FR - section 11 - easy - The French Revolution and Its Legacy

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.

The Fall of Robespierre and the Thermidorian Reaction

• Robespierre's arrest and execution on 9 Thermidor marked the end of the Reign of Terror, which claimed over 25,000 victims.
• The Thermidorian Reaction was a major turning point in the French Revolution, leading to the reassertion of authority by the Convention over the Committee of Public Safety.
• The new constitutional regime established after the Thermidorian Reaction aimed to temper the radicalism of the revolution and diminish the power of the sans-culottes.
• The influence of the generally wealthy middle-class and professional people replaced that of the sans-culottes, leading to a restructuring of the Committee of Public Safety and the repeal of the Law of 22 Prairial.
• The end of the Reign of Terror did not mean the end of violence in France, as former terrorists were targeted in the "white terror" and Jacobins were executed with little due process.
• The Republic of Virtue gave way to a period of frivolous pleasures, marked by the disappearance of the sans-culottes' dress and the revival of Catholic worship.
• The Thermidorian Reaction also saw the repeal of legislation that had improved divorce equity for women, leading to a regression in women's rights and education.
• The new Constitution of the Year III reflected the Thermidorian rejection of both constitutional monarchy and democracy, establishing the Directory as the new governing body.
• The fall of Robespierre and the Thermidorian Reaction led to the outlawing of the Paris Commune, closure of the Paris Jacobin Club, and suppression of Jacobin clubs in the provinces.
• The Thermidorian Reaction brought about a revival of Catholic worship and marked a shift towards traditional gender roles, reinforcing separate spheres for men and women.
• The fall of Robespierre and the Thermidorian Reaction led to the return of the Girondists to the Convention, a general amnesty for political prisoners, and the removal of some responsible for the Terror from public life.
• The Thermidorian Reaction had a significant impact on the French Revolution, leading to a period of transition and the establishment of a new constitutional regime.