The Thermidorian Reaction

22.5.5: The Thermidorian Reaction

The Thermidorian Reaction was a coup d’état during the French Revolution resulting in a Thermidorian regime characterized by the violent elimination of its perceived opponents.

Learning Objective

Describe the events of the Thermidorian Reaction

Key Points

  • The Thermidorian Reaction was a coup d’état within the French Revolution against the leaders of the Jacobin Club who dominated the Committee of Public Safety. It was triggered by a vote of the National Convention to execute Maximilien Robespierre, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, and several other leading members of the revolutionary government.
  • With Robespierre the sole remaining strongman of the Revolution, his apparent total grasp on power became increasingly illusory. In addition to widespread reaction to the Reign of Terror, Robespierre’s tight personal control of the military, distrust of military might and banks, and opposition to supposedly corrupt individuals in government made him the subject of a number of conspiracies.
  • The conspiracies came together on Thermidor 9 (July 27) when members of the national bodies of the revolutionary government arrested Robespierre and the leaders of the Paris city government. Not all of the conspiratorial groupings were ideologically motivated.
  • The prime mover for the events was a Montagnard conspiracy, which was gradually coalescing and came to pass when the Montagnards finally swayed the deputies of the right over to their side. In the end, Robespierre himself united his enemies when he gave a speech to the Convention in which he railed against enemies and conspiracies, some within the powerful committees. As he did not give the names of the “traitors,” all in the Convention had reason to fear that they were the targets.
  • The Thermidorian regime that followed proved unpopular, facing many rebellions after the execution of Robespierre and his allies. The people who were involved with Robespierre became the target, including many members of the Jacobin club, their supporters, and individuals suspected of being past revolutionaries. In addition, the sans-culottes were violently suppressed by the Muscadin, a group of street fighters organized by the new government. The massacre of these groups became known as the White Terror.
  • Meanwhile, French armies overran the Netherlands and established the Batavian Republic, occupied the left bank of the Rhine and forced Spain, Prussia and several German states to sue for peace, enhancing the prestige of the National Convention. A new constitution was drawn up, which eased back some of the democratic elements of the Constitution of 1793 and the Thermidorian regime ended.

Key Terms

Thermidorian Reaction
A 1794 coup d’état within the French Revolution against the leaders of the Jacobin Club that dominated the Committee of Public Safety. It was triggered by a vote of the National Convention to execute Maximilien Robespierre, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, and several other leaders of the revolutionary government. It ended the most radical phase of the French Revolution.
Reign of Terror
A period of violence during the French Revolution incited by conflict between two rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of “the enemies of the revolution.” The death toll ranged in the tens of thousands, with 16,594 executed by guillotine and another 25,000 in summary executions across France.
White Terror
A period of political violence during the French Revolution following the death of Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror. It was started by a group in the south of France calling themselves The Companions of Jehu. They planned a double uprising to coincide with invasions by Great Britain in the west and Austria in the east.
Paris Commune
During the French Revolution, the government of Paris from 1789 until 1795. Established in the Hôtel de Ville just after the storming of the Bastille, it consisted of 144 delegates elected by the 48 divisions of the city. It became insurrectionary in the summer of 1792, essentially refusing to take orders from the central French government. It took charge of routine civic functions but is best known for mobilizing extreme views. It lost much power in 1794 and was replaced in 1795.
National Convention
A single-chamber assembly in France from September 20, 1792, to October 26, 1795, during the French Revolution. It succeeded the Legislative Assembly and founded the First Republic after the Insurrection of August 10, 1792.
Committee of Public Safety
A committee created in April 1793 by the National Convention and then restructured in July 1793. It formed the de facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror (1793–94), a stage of the French Revolution.

 

The Thermidorian Reaction was a coup d’état within the French Revolution against the leaders of the Jacobin Club who dominated the Committee of Public Safety. It was triggered by a vote of the National Convention to execute Maximilien Robespierre, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, and several other leaders of the revolutionary government. The name Thermidorian refers to Thermidor 9, Year II (July 27, 1794), the date according to the French Republican Calendar when Robespierre and other radical revolutionaries came under concerted attack in the National Convention. Thermidorian Reaction also refers to the period until the National Convention was superseded by the Directory (also called the era of the Thermidorian Convention).

Conspiracies against Robespierre

With Robespierre the sole remaining strongman of the Revolution following the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat and the executions of Jacques Hébert, Georges Danton, and Camille Desmoulins, his apparent total grasp on power became increasingly illusory, especially support from factions to his right. Robespierre’s only real political power at the time lay in the Jacobin Club, which had extended itself beyond the borders of Paris and into the country. In addition to widespread reaction to the Reign of Terror, Robespierre’s tight personal control of the military, distrust of military might and of banks, and opposition to supposedly corrupt individuals in government made him the subject of a number of conspiracies. The conspiracies came together on Thermidor 9 (July 27) when members of the national bodies of the revolutionary government arrested Robespierre and the leaders of the Paris city government. Not all the conspiratorial groupings were ideological in motivation. Many who conspired against Robespierre did so for strong practical and personal reasons, most notably self-preservation. The left was opposed to Robespierre because he rejected atheism and was not sufficiently radical.

The prime mover, however, for the events of Thermidor 9 was a Montagnard conspiracy led by Jean-Lambert Tallien and Bourdon de l’Oise, which was gradually coalescing and came to pass when the Montagnards finally swayed the deputies of the right over to their side (Robespierre and Saint-Just were themselves Montagnards).  Joseph Fouché also played an important role as instigator of the events. In the end, iRobespierre himself united his enemies. On Thermidor 8 (July 26), he gave a speech to the Convention in which he railed against enemies and conspiracies, some within the powerful committees. As he did not give the names of the “traitors,” all in the Convention had reason to fear that they were the targets.

Robespierre was declared an outlaw and condemned without judicial process. The following day, Thermidor 10 (July 28, 1794), he was executed with 21 of his closest associates.

The Closing of the Jacobin Club, during the night of July 27-28, 1794. Print by Claude Nicolas Malapeau (1755-1803) after an etching by Jean Duplessis-Bertaux (1747-1819).

For historians of revolutionary movements, the term Thermidor has come to mean the phase in some revolutions when power slips from the hands of the original revolutionary leadership and a radical regime is replaced by a more conservative regime, sometimes to the point at which the political pendulum swings back towards something resembling a pre-revolutionary state.

 

Thermidorian Regime

The Thermidorian regime that followed proved unpopular, facing many rebellions after the execution of Robespierre and his allies along with 70 members of the Paris Commune. This was the largest mass execution that ever took place in Paris and led to a fragile situation in France. The hostility towards Robespierre did not just vanish with his execution. Instead, the people involved with Robespierre became the target, including many members of the Jacobin club, their supporters, and individuals suspected of being past revolutionaries. In addition, the sans-culottes faced violent suppression by the Muscadin, a group of street fighters organized by the new government. The massacre of these groups became known as the White Terror. Often members of targeted groups were the victims of prison massacres or put on trial without due process, similar conditions to those provided to the counter-revolutionaries during the Reign of Terror. The Thermidorian regime excluded the remaining Montagnards from power, even those who had joined in conspiring against Robespierre and Saint-Just. The White Terror of 1795 resulted in numerous imprisonments and several hundred executions, almost exclusively of people on the political left.

Meanwhile, French armies overran the Netherlands and established the Batavian Republic, occupied the left bank of the Rhine, and forced Spain, Prussia and several German states to sue for peace, enhancing the prestige of the National Convention. A new constitution called the Constitution of the Year III (1795) was drawn up, which eased back some of the democratic elements of the Constitution of 1793. On October 25, the Convention declared itself dissolved and was replaced by the French Directory on November 2.

 

Attributions