How the Directory failed in the French Revolution

At the start of the French Revolution in 1789, a National Assembly was tasked with creating a new form of government that reduced the power of Louis XVI, the king of France.

When the first constitution was created in 1791, the National Assembly was replaced by the new Legislative Assembly, which oversaw a constitutional government, which still allowed the king some limited powers.

However, when Louis was executed in January 1792, the constitutional government was replaced by the National Convention.

This is often referred to as the First French Republic. Unfortunately, the National Convention spent much of its time consumed in internal conflict between different political groups. 

Each side suspected the other of undermining the success of the revolution.

In 1793, the National Convention set up a notorious group known as the Committee of Public Safety, which was given powers to hunt down and eliminate any people who could be threats to the long-term survival of the revolution.

This led to a period of mass killings by the Committee throughout 1793 and 1794 where they found thousands of people guilty of plotting against the revolution.

These people where quickly executed by guillotine. This period of bloodshed was known as The Reign of Terror.

The leaders of the Committee of Public Safety, like Maximilien Robespierre, became incredibly powerful as they removed threats to their own power by condemning rivals to death.

By the end of the Terror in July 1794, over 16,000 people became victims to the killing. 

After the Thermidorian Reaction, which overthrew Robespierre in July 1794, there was a push to establish a more stable government.

The new government structure needed a revised constitution to establish how it would work, and hopefully, be a much fairer system.

The resulting Constitution of Year III was created on August 22, 1795, and created the system, known as the Directory.

For the first time, the declaration of rights had a list of duties added to it.

Also, the Constitution of Year III declared that all male taxpayers over 21 years of age were considered 'citizens'.

The structure of the proposed new government was quite unique. It had a 'bicameral legislature', which meant that consisted of two government groups, known as 'houses'.

The first house was called the Council of Five Hundred and the other was the Council of Ancients.

The Council of Five Hundred was responsible for proposing new laws, while the Council of Ancients had the authority to approve or veto these proposals.

The members of these councils were elected by the citizens.

In addition, there was also a five-member executive committee known as the Directory.

They were selected by the Council of Ancients from a list proposed by the Council of Five Hundred.

Each of the five Directors had to be at least 40 years old and have previously served as a deputy or minister.

However, the Directors were responsible for appointing government ministers, ambassadors, army generals, and other officials.

The Directors only held office for a term of two years, which theoretically limited the extent of their powers.

It was finally put into place on November 2, 1795. It was hoped that it would be a more moderate regime that would restore order and prevent the rise of another dictatorship as had occurred during the Reign of Terror.

The Directory started with attempts to enact changes to domestic and foreign policies.

However, they were not able to implement all of their desired reforms due to political divisions within the government.

Instead, the Directory oversaw a period of significant economic challenges, including hyperinflation, food shortages, and public discontent.

They tried to stabilize the economy by introducing new taxes and reorganizing national debt, but these measures were not sufficient to overcome the economic turmoil.

Unfortunately, when the Directory system began, many people in Paris were not happy with the new constitution.

They felt that power was controlled by too few and did not really represent the people of France.

Before the Convention had time to vote for the new members of the Directory, there were rumours of an armed revolt by Royalists on the streets of Paris.

Afraid of the discontent in the city, the government ordered army troops into Paris to discourage any violent response.

On the 5th of October 1795, 20,000 people, attempted to overthrow the National Convention.

However, 6000 French troops guarded a series of strategic bridges throughout the city.

They were under the command of Paul Barras, but Barras had commanded a young Napoleon Bonaparte lead the troops.

The uprising was quickly crushed by the army and the rebel leaders were arrested.

This event became known as the Vendémiaire Uprising. It demonstrated the Directory's vulnerability and made the new government nervous about Royalist discontent across France.

Once the Directory was finally in place, two major political factions tried to dominate them.

These groups were the Jacobins, who were the more radical group, and the Royalists, who wanted to restore some kind of monarchy.

The Directory tried to keep these two groups in check, but they were not always successful.

Instead, these political divisions led to a number of uprisings and protests throughout France.

To maintain control, the new government had to once more lean on the army for support.

The most significant of these was the Coup of 18 Fructidor. In March and April of 1797, the first elections were held to replace the original members of the first Directory and the councils, which was accordance with the new constitution.

However, in these elections, there was an overwhelming swing in favour of Royalists, who won over one-third of the seats in the Council of Five Hundred.

Even more of a concern to the current Directors was the fact that the results also showed that all five men were to be replaced.

Afraid of losing the power that they had enjoyed for the last two years, the members of the Directory decided to ignore the election results and use the French army to seize back control once more.

As a result, the Directory members sent soldiers to arrest the successful Royalists.

This further solidified the old Directory's power within the government.

However, many French people knew that these actions were illegal and in clear violation of how the Directory system was supposed to work.

Discontent grew, but as long as the army sided with the Directory, there was little the people could do.

This stage is known as the Secondary Directory, and those in power continued to manipulate elections in order to keep their hold on the government.

They also expanded France's power internationally, by sending Napoleon to Egypt in May 1798 with an invasion force to take control of the country from Britain.

Then, on the 18th of June 1799, the Council of Five Hundred grew dissatisfied with the Directory and used their power to force the five directors out of office.

They replaced them with their own preferences. This was known as the Coup of Prairial.

However, not everyone benefited from the change in the Directors. The poor and working class were often overlooked, and they struggled to make ends meet.

This led to a growing sense of discontent among the people. In 1799, this discontent boiled over into a new revolution.

This one was known as the Coup of 18 Brumaire, which was a successful coup d'état led by Napoleon Bonaparte himself.

Napoleon had suddenly arrived back in Paris on the 16th of October 1799 as a victorious general.

Due to his famous battles across Europe, Egypt, and in Syria on behalf of the various revolutionary governments, the people and the army loved him.

As a result, the Directory's reliance on the army to hold their power was under threat.

Many feared that the soldiers were more loyal to Napoleon than the Directory.

In an attempt to disband what many considered to be a corrupt Directory, Napoleon and two other men decided to form an alliance to seize control from the councils.

The other two men were Roger Ducos, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyés.

The plan they would put into effect became known as the Coup of Brumaire.

On the 9th of November, Napoleon's brother, Lucien Bonaparte convinced the Council of Ancients that there was an imminent Jacobin threat, which prompted them to quickly relocate to the safety of the Château de Saint-Cloud.

On the same day, Napoleon Bonaparte was given command of local troops, and proceeded to Saint-Cloud, where he confronted the Council of Five Hundred.

Initially, the deputies of the council were resistant, and some even openly hostile.

However, as the day progressed, Bonaparte's brother, Lucien, who was president of the council, intervened. 

Frustrated with the slow pace of progress, Napoleon entered dramatically into the room, flanked by his grenadier soldiers, and demanded their immediate resignation.

In response to this demand, a scuffle broke out and Napoleon was scratched by deputies from the Council of Five Hundred.

Immediately, a story spread that the councils had attacked France's most famous general.

This was all the motivation Napoleon's troops needed. They stormed into the building, cleared the chamber and dissolved the entire Directory system.

In its place, the Constitution of the Year VIII was put into effect on December 24, 1799.

This created a new government called the Consulate, in which three 'Consuls' now held the most power.

Perhaps to nobody's surprise, the three men that led the coup, Ducos, Sieyés, and Napoleon took these three positions for themselves.

However, Napoleon would be given the most powerful role of First Consul in the new government, and he would go on to rule France for over a decade.