to be electors. This electoral body, which had real elective power, consisted of 30,000 people in 1795, half as many as in 1791. Guided by the recent experience of the Jacobin dictatorship, republican institutions were created to protect against two dangers: the omnipotence of the executive and dictatorship.

A bicameral legislature was proposed as a precaution against sudden political fluctuations: the Council of Five Hundred (French: Conseil des Cinq-Cents) with the power to propose laws, and the Council of Elders (French: Conseil des Anciens), 250 senators, with the power to pass or reject proposed laws . The executive power was to be divided among five directors chosen by the Council of Elders from a list drawn up by the Council of Five Hundred. One of the directors, determined by lot, was re-elected every year with the possibility of re-election after five years. as a practical precaution, troops were not allowed to be within 60 miles of the Assembly's meeting place, and it could choose another meeting place in case of danger. The Directory still retained a great deal of power, including emergency powers over freedom of the press and freedom of association in case of emergency. Constitutional amendments had to go through a complex process of adoption in order to achieve stability, and the adoption procedure could take up to nine years.

Elections of deputies of one third of both chambers were to take place annually. But how to make sure that the new elected body cannot change the constitution, as happened with the Legislative Assembly? The Thermidorians stipulated this on the 5th fructidor (August 22, 1795) following the vote for a resolution on the "formation of a new legislative body." Article II provided: “All members of this Convention shall be entitled to be re-elected. Electoral assemblies cannot accept less than two-thirds of them to form new legislatures." This was the famous law of two-thirds.

Failure of stabilization (1795-1797)

The success of the policy of regime stabilization and revolution depended on finding a solution to the main problems inherited from the Thermidorian period: the war with the first coalition and internal economic and financial problems. Encased in the narrow boundaries of a republic with limited suffrage, excluding both the people and the aristocracy, the Thermidorians used every precaution against the dictatorship of the executive, which left no other alternative than a weak state or resort to the army.

First Directory

6 Brumaire 741 deputies took their seats; 243 of them, by lot, over 40 years old, made up the Council of Elders, and the rest - the Council of Five Hundred. The members of the Convention, thanks to the two-thirds decree, managed to avoid a fiasco, but they were clearly the losers. However, 394 of them were chosen by virtue of the two-thirds decree. As envisaged, the remaining 105 were to be "added". Nevertheless, only four former deputies of the convention entered the new third.

Jean Francois Rebell

The main losers were the remnants of the Montagnards. Also elected were 64 "progressive" deputies, including Audouin, Poultier and Marbeau. On the other hand, the number of right-wing deputies elected was impressive: 88 of them openly expressed counter-revolutionary views, and 73 others were moderate royalists. And finally, as an indicator of the crushing defeat of the departing deputies of the convention, there was the appearance of ghosts from the past: former members of the Constituent and Legislative Assembly.

Supporters of the constitution were of moderate views: the Republicans and Thermidorians made up a bloc of 381 deputies. Decisive opponents of both terror and restoration, they managed to stay in power and had no intention of giving it up. The regime established in the third year was not parliamentary, but without a broad base, the "eternals," as they came to be called, were in the long run in danger of losing their hegemony.

The Council of Five Hundred drew up a list of fifty names, including Sieyès, Barras, Rebelle, Larevelier-Lepeau, Letourneur, and forty-five unremarkable deputies. But Sieyès refused to serve and Carnot was chosen to replace him. The directors divided their tasks according to their wishes and their experience. The five directors, who all voted for the execution of the king, belonged to the Thermidorians, who had monopolized power in the previous National Convention. But the different temperaments and political ambitions of the directors meant that their coexistence would be difficult.

Conspiracy of Equals

Literally at the moment when the Directory had just begun its activities, inflation reached its final stage: a 100-franc note cost 15 sous, and prices rose hourly. Within four months, the issue of paper money doubled and reached 39 billion. Paper money was printed every night for use the next day. 30 pluviosis, year IV (February 19, 1796), the issue of assignats was discontinued. The government decided to return to specie again. The result was a waste of most of the remaining national wealth in the interests of speculators.

The winter was terrible, especially since the peasants stopped deliveries and the markets remained empty. In rural areas, banditry has spread so much that even the mobile columns of the National Guard and the threat of the death penalty did not lead to an improvement. In Paris, many would have died of starvation if the Directory had not continued the distribution of food; but, as in the fourth year, more than 10,000 starvation deaths were recorded in the department of the Seine alone. This led to the renewal of the Jacobin agitation. But this time the Jacobins resorted to conspiracies, and the government again began the old Thermidorian swing policy.

Gracchus Babeuf

It was against this backdrop that Babeuf began his Conspiracy of Equals (Fr. Conjuration des Égaux). Babeuf, starting from 1789, turned to the so-called. agrarian law or the general exchange of goods as a means of achieving economic equality. By the time of Robespierre's downfall, he had abandoned this as an impractical scheme and moved towards a more comprehensive plan for collective ownership and production. This was still his ultimate goal when, in the winter of 1795-96, he entered into an agreement with a group of former Jacobins and "terrorists" to overthrow the Directory by force. The movement was organized in a series of concentric levels: there was an internal rebel committee (Secret Directory of Public Salvation) consisting of a small group that was fully informed of the aims of the conspiracy; behind her is a group of sympathizers, ex-Jacobins and others, including Robespierre's old opponents, Amar and Lende. And, finally, the surviving activists of Paris - in general, the number involved in the conspiracy was estimated by Babeuf at 17,000. The plan was original and the poverty of the Parisian suburbs was terrifying, but the sans-culottes, demoralized and intimidated after the Prairial, did not respond to the calls of the conspirators.

The conspirators were betrayed by police spy Carnot, now one of the directors and moving fast to the right. On the night of 23/24 Fructidor (September 9-10, 1796), the Babouvists tried to win over the soldiers of the Grenelle camp to their side. Carnot was aware of their plan and they were met by the cavalry. One hundred and thirty-one people were arrested and thirty were shot on the spot; Babeuf's associates were brought to trial; Babeuf and Darte were guillotined a year later.

Once more the pendulum swung to the right, this time with a massive influx of royalists into the assembly.

conquests

After the conclusion of peace with Prussia and Spain, only two powers remained in the first coalition - England and Austria. The republic was not in a position to strike at England, it remained to break Austria. In the spring of 1796, it was planned to deploy operations on the Rhine and Danube for this. According to the plan drawn up by Carnot, the Rhine and Moselle French armies under the command of General Moreau were to act in concert with the Sambro-Maas, led by Jourdan, penetrate two columns along both banks of the Danube into Germany and unite under the walls of Vienna with the Italian army entrusted to Bonaparte. The initial operations of the French troops who crossed the Rhine were brilliant; the Austrians were pushed back at all points, and already at the end of July, the Duke of Württemberg, the Margrave of Baden and the entire Swabian district were forced to conclude a separate peace, paying France 6 million livres indemnity and ceding to her many possessions on the left bank of the Rhine. In August, the Franconian and Upper Saxon districts followed their example, so that the entire burden of the war fell on Austria alone.

See also: Italian Campaign (1796) Peace of Campo Formia

However, Bonaparte, with his successes in Italy, made his front the main one in the campaign of 1796-1797. Having crossed the Alps along the so-called "cornice" of the coastal mountain range under the guns of English ships, Bonaparte on April 9, 1796, withdrew his army to Italy. a dazzling campaign was followed by a series of victories - Lodi (May 10, 1796), Castiglione (August 15), Arcole (November 15-17), Rivoli (January 14, 1797). The first Italian campaign of Bonaparte ended with a brilliant success and caused the first friction with the Directory. She still regarded Italy as a secondary theater of operations. The main goal was to annex the left bank of the Rhine and the offensive of the Rhine armies to Vienna.

But Bonaparte did not want to concede the palm to his rivals - the commanders of the Rhenish armies Gosh and Moreau. He did not care about the left bank of the Rhine, but was in a hurry to make peace with Austria on his own and consolidate his gains. Without waiting for the sanction of the Directory, on October 17, peace was concluded with Austria at Campo Formio, ending the War of the First Coalition, from which France emerged victorious, although Great Britain continued to fight. Austria abandoned the Netherlands, recognized the left bank of the Rhine as the border of France and received part of the possessions of the destroyed Venetian Republic.

On December 7, 1797, Bonaparte arrived in Paris, and on December 10 he was triumphantly received by the Directory in full force at the Luxembourg Palace. An innumerable crowd of people gathered at the palace, the most stormy cries and applause greeted Napoleon when he arrived at the palace. The peace of Campo Formio was signed after the 18th fructidor, an event that restored the revolutionary republic to emergency measures at home and a triumph in the war with Europe; terror and victory - a paradoxical combination with the distribution of roles, Barras - in the first and Bonaparte - in the second.

18 fructidora

According to the constitution, the first election of a third of the deputies, including the "eternal" ones, in the germinal of the fifth year (March-April 1797), proved to be a great success for the monarchists. The Republicans were defeated in all but a dozen departments. Only eleven former deputies to the convention were re-elected, some of whom were royalists. The Republican majority of Thermidorians disappeared. in the councils of five hundred and elders, the majority belonged to the opponents of the Directory. The monarchist General Pichegru was elected chairman of the Council of Five Hundred, and Mabua was elected chairman of the Council of Elders. Law 3 Brumaire 4th year was repealed. All amnestied "terrorists" were deprived of the right to hold public office. Legislation against unsworn priests was suspended. A massive return of emigrants began.

Meanwhile, emboldened by the passivity of the directors, the right in the councils decided to emasculate the power of the Directory by depriving it of its financial powers. Carnot, one of the directors, following the constitution, tried to find a compromise. When the majority of directors decided to act, the conflict between the Directory and the councils entered a decisive phase. the lack of instructions in the Constitution of the III year on the issue of the emergence of such a conflict, it could be resolved in one of two ways: either to appeal to the people along the lines of the II year, or to resort to the army, which, according to its nature, the regime chose. An example of a Republican, General Gauche, was appointed to the War Office - especially since his Sambre-Meuse army had already been marching on Paris for ten days, which was a violation of the 60-mile zone.

Bonaparte and Gauche supported the Directory; this happened before the conclusion of the Campo Formian peace and the coming to power of the royalists called into question the conquests in Italy. Bonaparte sent General Augereau to take command of the armed forces of the Directory. The Soviets realized the danger and attempted to form National Guard battalions from the prosperous sections of Paris. But it was too late. On the 18th fructidor of the year V (September 4, 1797), Paris was placed under martial law. There was no resistance, and the decree of the Directory declared that all who called for the restoration of the monarchy would be shot on the spot. In Paris, posters were pasted with Pichegru's correspondence with emigrants captured by Bonaparte in Italy. Carnot and Pichegru fled. Elections were annulled in 49 departments, 177 deputies were deprived of their powers, and 65 were sentenced to "dry guillotine" - deportation to Guiana, 42 newspapers were closed and repressive measures against emigrants and priests were reintroduced. Emigrants who returned voluntarily were asked to leave France within two weeks under threat of death.

Fall of the Republic (1797-1799)

The 18th fructidor marked a turning point in the history of the regime established by the Thermidorians; this ended the constitutional and relatively liberal experiment. The Second Directory, as it came to be known, resorted to extreme repressive measures and the suppression of its opponents. If the dictatorship of this second Directory was based on terrorist methods, these methods were never as severe as in 1793, the threat from the outside was not so acute, and the civil war was more suppressed. With the establishment of the Continental Peace, the Directory was able to pay more attention to the administration, but still did not succeed in winning public opinion and approval.

Second Directory

The Directory tried to consolidate the victory in fructidor. Two new directors were chosen to replace Carnot and Barthelemy - Merlin and François Neufchâteau. The conflict stimulated questions of constitutional reform - the right to dissolve councils, annual elections during the war - but things did not go beyond questions.

In the spring of 1798, regular elections were coming. Since the posts of the dismissed deputies were not replaced, 473 deputies had to be elected - almost 2/3 of the composition of the councils. The suppression of the right gave an advantage to the left. The agitation of the ex-Jacobins intensified. Lists circulated in which among the electors and deputies the names of former members of the Robespierre Committee of Public Safety Lende and Prieur from the Marne, the Jacobins Drouet, Pasha appeared.

As a result, the Jacobins won in their old zones of influence - the Pyrenees, the center of France, Nord, Sartre and the Seine. in general, about forty departments voted for the left, five for the monarchists, and the rest more or less supported the government. Frightened by the specter of a resurgence of Jacobinism, the Directory made another turn to the right. The councils of the former composition were given the right to approve the lists of the newly elected. In 26 departments, instead of one assembly of electors, two were created, and the Directory chose "favorable" deputies. According to the law of 22 Floreal of the 5th year (May 11, 1798), 106 deputies were not approved.

Thus the Directory was able to form a majority supporting it. The payoff was even greater discrediting of the regime. The deputies who remained in the councils, both from the left and from the right, were determined to make any compromises, if only to take revenge on the Directory.

Expansion

After the Treaty of Campo Formio, only Great Britain opposed France. Instead of focusing on the remaining enemy and maintaining peace on the continent, the Directory began a policy of continental expansion that destroyed all possibilities of stabilization in Europe. Now France surrounded itself with "subsidiary" republics, satellites, politically dependent and economically exploited: the Batavian Republic, the Helvetic Republic in Switzerland, the Cisalpine, Roman and Partenopean (Naples) in Italy.

Plans were drawn up for an invasion of the British Isles under Bonaparte, but on February 23, 1798 he submitted a report that the project was unworkable. It was then decided to turn to the British positions in the East. The Egyptian campaign followed, which added to the glory of Bonaparte. However, when he established his rule over Egypt, the army was blocked and the fleet was destroyed during the battle of Aboukir. Bonaparte tried to break the blockade by starting a campaign in Syria, but the failure of the siege of the fortress of Saint-Jean d'Acre in May 1799 puts an end to this attempt.

In the spring of 1799 the war becomes general. The second coalition united Britain, Austria, Naples and Sweden. The Egyptian campaign brought Turkey and Russia into its ranks. Turkey let the Russian fleet through the straits to land troops in Italy, and Austria allowed passage through its territory. The lack of funds was resolved in the Treaty of London (December 29, 1797). Russia received initially 225,000 pounds and 75,000 monthly. Hostilities began for the Directory extremely unsuccessfully. Already in April 1799, Russian-Austrian troops entered Milan. Soon Italy and part of Switzerland were lost and the republic had to defend its "natural" borders. The Austrians began to operate in Switzerland. The Batavian Republic was also under threat - in August, the Anglo-Russian troops landed in Helder with the aim of attacking Belgium and northern France. As in 1792-93. France was in danger of being invaded.

Last effort

The danger awakened the national energy and the last revolutionary effort. At the next elections in the spring of 1799, a number of left-wing deputies passed, and this time the Directory did not dare to launch a new coup. this time it was carried out by renewed councils of five hundred and elders. The Directory itself became the victim. On the 30th Prairial, Year 7 (June 18, 1799), the councils re-elected the members of the Directory, bringing the "real" Republicans to power, and passed measures somewhat reminiscent of those of Year II. Its most energetic member, Rebelle, left its composition by lot, and Sieyes was chosen in his place. Members of the Directory were forced to resign, a number of ministers were replaced. At the suggestion of General Jourdan, a conscription of five ages was announced. A forced loan of 100 million francs was introduced. On July 12, a law was passed on hostages from among the former nobles.

The fear of the return of the shadow of Jacobinism led to the final decision to end once and for all the possibility of repeating the times of the Republic of 1793. At the same time, military failures gave rise to attempted royalist uprisings in the south and a new movement in the Vendée.

By this time the military situation had changed. The very success of the coalition in Italy led to a change in plans. It was decided to transfer Austrian troops from Switzerland to Belgium and replace them with Russian troops with the aim of invading France. The transfer was so badly done that it allowed the French troops to re-occupy Switzerland and break the opponents piece by piece. Korsakov's corps was defeated at Zurich - all efforts to cross the Alps by Suvorov's army were in vain, and Brun's victory at Bergen forced the Anglo-Russian troops to evacuate the coast.

18 brumaire

The crisis was averted. But for how long? Annual elections brought uncertainty instead of stability. Ever since the 18th fructidor, an opinion began to emerge about the need to revise the constitution. But legally, the constitution was almost impossible to change, and in the upcoming new elections, there was not even time for this. It is in this unsettling situation that the Brumérians, as they were later called, among them Sieyès, Fouché and Talleyrand, are planning another, more decisive, coup. Once again, as in fructidor, the army must be called in to purge the assembly, but this time the assembly must be with a republican majority. The conspirators needed a "saber". They turned to the Republican generals. Bernadotte was not trusted; Augereau and Jourdan were excluded due to their Jacobin tendencies; Moreau approached but refused, and Joubert was killed at Novi. At that moment the news came that Bonaparte had arrived in France.

From Fréjus to Paris, Bonaparte was hailed as a savior. At every stage of his journey, representatives of the official authorities paid him various honors; enthusiastic crowds cheered for the general whom fate itself had sent to save France from invasion. Arriving in Paris on October 16, 1799, he immediately found himself at the center of political intrigue. He was approached by the Brumerians as someone who suited them well for his popularity, military reputation, ambition, and even his Jacobin background.

General Bonaparte in the Council of Five Hundred (Bouchot, 1840)

Playing on the fears of a "terrorist" conspiracy, the Brumérians persuaded the councils to meet on November 10, 1799 in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Cloud; By the same decree, Bonaparte was appointed commander of the 17th division, located in the department of the Seine, to suppress the "conspiracy". Meanwhile, in Paris, according to the plan, two directors, Sieyes and Ducos, the conspirators themselves, resigned, and the third, Barras, was forced to resign: it was necessary to destroy the executive power that existed at that time - with the resignation of three members, the directory could not act more. The other two directors (Goyer and Moulin) were taken into custody. Saint-Cloud Napoleon announced to the Council of Elders that the Directory had dissolved itself and the creation of a commission on a new constitution. It was difficult to convince the Council of Five Hundred so easily, and when Bonaparte entered the chamber of meetings without invitation, there were cries of “Outlaw! Down with the dictator! Napoleon lost his temper, but his brother Lucien saved the day by calling the guards into the meeting room.

The Council of Five Hundred was expelled from the chamber, the Directory was dissolved, and all powers were assigned to a provisional government of three consuls - Sieyes, Roger Ducos and Bonaparte. The rumors that came from Saint-Cloud on the evening of the 19th Brumaire did not surprise Paris at all. Military failures that could only be dealt with at the last moment, the economic crisis, the return of civil war - all this spoke of the failure of the entire period of stabilization under the Directory. Bonaparte had to deal with all this. It fell to Bonaparte to "stop the revolution" and reconcile the divided country.

Few people understood at that moment that this was the end of the Republic and that power had passed into the hands of a military dictator.

Composition and competence

Qualification

Consisted of 5 members (fr. membres du Directoire) (Constitution of the French Republic of 1795, article 132). The quorum of the meeting of the directory is 3 members (Constitution of the French Republic of 1795, article 142). Candidates for members of the Executive Directory were to be nominated by the Council of Five Hundred and elected by the Council of Elders, for a term of 5 years, without the right to re-election (Constitution of the French Republic of 1795, articles 132, 133, 137 and 138).

Members of the Executive Directory could be citizens over 40 who were members of the Legislative Corps or ministers; at the same time, relatives could not be members of the directory (Constitution of the French Republic of 1795, articles 135, 136, 139). Each member of the Executive Directory is the Chairman of the Executive Directory (fr. président du Directoire) in rotation for only three months. (Constitution of the French Republic of 1795, article 141).

But no rules were laid down for the election of the Chairman of the Directory. Larevelier-Lepeau later recalled that he proposed rotating the chairman in order of seniority of the members of the Directory by age, but in the end the first chairman was elected by majority vote. There is no evidence that there was any later agreement to change the chairmen in order of age, but at least initially the members of the Directory were elected by its chairmen in this order: Rebelle (born 8 Oct 1747), Letourneur (15 Mar 1751 ), Lazare Carnot (May 13, 1753), Larevelier-Lepeau (August 24, 1753), Paul Barras (June 30, 1755). The post of chairman was more of a ceremonial nature and did not impose any additional powers, except for keeping the seal, public speaking on national holidays and the first signature on documents adopted by the Directory.

The secretary of the Executive Directory (fr. secrétaire du Directoire) was also elected (Constitution of the French Republic, article 143)

Competence

• Disposition of the armed forces (Constitution of the French Republic of 1795, article 144);
• Appointment of commanders-in-chief (Constitution of the French Republic of 1795, article 146)
• Appointment of Ministers (Constitution of the French Republic of 1795, article 148)
• Appointment of collectors of direct taxes (fr. receveur des impositions directes) in each department (Constitution of the French Republic of 1795, article 153)
• Appointment of heads of departments for the collection of indirect taxes (French chef aux régies des contributions indirectes) (Constitution of the French Republic of 1795, article 154)
• Appointment of the administration of national estates (French l'administration des domaines nationaux) (ibid.);

Directory Members

In the first elections elected to the Directory:

• Larevelier-Lepo
• Lethurner
• Rebell
• Sieyes
• Barras

Due to Sieyes' refusal, he was replaced by Carnot. A year later, Leturner left the Directory and was replaced by Barthelemy.

In 1797, during the coup of the 18th fructidore (September 4), Barthélemy and Carnot were among those condemned to exile and were replaced by Merlin and François de Neufchâteau; the latter was replaced by Trellard the following year, and a year later Rebell was replaced by Sieyes. New elections to the Council of Five Hundred and the Council of Elders in April 1798 brought victory to the Republican Democrats, including the Jacobins, after which the Directory on Floreal 22 (May 11, 1798) annulled the election results.

However, a new coup on 30 Prairial of the 7th year (June 18, 1799) again changed the composition of the Directory. Trellard's election was cassated 13 months after his accession to the Directory; Larevelier-Lepeau and Merlin were forced to resign; Goya, Roger Ducos and Moulin were elected new members of the Directory.

Thus, by the time of the coup on 18 Brumaire, only Sieyes and Barras remained of the first members of the Directory, and in just 4 years 13 people were in the Directory.

• Paul Barras (1755-1829); membership in 1795-1799
• Jean-Francois Rebelle (1747-1807); membership in 1795-1799
• Louis-Marie de Larevelier-Lepeau (1753-1824); membership in 1795-1799
• Lazar Carnot (1753-1823); membership in 1795-1797
• Letourneur, Charles Louis Francois Honoré (1751-1817); membership in 1795-1796
• François Barthélemy (1750-1830); membership in 1796-1797
• François de Neufchâteau (1750/56 - 1823); membership in 1797-1799
• Philippe Antoine Merlin (1754-1838); membership in 1797-1799
• Jean-Baptiste Trellier (1741-1810); membership in 1798-1799
• Emmanuel Sieyes (1748-1836); membership in 1799
• Louis Gerome Goyer (1746-1830); membership in 1799
• Moulin, Jean Francois Auguste (1752-1810); membership in 1799
• Roger Ducos (1747-1816); membership in 1799

Sources

1. Doyle, 2002, pp. 319
2. Soboul, 1975, p. 483
3. Woronoff, 1984, p. 36
4. Woronoff, 1984, p. 37
5. Lefebvre, 1963, p. 174
6. Lefebvre, 1963, p. 175
7. Rude, 1991, p. 122
8. Lefebvre, 1963, p. 176
9. Tarle, 2003, p. 26
10. Soboul, 1975, p. 503
11. Tarle, 2003, p. 29-34
12. Soboul, 1975, p. 509
13. Furet, 1996, p. 192
14. Soboul, 1975, p. 505
15. Furet, 1996, p. 181
16. Soboul, 1975, p. 507
17. Soboul, 1975, p. 508
18. Lefebvre, 1963, p. 202
19. Woronoff, 1984, p. 173
20. Soboul, 1975, p. 517
21. Woronoff, 1984, p. 177-179
22. Soboul, 1975, p. 518
23. Soboul, 1975, p. 523-525
24. Soboul, 1975, p. 528
25. Woronoff, 1984, p. 162
26. Woronoff, 1984, p. 164
27. Doyle, 2002, pp. 372
28. Woronoff, 1984, p. 184
29. Soboul, 1975, p. 540
30. Lefebvre, 1963, p. 253-254
31. 1 2 Rude, 1991, p. 125
32. Doyle, 2002, p. 374
33. Woronoff, 1984, p. 188
34. Woronoff, 1984, p. 189
35. Woronoff, 1984, p. 195
36. Rude, 1991, p. 126
37. Larevellière-Lepeaux, 1895

Literature

• Doyle, William. The Oxford History of the French Revolution. - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. - ISBN 978-0199252985.
• Hampson, Norman. A Social History of the French Revolution. - Routledge: University of Toronto Press, 1988. - ISBN 0-710-06525-6.
• Furet, Francois. The French Revolution: 1770-1814. - London: Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. - ISBN 0631202994.
• Larevellière-Lepeaux. Mémoires de Larevellière-Lépeaux: suivis de pièces justificatives et de correspondances inédites. - Paris: Plon, 1895.
• Lefebvre, George. The French Revolution: from 1793 to 1799. - New York: Columbia University Press, 1963. - Vol. II. - ISBN 0-231-08599-0.
• Lefebvre, George. The Thermidorians & the Directory. - New York: Random House, 1964.
• Mathiez, Albert. The French Revolution. - New York: Alfred a Knopf, 1929.
• Rude, George. The French Revolution. - New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1991. - ISBN 1-55584-150-3.
• Soboul, Albert. The French Revolution: 1787-1799. - New York: Random House, 1975. - ISBN 0-394-47392-2.
• Tarle, E. V. Napoleon. - M.: Izographus, 2003. - ISBN 5-94661-051-1.
• Woronoff, Denis. The Thermidorean regime and the directory: 1794–1799. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. - ISBN 0-521-28917-3.

Links

• Bovykin D. Yu. 1795: a failed restoration // French Yearbook 2003. M., 2003.
• Constitution of the French Republic of 1795 in Russian
• Constitution of the French Republic of 1795 in French

Directory (French Revolution) Information About

Directory

The Thermidorians thus managed to keep power in their hands. True, only 379 former members of the Convention got through in the elections of 1795, and moreover, from among the most moderate ones. But the "electoral assembly of France" envisaged by the decrees from the already re-elected Thermidorians replenished their number, and in the new legislature, out of 750 members, there were again 511 members of the former Convention - "permanent", as they began to be ironically called. However, the newly elected third of the deputies consisted almost exclusively of monarchists of various shades.

The first Directory (1795-1797) included exclusively former members of the Thermidorian Convention, all the "regicides" who voted for the execution of Louis XVI, including the former Girondin, a fairly moderate Republican, although a consistent anti-clerical Larevelier-Lepo and Roebel, most capable of all the members of the Directory, leader of its foreign policy, supporter of the policy of "natural borders" After Sieyes's refusal, the former member of the Robespierre Committee of Public Safety, Lazar Carnot, was also elected to the Directory, however, much improved; he was followed obediently by another Thermidorian, Letourneur, a completely colorless figure. The permanent member of the Directory, until its fall (.1799) was Paul Barras, “embodiing all the vices of the old and new society, devoid of any moral foundations, a cynic who sought power only for the sake of money and the pleasures associated with them ... ready to sell himself to anyone pleasing and caring only for personal interests. One of the organizers of the Thermidorian coup, the head of the military forces in Paris and on the 9th Thermidor, and on the Prairial, and on the 13th Vendemière, Barras seemed to the Thermidorian bourgeoisie a “strong man” so much needed by it. Subsequent events showed the groundlessness of this opinion.

Continuing in the main the line of the Thermidorian Convention, the Directory at first pursued a policy of a certain tilt to the left, which distinguished the activities of the Convention in the last weeks of its existence, after the suppression of the revolt of 13 Vendemière. The results of the election of a third of the deputies alarmed the Thermidorians. A proposal was put forward to annul the elections. But the Thermidorians did not dare to do this. The Convention limited itself to the adoption at its penultimate meeting of 3 Brumaire of a decree providing for a number of measures against the threat of a monarchist restoration. All persons associated with emigrants, all their relatives were deprived of the right to hold public office. The number of emigrants was about 120 thousand people, and this measure affected, therefore, a fairly significant group of the population. It was also envisaged to intensify repressions against the counter-revolutionary clergy, "unsworn" priests, etc.

At the same time, the Directory tried to win over some Jacobins (for example, Fouche) by providing them with positions and subsidizing left-wing newspapers. From November 1795, the Society of Friends of the Republic, which met in the Pantheon building and attracted about 9,000 members, was allowed to operate in Paris. Among the leaders of this club, along with supporters of the Directory, was Philippe Buonarroti, released under an amnesty, a convinced Robespierreist who became Babeuf's closest associate in prison, and other active democrats. However, the entire economic and social policy of the government, which was entirely determined by the interests of the new bourgeoisie - financiers, bankers, military suppliers, purchasers of national property, speculators, buyers - very quickly put an end to this attempt to "unify the Republicans" around the Directory.

Increased inflation, beneficial to the bourgeoisie, was carried out extremely consistently. By the end of the existence of the Thermidorian Convention, over 10 billion assignats were in circulation. During the first four months of the Directory's tenure, the number of banknotes grew to almost 39 billion. K. Marx drew attention to the fact that during these months banknotes were issued mainly in large denominations. More than 7 billion banknotes were issued in denominations of 10,000, 11 billion - of 2,000, about 6 billion - of 1,000 francs. and only 1.7 billion assignations less than 100 francs each. This "avalanche of issuance in large denominations" was carried out in the interests of "bankers and military suppliers ... In eight months, banknotes lost about 90% ... Bankruptcy was prepared in this way ... Those in power themselves wanted to do away with banknotes."

This policy of increased inflation, deliberately pursued, caused terrible high prices and incredibly exacerbated the need of the masses, especially in the capital. “Can I delay,” Babeuf wrote in his Tribune of the People, which he resumed publication a month after his release, “when I have not eaten for 48 hours? When in the morning I don't know if I'll have to sell my last pair of trousers, old clothes already worn out, or a thin blanket, or all together, in order to get the huge amount needed to provide food for one day.

True, the Directory retained the issuance of bread in the capital at reduced prices. But in connection with the complete depreciation of assignats, the peasants stubbornly refused to sell grain for paper money, the delivery of grain was reduced, and the delivery of bread reached 2 ounces. Bread therefore had to be purchased on the black market. Meanwhile, prices continued to rise. “People suffer from a lack of everything,” Babeuf wrote desperately, “no bread, no firewood, no shoes, no clothes, not even the most wretched bed - everything, to the last bunk, has been sold.” A “terrible famine” reigns, “the working, working people are ruined by speculators and rogues.”

By the spring of 1796, the assignats were completely worthless. On 28 Ventose IV (March 18, 1796) the Directory stopped issuing them. A new system of paper money was created - the so-called "territorial mandates", provided with all the same national property, including new possessions confiscated from the church in Belgium. "Mandates" were issued initially in the amount of 2 billion 400 million; they could be exchanged for assignats, and the exchange rate set from the very beginning was extremely favorable for speculators, for owners of large denominations. "Mandates" in turn depreciated in an incredibly short time. Already in April, their rate was only about 20%, and in July they were refused to be accepted into circulation; by September the "mandate" was completely worthless.

But this operation proved to be a source of enormous enrichment for the Thermidorian bourgeoisie. "Mandates" were accepted as payment for national property, which was now sold without any auctions. The big buyers, who had first enriched themselves by the profitable exchange of banknotes for "mandates," were now paying for their purchases with depreciated mandates and deriving colossal benefits from these operations. “In the fourth year,” Marx wrote in his summary of Avenel’s book, “a campaign of mandates was launched, which was carried out even faster than Bonaparte’s Italian campaign. It took eight months to do away with the assignats; the loan of new money was exhausted in 4 months in order to acquire the property of emigrants at the lowest price. In addition to the newly confiscated property in Belgium, large tracts of forests and former royal residences in Saint-Cloud, Vincennes, Saint-Germain, Rambouillet were then sold - "the kings of finance became the owners of the castles of the former monarchy."

The need of the masses only increased with the introduction of "mandates". Three prices arose - for assignats, for "mandates" and for specie, which was then still extremely rare. The "strike" of the propertied strata of the countryside continued. The delivery of grain to the cities, especially to Paris, was decreasing, the distribution of cheap bread was decreasing. In this situation of inflation, terrible high cost, "hunger in the midst of abundance", the famous "Conspiracy in the name of equality" arose, headed by Gracchus Babeuf.

Babeuf's communist views, which had taken shape even before the revolution, had reached complete clarity by that time. If in the first years of the revolution Babeuf considered it untimely to come out with an open visor, then after Germinal and Prairial he believed that only a bold program of “perfect equality” could lead the masses out of the state of apathy, indifference that prevailed after the defeats, and the complete decline of political initiative.

Already in Arras prison, in the spring of 1795, he drafted the "Manifesto of the Plebeians". He published it almost immediately after his release, in the 35th issue of the Tribune of the People. "People! Wake up, - the Manifesto ended, - get out of your stupor ... Let this work become a lightning that will revive, revive all those who were once filled with ardor and courage ... Let the people know the true idea of ​​\u200b\u200bequality ... let the struggle unfold around this famous testament of true equality and denial of ownership. Let all the old barbarian institutions be overthrown. Let's go boldly to equality. Let the goal of society be visible to us, let the general well-being be visible.

Babeuf Engraving by Peronard

To implement this true equality, Babeuf proposed to destroy private property, to oblige each person to hand over all the products of his labor in kind to common warehouses; establish a food administration which, taking into account all citizens and all resources, will distribute them on the basis of the strictest equality. This program was characterized by primitive and crude leveling, but it was the first attempt to link the communist ideal with the revolutionary struggle of the broad masses of the people. Communism ceased to be an abstract book theory, as it was for Mably and Morelli - for the first time in history, the communist idea became the banner of revolution.

The core of the future "conspiracy" took shape as early as 1795, in Arras and Parisian prisons. The conspirators included members of the Council of the Paris Commune after August 10, the Central Committee, which prepared the uprisings of May 31 - June 2, members of the supervisory committees, revolutionary tribunals, administrators of the revolutionary police, members of the germinal and the prairial. Along with the former Hébertists and "madmen", Robespierreists also participated in the movement, such as Philippe Buonarroti, Alexander Darte (one of the most prominent figures of the Jacobin dictatorship in the department of Pas-de-Calais, the closest associate of the member of the Convention executed after 9 Thermidor J. Lebon), Charles Germain, F. Lepeletier, who drew their conclusions from the lessons of the revolution and, to a large extent under the influence of Babeuf's propaganda, moved from petty-bourgeois egalitarianism to communism.

Released from prison after the 4 Brumaire amnesty, the future Babouvists made extensive use of the Pantheon club, where they gradually gained decisive influence. The directory then decided to close the club, and this operation was carried out by Bonaparte as commander of the "internal army" (7 ventose IV - February 24, 1796). Five days later, Bonaparte was placed at the head of an army destined for military operations in Italy.

Deprived of legal opportunities, the Babouvists created a secret organization. On 10 Germinal IV (March 30, 1796), an insurgent committee was created, which included Babeuf, Buoyarroti, Darte, Antonelle (former member of the Legislative Assembly, under the Jacobin dictatorship - member of the Paris revolutionary tribunal), Sylvain Marechal (well-known atheist, activist of the revolution, one of the editors of the "Paris Revolutions"), Felix Aepeletier, brother of the murdered member of the Convention, the famous Michel Lepeletier.

The Committee developed a feverish activity for the preparation of an armed uprising and the overthrow of the Directory. Paris was divided into 12 districts, at the head of each of them was a "secret agent" from among the most prominent figures in the Parisian sections. One of the leaders of the military organization was Jean Rossignol, a jeweler worker, the first plebeian general, who at one time was at the head of all the armies operating in the Vendée.

In parallel with the creation of the rebel committee in Paris, the activities of the surviving left members of the Convention, from among those 68 Jacobins whom the Thermidorians deprived of the right to be re-elected, revived. Among them, a prominent role was played by Drouet, who in 1791 arrested Louis XVI in Varenia during his flight, Vadier and Amar, former leaders of the committee of general security, and others. Negotiations began between the two centers on a joint action. The Jacobins believed that if the uprising was victorious, power should pass into their hands. The Babouvists, whose goal was the abolition of private property and the realization of "genuine equality" and who believed that the Jacobins were not capable of solving such a problem, sought to create a genuine revolutionary dictatorship. This recognition of the need for a revolutionary dictatorship for the implementation of the communist transformation of society was the greatest historical merit of the Babouvists, for all their utopianism and the crudely egalitarian nature of their views.

In the end, an agreement was reached between the Babouvists and the Jacobins. The Babouvists worked out an “act of insurrection”, which provided both a plan for the uprising and certain economic measures in case of success - the requisition of bakeries, the distribution of bread, the confiscation of the property of counter-revolutionaries, the moving of the poor into their homes, the return of things from pawnshops. Power was to pass into the hands of a new assembly - one deputy from each department, but these candidates were to be put forward by an insurgent committee.

In Paris, where the introduction of "mandates" began just at that moment, the propaganda of the Babouvists met with a sympathetic response. Faubourg Saint Antoine. Inflation, the frenzied high cost painfully affected the middle strata of the population, the army, and even its officer corps. Unrest began in the capital, affecting the "police legion", where the Babouvists had connections. The "secret agents" led by Babeuf and Buonarroti compiled lists of former gunners, participants in the previous revolutionary uprisings on August 10 and May 31, on whom they could rely in the event of a new uprising. The Babouvists also had some connections in the provinces. A certain increase in their influence is also evidenced by the position of Barras, the most flexible of all the members of the Directory, who entered into negotiations with some Babouvists known to him.

But the majority of the Directory, then led by Carnot, held a firm position. On Germinal 27 (April 16, 1796), a law was passed threatening the death penalty for calling for the restoration of the monarchy or the constitution of 1793, for robbery or "the division of property under the name of agrarian law." A few days later, the police legion was disbanded.

Among the leaders of the Babouvist organization was a traitor - officer Grisel, who informed Carno all the information about the preparations for the uprising. On Floreal 21 (May 10, 1796), Babeuf and Buonarroti were arrested, followed by all the leaders of the movement, including Drouet (later he managed to escape, with the clear assistance of Barras). The Directory tried to restore against the "floralists", "anarchists", "bloodsuckers", "dividers", and "robbers" all the property of France. It was supported by the bourgeois press. “If Babeuf had succeeded in overthrowing the Directory,” wrote the newspaper “Friend of the Laws”, “under the name of the first tribune, he would have forced both his enemies and his associates to be strangled.”

The defendants were transported in iron cages to the small town of Vandom. They were judged by a specially created Supreme Court. The process, which began in February 1797, lasted three months. The defendants, especially Babeuf, behaved extremely courageously. On May 26, 1797, the verdict was announced. Babeuf and Darte were sentenced to death; seven people, including Buonarroti, to hard labor exile. Babeuf and Darte tried to commit suicide in the meeting room. The execution took place at night. According to one of the Babouvists, Taffuro, the corpse of Babeuf was beheaded after the execution.

The Parisian suburbs, bled dry after the Germinal and the Prairial, did not rise in defense of the Babouvists. In September 1796, the surviving members of the movement made an attempt to raise the troops located in the Grenelle camp, in the suburbs of Paris. But this attempt was largely provoked by the Directory itself, which had been forewarned of the action. Of the 131 arrested, 30 were shot by a military court, including 3 former members of the Convention.

Following the suppression of the "Conspiracy for the sake of equality" (as Philip Buonarroti called it in his book published in 1828), a sharp turn to the right began in the policy of the Directory.

After the conclusion of peace with Prussia and Spain, only two powers remained in the first coalition, continuing the war - England and Austria. The Republic was unable to strike at England; to achieve peace, it remained to break Austria. In the spring of 1796, it was assumed that operations on the Rhine and Danube would be launched for this purpose. But the appointment of Bonaparte as commander of the Italian army mixed all the cards.

Just in those weeks when the propaganda of the "equals" reached its climax, the actions of the Italian army in Italy began. It was not numerous, only 38 thousand soldiers, opposing almost twice as many armies of the Austrians and Piedmontese.

The Italian campaign was undoubtedly one of the most interesting military operations. The military genius of Napoleon was reflected in it with all its brilliance. All the qualities inherent in him as a commander - swiftness, strength of the onslaught, the ability to instantly cover all the features of the situation, the ability to almost unmistakably find the most vulnerable point for delivering a lightning strike to the enemy - were perfectly manifested in this first independent campaign.

Bonaparte succeeded first of all in separating the Piedmontese troops from the Austrian ones and defeating them. On April 12, near Montenotte, the Piedmontese suffered the first defeat, then two others. Already on April 28, an armistice was signed, and on May 15, peace was concluded with Piedmont. This was followed by the turn of the Austrians.

On May 10, 1796, the Austrian army near Lodi suffered a crushing defeat. This victory first turned Bonaparte's head. “That evening,” he recalled on St. Helena, “I felt like not just a general, but a man called to influence the fate of the people.”

Following the victory at Lodi, the French army entered Milan, the capital of Austrian Lombardy, on May 14. The Austrian command had to transfer new forces to Italy in order to stop the onslaught of the French and liberate the besieged fortress of Mantua, where a large Austrian army was surrounded. But one after another - near Castiglione (August 15), Arcole (November 15-17), Rivoli (January 14, 1797) - new victories of the French army followed. February 2 capitulated Mantua - the most important strategic node in northern Italy. In April 1797, a truce was concluded in Leoben. Bonaparte's first Italian campaign ended in brilliant success.

But this success also caused the first serious friction between Napoleon and the Directory. She still regarded Italy as a secondary theater of operations. She (especially Roebel) set as the main goal of her foreign policy the annexation of the left bank of the Rhine and continued to prepare the operations of the Rhine armies, which were to lead a victorious offensive against Vienna. Before Bonaparte, the Directory set the task of moving to central and southern Italy in order to extract as many resources as possible and, in particular, to capture Rome.

But Bonaparte was not going to give up the palm to his rivals - the commanders of the Rhine armies Gosh and Moreau. Therefore, he did not care about the left bank of the Rhine, but was in a hurry to make peace with Austria on his own and consolidate his conquests in Lombardy, which he turned into the Cisalpine Republic - the next "subsidiary republic" after the Batavian.

Having provoked a clash with the Venetian Republic, Bonaparte occupied Venice and turned its possessions into an object of bargaining with Austria. On October 18, 1797, in Campo Formio (in fact, in Passariano), he, without waiting for the sanction of the Directory, signed a peace treaty with Austria. The question of the left bank of the Rhine remained open - however, according to the secret articles of the treaty, Austria, subject to territorial compensation, did not object to ceding it to France, if the German Confederation agreed. Austria received Venice and most of its possessions - Illyria, Dalmatia, etc. France acquired the Ionian Islands - an important strategic position in the Mediterranean. Austria was to recognize the independent Italian states.

The terms of the Treaty of Campoformia, the whole Italian policy of Bonaparte began to cast doubt on the sincerity of his republican convictions among some of the most far-sighted French and Italian democrats. They hoped that Napoleon would assist the movement for the transformation of Italy into a single republic. But already the conclusion of peace with the Piedmontese monarchy and the refusal to help the Piedmontese "Jacobins" caused "terrible doubts" among those who wanted to see Napoleon as "the enemy of tyrants, the savior of Italy, the hope of the republicans."

Babeuf, who as early as 1796 drew attention to the fact that the Directory “gave General Bonaparte 800,000 francs to set up his house,” watched with alarm the actions of Napoleon in Lombardy, who appointed provisional representative bodies without any elections. These first manifestations of authoritarianism gave rise to one of the former members of the Babouvist "insurrectionary committee", Sylvain Marechal, to issue a pamphlet "Amendment to the Glory of Bonaparte", in which he warned: "Bonaparte! Your fame is a dictatorship!.. If you allow yourself such behavior in Italy, nothing gives me confidence that during the forthcoming in the Germinal (in the spring of 1797 - Ed.) primary electoral meetings you will not say: “French people! I will draw up a Legislative Corps and an executive directory for you…” I do not see what can prevent a general from appearing in the National Assembly and saying: “I will give you a king in my spirit or tremble. Your disobedience will be punished."

In general, the Italian campaign brought Napoleon great popularity. The army and the generals generally began to play a new role in the republic. In 1792–1794 the French army, genuinely democratic, mostly peasant in composition, waged a just, defensive war against the feudal coalition. The whole nature of the war demanded a radical renewal of the command staff. At the head of the army were new generals, often from the most democratic sections of the people, who linked their fate with the cause of the revolution. They implicitly obeyed the Jacobin convention.

But in the era of the Directory, wars began to change their character. They were still progressive, but were no longer fought on French territory. The French armies contributed to the destruction of feudalism in the countries they occupied - and in this sense they continued to be the bearers of progress. But they taxed the population with indemnities and requisitions. In the conditions of complete discreditation of paper money, the Directory was in dire need of gold, specie, and other material resources. They could be delivered primarily by the victorious generals. So the Directory began to become dependent on them. “The civic spirit began to gradually recede before the spirit of conquest. The soldiers of the revolution were more and more often designated condottieri.

The directory tried to counteract these processes by sending commissars to the army. But most of the time they were powerless. In addition, the internal situation in the country did not allow the Directory to come into conflict with the army and its leaders. Just in 1797, only the army could provide it with decisive support in the struggle against the intensified monarchist danger.

The massacre of the Babouvists and the Vendôme process caused the entire policy of the Directory to turn to the right. This contributed to the revival of the activities of the monarchists. In the capital there was an "agency" acting on behalf of the Bourbons, headed by the Abbé Brotier; it was subsidized by the British. A number of prominent figures, including General Pichegru, who commanded the army that conquered Holland, had connections with emigration. Elections at the Germinal of Year 5 (in the spring of 1797) brought great success to the reaction. In the councils of five hundred and elders, the majority belonged to the opponents of the Directory. The hidden monarchist General Pichegru was elected chairman of the Council of Five Hundred.

Inspired by the results of the elections, the opponents of the republic stepped up their offensive. The law of 3 Brumaire, IV, was repealed. All amnestied "terrorists" were deprived of the right to hold public office. Legislation 1792–1793 against "unsworn priests" was suspended. Their mass return from emigration began - by the summer of 1797, about 12 thousand previously expelled priests returned to the country. The return of emigrant nobles also began. Formed terror began against the acquirers of national property. Herbs were arranged on their fields, crops were set on fire; returning priests subjected them to curses, depriving them of the right to church rites "until the return of their property."

A clash between the Directory and the majority in the councils of five hundred and elders was becoming inevitable. He was delayed only by disagreements among the monarchists themselves, between their extreme right wing, which defended the restoration of the old unlimited monarchy (the prince-pretenders themselves were on their side), and the constitutionalists. Nevertheless, preparations for a speech against the Directory were quite intensive. In place of the retired - in the order of annual renewal, by lot - Lethurner was elected an obvious monarchist Barthelemy. The Soviets also counted on the support of Carnot, the mastermind behind the defeat of the Babouvists. It was supposed to pass a vote of no confidence to the Directory and renew its entire membership.

The majority of the Directory, the "triumvirate" (Larevelier-Lepo, Rebel, Barras), alarmed by these preparations, prepared to fight back. But it was afraid to seek the support of democratic elements. Under these conditions, it remained only to rely on the army.

Despite the prohibition to bring troops into Paris without the permission of the legislature, the Directory agreed with one of the most popular republican generals, Lazar Hoche, who commanded the Rhine army, to transfer troops to the capital. At the same time, the Directory received the support of Bonaparte, who was fiercely attacked in the councils of five hundred and elders for the terms on which the Treaty of Campoformia was concluded. Bonaparte sent to the capital one of his generals, Augereau, appointed commander of the Paris garrison. Bonaparte obtained for the Directory an important document (which he had seized from the French émigré Comte d'Entregues, who was arrested in Venice), incriminating Pichegru in connection with counter-revolutionary emigration.

The opposition was about to take decisive action, but the "triumvirate" got ahead of it. On the night of the 18th fructidore of the year V (September 4, 1797), a coup was carried out. Posters were plastered along the streets, which cited the “document d'Entregues” as evidence of the betrayal of Pichegru, chairman of the Council of Five Hundred, and his associates associated with the “Anglo-émigré conspiracy”. Under the direction of Augereau, the leaders of the councils of five hundred and the elders were arrested, who were to be sent to hard labor along with two members of the Directory, Barthelemy and Carnot. Carnot managed to escape, while the arrested Pichegru fled on the way. 177 deputies were deprived of their powers. Among the exiled and dismissed deputies were prominent figures - Boissy d'Angla, Portalis, Defermont, Dumolard, Bourdon of Oise, Pastore, Saladin, Simeon, Vaublank, Barbe-Marbois, Mathieu Dumas and others - some of them played a significant role in the Napoleonic era. All of these activities were sanctioned by the remaining members of both councils. Instead of Carnot and Barthelemy, the former Jacobin Merlin (from Douai) and Francois Neuchâteau were introduced to the Directory. The entire composition of ministers was renewed - Talleyrand, the former Bishop of Autun, one of the leaders of the Constituent Assembly, who was in the United States during the years of the Jacobin dictatorship, an intelligent and prudent person, who became the embodiment of unscrupulousness, servility and venality, was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The coup of the 18th fructidor moved aside the monarchist threat for a while. 42 newspapers hostile to the Directory were closed. Legislation against the counter-revolutionary clergy was again enacted. Emigrants who returned voluntarily were asked to leave France within two weeks. Even Sieyes, with all the moderation of his views, came up with a proposal for the expulsion of all persons who held any posts under the old order.

But the coup, which was a gross violation of the constitution, for the first time turned the army into an active and partly even decisive force in political life, did not strengthen the Directory for a long time. In her and the circles that supported her, they saw representatives of the same group of Thermidorians, stubbornly clinging to power, not shunning any means. The moral authority of the Directory continued to decline. This was especially facilitated by its close connection with and dependence on the new, predatory bourgeoisie.

According to Marx, just after the suppression of the Babeuf movement, representatives of the Thermidorian bourgeoisie “plunged like rabid wolves on the property of the emigrants. Another good turn for them: the victories of the Italian army. Bonaparte! Montenotte, Mondovi, Lodi! The robbers praised Bonaparte as their protector ... And what a profitable business for them turned out to be supplies to the army ... Members of the Directory, deputies, generals, all officials drowned, died in this society of bankers, military suppliers, corrupt women who subjugated them to their domination ... "

Having lost the possibility of issuing paper money, the Directory, which was in dire financial need, often had to resort to the services of bankers to obtain loans for the most urgent needs. But in return, she had to make more and more concessions. This is how the system of “delegations” appeared: in exchange for cash advances, the Directory transferred to its creditors for “farming” the right to cut in state forests, levy taxes in one department or another, sell confiscated English goods, etc. In this environment of deals, speculation, mutual services characteristic of the "bourgeois orgy of the Directory", the vast majority of its leaders, led by Barras, turned out to be seized by the same passion for enrichment. No wonder Talleyrand, upon his appointment as minister, exclaimed: “We must make a fortune, a huge fortune!”

The policy turn to the left was short-lived. In the spring of 1798, regular elections were coming. Since the posts of the dismissed deputies were not replaced, 437 deputies had to be elected - almost 2/3 of the composition of both councils. On the eve of the elections in Germinal of the 6th year, the democratic elements in the country noticeably revived. Lists circulated, in which among the electors and deputies there were the names of former members of the Robespierre Committee of Public Safety R. Lende and Prieur from the Marne and prominent Jacobins Druze, Goye (former Minister of Justice in 1793), Tissot - the brother-in-law of the "Prairial martyr" Goujon, the former mayor of Paris Pasha, the “red priest” Pierre Dolivier, etc. In the department of the Seine, among the electors there were many former active Jacobins and even Babouvists. One of the pamphlets inspired by the supporters of the Directory included about 25 "beloved children of Babeuf" in this collection.

Frightened by the specter of a resurgence of Jacobinism, the Directory made another turn to the right. The Soviets in their former composition were given the right to approve newly elected deputies. At the same time, a new gross violation of the constitution was committed. In 26 departments, instead of one assembly of electors, two were created; candidates elected by a minority, but pleasing to the Directory, were approved as deputies. According to the law of 22 Floreal of the VI year (May 11, 1798), 106 of the newly elected deputies were not approved, including the future Napoleonic consuls Cambaceres and Roger-Ducos. This "Floreal" coup further contributed to the discrediting of the Directory. But a particularly fatal role was played by its foreign policy and the resumption of hostilities associated with it with a new, second coalition.

One of the main demands of the monarchist opposition in the soviets was the immediate conclusion of peace on the condition that France refuse to expand its borders. The coup of 18 fructidor was used by the Directory just in the opposite direction - to intensify its foreign policy. Peace negotiations with England, initiated by Pitt under the impression of French victories in Italy, were interrupted.

In an effort to establish a direct link between France and her Italian "protectorates", the Directory intensified its activities in Switzerland, where it could rely on the democrats who sought the help of the French Republic. In February 1798, French troops entered Bern, and in June they facilitated a coup that led to the creation of the Helvetic Republic, a new "subsidiary republic" that replaced a state of virtually independent cantons dominated by reactionary elements. However, the Directory also sought to use the republic in Switzerland primarily for the purpose of extracting financial and other material resources. Geneva, the most important point of transit trade, was annexed to France and became the center of the new Leman department.

Abandoning the cautious policy of Bonaparte towards the papacy, the Directory, under various pretexts, in February 1798 organized the invasion of French troops into the Roman region and contributed to the proclamation of the Roman Republic. Piedmont still retained its independence, but in June 1798 French troops occupied the citadel in the capital Turin. After the sudden death of Lazar Gosch, who was at the head of the Rhine armies and who, in contact with the German democrats, was preparing the proclamation of the Republic of the Rhine, the Directory created four new departments in the territories occupied by the French.

The most important event of the Directory in the field of foreign policy was the Egyptian campaign. It is difficult to establish under whose influence this decision was made. Already in the summer of 1797, Talleyrand made a report at the Institute "On the benefits of acquiring new colonies under present conditions", in which he proposed the conquest of Egypt. It is possible that this project was prompted by Bonaparte. In any case, he became a zealous supporter of the Egyptian expedition to expand the influence of France in the Mediterranean and strike at England.

Bonaparte returned from Italy in December 1797. At the reception given to him by the Directory, he kept himself very stiff and haughty. In his speech there was a mysterious phrase: "When the welfare of the French people is approved on the basis of the best organic laws, all Europe will be free." Although Napoleon himself believed that “the pear was not yet ripe,” the Directory, alarmed by the behavior of Bonaparte, supported the plan for the Egyptian campaign, not without a second thought to get rid of the too popular and ambitious general.

The decision on the expedition was made in March 1798. In May 1798, a strong French fleet, on whose ships about 40 thousand soldiers were stationed, sailed from Toulon. Going around the ships on the eve of sailing, Bonaparte, according to an eyewitness, caused rejoicing among the sailors and soldiers, promising “each soldier six arpans of land after returning home from the expedition. He appeals to profit and honor... Everyone is eager to leave, begging for a fair wind. Distrust and anxiety disappeared. Everyone rushes to the ships."

Having occupied the island of Malta on the way, the French landed in Egypt. Having defeated the Mamluks on July 21, 1798 in the well-known battle at the pyramids, they entered Cairo. But just ten days later, the expedition was under attack. The English squadron, cruising in the Mediterranean Sea, led by the famous English Admiral Nelson, due to a number of accidents, missed the French ships. However, upon learning of the French landing, Nelson hurried to the coast of Egypt. On August 1, 1798, in the battle near Abukir, the French squadron was defeated, only two ships survived; the commander of the fleet was killed. The French army found itself in a mousetrap - the exit from Egypt was cut off for it.

But the consequences of the Egyptian expedition were not limited to this. Although the Mamluks actually dominated Egypt, the Sultan continued to consider this country as his possession. September 9, 1798 Türkiye declared war on France. In search of allies, she turned to Russia. By that time, after the completion of the partitions of Poland, the tsarist government had a free hand. An alliance with Turkey, which agreed to open the Russian fleet a free exit from the Black Sea through the straits, for the first time provided Russia with wide opportunities for an active policy in the Mediterranean. Paul I, who replaced the very cautious Catherine II on the throne in 1796, signed an agreement with Turkey in December 1798.

By that time, the situation in Italy had deteriorated. The troops of the Neapolitan monarchy, who temporarily took possession of Rome, opposed the Roman Republic. The French, who went on the counteroffensive, again occupied Rome and entered Naples, where in January 1799 the Partenopeian Republic was proclaimed. Then Paul I expressed his readiness to provide military assistance to the deposed Neapolitan king. The Russian fleet entered the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. For the first time in the years of the revolution, the Russian army went over to active operations against France. Austria gave its consent to the passage of Russian troops, and in response to this, the Directory in April 1799 declared war on it. Almost simultaneously, negotiations were broken off with the German Confederation at Rastadt, where two of the members of the French delegation were killed on their departure.

The peaceful respite obtained after Campo Formio lasted only a year and a half. At the beginning of 1799, France had to fight with the second coalition, which included England, Russia, Austria, Turkey, Naples and Sweden. Hostilities began for the Directory extremely unsuccessfully. Already in April 1799, Russian troops led by Suvorov entered Milan. The French army cleared all of Italy and again crossed back across the Rhine. The Austrians began to operate in Switzerland. The Batavian Republic was also under threat - in August 1799, the English fleet landed a 25,000-strong Russian corps in Gelder. As in 1792-1793, France was once again under the threat of invasion.

As then, this caused some revolutionary upsurge in the country. In terms of strength, it was completely incomparable with the years of the Jacobin dictatorship. After 9 Thermidor and the suppression of the movements of 1795, political indifference developed among the plebeian masses, disappointed with the results of the bourgeois revolution. The economic situation improved; after several favorable harvests and the elimination of inflation, high prices gave way to low prices; bread and meat were sold for and even 1/4 cheaper than in 1790. All this contributed to the development of a certain political apathy among the masses.

However, the danger of invasion acted - the democratic opposition was clearly growing in the country, demanding that the Directory take emergency measures to protect the republic. At the next elections in the spring of 1799, a number of left-wing deputies passed, and this time the Directory did not dare to launch a new coup. It was carried out by renewed councils of five hundred and elders.

The Directory itself became a victim of the coup. From its composition, first, by lot, its most energetic member, Röbel, left; Sieyes, the future "gravedigger of the republic", was elected in his place. A kind of bloc formed in the soviets between their democratic part and the moderates, who sought to give revenge to the Directory for violating the constitution on 18 fructidor and 22 floreal.

Members of the Directory on 30 Prairial of the 7th year (June 18, 1799) were forced to resign. Of the entire composition of the first Directory, one Barras survived, continuing to maneuver with the sole purpose of staying in power. The new Directory included the former Jacobin Minister of Justice Goyet, the Thermidorian Roger Ducos, and General Moulin, who had a reputation as a leftist. All ministers have been replaced. General Bernadotte, the son of an innkeeper, who commanded a number of armies during the years of the revolution, was appointed Minister of War. The notorious Fouche, once a left-wing member of the Convention, a friend of Babeuf at the beginning of the Thermidorian reaction, became Minister of Police, but he turned out to be a strikingly unprincipled and perfidious intriguer. The former Jacobin Robert Lendet was appointed Minister of Finance; the Ministry of Justice was also headed by the "regicide", Cambacérès, the future second consul.

The defeats at the fronts forced a number of drastic measures to be taken. At the suggestion of General Jourdan, victor at Fleurus, deputy of the Council of Five Hundred, a conscription was announced for five ages; new contingents, mostly peasants, joined the army, resolutely opposed to any attempts at feudal and monarchist reaction. A compulsory loan of 100 million francs was introduced, and only representatives of the top of the propertied classes were subject to taxation. On July 12, 1799, a law on hostages was adopted: they were to be selected from among former nobles, relatives of emigrants, etc. Four hostages were to be held responsible for the murder of one civil servant or acquirer of national property. Household searches were allowed for some time. On July 17, Jourdan toasted the "rebirth of the pikes". Pikes were the main weapon of the sans-culottes, and this toast, as it were, called for the restoration of the former role of the sans-culottes.

In Paris, for the first time after the dissolution of the Pantheon, a new club began to operate - the Society of Friends of Equality and Freedom - which gathered in the Manege hall. At its very first meeting, Drouet, who returned to France after escaping from prison, was elected "manager". About 250 deputies signed up for the club. Among its members were not only prominent figures of the Jacobin dictatorship, such as, for example, Prieur from the Marne and the former Minister of War in 1793, Colonel Bouchotte, but also active Babouvists Felix Lepeletier, "the main agent of communication" in Didier's Babouvist organization, and others.

Although all these measures were implemented hesitantly and remotely reminiscent of 1793, they were enough to provoke sharp resistance from the propertied classes, seized with fear of the possibility of a resurrection of Jacobinism. In the Council of Five Hundred, and especially in the Council of Elders, in the leading circles of the bourgeoisie, in all of property-owning France, a new attack of anti-Jacobin reaction began. The Council of Elders rejected the proposal to indict the former members of the Directory. The last Jacobin Club lasted only about five weeks; the same Fouche, once a far-left Jacobin, in his capacity as minister of police ordered its closure (26 Thermidor - 13 August 1799). The proposal made by General Jourdan to "declare the fatherland in danger" on September 14 was rejected, albeit by a small majority. "Social fear" once again greatly increased the counter-revolutionary spirit of the Thermidorian bourgeoisie. The final phase began in the history of the First Republic.

This was facilitated by the fact that military operations took a favorable turn. The Austrian monarchy was alarmed by the victories of Suvorov's army on the river. Trebbia and at Novi. Concerned about the possibility of independent operations of the Russian-English landing on the Dutch coast, the Austrians hurried to withdraw their troops from Switzerland in order to transfer them to the Rhine. The Austrians were supposed to be replaced by Russian troops, but this movement took place so suddenly and in such unfavorable conditions that the French army managed to strike at separate parts of the Russian troops isolated from each other. It was only thanks to the heroic crossing of the Alps under the leadership of Suvorov that defeat was avoided. Outraged by the behavior of the Austrians, Paul I ordered the return of the Russian army. Shortly before that, the Russian expeditionary force that landed on the Dutch coast was defeated. Under the terms of the surrender, 6,000 Russian soldiers were interned on the island of Jersey. The immediate danger to France was removed.