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The FRENCH REVOLUTION (7 of 8)

Aside from the execution of Robespierre and his 21 associates, the revolution was worse off now than it had been before the attempt to nationalize religion, or before the decision to strike against counter-revolutionary émigrés and go to war, or before the execution of the king. None of these had brought any visible benefit to the revolution. By mid-1794 the revolution had more enemies than it had had at the end of the first year of the revolution, 1789. Many had died, and the war had further damaged the nation's economy. The winter of 1794-95 was harsh again. The economy remained depressed. Trade through such ports as Marseille and Bordeaux remained dramatically diminished.

Production methods in agriculture were still backward. Larger farms -- Britain's advantage in agriculture -- were not developing. The revolution left the peasants unencumbered by the complex rights to lands that had burdened them in former times, and the revolution had given landowners control over their village councils and control over agricultural policies, taking these away from feudal lords (seignoirs), but it would be many years before this would benefit agricultural development in France -- which would come with water control projects.

Following the execution of Robespierre, the surviving deputies of the National Convention felt obliged to dismantle the laws that had given free reign to the terror. And many of those who were still in prison as a result of these laws were released, including Thomas Paine in November, 1794. Those deputies surviving the terror wanted order and stability.

In December, the Convention repealed wage and price controls -- the policy that had been advocated by Parisian radicals. With the lifting of price controls the value of the country's paper money (the assignat) collapsed, producing skyrocketing prices for food. The River Seine froze, cutting Paris off from supplies of grain and fire wood. In March, 1795, the National Convention was still rationing bread, but supplies of grain were running out. Hunger produced more rioting in Paris. The rioting extended into May, when a mob invaded the National Convention again, demanding bread and killing one of the deputies, whose head was put on a pike. Some of the Leftist deputies went over to the side of the mob, but the Convention as a whole resisted and was rescued by the army. The turmoil in Paris lasted three days, ending with the arrest of thousands. Many of the activists had their weapons taken away, and around twenty leaders were executed. The six deputies who had sided with the demonstrators were tried and given a sentence of death, and four of them committed suicide.

The rebel movement in Paris felt defeated. Many believed the revolution a failure. Women in Paris began turning to their religious heritage. In the countryside, communities were searching for priests to perform mass. Among the poor, nostalgia was developing for the good old days when the king looked out for the basic needs of his subjects. Outside of Paris, people released from prison and those who had lost friends and family during the terror were demanding and initiating revenge against those who had terrorized them. Former terrorists were imprisoned, and a few were killed in what was called the White Terror, which had lasted through May and June of 1795.

A shortage of food existed also in the army, and the government was alarmed over a rebellion that occurred among French troops in the Austrian Netherlands. The National Convention lumped terror from the right with terror from the left and campaigned for unity and obedience to the Convention, and the National Convention managed to maintain the loyalty of the majority in the army.

Leaders of the rebellion that had been taking place in the Vendée since 1791 had contacted the British and French émigrés in Britain, and, on June 27, the British continued their war against the French by landing an army of 4,500 Frenchmen at Quiberon. By late July the invasion was defeated. A law required the execution of any émigré bearing arms, and 748 émigré officers were put to death. Rebellion in Brittany and the Vendée against the government continued into 1796 but would finally end in the summer of that year.

Meanwhile, in June, 1795, the ten-year-old son of Louis XVI had died while in prison. One of the brothers of Louis XVI, the Comte de Provence, in exile in Italy, proclaimed himself heir to the throne, with the title Louis XVIII.

A New Constitution

People with substantial wealth were beginning to display their affluence again. People were addressing each other as "mister" (monsieur) again, rather than as "citizen." Deputies to the National Convention responded to what had been mob excesses by asserting that the most worthy people were those who owned property. The constitution that the deputies created was prefaced with a declaration of the rights and duties of man and citizen, but it excluded the masses from political power.

The new constitution supported property rights, but properties confiscated from the Church and from émigrés were not to be returned. The constitution called for a bicameral legislature -- as in England and the United States -- which was believed more stable than a one-house legislature. Executive power was placed in what was called the Directory, consisting of five persons elected by the legislators. A referendum was held to approve the new constitution. Electoral assemblies voted favorably.

The National Convention had a few weeks of power before the new constitution was to go into effect, and to protect themselves and republicanism they passed a law requiring that two-thirds of those elected to the new government had to be former members of their National Convention. Conservatives rebelled against this rule and tried to take over the government by force. General Napoleon Bonaparte was put in charge of crushing the uprising. He used his artillery against the rebels, and hundreds were killed.

On October 26, 1795, the National Convention dissolved itself and a new republican government took power. A new guard was organized in Paris, loyal to the government rather than thought of as a people's army. To signify the change in mood and the end of terror, the Place de La Revolution -- where around 2800, including Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and Danton, had been guillotined -- was renamed, eventually to be called the Place de La Concorde. And Napoleon Bonaparte was named commander-in-chief of all armies within the boundaries of France.