Mar. 2

The French Revolution II: Thermidor and Napoleon

I. The Directory 1795-99.

A. After the execution of Robespierre and the taming of the Committee of Public Safety, a four year period, the Thermidorian reaction marked by the rule of the Directory.
B. A partly democratic, partly dictatorial system. Still very much rooted in the ideas of 1789 and 1791.
C. Relatively free elections 1797 return a more conservative Legislative Assembly, with constitutional monarchists in the lead.

II. Enter Napoleon.

A. Born 1769 Corsica into the minor nobility, but a life with very few amenities.
B. A biography not unlike Sieyes--from a modest background and makes his way, first, through the military academy.
C. Takes him a few months, but soon recognizes the excitement, the possibilities of the revolution. "Revolutions are ideal times for soldiers with a bit of wit and the courage to act," he tells a fellow soldier.
D. Napoleon plays a leading role in many military campaigns in support of the Revolution. Fights in Corsica, Italy, southern France against internal and external enemies of the Revolution.
E. The Egyptian campaign 1798.
F. Returns to France 1799.
G. Directory looking for order. Bonaparte, only 30 yrs. old, now implements a coup d´etat of Brumaire (November 9, 1799). New executive the Consulate. Three members, Napoleon First Consul.
H. France now run by a dictatorship, yet one that still rooted, however inchoately, in the sovereignty of the people, in the popular conception of the nation.

III. And in 1804, yet another constitution and plebiscite, Napoleon becomes Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, the French Republic becomes the French Empire, and revolution, once again, would be taken abroad.