FR - section 11 - hard - The Fall of Robespierre and the Thermidorian Reaction Quiz

The Fall of Robespierre and the Thermidorian Reaction

• Robespierre's arrest and execution on 9 Thermidor marked the end of the Reign of Terror
• The Thermidorian Reaction resulted in the reassertion of the Convention's authority over the Committee of Public Safety
• The Reign of Terror, which claimed over 25,000 victims, came to a close as the war abroad was going well
• The Thermidorian Reaction involved the destruction of the machinery of terror and the establishment of a new constitutional regime
• The revolution had become too radical, leading to a weariness of the Terror and a fear of the sans-culottes
• The influence of the sans-culottes was replaced by that of the generally wealthy middle-class and professional people
• The end of the Reign of Terror led to the release of political prisoners and the restructuring of the Committee of Public Safety
• The Thermidorian Reaction also saw the outlawing of the Paris Commune and the closure of Jacobin clubs
• The end of the Reign of Terror did not mean the end of violence in France as former terrorists were attacked and executed
• The republic of virtue gave way to frivolous pleasures and a revival of Catholic worship
• The Thermidorian Reaction resulted in the repeal of legislation that had improved divorce equity for women
• The democratic constitution of 1793 was abandoned in favor of the Constitution of the Year III, rejecting constitutional monarchy and democracy

The Thermidorian Reaction and the Constitution of the Year III

• The Constitution of the Year III established a legislature of two houses, the Council of Elders and the Council of Five Hundred, with property qualifications for voting.
• The term "Thermidor" is associated with political reaction, but the post-Thermidorian French Revolution saw permanent changes in political and social structures.
• The revolution of the holders of property, particularly the wealth stemming from commerce, professions, and land, triumphed in the Constitution of the Year III.
• The removal of the sans-culottes from political life and the repeal of price regulations marked a decisively reactionary element in the Thermidorian Reaction.
• The government suppressed food riots and royalist uprisings, such as the one on October 5, 1795, to demonstrate the end of the sans-culottes era.
• The Convention concluded peace with Prussia and Spain through the Treaties of Basel in March and June 1795.
• The Two-Thirds Law, requiring two-thirds of the new legislature to have served in the Convention, undermined public faith in the new constitutional order.
• The spring of 1796 saw social unrest, including the Conspiracy of Equals led by Gracchus Babeuf, advocating for radical democracy and equality of property.
• The Directory aimed to resist further social changes that might endanger property or political stability and depended on the power of the army to govern France.
• The instability of the Directory, the growing role of the army, and the ambitions of its leaders had profound consequences for France and the Western world.
• The French Revolution is considered the central political event of modern European history, with far-reaching implications for political and social structures.
• The French Revolution brought about a shift from a political system based on rank and birth to one based on civic equality and property ownership, granting new groups access to political power.