But although the majority of the Convention yielded to the demand
for the establishment of a settled Government, they had no wish to
extinguish themselves. They knew that in the existing temper of the
nation they had little chance of being returned to power, and they
feared the lengths to which the reaction might run. Accordingly,
they proceeded to apply at once the principles laid down by the new
constitution for the renewal of the legislative body, and by the
decrees of the 5th and 13th Fructidor (22nd and 30th August), they
declared that two-thirds of the new Councils must be composed of
members of the Convention, and that only the remaining third should be
chosen from new men at the General Election. These decrees, which were
ratified by the primary assemblies and confirmed by the Convention in
September, aroused general indignation in Paris. The numerous partisans
of the reaction, already long impatient, and bitterly resenting the
device by which the Convention proposed to continue its power in
defiance of the sentiment of the nation, burst into premature revolt.
The Lepelletier Section took the lead of the movement, called out the
National Guards, and summoned the other Sections to rise against the
tyranny of the Convention. On the 13th Vendémiaire (5th October) the
insurrection broke out. The insurgent forces marched upon the Assembly,
to find themselves confronted by the troops of Barras and by the
artillery of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the triumph of the Government was
assured.
With the futile insurrection of Vendémiaire the history of the
Revolution ends. The failure of the rising in the Sections dealt a
sharp blow to the hopes of the reaction. It determined the character
of the new Directory. It installed in power a Government of men chosen
exclusively from the advanced Republicans, never in harmony with their
own Parliament, out of sympathy with the great mass of the nation,
relying on violence to maintain their authority, trusted by few and
respected by none. The Directory rested on the army for support. It
taught the troops what the Jacobins had never admitted, that they
could dispose of the fortunes of the State, and when the occasion and
the leader offered, the troops responded by choosing a ruler of their
own. That ruler all parties welcomed with relief. He accepted at once
the position of head of the nation, for he knew that the nation wanted
rest. 'Now,' said the peasantry of France, as they recounted the
stirring adventures of the past, 'now we are quiet, thanks to God and
to Bonaparte.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account