The Directory government had
fundamental weaknesses that made some historians to grossly
underestimate its achievements. Madelin expresses this that; The
Directory government was the more incompetent and most corrupt
government ever setup in France. Hay expresses the same sentiments that;
the history of the four years of the directory was troubled; uncertain
and ended in its violent overthrow. It should be noted that the
Directory government contributed to its own downfall in 1799. Its
weaknesses were exploited by Napoleon I to rally support and stage the
coup of 1799leadingto the end of the road for the Directory government.
1.
The Directory government was messed up by corruption, embezzlement of
public funds and inefficient administration. It over printed the
assignats (currency) and it lost its value to the lowest level. All
these led to industrial breakdown, unemployment, inflation, famine and
starvation. This caused public outcry for a liberator which was utilized
by Napoleon to rise to power.
2. The government
went against democratic rights by making tax qualification the criteria
for one to vote or be voted in an election. For example, those who were
voted in the upper chamber of parliament had to pay 40,000 Francs. It
disenfranchised the majority of poor Frenchmen most especially the
peasants. This was a violation of the French revolutionary principles of
liberty, equality, fraternity and nationalism. In short, it was a
return to the pre 1789 conservative ancient system which the Frenchmen
had destroyed through the 1789 revolution.
3. The
government lacked confidence in itself. It over relied on Napoleon in
suppressing internal revolts and fighting foreign wars. For example, the
royalist uprising of 1795, Italian and Egyptian campaigns of 1796 and
1798 respectively. These increased Napoleon's popularity and ambitions
which made him to stage the coup of1799.
4. The
Directory government failed to bring reconciliation between the Catholic
Church and the government of France. It encouraged the worship of
reason and altered the calendar to contain names of revolutionary events
and leaders other than saints and the birth of Christ. The worship of
reason (philanthrophy) that was led by Herbert was anti-Christian and
dogmatic. It was therefore very unpopular to the majority of the
Frenchmen most of whom were staunch Catholics. This provoked more
rebellions in the catholic dominated western provinces of Brittany and
Lavandee districts. The government failed to pacify these areas and they
remained a source of political/ instability to the government.
5.
The Directory government was disorganized and weakened from its
structure and hierarchy. 'Disharmony existed between the council of 500
and the council of elders. There was power struggle within the
directors. The government also failed to reconcile with the parliament
that was dominated by the Jacobins supporters. This explains why the
parliament refused to approve newly elected members of parliament in
1797 and rejected several government programs This situation gave rise
to political intrigues which destroyed the government. For Instance,
Abbey Sieyyes and Duccas disagreed with other directors and used
Napoleon to stage the coup of1799.
6. The Directory
government is blamed for manipulating and rigging elections in France.
The government used the army to terrorize people to vote for its
candidates and rig the elections of •" 1797, 1798 and 1799. It nullified
the election results of 1797 simply because the royalists and moderates
had won most of the seats in parliament against state candidates. This
explains why Carnot, the chairman of elections was deposed. In a nut
shell, this was militarization of elections and an attack on the
democratic rights of the Frenchmen.
7. Directory
government worsened economic crisis in France when it scrapped the law
of rnaximum price. The law was initiated by Robespierre to protect
consumers against exploitation by hoarders of essential commodities in
times, of crisis. The law was abolished and France became a free market
economy managed by the forces of demand and supply. This was used by
traders and Industrialists to hike prices of commodities. Consequently,
it led to Inflation, poverty, famine and starvation that made life of
ordinary French men very miserable
8. The amnesty
to the émigrés and release of political prisoners did not amount to
total reconciliation. Diehard revolutionaries protested their return as a
threat to the progress of the revolution. This was because they were
hardcore conservative persons who were suspected to return with a hidden
agenda to advocate for the restoration of the pre 1789 privileges and
properties such as Land. Indeed when they returned, many of them joined
the opposition and undermined government programs through their
representatives in parliament.
9. The foreign policy of the Directory government over the Egyptian campaign was a failure.
Napoleon had commanded 38,000 soldiers to conquer Egypt and force the British out. Although
Napoleon
successfully conquered the Island of Malta from the British and
defeated the Mameluks (Egyptian rulers) at the battle of Pyramids, he
was finally defeated by Nelson. He withdrew to France in two tiny boats
with a few escorts leaving his soldiers in Egypt. Thus, the Egyptian
campaign was a fiasco.
10. Lastly, the Directory
govemment was too weak and incapable of consolidating the territorial
glory and gains which Napoleon I had achieved through the Italian
campaign of 1796-97. The second coalition of 1798 was formed against
France, defeated her and Austria regained all the Compofomio- treaty
territories that she had lost to France in the 1796 Italian campaign.
Indeed by 1799, France was driven out of Switzerland, Germany and
Italian states. Napoleon questioned the military effectiveness of the
govemment in the following words;
I go and I leave
you in peace, I come back, I find war, I left you victorious but found
you defeated! What have you done for the French society?
Much
as Napoleon reorganized the French troops and defeated the second
coalition in 1802, the war left France isolated from the rest of Europe
who fought her in a series of coalitions until 1815 when Napoleon was
finally defeated. France was only reconciled to the rest of Europe in
1818 when she was admitted to the congress system.
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